The Cowboy's Second-Chance Family. Jules Bennett

That’s what he got out of her appearance and attitude? She was seriously out of practice. Granted, she’d never had to initiate conversation or flirting with a man. Evan had asked her out and he’d taken charge. He was her first love, so...yeah, right now she was seriously out of her element. Maybe she should give up and stop trying. Had she even started, though?

      “I’m not upset,” she assured him.

      Noah grabbed his cup, but never took his eyes off her. “You hide it well, but something is bothering you. None of my business, though.”

      He rose to his feet and turned to leave the room.

      “Wait a minute,” she called. “You’re the one who seems all brooding and quiet. Over the past week you’ve barely said a word to me other than hi and bye. You talk to everyone else but me.”

      Noah glanced over his shoulder. “I speak with you over the radio every day.”

      Yeah, and that grated on her nerves because his low, gravelly voice always made her tingle and she did not want to tingle. Damn it, she didn’t know what she wanted, but she at least wanted him to stop torturing her. Maybe acknowledge her as more than an annoyance or someone not to be bothered with. But the casual greeting as he came and went didn’t sit well with her.

      Well, maybe she wouldn’t mind so much if he did the same to everyone, but it was only her as far as she could tell. Had she done something to offend him? How was that even possible when she’d barely spoken to him other than to dispatch calls through the radio?

      “Face-to-face, you ignore me.” That sounded so childish. Lucy came to her feet and sighed. “We’re like a family here, so I don’t want any tension.”

      Noah shifted to face her fully. “Are you feeling tension?”

      She was feeling sexually frustrated, but she figured announcing that wasn’t professional. Was this what it would be like getting back into the dating world? She wasn’t so sure she was up for this game.

      Instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own. “Are you telling me you aren’t?”

      Shut up, Lucy. Just shut up.

      “Because I don’t try to cover my feelings,” she went on, ignoring that inner voice. “Attraction is a natural emotion.”

      When his eyes widened, she seriously wanted to die. He seemed shocked, whether at her blunt statement or the fact he wasn’t feeling the same, she had no clue. Regardless, it was out there now and she really, really wished she didn’t always take the advice of her therapist and tell people how she felt.

      McCoy came back through, whistling and holding his own cup of coffee. At the same time, another call rang through the room, effectively severing the awkward silence that had descended since she’d opened her mouth and opted to pour out her thoughts.

      Lucy took the interruption as a sign that it was indeed time to shut up and stop telling Noah...well, anything. She quickly answered the call and sat back down at her desk. By the time she was done, Noah and Sergeant McCoy were gone and Lucy’s heart was still beating like mad.

      She’d stepped over some professional boundary and she had no clue how to come back from that. Noah was now well aware of how she felt about him, and from the look on his face, he didn’t want to accept it.

      Fantastic. How on earth did she come back from this embarrassing moment?

      * * *

      Okay, cooking wasn’t necessarily her thing. Actually, she was terrible at it. But Lucy knew how to bake and actually loved doing it.

      Which was why she found herself standing on the porch of one adorable little gray-and-white cottage on the edge of town. Lucy secured the basket of cranberry scones under one arm and rang the doorbell with her free hand.

      Nerves gathered in her belly and she couldn’t believe she was actually standing here. Hadn’t she made a big enough fool of herself yesterday? At work, no less.

      Maybe she should just leave the basket on the swing and—

      The door opened, cutting off her thoughts. Once she recovered from the fact she was actually at Noah’s home, it took every single ounce of self-restraint she had not to burst out laughing.

      “Are you wearing—”

      “Yes. What are you doing here?”

      Lucy didn’t know whether to be extremely confused or thoroughly entertained at the sight of Noah Spencer sporting a plastic tiara, dangling clip-on jeweled earrings, and a purple beaded necklace.

      Before Lucy could make a comment of any sort, a little girl popped out from behind Noah’s legs. She too wore fancy accessories, but she had on a sparkly dress with a full skirt that went all the way to the floor.

      Lucy immediately glanced back to Noah. He offered a simple smile, flashing that dimple at the corner of his mouth.

      “This is my daughter, Emma. Emma, this is one of Daddy’s coworkers, Lucy.”

      His daughter. Lucy hadn’t heard a word about a little girl. Noah was one private man and now Lucy felt even sillier coming here unannounced.

      “You look beautiful,” Lucy stated as she bent down to the pre-schooler. “Do you always play dress-up with your dad?”

      “I played with my mommy, but she’s not here anymore.” Emma’s little chin wobbled for a second before she continued. “Daddy lets me put anything on him, but not a dress.”

      Lucy laughed. Apparently Noah had his limits even with his little girl.

      Emma smiled up at her dad and Noah nodded to her. When the little girl turned her wide blue eyes back to Lucy, Lucy couldn’t help but smile in return.

      “We have tea parties,” Emma answered. “Daddy puts extra sugar in it.”

      As she spoke again, Lucy realized the little girl had the cutest dimple on the side of her mouth, just like her father. Could she be any more adorable?

      A flash of old dreams coursed through Lucy’s mind. At one time she and Evan had wanted children. They’d bought their home with all the acreage and added two horses, with the intention of filling their home with kids. Then he’d been deployed and that had been the end of her dreams for a family.

      She’d always assumed those wishes had died with him, but seeing little Emma brought them back again. A lump settled in her throat, blocking her words.

      “Come on in.” Noah stepped back, placing a hand on Emma’s shoulder to pull her with him. “Sorry. It’s cold out there.”

      Lucy stepped over the threshold and attempted a smile to mask the unexpected hurt. “You’ve just got to get that Southern blood used to this. It’s really not cold in the grand scheme of things.”

      He grunted as he shut the door. Emma ran through the house and disappeared, apparently getting back to her interrupted tea party. Lucy clutched her basket as more doubts crept in.

      “I’m sorry,” she began as she turned back to Noah. “I shouldn’t just show up unannounced. Especially after yesterday, but... You know, it’s really difficult to talk to you when you’re dressed like an overgrown princess.”

      Noah pulled the tiara from his head and snapped the earrings off his ears, but remained in the beads. “What brought you here, Lucy?”

      Was it completely pathetic that she liked how he said her name? Most likely, but she couldn’t help how she felt. She could, however, keep her mouth shut on that subject and try to get back on some level ground with him.

      “I made scones for you.” She held up the basket and smiled. “I didn’t know you had a little girl or I would’ve made some of my monster cookies.”

      “Monster cookies?” he asked as he used his fingertip to push aside the checkered towel to see inside the basket.

      “It’s