Read Online A Family to Come Home To (Saddle Falls) by Sharon De Vita - Free Book Online Page B

think with him so close, and his hands on her.
    He laughed. “Well, darlin’, I do believe we covered that this morning.” He let his hand drop and cocked his head to look at her. “Remember?”
    She nodded. “Yes, I remember,” she admitted, blowing out a breath. “You don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
    “That’s right.” He started to reach out to her and was surprised when she reared back like a frightened filly. His eyebrows lifted. “Are you afraid of me, darlin’?” he asked quietly, stunned that he could have frightened this beautiful, incredible woman. He’d never frightened a woman in his life.
    “Afraid?” Hannah repeated shakily, trying to ignore that his voice was like a soft, gentle caress, sliding over her and leaving her shaky. Her chin came up and Hannah struggled for pride. “Of course not, why on earth would I be afraid of you?” she asked indignantly, unwilling to admit that for the first time in her life she was afraid of what a man made her feel.
    “Don’t rightly know, now.” He studied her for a moment, their gazes locked. Hannah watched as if in slow motion his hand lifted again and he gently brushed a finger down her cheek, then lifted it to his mouth.
    Her eyes widened and it seemed as if everything inside her stilled as his mouth slowly opened, his tongue snaked out and he leisurely licked his finger. The gesture was so blatantly sensual the pulse in her neck began to throb like a sore thumb.
    “Grape,” he finally said, a twinkle in his eye.
    Hannah blinked, certain her temperature had jumped at least ten degrees. She had to swallow. Hard. “Ex…excuse me?”
    “Grape.” He showed her his finger. “You taste like grape.” His deep voice was like a wave of warmth flowing over her, making her aware of every nerve in her body.
    “Grape,” she repeated dully. Her mind couldn’t seem to register anything at the moment. She merely continued to stare at him. The amusement in his eyes finally forced her mind to kick in. “Oh, yes, I forgot.” She managed a smile, trying to regain her composure. “Riley had a grape Popsicle.” Hannah shrugged. “It dripped all over her.” Hannah touched her cheek, not realizing it was sticky. “And apparently me as well.”
    Jesse glanced past her. “Well now, where is little Miss Riley?”
    Hannah’s grin was instant and she couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that he thought enough to ask about her daughter. “Taking a nap. She wore herself out practicing on her new bike this morning.” Following his lead, she crossed her arms across her breasts and leaned against the counter, grateful to have something to support her. “And she’s been wandering around like a lost soul since we got here because everyone is out. I convinced her to take a nap so she could stay awake for the celebration tonight.”
    “Yes, the celebration,” Jesse said with a sigh.
    “You don’t sound very happy about it.” She watched him carefully.
    “Happy?” Jesse thought about it for a moment. “Would you be happy knowing that you were going to meet about a dozen people you didn’t know, or worse, couldn’t remember, and yet be expected to act perfectly natural around?”
    “Oh Jesse.” Unconsciously she touched his arm to comfort him, her heart going out to him for the entire miserable situation. “I can imagine how difficult this must be for you.”
    “Not just me,” he admitted, glancing back at Tommy again. “It’s got to be difficult for everyone concerned.” He turned back to her and the wariness and pain in his eyes touched her heart.
    She smiled at him, wanting to reassure him, to ease some of the wariness she saw in his eyes. “Jesse, look, just try to take this one step at a time. There’s no rush, really. You certainly can’t make up twenty years in just a matter of hours or days. It’s going to take some time.”
    “Well now, darlin’, time is the one thing I truly don’t have,” Jesse said, rubbing the