Read Online Sara's Surprise by Deborah Smith - Free Book Online
Authors: Deborah Smith
Tags: Romance, Contemporary
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fastened Noelle's car seat in one corner of the truck bed. After they were safety away from Kyle, Sara would move the baby to the front seat. The day was sunny; the camper's interior was pleasantly warm. Noelle would be comfortable and Daisy would keep her company. Ten minutes. That was all Sara needed.
The picnic basket was larger than average and Noelle was smaller. The basket had survived years of Scarborough family outings. Sara smiled wistfully, remembering. With two biologists for parents and two aspiring biologists for children, the picnics had often turned into field trips. This basket had held potato salad and birds' nests, fried chicken and snakeskins.
And now it held a precious secret.
Her hands trembling with nervousness, she hooked the strap of a floppy leather purse over one shoulder, then lifted the basket slowly, her palms sweating on the wide wooden handles. If she could get through this month's shopping trip safety, the rest of Kyle's visit shouldn't pose too many problems.
"Come on, Daisy. Let's just keep our cool and act like nothing's odd."
Daisy trotted out of the bedroom in front of Sara. Sara eased the basket to the hallway floor, then shut and locked the bedroom door. Her pulse thready, she carried the basket down the hall and stopped outside a door to one of the guest rooms.
Kyle's odd surname was derived from the more elegant-sounding St. Surpris. She remembered someone telling her that Kyle's great-great-grandfather was a French pirate who settled in Florida. Considering the way Kyle had come down the chimney, his last name ought to be St. Nick.
"Kyle?" she called, her voice high-pitched. "I'll be waiting in the truck."
She heard him cross the room hurriedly. Suddenly he pulled the heavy mahogany door openmaking the task look easier than it was for most peopleand grinned at her. "I'm ready. I was just washing soot off my arms. I know you'll be thrilled when I finally get a change of clothes."
He shoved his arms into his grimy shirt. His chest and shoulder muscles flexed under a snug white thermal top that was smudged with sooty fingerprints across the flat plane of his stomach. The prints disappeared under the waistband of his jeans. They would have made an interesting roadmap for a trip through Surprise territory.
"Clean clothes. Yes," Sara said, distracted.
"What's in the basket?"
"A rabbit." Her palms were damper than the Amazon rain forest. Sara took a steadying breath. "I keep it in the lab."
He frowned quizzically as he buttoned his shirt with large, extraordinarily nimble fingers that must have had lots of experience in delicate maneuvers. Sara suspected that those fingers were adept at dismantling everything from locks and bombs to a woman's resistance.
"You don't perform some kind of animal experiments, ' do you?" he asked. "You're not injecting Bugs Bunny with carrot hormones, I hope."
Sara managed a laugh. "I'm not Dr. Frankenstein. No. The, uhmmm, rabbit is just a pet. Unfortunately, it keeps getting out of its cage. It likes rare tropical plants for lunch. So I'm giving it back to the original owner."
"I love rabbits." Kyle smiled fiendishly. "Broiled, with a side dressing of rice." Sara swept him with a look of mock dismay and took a step back. He chuckled. "Jep and I hunted rabbits when we were growing up." He paused for effect. "Beach bunnies."
Sara only smiled, afraid to laugh again because it might wake Noelle. "I can picture the Surprise brothers on the prowl together. The Great Blond Hunters, cruising the dangerous coast of Florida, armed with suntan lotion and a cooler full of beer."
"Not Jeopard. He was the only guy on the beach with a cooler of Dom Perignon. And the only guy who needed absolutely nothing more than a smile to draw every female within sight."
Sara nodded, though she tried to picture Kyle's elegant, stern older brother lazing on the beach, carefree. She couldn't. Jeopard Surprise might have been fun-loving once, but the years had turned him
The picnic basket was larger than average and Noelle was smaller. The basket had survived years of Scarborough family outings. Sara smiled wistfully, remembering. With two biologists for parents and two aspiring biologists for children, the picnics had often turned into field trips. This basket had held potato salad and birds' nests, fried chicken and snakeskins.
And now it held a precious secret.
Her hands trembling with nervousness, she hooked the strap of a floppy leather purse over one shoulder, then lifted the basket slowly, her palms sweating on the wide wooden handles. If she could get through this month's shopping trip safety, the rest of Kyle's visit shouldn't pose too many problems.
"Come on, Daisy. Let's just keep our cool and act like nothing's odd."
Daisy trotted out of the bedroom in front of Sara. Sara eased the basket to the hallway floor, then shut and locked the bedroom door. Her pulse thready, she carried the basket down the hall and stopped outside a door to one of the guest rooms.
Kyle's odd surname was derived from the more elegant-sounding St. Surpris. She remembered someone telling her that Kyle's great-great-grandfather was a French pirate who settled in Florida. Considering the way Kyle had come down the chimney, his last name ought to be St. Nick.
"Kyle?" she called, her voice high-pitched. "I'll be waiting in the truck."
She heard him cross the room hurriedly. Suddenly he pulled the heavy mahogany door openmaking the task look easier than it was for most peopleand grinned at her. "I'm ready. I was just washing soot off my arms. I know you'll be thrilled when I finally get a change of clothes."
He shoved his arms into his grimy shirt. His chest and shoulder muscles flexed under a snug white thermal top that was smudged with sooty fingerprints across the flat plane of his stomach. The prints disappeared under the waistband of his jeans. They would have made an interesting roadmap for a trip through Surprise territory.
"Clean clothes. Yes," Sara said, distracted.
"What's in the basket?"
"A rabbit." Her palms were damper than the Amazon rain forest. Sara took a steadying breath. "I keep it in the lab."
He frowned quizzically as he buttoned his shirt with large, extraordinarily nimble fingers that must have had lots of experience in delicate maneuvers. Sara suspected that those fingers were adept at dismantling everything from locks and bombs to a woman's resistance.
"You don't perform some kind of animal experiments, ' do you?" he asked. "You're not injecting Bugs Bunny with carrot hormones, I hope."
Sara managed a laugh. "I'm not Dr. Frankenstein. No. The, uhmmm, rabbit is just a pet. Unfortunately, it keeps getting out of its cage. It likes rare tropical plants for lunch. So I'm giving it back to the original owner."
"I love rabbits." Kyle smiled fiendishly. "Broiled, with a side dressing of rice." Sara swept him with a look of mock dismay and took a step back. He chuckled. "Jep and I hunted rabbits when we were growing up." He paused for effect. "Beach bunnies."
Sara only smiled, afraid to laugh again because it might wake Noelle. "I can picture the Surprise brothers on the prowl together. The Great Blond Hunters, cruising the dangerous coast of Florida, armed with suntan lotion and a cooler full of beer."
"Not Jeopard. He was the only guy on the beach with a cooler of Dom Perignon. And the only guy who needed absolutely nothing more than a smile to draw every female within sight."
Sara nodded, though she tried to picture Kyle's elegant, stern older brother lazing on the beach, carefree. She couldn't. Jeopard Surprise might have been fun-loving once, but the years had turned him
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