Free The Christmas Baby Bump by Lynne Marshall Page A

not be interested in settling down, but a house, well, I have no qualms about where I want to live for the rest of my life.”
    “We really don’t know a thing about each other, do we?” she said, smiling.
    His eyes brightened to daylight blue. “Here’s something else to surprise you.” He washed his hands and opened a cupboard. “I’m cooking today.”
    The undeniable aroma of turkey hit her nostrils. “I thought you were ordering in?”
    “I got to thinking, how hard could cooking a turkey be? My butcher gave me instructions, and they didn’t sound difficult.”
    How many more surprises did he have up his sleeve? “Well, it smells great.”
    “Hey, you’re gonna love the dressing. I made Roma fax the recipe to me last night.”
    She laughed. For the first time in ages, she felt excited about Thanksgiving.
    He washed a few vegetables in the sink. “What would you like to drink?”
    “Water is fine.” Heaven forbid she should have a glass of wine, relax, and let her guard down.
    He delivered her a glass as she sat on one of the stools by the island. “You’ve got to admit this beats eating in your hotel room, right?”
    She gazed across the comfortable and stylish home and nodded. “You win. Hands down, this beats my hotel. I feel like I’m in a House Beautiful commercial.”
    He smiled, obviously liking her description of his home.
    “These are from my garden.” He held up a handful of new carrots, and medium-size tomatoes.
    “You’re kidding me,” she said. “You garden, too?”
    “What can I say? I like being in the sun. I like digging in the dirt and pulling weeds. Don’t tell anyone at work, they’d never let me live it down.”
    “Your secret’s safe with me,” she said, taking a sip of water and fighting off an ever-growing crush on her surprising host.
    “How are you at mashing potatoes?” he asked, just as something hit the back of her butt with a plunk. She jerked around, it was the beach ball, and Robbie had a guilty expression on his face.
    “Hey, remember what I said about throwing that thing around in here,” Phil chided Robbie.
    “Outside, Pill,” the boy said. “Go. Peez?”
    “I’m busy right now.”
    “Now!” Robbie said, throwing the ball at Stephanie and hitting her stomach this time.
    “Okay, mister, you’re in big trouble.” Phil headed for Robbie, who didn’t take him seriously in the least. The boy must have thought they were playing catch-me-if-you-can, as he ran off on short, squat legs, no chance of escaping Phil’s reach.
    Phil grabbed him by the collar then held him over his hip. Robbie kicked and griped. Phil glanced at Stephanie, his embarrassment obvious. “Sometimes I just can’t control this kid.”
    “Tell you what,” she said, trying not to smile as Robbie continued to squeal with delight. She had half an urge to toss the ball back to him, even though it was against the rules, but Phil was setting limits and she didn’t want to confuse the boy. “I’ll peel the potatoes while you two work off some extra energy.”
    “Sounds like a plan.” He nodded with a grateful glance. “Okay, buster, you’re gonna get what for,” he said with mock seriousness.
    “No!” Robbie said. “You’re gonna get what for!”
    Stephanie couldn’t help but smile. She watched momentarily as they headed outside, an odd sensationtaking hold. Ignoring the nudge toward a change of heart, she headed for the kitchen.
    Phil’s house was laid out so that the kitchen flowed directly into the family room, and the family room opened to a patio, and beyond that the huge expanse of verdant yard was accented by flowering hibiscus in white and red and assorted leafy bushes. From the large ranch-style kitchen windows she could see their wild game of catch or dodge-the-beach-ball or whatever their version of “what for” was called. Seemed as if all Phil’s griping about being stuck with his kid brother for ten days was nothing more than a cover. And Robbie was