Forever Wishes (Montana Brides Book 4) by Leeanna Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

I’d say hello on my way home. Sam gave me your address this morning. I hope that’s alright?”  
    “Of course it’s okay.” Erin felt a blush warm her cheeks. “Come in. I’ve just put the last batch of gingerbread men in the oven for the library tomorrow.”
    His gaze traveled down her t-shirt and jeans. “You look like you’ve had a good time.”
    “Wait until you see the kitchen. There’s flour from one end of the room to the other. It’s not a pretty sight.”
    Jake rubbed a finger along her cheek and down to her chin. “If the cookies taste as good as you look, no one’s going to care about what your kitchen looks like.”  
    Erin blew the stray strand of hair off her face again and tried to cool her overheated cheeks. “You say that now, but in the next few minutes you might be shocked.” She walked down the hallway and showed him gingerbread city.  
    It was worse than she remembered, and she’d only been gone a few minutes. “Welcome to my work in progress.” Taking a quick look in the oven, she scowled at the timer. “I managed to burn one batch, so I’m a bit paranoid about leaving them in the oven for too long.” Wiping her hands down the sides of her jeans, she headed over to the basin.  
    Grabbing a few dirty bowls, she stacked them out of the way. “Would you like a drink of lemonade?”
    “Sure, that’d be great.” He moved across to the counter and sat down on a kitchen stool.   “If the cookies taste as good as they smell you’re onto a winner.” His gaze locked on the plates of gingerbread men. “How many people were you expecting?”  
    She laughed at amazement on his face. “To be safe I cooked forty for the preschool program and another twenty for the big kids at the library. If I don’t keep the staff happy they start growling, especially when there’s food involved. Help yourself. I’ve got double what I need.” Handing Jake a glass of cold lemonade, she watched him crunch into a cookie.  
    “These are good.”
    “Thanks. My nana taught me how to bake gingerbread when I was about six-years-old.” Erin poured herself a drink and leaned against the counter. Jake looked even better than he had last night. More relaxed and less stressed. Maybe the thought of not being a hunted man had put color in his cheeks and a spring in his step.  
    Or maybe a night of hot sex and high heels had done it. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t getting her hopes up about why he’d arrived on her doorstep. She didn’t know much about what happened after a one-night stand, but the name gave her a serious clue.  
    “Did you get a hard time from Nicky about forgetting to call her?”
    Erin thought back to her carrot cake bribe and grinned. “Nothing a slice of cake didn’t fix. She’s heading back to Denver tonight for a few days.”
    “Have they decided what they’re going to do about their jobs?”
    Erin sipped her lemonade. Nicky owned her own management consultancy company in Denver. Permanently commuting between Montana and Colorado hadn’t been an option she’d wanted to consider, so she’d come up with another plan. “She’s going to see if one of her senior consultants wants to manage the day-to-day operations of the company. Nicky will work on specific projects from Bozeman and fly back to Denver for meetings. Have you known Nicky and Sam long?”
      “I’ve known Sam forever. We starved our way through college together. There’s nothing like being rock bottom broke to bring out the best in your friends.”
    “I can’t imagine you living on the poverty line.”
    “We were so broke that we wouldn’t even have come close to the poverty line. Some days we ate cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” He laughed at the disbelieving look on her face. “It’s true.”
    “Okay,” she smiled, “I’ll believe you, but only because I’m a sucker for a good story.” Grabbing a knife, she started to move a batch of gingerbread onto a plate.
    “If you want