Free Found: A Mother for His Son by Dianne Drake

is. So your father…”
    “Was a busy man,” she said, her voice thin and tight.
    “Which is why you went to your grandparents’ home?” She wasn’t comfortable with this. Not at all, and this was a side of Jenna he’d never seen before. She was blank. Totally blank. No emotion, no expression. Nothing, except answers by rote from a woman who was always exuberant with her opinions. It made him wonder why, but he wouldn’t ask. A man who had his own secrets to hide had no business asking someone about theirs.
    “It’s every child’s dream to live on a ranch, isn’t it? And I was lucky enough to have that dream come true for a while.”
    Oh, so hurt. And defensive. It was written all over her. So much so he wanted to pull her into his arms and make it better. He wouldn’t, of course. But that didn’t stop the longing in him to do so. Time to get off the subject, though, because the closer he got to her problems, the closer he got to his own, and, heaven only knew, that was the last thing he wanted to do. It was time to quit trying to be involved personally or romantically, to quit thinking he actually could get involved again. “Max wants a horse, but he’s too young.”
    “That’s what he told me. He has all kinds of plans for riding lessons, the kind of saddle he wants to buy, the name he’ll give his own horse when you buy him one.”
    “He’s been talking to you?”
    “Some. You know, the usual things. Will the big guy buy him a gray horse or a black one?”
    Max was more of an observer these days and, except for family, he really didn’t talk much to other people. So with the way he’d clung to her during his nightmare, and now this, Dermott was encouraged. His son felt safe with her, and there’d been a time when Dermott wasn’t sure that Max would ever feel truly safe with any woman other than his grandmother. So this was good. “Look, JJ. I’m sorry I’ve been so preoccupied since you got here, and all you seem to do is get hit with problems.”
    “You have been preoccupied, haven’t you?” she agreed, a look of relief washing over her face for the new direction in their conversation. “And maybe a little ill mannered. Oh, and a bad host,” she teased.
    “Ill mannered?” He recalled other banter between them years ago. Damned sexy. And fun. “Bad host? That’s just your opinion.”
    “My opinion, yes. And it’s correct, of course.”
    She kept a perfectly straight face, but had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. He could see that. It reminded him of the first time he’d kissed her. They’d been going back and forth over which syringe needle gauge to use when giving an injection to a patient. He’d liked a bigger needle for its ease of medicine delivery. She’d liked using a smaller one, for patient comfort. Twenty-gauge, thirty gauge. They’d gone on and on about it for minutes, light, nearly flirtatious banter, ending with Jenna volunteering to give him an injection with each size needle to see which he’d prefer. “Drop your pants, Doctor, and I’ll stick you in the bottom with one of each to see which feels better to you.”
    “Only if I can do the same to you,” he’d said. “Turnabout’s fair, you know.”
    “Then you go first,” she retorted.
    “I think you just want to see my bum,” he’d come right back at her.
    She’d looked him square in the eye, practically no smile on her face, just like now, and said, “A beautiful bum is a beautiful bum, Doctor. What I’d prefer is seeing the expression on your face when I stick you in your beautiful bum with a twenty-gauge.”
    He’d nearly lost his heart to her that day. He did lose the argument, without dropping his pants. On the bright side, though, he’d stolen a kiss, which had turned out to be the best victory of all. Just a quick one, as her stern facade had finally crumpled into a smile and she’d started laughing. Then he’d started laughing, and…well, he remembered the kiss. Remembered