All I Want Is You (A Chester Farms Novella) by Keri Ford Read Free Book Online Page B

the back of her neck with her hands. "This was not part of the plan."
    "They'll probably be pissed off for a while. You're their only daughter?"
    She nodded. "Yeah."
    "Then they'll come around."
    “I don’t know. I knew I could never talk to them about it, even though I have been planning a business of my own for years.”
    “I’m sorry. That’s just not right.”
    She shrugged it off. "Maybe I need to tell them at the start of Christmas break. They can be mad and it won't be a problem to stay here and work."
    It took all he had to give her one last pat and pull his hand away. He wanted to do so much more than just lightly pat her arm. Like pull her in for a hug. "It is the holidays, too. Be sure to have some fun and don't work through all of it."
    A big smile crossed her face and she shook her head. "I love Christmas. It's my favorite time of year. I'm the one on the roof hanging lights and dragging the tree out." She lifted a shoulder. "I won't have that this year."
    "Do it to the shop. Lots of people decorate businesses for that."
    She laughed. "I'll have to see what I can do. I didn't exactly pack boxes of Christmas decorations with me when I 'went off to college' in August. I can string some popcorn together."
    "I bet we can figure something out." As in the boxes and boxes of Christmas stuff in the attic right here at Chester Farms. Years ago they'd decorated this place to the nines for the kids. Now that they were older, they all headed to south Texas to be closer to Mrs. Jana's family over the holidays. Those old decorations were just sitting. He'd bet anything he could chop a tree down out of the woods.
    He stared down at her a moment longer. All this time he was thinking he needed money to do something for her, but maybe that wasn't what he needed at all.
    You go out, you eat. That's just what happened. Tasha was no normal girl though and maybe he needed to start thinking about that. There was a lot he could do with her that wouldn't cost him anything but a little time. Time that would be well spent.
    She pushed hair behind her ear again and that was the last of that. He reached up and freed it. "I wish you wouldn't do that."
    Red tinted over her cheeks. "Habit."
    "It's pretty and you wad it up." He pulled his hand away, letting his fingers ease through the silky-smooth strands. He wanted to cup the back of her neck, get his fingers tangled in her hair and bring her in against him. He didn't.
    "Thank you." She reached up and touched that same bit of hair he just freed. She paused and her shaky hand lowered and crossed under her chest. "Do you think they noticed us missing inside?"
    Probably so, but he grinned. "Probably not. You've never seen the Chesters over the dessert table, have you?"
    She shook her head. "No."
    "We have at least five minutes before anyone notices." Or at least Sam. Whitney no doubt noticed within seconds. Mrs. Jana next. Wade and then Tate. Unless Tate had already found some paper to draw on. In that case, Tate wouldn’t notice if Whitney put a bow in his hair. He faced the fields and braced his hands on the porch rail.
    She turned around on the railing and leaned back against it. Making the turn brought her a step closer to him so that her arm brushed along his. She glanced up through her lashes with a look that jacked up his body temperature. The uptick turn of her lips was what really sent his blood rushing through his veins. Her head tipped toward him. "I think you're lying a little."
    "It's possible."
    "Normally I wouldn't be okay with that."
    "Good to know. What other things can I get away with that normally wouldn't be okay?"
    Color filled her cheeks as she kept her gaze on his. "Probably a lot."
    He turned and rested a hip on the railing to see her better. "When I do something stupid a week from now, I'm going to remind you of that."
    "Who says you will?" She shifted her weight and ended up closer to him.
    "Sam Chester. He claims when it comes to women, men and mistakes go hand in