Beneath the Stetson. Janice Maynard

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      Bailey glanced at him, her gaze guarded. “No. But thanks.”

      He leaned a hip against his desk. “What do you do for fun, Bailey Collins?”

      “Fun?” The question appeared to confuse her.

      “I’m assuming you’ve heard of the word.”

      “I have fun,” she said, her tone defensive.

      “When?”

      Her mouth opened and closed. “I like to read.”

      “So do I. In bed. At night. But what do you do in your leisure time?” He shouldn’t have mentioned the word bed. His libido rushed ahead in the conversation and visualized the two of them entwined on soft sheets.

      Bailey shrugged. “I work long hours. But in the evenings I like to walk around my neighborhood. It’s a close-knit, established community with sidewalks and people who sit on front porches. I have several older friends I check on from time to time.”

      “Sounds nice.”

      “It is.”

      “And is there a man in your life?” Well, he’d done it now. There was no way she could interpret his question as anything other than what it was. He was attracted to her. And he wanted to know if he’d be stepping on any toes were he to follow up on those feelings.

      Bailey glanced at her watch. “I need to get back to work.”

      “Does that mean, ‘Back off, Gil’?”

      “What? No. Not at all. But I...”

      He waited. Silently.

      “You don’t even like me,” she said, her expression troubled.

      “Correction. I tried not to like you. That first day in the police station when you were grilling me like a seasoned pro, I found you wildly appealing, despite my disgruntlement. And since I am a man who believes in laying all the cards on the table, I think you should know.”

      “What changed?”

      “Dogs and children are very good judges of character. My son adores you already.”

      “But that makes you uncomfortable.”

      The sadness lurking in her brown eyes shamed him. “It does. I don’t want him to get too attached to you.”

      “Because I’ll be leaving soon.”

      “Yes.”

      “I suppose I can understand that.”

      “It has nothing to do with you personally. But Cade has this unfortunate tendency to latch onto any woman who walks into my life, no matter how briefly.”

      “Why haven’t you married again?”

      He hadn’t expected the blunt question. It caught him off guard, and for a moment, grief, regret and disappointment flooded his stomach. He shoved the negative feelings away. “There aren’t too many women these days happy to be stuck out on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.”

      “Oh, please,” Bailey said, giving him a reproving look. “You’re rich, handsome and successful. I’m sure some poor soul in Royal would apply for the job.”

      Her mock scolding erased the momentary sting of allowing the past to intrude. “But not you?”

      “I have a job.”

      “One that could get you killed.” The realities of her position still disturbed him. Alex needed to get his memory back in a hurry. Before somebody else got hurt. Gil hadn’t meant to change the subject, even if he was genuinely worried about her. “May I be honest with you, Bailey?”

      “Please do.”

      “As angry as I was with you when we first met, I felt a definite something. In the weeks you’ve been here, I haven’t stopped thinking about that feeling and wondering if it was one-sided.”

      She paled and wrapped her arms around her waist, clearly shocked by his candor. “It wasn’t one-sided,” she said quietly.

      Exultation flooded his veins, despite the tiny voice inside his head that said he was making a mistake. “Good to know.” The three words were gruff, but it was hard to speak when arousal made his entire body tense with need. “There’s more,” he said.

      A tiny smile appeared and disappeared. “I’m bracing myself.”

      He stood up, no longer able to feign relaxation. “It’s not easy for a single man my age to live in a place like Royal and do something as prosaic as dating. When Cade was almost three, I tried it for the first time.”

      “And?”

      “It was terrible. Everyone tried to give me sympathy and child-rearing advice, or they offered to bake me casseroles.”

      “Not altogether bad things.”

      “Of course not, but I wanted to forget for a while that I was a single dad. I wanted companionship and...”

      “Sex.”

      He saw no judgment in her gaze, but his cheeks reddened nevertheless. “Yeah,” he sighed. “It would be easier if I lived in a big, anonymous city, but here in Royal everything I do is fodder for the gossip mill. I value my privacy, and I don’t think my personal life needs to be front-page news.”

      “But you don’t want to spend a lot of time out of town because of Cade.”

      “Exactly.”

      “You’ve given up a lot for him.”

      Gil frowned. “I haven’t given up anything. He’s my son. And I love him.”

      Bailey crossed the tiny distance between them. Putting a hand on his chest, she looked up at him. “You’re a very nice man, Gil Addison.” Her smile warmed him to a sobering degree.

      He moved restlessly, fighting the urge to grab her. “It’s not about being nice, damn it. It’s what a parent does.”

      Some of the light left her eyes. “Not all of them.”

      He wanted to tell her that he had heard what she said to Cade, that his heart broke for a little girl with no mother and a surly dad. But her confidences had to be freely given or not at all. He wouldn’t embarrass her that way. “Cade is the best thing that has ever happened to me. His childhood will pass quickly enough. I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

      She went up on tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. “If you’re asking me to spend some...time...with you while I’m here, then the answer is yes. I understand the rules. You don’t have to worry. And I will do my best not to let Cade get attached to me.”

      He winced. “God, you make me sound like an ass.”

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