The Trouble With Angels Page 0,27

of the car and stretch her legs when a knock sounded against the car window.

Thom Nichols stood outside, his profile silhouetted against the last of the sunlight. Her heart did an immediate somersault, and not because he'd frightened her. It wasn't that she was attracted to him, she told herself. The cowboy fantasy, along with everything else romantic, had died a slow, painful death with Brian's deceit.

"Hello," she said as she rolled down her car window. She made sure her voice revealed little of what she was feeling. She was friendly, but not overly so. Cool. Collected.

"There's no need for you to wait in the car by yourself," Thom said.

"That's all right," she returned hurriedly, wanting to avoid spending time alone with him. "I was just catching up on some paperwork."

Thom looked to the sky as if some message were written in the clouds. "Daylight's about gone. Might as well come inside my office and have a cup of coffee with me. I'd be happy for the company."

Maureen would have found an excuse if it hadn't been for the last part about welcoming her companionship. He was lonely, the same way she was lonely. Only he was willing to admit it, whereas she preferred to ignore the obvious.

At their first meeting, he'd explained that his wife had died three years earlier. After he'd told a little about himself, he seemed to want her to share something about herself. Maureen hadn't. She rarely discussed her personal life with anyone.

Her head was telling her one thing as she stored the papers inside her briefcase, and her heart was saying something entirely contradictory. Why shouldn't she enjoy a cup of coffee with a man? Thom Nichols, her head told her, was more than just a man. He was rugged and solid, and those piercing blue eyes of his seemed to look straight through her.

It was unnerving. She'd looked at him and had the uncontrollable urge to weep. Thus far she'd managed to control her emotions. Thank God. She didn't even want to imagine what he would think of her if she started weeping for absolutely no reason.

"Ken's giving the kids their lesson this afternoon," Thom explained as he led her into a small office just inside the barn door. He took two large mugs off a Peg-Board on the wall and poured them each coffee.

Maureen cradled the mug between her hands and stared into the dark depths. After being holed up inside her car for the better part of an hour, she was grateful to be up and about. However, she wasn't sure spending time with Thom was necessarily good for her peace of mind.

"It seems Karen and Paula have hit it off like gangbusters," he commented, rolling the lone chair her way and inclining his lean hips against the edge of his desk. He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles.

Avoiding eye contact, Maureen nodded. "We've recently moved, and it's been hard on Karen. She hasn't made new friends as easily as I thought she would."

"Paula could use a friend. She's getting to the age where she misses her mother."

"How are the kittens?" Maureen asked, quickly changing the subject. This man made her nervous in ways she'd forgotten. It'd been so long since she'd been around a man that she didn't know how to behave. She'd been a college student when she'd first met Brian, which was more years ago than she wanted to remember.

"Those kittens are as cute as a bug's ear."

Maureen's smile waned, and she looked at her watch.

"Ken will have the kids back in about thirty minutes," he said, and Maureen swore the man read her thoughts. "Do I make you nervous?"

"Yes," she admitted defensively.

This appeared to amuse him. He crossed and recrossed his ankles. "Why's that?"

"I...I don't really know."

"Sure you do, but you're afraid to admit it. That's all right, I don't blame you. Fact is, I like you, Maureen Woods."

"You like me?" Maureen wondered exactly what that entailed.

"Well, you're as prickly as a cactus - "

"So you see me as a challenge," Maureen said, wishing now she'd stayed inside her car. "Listen, my ex-husband taught me everything I need to know about - "

"I'm not your ex-husband," he said gently, interrupting her. Then, as if they were carrying on a perfectly casual conversation, he sipped his coffee and announced, "I'd like to date you."

The words exploded like tiny firecrackers in her mind. They vibrated within her and echoed through the empty years she'd spent