Their Forever Family: Her Family for Keeps / A Father for Poppy / His Little Christmas Miracle. Abigail Gordon

Homework, baths, the works.”

      “Sounds like fun.” Duncan knew Rey loved being a dad, and he hoped to be one someday, too. Having grown up surrounded by cousins, he wanted a big family of his own. He had wanted to marry Valerie and be a dad, too. That’s what had been the last straw in their relationship. They’d argued. She hadn’t wanted children. Period. She’d taken off in her car and crashed. He’d followed behind her and pulled her from the wreckage, but she’d died in his arms.

      “So what’s your lady friend’s name?” More giggling in the background, and Duncan knew his time with Rey was just about up.

      “Rebel Taylor.” Even as he said it, her name lingered in his mind, and he wanted to see her again. Soon.

      “Okay, okay, wait. Her name is Rebel? Seriously? Maybe she was just born bad with a name like that.” In his culture superstitions were everywhere, so it wasn’t a surprise his cousin said that.

      “She’s a perfectly nice woman, Rey. She has a proper name but it doesn’t suit her at all.” The thought of using her given name didn’t feel right.

      “Then why don’t you just ask her? You’ve never been shy about getting what you want, even if it’s just information.”

      “I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “There’s something with her. A vulnerability or something that’s deep. When I talked about Jamaica, she said it’s on her bucket list to do before she dies.”

      “So?”

      Was his cousin brain dead? “Seriously? Would you want to wait till you’re old to go to a place like that?”

      “Good point. That’s messed up.”

      “And she had never heard of green chili.”

      Silence on the other end for a moment. “You’re serious?”

      “Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

      “You should marry that woman.”

      Duncan blinked. “That’s a hell of a leap. From ‘This is green chili’ to ‘Will you marry me?’”

      “Well, you know this lady isn’t out for your money if she’s never even heard of green chili, and she certainly doesn’t know about the family business.” There was a snort of indignation in the background. “Just need to find yourself a woman like my Julia. She’s the best.”

      “Of course she is, but you’ve known her since we were kids.”

      “True.”

      “I’ll keep that in mind, should the occasion arise. For now, I’m just bringing a coworker to the ranch for the weekend. No big deal.”

      After signing off with Rey, he did his best to settle down for the night. A pair of haunted green eyes kept appearing in his mind’s eye. There was something, some pain, some regret, some…something she couldn’t hide. He wanted to help, wanted to take her in his arms and hold her close.

      Was it only curiosity holding him captive? Was it the shared experience of rescuing Eric bonding them when otherwise they’d have just been acquaintances? Or was he imagining something that wasn’t there, simply because he was lonely?

      Flopping facedown onto his bed, he gave up for the night. He didn’t know what the answer was, maybe Saturday would tell, but right now he needed some shut-eye.

      After a few more days of chaos in the ER and seeing Duncan only briefly, Rebel was ready for a weekend of peace and quiet, with a small side trip to meet Duncan’s elderly grandfather. Duncan had called and said he’d pick her up at eight a.m., so she was ready to go.

      She flitted around her apartment, waiting for Duncan. Was she out of her mind? Had he really invited her to meet his grandfather? What had she been thinking to agree to that? She didn’t meet the families of people she worked with. She didn’t even socialize with people she worked with. She didn’t know how many invitations she’d turned down or avoided over the last six years of her travel nursing career that had been offered by coworkers.

      The echo of their words rang in her mind.

       Come on, it’ll be fun.

       It’s just one cocktail.

       You work too much.

       Why don’t you want to come?

      They were all well meaning, and she certainly could have made more friends, but people who extended offers like that expected something in return. They wanted something from her. Wanted to get to know her, and that was out of the question.

      The doorbell rang, and Rebel’s pulse kicked into high gear. If she didn’t move, maybe he’d go away. Maybe he’d think she’d forgotten. Couldn’t she just say she’d changed her mind or gotten called into work?

      “Stop being silly, Rebel. You’re a grown woman. You can do this.” She opened the door and realized she wasn’t being silly at all. Her senses were instantly overloaded by Duncan, the epitome of a sexy Hispanic New Mexican man. A black T-shirt hugged muscles that hadn’t been apparent beneath his scrubs. It molded to his torso and defined his shoulders and trim waist. Jeans that were well loved, a little worn around the edges and fit him to perfection. A tan chamois shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing muscled forearms and strong hands. And scuffed cowboy boots that seemed a perfect fit to his heritage and personality.

      She swallowed and took in one of those deep yoga breaths she practiced every day. She’d told Duncan yoga was good for the mind, body and spirit. She needed some of that now. Gulp.

      “Wow. Don’t think I’d have recognized you out of the scrubs.” Seriously, and he smelled like a dream. “Come in.”

      She huffed out a little breath.

      This was s-o-o-o-o wrong.

      She was in s-o-o-o-o much trouble.

      “Thanks. Same to you,” he said, and indicated her state of dress in white clam-diggers that exposed her calves, a Kelly-green top, and her family tartan thrown over one shoulder.

      “You do realize you’re going to start a war with that.” He nodded to the tartan and gave a full-out grin.

      “Oh, really? Then I won’t bring it.” She reached to remove the plaid and gasped when Duncan clasped her wrist tightly in his hand.

      “Absolutely not. Don’t change a thing.” He leaned closer to her and looked down as she could only stare into his eyes. “I wouldn’t miss that for anything. It’s about time the old man had a challenge.”

      Somehow she ended up closer to Duncan with his one hand still clutching her wrist and his other pressed against her hip, reminiscent of the position they had been in the other day. Only this time there were no constraints of work, no witnesses, nothing to stop him.

      Then his gaze dropped to her mouth. Without thinking, she parted her lips and tilted her face toward him, silently begging him to kiss her.

      This was a woman who had no idea how beautiful she was and how that intrigued him. If there was no flash between them, then he’d know they were destined for friendship. But if there was a spark, that could lead them down another, more dangerous, yet much more interesting, path. Needing no further encouragement, Duncan closed the distance between them and pressed a simple, chaste kiss to her lips.

      Spark.

      Definite spark.

      Duncan’s mouth was soft and firm against hers and her lips actually tingled. The surprise of the kiss flashed all the way to her toes. Something she’d heard about but had never experienced. Then he moved and pulled her more firmly against him. One hand dove into her hair and held her head as his mouth opened over hers.

      Inside she gasped as his tongue touched hers. Oh, God, she was in trouble. Without being aware of it,