Free The First Love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde

years, it was damn disquieting.
    “No,” he said in a hoarse croak. “Nothing on your face. You look great.”
    Her cheeks tinged pink and she turned her head away, waving to the crowd on her side of the sleigh.
    And there it was again, the intense urge to kiss her. He fisted his hands, desperate to quell the sensation. Sarah was only in town for a short while. She was from the big city and he was just a smalltown guy.
    What’s so bad about a weekend fling? Just a good time between old friends. As long as you keep it light. …
    Absolutely not. He wasn’t about to start something with her. For one thing, there was Jazzy to consider. How wrong would it be for him to get involved with his daughter’s idol? And for another thing, he had a very strong feeling that if he evermade love to Sarah Collier, one long week with her would never, ever be enough.
    Sarah wasn’t clear on how she made it through the rest of the parade. She smiled and she waved and the entire time she kept thinking,
I’m sitting next to Travis Walker. Here sits the man I most wanted to avoid, and my shoulder is touching his.
    Travis had said nothing else to her after he’d announced that he remembered who she was. What was he thinking? She cringed inwardly imagining the scenario playing out in his head. Was he mentally rolling his eyes to discover that he’d gotten stuck on the same float as the semi-stalkery teen who had burst in on his wedding to declare he was her one true love?
    Sinking lower into the seat, Sarah kept her face toward the crowd and away from Travis, ignoring her rapidly pounding heart and the sweat pooling at the collar of her sweater.
    Finally after what seemed an eternity, but in actuality was only about half an hour, the parade arrived back at the high school football field. The minute their float stopped, Sarah was up out of her seat, on her feet and headed for the exit.
    Which just happened to be on the other side of Travis’s long, strong legs stretched out across the sleigh. She paused, dithered. Why didn’t he move and let her pass? Was he teasing her?
    Then she saw why and felt like a dodo for taking it personally. He was adjusting Jazzy’s cap, making sure the flaps covered her ears. “There you go, sweetheart,” he said. “Gotta keep those ears warm.”
    “Oh, Daddy,” Jazzy said with exasperation. “I’m fine.”
    “Yes, you are,” he said.
    The look on his face was so tender it tugged at Sarah’s heartstrings. Quickly she glanced away, saw a couple of high school boys pushing a portable staircase up to the float. Travis stood and handed Jazzy down to his Aunt Raylene, who was waiting on the ground.
    Still, Travis did not climb down. She’d forgotten how slowly things moved in Twilight. She took a deep breath. Patience, patience.
    He stood with hands braced to his back, eyes on the sky. “Well, hell,” he said, sounding far more like the Texas cowboy he was than the Victorian Father Christmas he was pretending to be. “Will you look at that.”
    “What?” Sarah squinted up into the darkness.
    “A little bit of Christmas magic.”
    “Huh?”
    He raised a white-gloved palm, caught a big, fat, soft snowflake. It melted as soon as it hit his hand. “It’s snowing. You know how rare that is? We only get snow once or twice a year if that, and here it is, snowing on the day you’ve returned home, Sarah Collier.”
    “Twilight is not my home,” Sarah said stiffly.
    “Uh-huh.” Travis just smiled behind that ridiculous Santa Claus beard as a dusting of snowflakes floated around him. He looked like a scene from a Hallmark commercial.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Okay, she knew she was being difficult, but something about his smug smile rubbed her the wrong way.
    “It doesn’t mean a thing. How are your parents by the way?”
    She shrugged. “Fine. I don’t see them much. You know, same as always, important heart surgeons, too busy for family life. How is your dad?”
    A clouded look