Hometown Courtship. Diann Hunt

on top. “Hope you like lasagna.” Before he could respond, she said, “I have breadsticks and salad in the car. I’ll be right back.”

      What was she up to? He watched her head out the door. She was dressed to kill, and he was afraid he just might be the victim. He’d better be careful. She could be in on this plan with his brother.

      While she was outside, he hobbled as fast as he could to the bathroom to check his hair. He ran a quick comb through it, then went back out to meet her. There was no law that said he couldn’t look nice.

      “Oh, there you are. I wondered where you’d disappeared to.” She placed the other food on the counter.

      He noticed she was barefoot. Her perfectly manicured red toenails made him stiffen. Princess.

      She caught him looking. “I didn’t want to mess up your floor with my dirty shoes.”

      The sincerity in her voice softened him. His brother had made him paranoid with his sneaky matchups, and Brad found it hard to relax where Ryan was concerned. But looking at Callie just now, he couldn’t imagine Ryan had anything to do with this.

      He took a deep breath. “This is really nice, Callie. But there’s way too much food here.”

      She shrugged. “Don’t you believe in leftovers?”

      “No, I never have leftovers.”

      She blinked.

      “I never cook. Always go out to eat, so there aren’t leftovers.” He started to say something about kitchen work not being his forte, but he remembered his brother’s words and kept his mouth shut.

      Which was stupid, really, considering he had no intention of having a relationship with this woman.

      “Always eat out?” She looked around his kitchen, and he wondered if he should apologize. For what, he didn’t know.

      “Nothing wrong with that. There’s only me. And I like to eat out.” His words sounded gruff, but he was okay with that.

      “Oh, I understand perfectly,” she said with irritating amusement in her voice. “You don’t have to explain to me.”

      “I wasn’t explaining to you, I was merely—” His jaw twitched. Why did he get defensive around her? She was a nice woman and he acted like a jerk when she was around. The throbbing in his ankle now matched the pounding in his head. He blamed his attitude on that.

      She held up her hand. “I didn’t come here to fight.” She glanced at his ankle. “Besides, I’d just have to trip you and I’d win.” She laughed.

      The pain in his ankle increased tenfold.

      “Let’s start again. I came here to give you dinner.” She pointed at his foot. “I hear you sprained it.”

      “Yeah.”

      “I’m glad it’s not broken.”

      He took a deep breath, trying to keep his aggravation to himself. The medication kicked in and his eyelids drooped.

      “Well, I’d better go. Just wanted to drop that off,” she said cheerfully. Callie started to walk past him and he grabbed her arm. Her soft, slender, warm-to-the-touch arm. “Don’t go,” he whispered.

      Surprise flared in her eyes.

      “There’s so much food here. Stay and have dinner with me.” He heard himself say it but couldn’t believe the words had jumped out of his own mouth. The meds brought back the niceness in him. He knew it had to be deep down in there somewhere.

      She hesitated.

      “Please?” What is the matter with me? Run, hide, before it’s too late!

      “Okay.”

      They stood there a moment looking at each other, and adrenaline shot through him. He would not fall for this woman. But there was no law that said he couldn’t enjoy her company.

      Just this once.

      

      It was all Callie could do not to laugh at the way Brad maneuvered around the kitchen. She wasn’t the cruel sort, but it was obvious this man wasn’t used to physical pain or inconvenience.

      “That was a great meal, really, Callie. Thank you.” Brad settled onto the sofa beside her.

      “You’re welcome.” Her fingers worked through the back of her hair. She hoped it wasn’t too flat from the rain.

      “Where did you learn to cook like that?”

      She shrugged. “Aunt Bonnie doesn’t enjoy cooking, and she’s always been too busy running the Peaches & Cream businesses to spend much time in the kitchen. So, wanting to help her out, I sort of picked it up myself. Watching the cooking channels helps.”

      “Well, I’m impressed. As I said, I avoid the kitchen.”

      “It’s always good to challenge yourself, you know.”

      “Oh, are you the expert now?” he teased.

      “Well, I am building a house, after all.” She straightened in her seat and took a contented breath.

      “You think you could take over for me tomorrow so I could let my ankle heal?”

      She whipped her head around to him and he laughed.

      “For a minute there, I thought you were serious.”

      He leaned in toward her and whispered, “I was serious.” He winked.

      His breath brushed against her cheek. Chill bumps climbed her arms. She wanted to move but couldn’t so much as breathe. Brad looked deeply into her eyes, then traveled down to her mouth as his head tilted forward, leaning closer, closer. She couldn’t believe this was happening, not after the way he’d treated her on the site. Did Brad Sharp actually…like her? Like the slight touch of a breeze, his lips barely lit upon hers. And she let out a hiccup that shook the sofa.

      Her eyes flew open. Brad blinked and pulled away.

      It was a curse. Thanks, Mom.

      Callie mentally shook herself. What was she thinking? By the look on Brad’s face, she’d say the situation had caught him by surprise, as well. Or maybe it was just the hiccup.

      “It’s getting late. I’d better be going. Just bring my dishes to the work site whenever you’re finished with them.” Practically sprinting to the door, she turned with a wave before he could haul himself off the sofa. “Hope you feel better.” Hiccups punctuated the night air as she scurried to her car.

      

      Once inside, Callie tried to catch her breath and straighten out her thinking. She wasn’t sure why she’d decided that bringing Brad dinner was a good idea. Maybe because she felt bad about his ankle, or because she wanted to find out if he, too, thought it was suspicious that she’d been sent to his job site and he’d been sent to her salon. But it certainly hadn’t occurred to her that they’d end up almost kissing on his couch.

      It was probably just the painkillers, that’s all. Well, that would explain his behavior—but it wouldn’t explain the fact that her heart was still pounding from the feel of his lips on hers.

      Hiccup.

      

      Brad put his palm against his forehead and leaned his head against the back of the sofa. His mind was cloudy from the meds, but he was alert enough to know he had just tried to kiss Callie Easton. What was the matter with him? Number one, he refused to get entangled with a woman his brother had forced on him, and number two, he’d only known her for a few days. Not only that, but he wasn’t staying in Burrow forever. So what was the point of a relationship here? He had to blame it on the meds. He just didn’t work that fast under normal circumstances. Now she probably thought he was a real player.

      “I blew it again,” he said, feeling Hammer’s