Free Cinderella and the Playboy / The Texan's Happily-Ever-After by Lois Faye Dyer

outfit.
    Thanks to Chance’s mother leaving clothes in his guestroom, Jennifer reflected, she was reasonably covered. She’d had a few qualms about the clothing, suspecting it might have really belonged to one of Chance’s girlfriends. But the silk slacks and tank top had a small label with “A. Demetrios” beautifully embroidered in blue and gold thread. Chance had mentioned his parents, John and Anastasia, and Jennifer was confident the “A. Demetrios” was surely his mother.
    She left the bathroom, a spring to her step, and went searching for Chance. She found him in the kitchen, reading a newspaper spread out over the island countertop.
    â€œHey.” He looked up when she entered, his eyes lighting up as he swept her from head to toe and back again.
    â€œHi.” Suddenly self-conscious under his intentstare, she glanced down. “I’m glad your mother left her slacks and top here. Are you sure she won’t mind my borrowing them?”
    â€œI’m positive,” he told her, abandoning the paper on the counter. He reached her in two long strides and wrapped her close, pressing a quick, hard kiss against her mouth. When he lifted his lips from hers, his eyes were molten. “And if we don’t leave the house right now, I’m going to carry you back upstairs. Come on. Let’s feed you. You’re going to need energy when we get home.”
    He released her, threaded her fingers through his, and tugged her after him toward the front door.
    â€œCome on, Butch.”
    The big dog obeyed Chance’s command with enthusiasm, pushing past them to race down the hall and wait just inside the front door.
    Chance took a leash from a peg on the antique coatrack and clipped it onto Butch’s collar, then pulled open the heavy oak door.
    Jennifer stepped outside, relishing the balmy air and the quick warmth of sunlight on her bare forearms.
    Chance locked the door behind them, pocketing the keys before catching Jennifer’s hand in his, and with Butch leading the way at the end of the leash, they set off down the street.
    â€œI love your neighborhood,” Jennifer told him, taking in the neat facades of town houses and bright flowers filling window boxes. She tilted her face up and spring sunshine warmed her cheeks, filtered through tree leaves.
    â€œGood morning.”
    The friendly greeting drew Jennifer’s attention and she smiled hello at the young couple passing by, pushing a stroller with a little boy that babbled excitedly, hands outstretched to Butch.
    â€œGood morning.” Chance nodded at the couple, letting the little boy pat Butch on the nose, then pulling the big dog away before he could lick the toddler’s face.
    â€œWho was that?” Jennifer asked, curious.
    â€œThe Carmichaels.” Chance expertly steered Butch around a trio of giggling schoolgirls in jeans and sandals walking toward them, three abreast on the sidewalk. “They moved into the house two doors down from me just before their little boy was born. I met them when I was out walking Butch.”
    â€œButch seems to be a great ice breaker,” Jennifer commented. “You must meet a lot of people when they stop to pet him.”
    â€œYeah, I do.” He grinned at her and tugged her nearer, releasing her hand to sling an arm over hershoulder and tuck her close. Their hips bumped companionably as they walked. “Nobody can resist a big, friendly dog.”
    Jennifer privately thought it was probably the combination of Butch’s friendliness and Chance’s charm.
    â€œHere we are.” Chance drew Jennifer to a halt outside a small restaurant. “Do you mind sitting outside? I can’t take Butch inside.”
    He nodded at the area to their right. Several round wrought-iron tables with colorful red and white umbrellas shading their chairs were clustered along the front of the café, the uneven line two tables deep. Just then a patron