Free Recipe for Kisses by Michelle Major Page A

probably had something to do with the possibility of Ben losing the store wasn’t lost on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. For the first time since Ben had arrived in Denver, Abby appeared carefree. She looked her age and not like a wary worrier, always glancing over her shoulder as if she was waiting for someone to sneak up and land a sucker punch.
    The happiness of his niece and nephew was the whole reason Ben had agreed to take care of the kids in the first place. To give them a shot at a normal life. How ironic that the woman who put that smile on Abby’s face was the one who was frustrating him at every turn.
    But right now Ben wished Chloe’s soft arms were wrapped around him. He needed to be a part of the moment and the sweetness that radiated from her. Without realizing it, he took a step forward, alerting both of them to his presence. Abby’s scowl returned almost immediately, and Chloe blushed such a deep pink he was surprised she didn’t pass out from the blood rushing to her face. Unfortunately, the one thing both of them had in common was that neither looked happy to see him.

    Heat rose to Chloe’s cheeks as Ben raked her with his stormy, blue-eyed gaze. But she was more worried about the other parts of her that felt like they were catching fire under his scrutiny.
    Looming in her doorway, he seemed to suck most of the air from the room. Or at least all of it from her lungs. She blamed it on the dreams she continued to have about him where he was gentle and tender, so very different from real-life Ben.
    Except when he glanced from her to Abby, the loneliness she’d seen before flashed in his gaze again. Then he spoke and she realized he still had no clue how to interact with his niece.
    “I can’t believe my brother raised you to be a traitor,” he said, eyes blazing, although with obvious effort he controlled the pitch of his voice. “We’re family, Abby. Why are you helping her?”
    “You’re not my real family,” the girl spat back. “Cory didn’t raise me. He hardly ever saw Zach before Mom died.” She crossed her thin arms over her chest and Chloe noticed her hands were trembling.
    “He’s your legal guardian,” Ben argued. “He loves you.”
    “I’m helping,” Abby said with a sneer, “because you signed me up for this stupid community-service agreement. I don’t care about this store. I don’t care about you.” Her voice caught on the last word, and Chloe wanted to throw her arms around the girl again.
    But when Ben opened his big, gorgeous mouth, she stepped behind Abby and made a slicing motion across her throat. Unbelievably, the man shut up. Chloe placed a hand gently on Abby’s shoulder. “You did great today, sweetie. No matter the reason, I appreciate your help. Why don’t you go see how your brother is doing out front while I talk to Ben?”
    The girl gave a sharp nod then hurried out to the front of the shop.
    As soon as she was gone, Ben held up a hand. “You don’t have to tell me how badly I screwed that up,” he said on a sigh. “I’m a fucking idiot.”
    “No argument there,” Chloe agreed. She pulled out the desk chair and dropped into it. “Come over here. I want to show you something.”
    Ben stepped closer then paused. “It’s not your can of pepper spray, is it?”
    She flashed him a smile. “Tempting, but no.”
    When he was behind her, she scooted a small folding chair closer and patted it. He sat as she clicked the mouse and the screen lit up. “She’s set up accounts for me on all the major social media sites. Look at how she’s updated the store’s website.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Did you know she took a web design class at school last year?”
    He shook his head, gaze locked on the screen.
    “I wasn’t doing much with online sales, so she’s started to reengineer the functionality of the whole website—how people search, categories, the ability to review toys, my database of contacts.