The Maverick's Holiday Surprise. Karen Rose Smith

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СКАЧАТЬ sitting. Yeah, he longed to kiss her, but they were in their workplace. Besides that, he wasn’t looking for a long-term commitment, and Bella was the type of woman who deserved one.

      This time when she moved to leave his office, he let her.

      For the rest of the morning, Hudson felt unsettled. Finally he pushed away from his computer, stood and stretched. Truth be told, he wasn’t used to sitting at a desk for most of the day. If he had to choose a job he liked best, it would be one training horses, cutting calves or walking through a field or pasture checking fence. He liked being a cowboy. Even now he rode whenever he could at the Lazy B, but it wasn’t the same thing as being on a horse most of the day.

      Leaving his office, he spotted Bella. Instead of at her desk, she was on a ladder at the bulletin board in the reception area. Instinctively, he crossed to her, fearful she was going to fall off.

      As he stood a few feet from her, he could see that she was putting up photos of the babies who came to Just Us Kids. There had been an explosion of pregnancies after a wedding reception that most of the town had taken part in two summers ago. Rumor had it that old man Homer Gilmore had put something potent in the punch. The result: nine months later, nurseries had been full of babies. Many of those babies were enrolled at Just Us Kids.

      He moved a little closer to study the photos, and Bella took notice of him.

      “These pictures are good. Who took them?”

      “I did,” Bella said proudly.

      She was still on the ladder, and he stood close to her, his shoulder at her waist. “You just didn’t snap quick photos. These are well thought out, artistic even. Look at the eyes on this little guy. They absolutely sparkle.” He pointed to another one. “And this expression is priceless. You have a real artist’s eye and good timing. Kids move and change minute to minute, and you’ve caught some of their best expressions.”

      She glanced down at him, and their gazes met. “Thank you,” she murmured.

      Clearing his throat, he said offhandedly, “You’d probably enjoy looking at the paintings at my ranch house.”

      Bella seemed to almost lose her balance. She toddled, and he put his arm around her to support her. They stood frozen, staring at each other, her face above his but not so far away. Why had she lost her balance? Had she thought he wanted her to come back to his ranch house for other reasons?

      Maybe he did.

      “You have to careful,” he mumbled.

      She nodded slowly. “Yes, I do.” Then she pushed away from him and made her way down the ladder.

      Once she was on the ground, he asked, “Do you have other photos you’ve taken? Not of babies?”

      “I do. I carry my camera with me almost everywhere I go.”

      “Get it,” he said impulsively. “I’d like to see them.”

      “Now?”

      “You’re due for a lunch break and so am I, right?”

      Bella didn’t know what to think of Hudson’s suggestion. Did he really want to see her photos? Why? And just what had he meant by that comment about going to his ranch? Did he really want her to see the paintings? Or did he have something else in mind?

      Did she?

      She felt her cheeks beginning to flush. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. For years now she hadn’t dated. She’d kept to herself. She’d been determined not to get into any more trouble, not to do something foolish or reckless. But in a way, her heart had been frozen during those years. She’d rebelled as a teenager, and that had gotten her into so much trouble. No, she hadn’t loved the father of her baby. Yes, she’d been looking for love, and somehow she’d mistakenly thought that sex could give her love. But she knew better than that now. She knew better about a lot of things.

      But having Hudson’s arm around her when she’d almost fallen, catching the scent of his aftershave, looking into his blue eyes, foolish and reckless and impulsive had all seemed like good ideas.

      No, no, no, she told herself firmly. Hudson Jones is nothing but trouble for you.

      Knowing all that, she still said, “My camera’s in my bag. I’ll get it.”

      Going around her desk, she opened the bottom drawer. Inside her hobo bag she found her point-and-shoot camera. It wasn’t anything special, but it worked for her.

      Taking the small white camera to Hudson, she turned it on. Then she hit the button that brought up the display and the photo review. “My SD card is almost full,” she admitted, handing him the camera so he could look for himself. She pointed to an arrow button. “Just press that to go backward or forward.”

      He was silent for a long time as he seemed to spend forever on each photo. When she glanced over his arm, she saw he was studying the sequence she’d taken on Short Hills Ranch. She’d shot the fall foliage with horses in the background. She’d captured Jamie astride a horse as well as a bay with a star on its forehead looking straight at the camera. There was a shot inside the stable, too, where a yellow light cast a horse in a golden glow.

      As Hudson shuffled through one photo after another, she watched his expression. He had an expressive face, not stoic like her grandfather’s. She saw his eyes widen with surprise when he glimpsed at a photo he especially liked. She spied his mouth turn up at the corners as he went through a sequence of the triplets more than once. There was Katie with cereal all over her face... Henry with his thumb in his mouth... Jared crawling toward a favorite toy. She’d also caught Jamie standing in a window at dusk, his profile in shadow.

      Hudson suddenly lowered the camera. “Do you know how good these are?”

      She analyzed every crease on his face, the openness in his eyes. Was he feeding her a line?

      But his next words told her he wasn’t. “I can see you don’t know how good you are. Did you ever think about hiring out your services?”

      “It’s just a hobby.”

      “It’s a hobby that could take you someplace. What if I tell you I know someone who might like to hire you to take photos?”

      “Of what?” she asked suspiciously. After all, she’d learned to be suspicious of men and their motives.

      “Do you know Brooks Smith?”

      The name sounded familiar, and all at once she placed it. “He’s a veterinarian. I’ve never met him. His dad usually comes out to Short Hills when we need a vet.”

      “Brooks and his dad have separate practices but cover for each other. His dad is cutting back his hours. Anyway, Brooks and his wife, Jazzy, run a horse rescue ranch out at the edge of town. The ranch is a passion with them, and they’re going to have pamphlets printed about the facility. Jazzy mentioned she just hasn’t had time to put it all together. Do you think you’d be interested in taking photos of the horses on the ranch?”

      She was so busy now that she didn’t know what to say. Between work and the triplets, she sometimes didn’t have time to breathe. But the idea of taking photographs and making extra money was downright inviting.

      “When СКАЧАТЬ