Free The Cowboy's Gamble: Destined For Love Series by Janelle Denison Page A

feelings toward him.
    Josie placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and directed her to the other side of the table to sit. “Mr. O’Connor . . . Seth and I were just finishing up our conversation.” Her tone was as brisk as her movements as she crossed to the refrigerator and pulled out a flat of eggs, ham slices, and a tub of butter. “I’m sure he’s anxious to be on his way, and I need to fix you breakfast before I get to work.” Setting the items by the stove, she shot Seth a pointed look. “Don’t you have things you need to tend to on the Paradise Wild?”
    “Nope,” he drawled lazily, refusing to take her subtle hint to leave. Standing, he picked up his empty mug and brought it with him to the counter next to Josie, where he helped himself to a fresh cup of coffee. “Actually, I don’t have a darn thing to do for the next two days. I quit the Paradise Wild and have all the time in the world until we get married.”
    She cracked an egg on the edge of a glass bowl with more force than necessary, not looking happy about that fact. Especially since he didn’t seem inclined to spend his idle time elsewhere.
    “Then maybe you can stay and have breakfast with us,” came the tentative request from the kitchen nook.
    Seth and Josie turned their heads to glance at Kellie in one simultaneous motion. Seth grinned at the thoughtful invitation; Josie frowned at what she obviously construed a horrible suggestion.
    “Why thank you, Kellie. That’s an offer I find difficult to refuse,” Seth said before Josie pounced on the opportunity to make up an excuse for him to be on his way. Kellie beamed at his compliment, pleased with her idea. “Good food, the company of two beautiful, sweet women. What more could a man ask for?”
    Turning on the back burner on the stove, Josie placed a skillet on top of the flames. “Not to get food poisoning?” she offered, giving him a sugary smile.
    He dipped his head and chuckled close to her ear. “Getting sick wouldn’t be such a bad thing, not with you as my wife. I kinda like the thought of you being my nurse.”
    She picked up a sharp knife and sliced a slab of ham, her movements quick and efficient. “And I kinda like the thought of you being at my mercy.”
    He winced as he watched her wield that knife with too much skill. “Touche,” he murmured, and moved back to the table and more friendly conversation with Kellie.
    Josie watched him go, resenting that he was insinuating himself into their lives so easily, and swaying her impressionable young daughter with little effort. She couldn’t very well tell him to go buy his breakfast at the nearest diner without Kellie thinking she was a witch, so here she was, cooking scrambled eggs, ham and muffins for a man she didn’t like, a man who’d dared to kiss her and take liberties she’d allowed no other man for the past eleven years.
    A man who’d openly gloated at her response. A man who wanted to claim his husbandly rights on their wedding night.
    The thought of having sex with Seth was enough to send a frisson of panic through her, and another emotion she didn’t want to analyze. If she couldn’t fend off a simple kiss, how was she going to immune herself to the feel of his hands sliding over her body, touching her in places that quivered to life when he dared to look at her with that smoldering heat in his eyes?
    Frustrated with her thoughts, she took her aggravation out on the eggs in the bowl, beating them until they were frothy while the slices of ham sizzled in the skillet. Two more days until her wedding night. Two days to figure out how to handle the situation.
    “So, do you ride much, Kellie?” Josie heard Seth ask her daughter. Eavesdropping provided her with the perfect excuse not to think about her upcoming nuptials, or her physical surrender to Seth O’Connor.
    “Yeah,” Kellie said in her quiet voice. “I have my own horse, Juliette, and I try to ride her every day.”
    Seth smiled at