Read Online Tangled Hearts by Barbara McMahon - Free Book Online Page A

ending the kiss.
    Brianna was pleased to note his breathing was as erratic as hers. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling something. Could she get him to admit as much? Get him to explain why he’d dropped her? Get him to consider some kind of relationship with her now?
    “Is the meat burning?” he asked.
    “Oh!” She whirled and slammed the plates on the counter, then snatched up the pan and pulled it from the stove. Great! Just when she needed to make a good impression, she scorched the steals. Gingerly lifting the edge with a fork, she noted it was only slightly scorched. Salvageable, at least.
    Was her relationship with Jake equally salvageable?
    In short order, they set the table and she served dinner. Jake ate as if he hadn’t eaten in a month, steadily, without talking.
    “Were you that hungry?” she asked at one point. He could put away as much food as either of her brothers.
    “I was hungry, but more for your cooking than anything else. I get tired of eating out or eating my own attempts.”
    She toyed with her wineglass, the deep red burgundy reflecting the flickering firelight.
    “So what have you been doing these past couple of years?” she finally dared to ask. Heart pounding, she hoped he wouldn’t refuse to answer. She longed to know everything he’d done, everyone he’d met, every place he’d gone.
    “Working mostly. Built this place.”
    “But no vacations.”
    He shrugged. “I took time off to build this.” And he’d been glad to have this project. “Though I know it doesn’t look finished. Any ideas about curtains and things?” he asked.
    She glanced around the large, open room. “I could make some suggestions. Don’t you have someone else you would rather have a hand in this?” What of Diane? she wanted to ask. Just who is that woman and what's she to you?
    “Your house is a good example of what I’d like. It’s—welcoming, I guess is the best way to describe it.”
    She smiled, pleased he liked her home. She’d spent a lot of time fixing it up to suit her. She hadn’t had much else to do.
    “A weekend doesn’t offer enough time to do a lot, but I’ll think about it and try to come up with some ideas,” she said.
    “Decide what you think it needs. Next week I can go shopping and bring everything out next time I come,” he said.
    Her heartbeat sped up. He planned to go shopping, maybe she could suggest she go with him. And come back when he did to see how everything looked once curtains were up, rugs laid out and pillows tossed on the sofa.
    “Okay.” She could scarcely contain her excitement at her idea. Now to convince him.
    “I could help with the shopping, too,” she offered.
    He looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. “We'll see.”
    She knew better than to push the issue.
    There was time enough if she was spending the next couple of days here.
    As recently as her drive back from Jase and Shannon’s, she'd never expected to see Jake again. She’d been reminded this past Christmas of all she was missing when in the presence of her older brother and his petite wife. Now that they had a baby on the way, Brianna was even more envious.
    Jake and Brianna did the dishes companionably; she washed while he dried and put away. It didn’t take long for the two of them to finish. When he handed her the dishtowel to dry her hands, she grabbed each end and tossed the towel over his head, pulling him toward her. His arms went easily around her as if they had been embracing for years.
    “What do you want?” he asked huskily, backing her against the counter, holding her securely in his arms.
    She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she wanted, what she had wanted for two years, but nothing came out. Heat stole up into her face, and butterflies danced in her stomach. She swallowed hard and squeaked out, “Coffee?”
    “In front of the fire?” he asked, his voice low and sexy, his eyes dark and intense as he gazed down into her flushed face.
    She nodded,