Free Oklahoma Moonshine (The McIntyre Men #1) by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page A

each a long, serious look right in the eye. “You girls be
    careful.”
    * * *
    Rob was flipping eggs when his phone made its text sound. The sound he’d chosen for this particular sender was a series of Morse code beeps. The
    females of the clan had sworn not to text the whole family at once unless it was an emergency. For example, last week’s discussion of who was
    bringing what to Vidalia’s Sunday after church meal. That exchange had gone on for forty minutes.
    He tipped up the frying pan to slide his perfect eggs onto a waiting english muffin that was already dripping butter and a slice of seriously sharp cheddar
    cheese. His mouth watered.
    “That smells
so
good.” Kiley came into the kitchen, carrying her cup of coffee which, she’d told him ten minutes ago, was all
    she ever consumed in the morning. Her hair looked like the feathers of a very angry
    chicken.
    For some reason, his brain registered her appearance as the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He was on a slippery slope where Kiley was concerned. It
    was the damnedest thing, how he’d vowed that he would never, ever,
ever
get involved with a dishonest woman again, and yet here he was,
    being drawn irresistibly to one.
    Something felt hot near his elbow. He jerked it away from the still-blazing burner and remembered what he was doing. Turning off the burner, he set his
    plate on the little round kitchen table that had probably been in some Brand woman’s house at some point in recent history. Then he sat down and
    picked up his fork.
    Kiley came right up to him and looked over his shoulder. “Is that cheese melting out the sides?”
    “Yeah. Sharp cheddar. Local, even.”
    A noisy rumbling sound came from her stomach.
    “Excuse me!” she said, pressing a hand to her tummy. “That was rude. Stomach growling like a cougar.”
    He set his fork down. “You said you weren’t hungry.”
    “Well, yeah, before I saw
that
.”
    He got up smiling, stepped aside and said, “It’s all yours, Kiley.”
    “Oh, no, no that’s not what I was angling for.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “No, it isn’t. I’m not gonna eat your breakfast.”
    “I’m already making another one.” The eggs were still on the counter, burner still hot. He turned it back on, set the pan above the flame
    and cracked two more shells. Then he dropped another muffin into the toaster that somebody had apparently bought brand new just to bring over here last
    night.
    He owed his family big time. The meddling bunch of sweethearts.
    “Well...if you’re making more anyway,” she said, and she sat down.
    “I am.” His eggs started to sizzle, and he turned to watch as she picked up half a muffin with an egg on top and bit in. Perfectly cooked
yellow yolk dripped down her chin. She dragged her forefinger through it and smacked her lips. “Mmm,” she said with her mouth full. “
Mmm
!”
    “You’re welcome. And Kiley, when you want little favors like this, all you have to do is ask. We’re partners and we’re roomies.
    Doing nice things for each other oughtta be our norm.”
    She chewed, washed the bite down with coffee, nodded at him. “So I’m just supposed to walk out here and say, ‘That looks great. Would you
    make me one?’ instead of politely waiting for you to offer?”
    “Instead of manipulating me into offering. See the difference there?”
    She shook her head. “Just seems like bad manners to me. How about I just state here and now that any time you make this particular breakfast,
    I’m in.”
    He could not argue with her logic, so he put the eggs away and retrieved the cheese. He was slicing another serving when his text went off again.
    He’d forgotten all about it.
    “All right, all right, just a sec,” he told the phone. He put the cheese away, buttered the muffin that had popped up, topped it in cheddar,
    and flipped his eggs. Kiley watched him the whole time, but looked away when he met her eyes. “What’s-a-matter, Kiley? Never see a man