Free In Bed with Beauty by Katherine Garbera Page A

I’m just keeping it going for them.”
    “Are they coming back?” he asked, curious what she meant.
    “No. I just want everything to be right for Burt and Isabella,” she said, her voice telling him she wasn’t sure herself why she had kept the restaurant going.
    He didn’t know any other woman who could handle herself in so many different situations. But Sarah wasn’t sure she could. The irony wasn’t lost on him and he vowed to make sure she didn’t doubt herself anymore. If he left her with nothing else, he’d leave her with confidence.
    “What about your dreams?” he asked at last.
    “My dreams?”
    “Yeah, your dreams. Don’t you have any?” Harris reached across the table and caressed her face.
    “Of course I do. Everyone does.”
    “What are they?”
    “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
    “Now who’s afraid to let the other person in?”
    “Touché.”
    She bowed her head and reached for her coffee cup. Then set it aside. He wondered what her dreams were that she was afraid to share them with him.
    Trust me, he wanted to say. But he knew better. “Tell me.”
    “You’ll laugh.”
    “Never.”
    “Promise?”
    He just stared at her.
    She sighed. “I just wanted to be a wife and mother. My dreams were to find Mr. Right and raise kids with him. I know it’s not PC to say that but that’s all I want but…”
    “Why haven’t you pursued your dream?” he asked. Knowing he’d never fill her ideal for the perfect mate. He wasn’t sure why he even cared. He was leaving for the West Coast in a few weeks. Why did it matter that even if he stayed he still wouldn’t be her Mr. Right?
    “I have to keep the restaurant going and no guy wants to help raise someone else’s kids.”
    “Your brother and sister are almost out of the nest,” he said. She wasn’t telling him everything, he could tell there wasn’t something more behind her words.
    “You said it was your dream,” he said.
    “Well…it’s just that I’ve raised a family—Burt and Isabella—and I’m not sure that’s what I want to do again.”
    “So what do you want to do?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    He knew Sarah better than that. “Trust me, Sarah. Tell me your dream.”
    She swallowed and fiddled with the fork in front of her. “I haven’t told anyone.”
    That made him feel good in a way he knew it shouldn’t have. “Tell me.”
    “I want to open my own bakery.”
    “Why can’t you do it now?”
    “I told you, I have to keep my parents’ dream alive for my siblings.”
    “What about—”
    “Enough about me. Don’t you ever wish for a family of your own?”
    “No. Too many variables. I like things I can measure.”
    “People can’t be measured,” she said.
    He raised one eyebrow at her. She’d just measured him and all mankind and found them lacking. But he didn’t say that to her.
    “I just meant that you sometimes are surprised by a person.”
    “Usually when they’ve let you down.”
    “Emotionally.”
    “I thought you said I wasn’t a wimp.”
    “Emotion doesn’t equal wimp.”
    He knew otherwise. “I meant in business.”
    “Isn’t there more to life than business?” she asked.
    “No.” He’d learned the hard way that business was the only thing he could count on.
    “I think you’re afraid.”
    Harris flexed his muscles. He didn’t like the thought of having weaknesses or Sarah noticing them. “Of what?”
    “Finding out you’re wrong.”
    “I can admit when I’m wrong.”
    “But if you were wrong about people it would mean your entire life was built around an illusion.”
    “Who’s to say your life isn’t?”
    “I’m happy,” she said.
    “Good for you. I’m successful and respected. I lead a life most men would envy.”
    “Is it enough?” she asked. She had her hands clenched on the table in front of her and he wanted to say no. But he wasn’t going to be that weak. Not now. Not with her. He needed to get back to work. Back to the environment where he was in