Read Online Just Between Friends (O'Rourke Family 4) by Julianna Morris - Free Book Online Page B

toasted the way he liked it and topped with his favorite apricot jam. Without saying anything else she handed him a large mug of coffee, brewed black and strong, then sat at the table, yawning delicately. He didn’t know what he’d expected after what happened in her bedroom, but quiet comfort was not one of the possibilities he’d imagined.
    “I wasn’t sure if you took a lunch to work, but I put one together in case you wanted it,” she said after a few minutes, waving toward his battered cooler. He’d moved his belongings from his apartment and into the carriage house on Saturday to keep up the appearance of them having a normal marriage.
    “You didn’t have to do that.”
    Kate put a hand to her mouth and yawned again. “No big deal.”
    “Well, thanks.”
    Dylan let out a breath, his tension draining away. Kate had a big heart. She must have forgiven him for the way he’d acted. And whatever had upset her in the first place, she seemed to have worked it out of her system. As for the lunch, it was probably some of the fussy food stuff that women liked, but he could always order pizza.
    Several hours later, when Dylan’s stomach rumbled, he eyed the cooler and wondered if there was any point in exploring the contents. It was heavy, but it probably contained bottles of that yuppie sparkling water Kate liked so much. He made a face, then shrugged. The pizza joint that he usually called guaranteed delivery in fifteen minutes.
    “Hey, lunchtime, boss,” called one of the men. “Time to see what the little lady made for ya. Gotta eat it, you know, or their feelings get hurt.”
    Damnation. Dylan wished he hadn’t said anything about Kate making him lunch, but it had helped deflect some of their more annoying jokes about his brief honeymoon.
    His men stood around, watching expectantly as heopened the battered plastic cooler. His eyebrows shot upward as he pulled out a hearty hoagie roll thickly loaded with roast beef, ham and Swiss cheese. There were two more of the sandwiches inside, along with cookies and chips and barrel-sized pickles.
    His foreman whistled.
    “Lordy, lordy, it took my wife two years to stop making me finger sandwiches and carrot curls with little toothpicks in ’em. How’d you get so lucky?”
    Dylan grunted something unintelligible and took a bite. It was awful nice of Kate to go to so much trouble. She didn’t eat much meat, but she’d made sure he had the food he liked.
    Maybe the next year wouldn’t be so bad. He’d just have to keep things cool and calm. As long as he kept his hands off Kate, everything would work out fine.

Chapter Five
    “H i, guys,” cried one of Dylan’s sisters from the front porch.
    “That’s Miranda, isn’t it?” Kate asked him in a whisper. Two of his sisters looked so much alike it was still hard for her to tell one from the other, particularly at a distance.
    “Yup. She’s the interior designer.”
    “Right.” Miranda consulted with Dylan on some of his construction projects.
    Kate waved back at her new sister-in-law, feeling strangely nervous about coming face-to-face with the O’Rourkes again. Everything had been so rushed getting ready for the wedding, she hadn’t had time to think about anything else. Now she felt responsible for Dylan being in a position he hated…lying to his family.
    Miranda called inside the house. “Heads up, everyone, the newlyweds are here.”
    Within a few seconds various O’Rourkes poured from Pegeen’s front door, hugging and kissing and dragging them both inside the house. In her own family, she and Dylan would have been politely announced by the butler and her mother would have lifted her cheek for a cool kiss.
    She preferred the O’Rourke way.
    “Happy one-week anniversary,” Beth said, radiant as she nursed her new baby.
    “That’s right. Surprised you’re here, bro,” commented Kane, giving his wife and infant daughter a tender glance. “Thought you’d be having a candlelight dinner, or