Open Your Heart (Kings Grove #4) - Delancey Stewart Page 0,85

faces were all tilted to the sky.

“Snow!” Finn cried with excitement, jumping to his feet and reaching his hands up to the sky. Matilda jumped up from my side and joined him, Sequoia yipping up at the sky. Mike, who’d also announced a pregnancy right after Maddie and Connor’s wedding, stood beside him, both of them looking up and laughing, turning in circles as the first flakes thickened into a real snow, the dark sky filling with white as the fire hissed with each landing flake.

I looked down at Harper to find her staring up at me, her eyes full of love and fun and promise, and I wondered how my life could ever be so full.

I was the guy things worked out for. I was the guy who loved those around him fiercely and held them close. I was the guy who Harper Lyles chose, and soon I was going to make her my wife.

THE END

Sneak Peek - Christmas in Kings Grove (Chapter 1)

Tuck

This right here is all a man really needs.

Bright blue skies. Cool clear air. A couple dogs who totally understand him and get what he’s about.

“Yoga Pants, Zippy!” I tugged on the leashes attached to my perfect dogs. “Guys, come on.”

“Still having a tough time with those guys?”

There she was… the woman I was trying to avoid. Annie Gish. All wild curls and perfect smooth skin and almond eyes. All animal know how and gentle adorableness and long limbs.

“I wouldn’t say that, exactly,” I told her, turning on my trademark Aussie smile. I tugged the leashes again, but the dogs were completely absorbed in trying to climb up into Annie’s Jeep Wrangler. Since it didn’t have proper doors, the Jeep seemed like an invitation every time we walked past it. They loved car rides. “Girls!” I called. “Come on, now.” I glanced at Annie, whose smile made my stomach do things it shouldn’t. Things I definitely didn’t want it to.

“I could help you train them,” she said, stepping closer.

I stepped back. “They’re just exuberant.” That was a crock. They definitely needed training.

“Tuck,” she said, not for the first time. “Aussies are great dogs,” she cocked her head, smiling, “and great people.”

Oh God, was she flirting with me? This was exactly what I was trying to avoid. My flirt instinct was strong, and I’d definitely flirted with the hot Kings Grove veterinarian in the past, and probably had given her the wrong idea. And now she was flirting back and it was nearly impossible to keep myself from responding in kind. I forced my lips to stay sealed.

Annie approached the dogs, turning her attention to them, which was a relief. “But you know, Tuck… they need training.” Parts of my body were buzzing with attraction and I needed a moment to get them under control.

“Hey ladies,” she cooed at the dogs. Then her voice turned stern and serious. “Down!” She ordered, and I found that the strong commanding tone was even worse for my growing attraction to her than the sweet calm voice she normally used. “Get down. Good dogs. Sit. Good girls.” The tone she used brooked no argument—not from me and not from the dogs. Their furry heads shot around to consider her, and something in that commanding voice of hers got their attention, and their obedience. They dropped their short little front legs from the side of the Jeep and turned to sit side by side, tongues lolling as they stared at Annie in adoration.

She knelt in front of them, petting their black and white heads and ears.

“You’ve gotta get them trained, Tuck.” Those eyes were on me again, and all I could think about was her using that voice with me in …other situations.

“Yeah,” I said, hoping agreement would end our encounter. “I’ll do that. C’mon girls,” I said, tugging the leashes as I called my dogs.

“Good,” she said. “When do you want to start?”

I turned. “What?”

“If you want dog training in Kings Grove, I’m your option,” she said, grinning.

Annie Gish was like a bright ray of light that blinded you and held you helpless in its beam. I couldn’t look away from that glorious smile, the pink glow that had developed on the apples of her bronze cheeks, the sparkle of her eyes. The soft blue sweater she wore didn’t help—it made me want to pull her into my arms and nuzzle into her shoulder, so I could feel the softness of the sweater against my cheek and her softness pressed against