The Maverick's Secret Baby. Teri Wilson

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Avery?

      Finn blinked. Hard.

       No way… No possible way.

      He was hallucinating. Or more likely, simply mistaken. After all, the brunette beauty who’d just spun around to stare at him might bear more than a passing resemblance to Avery Ellington, but she was hugging a stack of flannel shirts like it was some kind of security blanket. The Avery he knew wouldn’t be caught dead in plaid flannel. She might even be allergic to it.

      It had to be her, though. On some visceral level, he just knew. Plus he’d recognize those big doe eyes anywhere.

      Avery Ellington. Warmth filled his chest. Well, isn’t this a fine surprise.

      Finn glanced at the older woman beside her—Melba… Melba Strickland, as in the owner of Strickland’s Boarding House. So Old Gene’s “darling young lady” that Viv Dalton wanted to set him up with was indeed the Avery he knew so well.

      He burst out laughing.

      Avery’s soft brown eyes narrowed. She looked like she might be contemplating dropping the flannel and using her hands to strangle him. “What’s so funny?”

      “This.” He gestured back and forth between Avery and Melba. “I’m not sure you’re aware, but an hour or so ago, we were almost set up on a blind date.”

      “I might have heard something about that,” Avery said, clearly failing to find the humor in the situation.

      She seemed a little rattled. If Finn didn’t know better, he would have thought she was unhappy to run into him. But that couldn’t be right. The last time they’d seen one another had been immensely pleasurable.

      For both of them.

      Finn was certain of it. Plus, they’d parted on good terms.

      “It’s incredibly good to see you. What on earth are you doing in Rust Creek Falls?” He arched a brow. She was awfully far away from her daddy’s ranch in Texas.

      Melba interjected before Avery could respond, “Avery is a guest at the boarding house.”

      Finn nodded, even though they’d already covered Avery’s local living arrangements. It still didn’t explain what she was doing clear across the country from home.

      He swiveled his gaze back to Avery. She looked beautiful, but different somehow. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what had changed. Maybe it was the casual clothes or her wind-tossed hair, but her usual cool elegance had been replaced with a warmth that made him acutely aware of his own heartbeat all of a sudden.

      “How’s the little one?” he said with a smile.

      “Um.” Avery blinked like an owl. “How did you—”

      Finn shrugged. “Everyone in town is talking about it. There’s nothing quite as cute as a baby goat.”

      “The goat. Right.” Avery swallowed, and he traced the movement up and down the graceful column of her throat.

      Was it his imagination, or did she seem nervous?

      “The goat’s cute, but she’s a handful. I don’t know what Old Gene was thinking.” Melba rolled her eyes. “She has to be bottle-fed every four to five hours, round the clock. It’s almost like having a real baby again, but maybe a little less noisy.”

      Avery turned toward Melba with an incredulous stare. “Less noisy?”

      Melba shrugged. “Sure. You know how babies are.”

      Avery shifted from one foot to the other as she glanced at Finn and then quickly looked away.

      Melba’s eyes narrowed. “How exactly do you two know each other?”

      Why did the question feel like a test of some sort?

      Finn gave her an easy smile. He had nothing to hide. “Avery and I are both in the beef business.”

      “Really?” Melba looked him and up down.

      “Absolutely. Our paths used to cross every so often, but we haven’t bumped into each other since my family relocated to Montana.” A pity, really. “I’d love to take you out while you’re in town, Avery.”

      She bit the swell of her lush bottom lip. “Oh…um, well…”

      Not exactly the reaction he was going for. Avery looked as scared as a rabbit, and Melba was once again scrutinizing him as if he were giving off serial killer vibes.

      Was he missing something?

      His thoughts drifted back to the night they’d spent together in Oklahoma City. It didn’t take much effort. The entire encounter was seared in his memory—every perfect, porcelain inch of Avery’s skin, every tender brush of her lips.

      They’d been in town for a gala dinner of cattle executives, and Finn would be lying if he’d said he hadn’t been hoping to run into her. Through their overlapping business connections and a handful of mutual friends, Finn and Avery had been moving in the same orbit for quite a few years. He’d wanted her for every single one of them. How could he not? She was lovely. And smart, too. It took a special kind of woman to hold her own as the vice president of a major company in a business dominated by men. Finn considered himself a Southern gentleman, but that wasn’t true of everyone in the beef business. Avery had run into her fair share of chauvinists and good old boys, but she never failed to rise above their nonsense with her head held high.

      As much as she fascinated him, he’d respected her too much to make a real move. Their interactions had been limited to a low-key flirtation that he found immensely enjoyable, if somewhat torturous.

      But the night in Oklahoma had been different. June in the Sooner State was always a nightmare of blazing heat and suffocating humidity, but that particular weekend had been especially brutal. A heat wave swept through the area, causing widespread power outages as the temperature soared. The gala’s luxury hotel was plunged into darkness. Even after they got the generator up and running, the crystal chandeliers were barely illuminated, and heady, scented candles were scattered over every available surface.

      He remembered Avery saying something about the animosity between their families, and true, his father had never uttered a kind word about Oscar Ellington. Quite the opposite, actually. There was definitely bad blood between the Crawford and Ellington patriarchs. But Finn and Avery had always managed to get along. And something about the darkness made their little flirtation seem not so low-key anymore, so over laugher and dry martinis at the bar, they’d agreed to set aside any familial difficulty.

      She’d looked so damned beautiful in the candlelight, all soft curves and wide, luminous eyes. He’d taken a chance and leaned in…

      He swallowed hard at the memory of what came next. It had been like something out of a dream. A perfect night—so perfect he hadn’t taken another woman to bed since, despite СКАЧАТЬ