Little Secrets: Claiming His Pregnant Bride. Sarah M. Anderson

Hell, even just the way his jacket had smelled—leather and something lighter, maybe sandalwood. He’d smelled good.

      She was not fantasizing about the man. Oh, sure, he drifted through her dreams every so often, but that didn’t mean she was fantasizing about him, specifically.

      It was the fact that he had taken care of her. And she had needed to be taken care of. That was all.

      She didn’t need to be coddled anymore. She’d gotten back on her feet. Her parents and Roger had handled the entire disaster with a surprising amount of good humor—for them, anyway. But that didn’t change the fact that, moving forward, she needed to sell a house. A lot of houses. Heck, even one big sale would get her through the winter.

      While she was wishing for the impossible, she might as well ask for a pony. Sadly, Santa had never delivered on that one, either.

      As she mused, she worked on assembling a potential list of houses. A family from out of town had called and said that the husband might be relocating to Rapid City. Nothing was definite yet, but there was a good chance that they’d move and if so, Kate was going to be the one to sell them a house. Harold had gifted her with this opportunity, rather than keep it for himself.

      The Murray family had given her their standard list of requirements—three bedrooms, two baths, a fenced backyard, a two-car garage. She was putting together a list of potential homes and praying that Mr. Murray decided to take a job in Rapid City when the door jingled.

      On reflex, Kate said, “It’s a zinger of a day at Zanger. Can I help you?”

      Then she looked up at the same moment a hearty chuckle reached her ears. There was something familiar about that chuckle, warm and comforting.

      She froze. There was something familiar about the man standing in the entryway. Tall, dark. Black hair, dark eyes—that motorcycle jacket settled over his shoulders like a second skin.

      And that smile. She didn’t remember everything from her wedding day. But that smile? She’d been dreaming about that smile for a month. She was helpless to stop dreaming about it.

      It was entirely possible, she decided as she stared at him, that she was still asleep because her fantasy had just walked into her office and into her life, hotter than ever. This was the man who’d talked her off the ledge. Who’d supported her when she’d admitted that marrying Roger would’ve been the biggest mistake of her life.

      Who’d practically stripped her bare at a roadside overlook.

      “Kate,” he said, his voice stroking over her name in a way that made her toes curl. “I was hoping I’d find you.”

      Okay, that did it. She was definitely dreaming. “Seth? What are you doing here?”

      If she were dreaming, the answer would be I have come to sweep you off your feet, my darling. Let me take you away from all of this and solve all your problems.

      “I looked you up.”

      She blinked. “You did? Why?”

      “I wanted to see how you were doing.” He took another step into the office. “How are you doing?”

      Her breath caught in her throat. As odd as it seemed, not many people asked that question. The fallout from leaving Roger at the altar had shown her who her true friends were—and the number was few and far between. Really, her mother was the only one who asked that question and was actually interested in the answer.

      Except for Seth Bolton, a stranger who had seen her at her lowest moment. Instead of running, he’d stood by her side. He’d taken care of her. He’d made everything better.

      Was it any wonder she’d been dreaming of him nearly every night?

      This wasn’t possible. She could not be watching Seth walk into her office, that sexy smile on his face, asking about how she was. It simply wasn’t possible.

      “I... I’m fine,” she told him. “I mean, I’m all right.”

      “Good.” His smile deepened and she was stunned to realize that he had dimples. What a difference. That made him hot and sweet and more than everything she dreamed of. “I meant to check in on you earlier, but I had some business to deal with first.”

      She lifted her eyebrows at that. Was he serious? She was nothing to him, other than a strange afternoon that had probably become an amusing anecdote. Did I ever tell you about the time I found a runaway bride in the middle of the Black Hills?

      She would expect that if he remembered her at all, he’d remember the crazy woman who stole a limo and refused to marry the father of her child. Nobody should’ve found her desirable. Memorable, maybe. Definitely not someone worth worrying about.

      “Well, as you can see, everything’s okay.” That was a gross generalization. She was exhausted and hormonal and worried sick about how she was going to make everything work out.

      But she wasn’t the same lost woman he’d found by the side of the road, either. She held her head high and faced every challenge she met with open eyes. She had a job and a purpose. She didn’t need to be coddled anymore.

      Not even by someone as attractive as Seth Bolton. Was it possible that he was even more gorgeous now? He took another step closer and she swore she could feel the tension between them hum, like he’d plucked the string of a violin.

      The jacket was the same, but he had on a gray T-shirt with some sort of logo on it and a pair of well-worn jeans that were black. They hung low on his hips and she realized she was staring at the vee of his waist as if she’d never noticed that part of a man before.

      She jerked her gaze back up, her cheeks hot. His lips quirked into a smile that did things to her. Things she hadn’t felt in over a month.

      No, she scolded herself. It was one thing to fantasize about a great guy she’d never have to face again. It was a completely different affair to lust after a flesh-and-blood man standing in a real estate office.

      Why was he standing in a real estate office? She cleared her throat and tried to relocate her lost sense of professionalism. “Was there something I could help you with?” Or had he just come here to make sure she hadn’t completely fallen apart? She hoped not. She didn’t want him to think of her as this pitiful creature who couldn’t function.

      That string of tension that had been humming between them tightened as his eyes darkened. His gaze swept over her face, her body. Was he checking her out? Or just checking for signs of her pregnancy? It was still pretty early. Her clothes still mostly fit, although she’d already gone up a cup size in bras.

      “Actually, there is,” he said. “As crazy as it sounds, I’m settling down.”

      Oh. That sounded like...like he was setting up house with a girlfriend. Or a wife. Well. So much for that fantasy. She was not about to poach anyone’s man. At least now he’d stay safely in her dreams and she wouldn’t make a fool of herself over him.