Free Sara's Surprise by Deborah Smith Page A

women fall at his feet, and my sister treats him like some kind of Saturday-night redneck. Brig told People magazine that he had to marry herit was the only way he could get her to take his handcuffs off."
    He told her about Millie and Brig's baby boy, and Sara nodded as if all her attention weren't riveted to the drama that was courting disaster for her baby girl. Daisy dropped the pacifier, picked it up again, and sat contentedly with it stuck in the front of her mouth.
    She looked like somebody had put a stopper in her to keep stupidity from gushing out.
    Sara gripped the steering wheel so hard that her hands hurt. Kyle hadn't paid much attention to the teething ring; he probably didn't even know what a teething ring was. But even a longtime bachelor could recognize a baby pacifier.
    "Sara!" He grabbed the steering wheel. She realized that she'd narrowly missed hanging a front tire in the drainage ditch beside the driveway. A hundred yards ahead she could see the paved public road and the thick stone columns of the second gate.
    "Sorry. I don't drive much anymore. I'm a little rusty."
    Kyle held the wheel firmly, keeping the truck centered in the narrow drive. "Stop, Tinker Bell. Okay? Stop for a second. You're shaking all over."
    She halted the truck. Bluff , she thought desperately, glancing in the back mirror. Daisy was now rolling the pacifier around in her mouth as if it were a big mint.
    Kyle took her hand and caressed the back of it with his thumb. "It's not easy for you to leave the estate," he said gruffly. "I understand. Why don't you let me go with you today?"
    Sara shut her eyes. Oh, God, he was so kind and caring, and she was leading him on with such lies! "No. It's really better that I go on alone. I have to prove that I can make it without help. Would you mind walking to your car from here?"
    "No, if that would make you feel better." He sounded reluctant to let her go, but he was trying not to push her too hard, too fast. Sara tried to smile at him. His dark blue eyes were so sympathetic that it was all she could do to keep from tumbling heart first into the affection they offered.
    "I'll be back in two or three hours," she promised.
    "I'll be waiting. You've got my grocery list?"
    She nodded, fighting an urge to look toward the camper window. Kyle gripped her hand tightly, his fingers slow and warm and just as nimble as she'd imagined, stroking the cup of her palm.
    "See you later," Sara said desperately. "Come on. I'll walk a few yards with you."
    Her knees were weak as she got out of the truck and shut the door. Kyle came around to her side. The scars accented his strong, expressive features in ways that made him look terribly forbidding when he frowned, as he was doing now.
    "I don't think you can make this trip alone," he said, standing defiantly in front of her. He massaged the tops of her shoulders. "My God, you're tense. Sara, I'm sorry if I've sounded flippant about your problem before. I didn't realize how alone and how afraid you are. I'll help you get over it. I swear I'll help."
    She grabbed his hand, led him a dozen steps beyond the front of the truck, put her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder, then hugged him hard, standing on tiptoe as she forced every muscle to release its fear and absorb his comfort. He couldn't help her because he didn't know the truth. She'd never let him know, because she never wanted to look into those warm, sexy eyes and see contempt. But she wanted him to know how much his offerno, how much he meant to her.
    "You're the sweetest man I've ever known," she whispered. "And if I need help, I'll ask right away."
    "So, uh, need a little help?" he murmured against her hair. He hugged her back, his arms taut bands of muscle around her, making her feel both safe and afraid.
    "No, Sir Knight, not today." Sara patted his chest, and he understood the warning. Slowly he let her go. She stepped away, smiled at him, and exhaled wearily. "Watch out for the