Read Online Seducing the Bachelor (The Bachelor Auction Returns Book 3) by Sinclair Jayne - Free Book Online Page B

over his body.
    And he was still here.
    And now what? Pancakes? Cheery but false domesticity? Pretending that nothing had happened? Trying to get a timetable from him because she had to once again remake her life. The loss of control just when she’d been starting to let her guard down, was confidence shaking. But she had to get a grip. She was young. Healthy. Smart. Determined. She’d find a way.
    All she had to do was ignore her clamoring body that had had a taste of Colt last night and now wanted to feast. He wasn’t a one-night stand. He was a man with a capital “M”, and she feared she’d have a hard time forgetting him and moving on.
    “Hey, good morning! How’d you sleep? Coffee?” She practically shoved a cup in his hand as Colt came in behind Parker. “Cream? Sugar.”
    “Mom, he came for pancakes.”
    “Thank you.” He took the cup and his fingers brushed hers.
    She felt warmth to her toes and they wiggled in her boots. Wow. His hands just looked like they knew what they were doing.
    Okay, she was officially desperate and smitten.
    “Can I pour the batter?”
    “What?” She dragged her eyes away from Colt’s hands and stared at Parker, absently stroking her fingers through his spikey black hair. “Did you use a comb this morning?”
    “Mom.” He drawled out the word like it had five syllables.
    “Comb your hair.” She gave the batter one last unnecessary swirl. “And then you can pour the batter and add the blueberries.”
    “Yes!” He ran off.
    “Hope he didn’t wake you.”
    “No.”
    He sipped his coffee. She got out the silverware and napkins, which he took to the small worn farmhouse table that she’d found at a thrift store. Colt set the table, and she tried not to think how nice it looked to have three place settings instead of just the usual two.
    Don’t dream of stupid stuff .
    She pressed her lips together and took the butter, syrup, and juice out of the fridge. He put those on the table. His self-contained silence stretched her nerves to snapping.
    “Your mother trained you well,” she said flippantly, nervous by his nearness and quiet.
    “No,” he said.
    The word shot out like a bullet. Deadly aim. She kept stepping in it with him.
    “Me and my mouth.” She tried to laugh it off, but then he was staring at her mouth, and she felt the hot, gaze lodge in her tummy. Her skin prickled with awareness even as her head yelled at her to look away.
    “Your eyes are a beautiful color,” she whispered. “Like liquid gold.”
    And just like that, the air between the seemed to shimmer. His eyes seemed the only thing alive about him. The rest of him was so still, expressionless, so contained. Like a calm before a storm. But she had a feeling underneath all that disciplined calm was a cauldron seething, waiting for a chance to blow. And that should have worried her. Instead, she felt safe. Comforted by his presence.
    She was lonely. That was it, except when he took one step toward her, his fingers raised, and she had the crazy idea he was going to touch her again, tangle his hands in her hair, she leaned in, every nerve, every molecule clamored for his touch. Her eyes drifted shut, waiting, counting the seconds.
    “Okay, I’m ready.” Parker announced, running in and standing between them, breaking the spell.
    Colt stepped back, hand to his side. Talon had trouble acting normal. Her body felt like it had started humming in his presence, especially when he got close, like they were harmonic crystals. Anticlimatically, she asked Colt to pour three small glasses of orange juice.
    Colt leaned against the opposite counter watching them. Talon found it difficult to act naturally even though she was in her usual environment. She wanted to fuss with her hair, and she was super conscious that while she had worn panties, she had definitely thought twice and then three times about not wearing a bra. Then she’d done it just to prove to herself that she wasn’t going to fall under his