Read Online White Dove's Promise by Stella Bagwell - Free Book Online Page B

and how a messy bachelor lives,” he added with a devilish wink, then settled his free hand against Kerry’s back as though touching her was a natural thing.
    The contact was electric, sending ripples of heat radiating out from his fingers. Instantly, her mind shouted at her to move away and keep a formal distance from him. Yet his closeness made her feel feminine and special. Something she’d not felt in a long time.
    As the three of them strolled beneath large shade trees, Jared explained to Kerry how the Wafford farm had once produced maize, but since the land had sold, the ground had turned fallow.
    When Kerry noticed the fittings of a natural gas pipeline jutting up from the ground not more than fifty yards away from the back of the house, she asked, “Did a gas company hit gas on your land?”
    Jared chuckled. “I’m not that lucky. I only rent this place. And I don’t think Mr. Wafford owned the mineral rights, so he didn’t get anything out of it, either. Except surface damages to his field. I think that’s part of the reason he decided to move into town and forget about farming.”
    As they walked around the back yard, Peggy spotted a swing suspended from a limb of a huge sycamore tree. The little girl raced over and jumped into the board seat fastened to two thickly braided grass ropes. Jared followed and gave her a few pushes to put the swing in motion.
    Peggy’s squeals of delight were like music to Kerry’s ears. To see her daughter so happy and relaxed was enough to tell Kerry she’d made the right decision to come out here tonight.
    â€œThis is a pretty place,” Kerry told him. “But I’m very surprised that you live here.”
    His black brows piqued with interest as he glanced at her. “Why? Even men like me need a place to hang their hat once in a while.”
    â€œA man like you?” she asked, wondering if he was referring to his job or his rambling ways with women.
    â€œI’m a petroleum engineer,” he explained. “I never know where my job will take me.”
    He lifted Peggy from the swing. “Come on, little dove, we’d better go in the house and get ready for our company.”
    Moments later, Jared ushered them into the living room by way of the front door. Kerry was immediately surprised by the neat hominess that met her curious gaze. Most of the stuffed furniture dated back to the 1940s. Braided rugs were scattered here and there across the faded flowers on the linoleum floor, with the largest one lying in front of a native rock fireplace.
    In contrast to the older furniture, an entertainmentcenter took up a small wall opposite the couch. Pictures of people she recognized as his family were displayed throughout the room on end tables, wall shelves and the fireplace mantle.
    Nothing about the room was what Kerry had been expecting. Maybe because she’d always considered Jared Colton a smooth operator. A man that most likely lived in an impersonal apartment where the only thing he needed was a change of clothes and enough space to entertain a lady friend. Now she could see she’d been wrong in stereotyping him in such a way.
    While her thoughts and her gaze had been rambling, Jared had led Peggy over to a small school desk in one corner of the room.
    Kerry now watched her daughter wiggle eagerly on the seat as Jared placed a magazine full of wildlife in front of her.
    â€œShe likes animals,” Jared said as he returned to Kerry’s side. “That ought to keep her busy for a few minutes.”
    Kerry found it was impossible not to smile at him. “Where did you learn about entertaining children?”
    Jared chuckled. “I don’t know anything about children,” he confessed. “I’ve just been playing it all by ear.”
    â€œWell, Peggy seems to think you do everything right,” she told him.
    But did Peggy’s mother, Jared wondered. Up until now he’d