Currant Creek Valley - By RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,27
to break hers.
“Something like that.”
After a moment, she eased away. “I really do need to go. Sorry I can’t stay, but my shift is starting soon and I left a horrendous mess in my kitchen at home. Leo, come on. You and Chester can hang another time.”
She shepherded the dog into the backseat again, hugged Claire one last time, blew a kiss to Owen—busy now, untangling fishing line in the driveway—then drove away.
This was the important part of her life, she thought as she headed toward Currant Creek Valley. Her family, her friends, the people she cared about in town. She was perfectly happy with her life and didn’t need anything else—especially not a man with serious dark eyes and a mouth that tasted like heaven.
CHAPTER SIX
NEARLY A WEEK after that stunning kiss, Sam had reached the inescapable conclusion that Alexandra was avoiding him.
She seemed to have unerring instincts for visiting the restaurant to check their progress just as he stepped out for lunch or left to pick something up at the building supply store on the edge of town.
His crew all seemed to like her, even Silent Joe, and reported that she had told them all how much she loved the way her kitchen was coming together. To him, she had left only a quickly scribbled note the second time he had missed her, which read, Looks great, Sam. You’re a genius with a hammer.
He might have resorted to stopping at her current restaurant up at the Silver Strike Resort just for an excuse to see her again, but every time he had considered making a reservation, he had decided against it.
After she had driven away so abruptly the other night without giving him an answer when he had asked point-blank to see her again, it had been easy enough to figure out that was her answer.
She obviously had her reasons for avoiding him. If that’s the way she wanted things, what the hell else could he do? He wasn’t some kind of creepy stalker guy. When a woman made it clear she wasn’t interested, he moved on.
That didn’t mean he had to be happy about it, especially after they shared a kiss that had rocked him to the core.
The gloomy, rainy morning matched his mood as he headed into her sister’s coffee place and bookstore for a midmorning caffeine jolt for his crew.
He just finished ordering for the guys from their complicated list—who knew Silent Joe liked café au lait, extra foamy?—when some gut instinct kicked in. It was probably the same sixth sense that had carried him to the other side of so many dangerous situations when he had been deployed.
He turned around and there she was a few spaces behind him in line at the coffee counter, talking with an older woman who shared the same green eyes behind trendy glasses.
He knew he shouldn’t be so happy to see her but he couldn’t ignore the delight that burst through him like the sun between those clouds outside.
He just liked looking at her, plain and simple. All that long, wavy blond hair, those deep jade eyes, the sweet curve of her mouth. Alexandra McKnight was one hell of an appealing package.
As if she felt the heat of his thoughts, she finally broke off her conversation with the woman and shifted her attention to him. When she saw him, something bright and glittery flashed in those eyes before she shifted her gaze down.
“Wow. Somebody must be thirsty,” Alexandra quipped.
He held up the carry tray with a half-dozen cups. “Making a coffee run for the whole crew this morning. Somebody’s got to do it.”
All he wanted to do was stand there holding the coffee and stare at her. He realized in that moment of seeing her again after all this time just exactly how much he had thought of her in the past week, half the time without even being fully aware.
Thoughts of her had been simmering under his consciousness since he had last seen her drive away on a darkened Hope’s Crossing street.
He had known the whole time he had worked at the restaurant that this was her kitchen. Did she prefer pull handles or knobs? Would she notice this or that extra little touch while she cooked in the kitchen? How could he make the space work best for her?
The other woman suddenly cleared her throat, and he realized Alexandra was staring right back at him, her glittery gaze fixed on his mouth. She had to be