Her Foreign Affair by Shea Mcmaster Read Free Book Online Page A

ice bucket? There may not be room for all of this.”
    “Cabinet on the left. Top shelf.” Randi began wiping the flour from the countertop. A swift wipe with a dishtowel and the counter sparkled, ready for the next task. If only she could deal with the half sibling issue as cleanly.
    “Next to or behind the extensive tea service collection?”
    Not ready to discuss what appeared to be an obsession with tea time, Randi ignored his probing question and directed hers back to his previous comment on his marriage. “Why was it for the best?”
    “Tell me Birdie’s real name, and I’ll answer your question.” He set the wine bucket down at her elbow and leaned toward her, interfering with the movement of her right arm. “A personal question for a personal question.”
    So he wasn’t ready to go there, either. Fair enough. “What decided Drew on international law? I thought business was the family, well, business.” Some sort of import company, if she remembered. Products from Spain? Or Italy? Or both by now?
    “An extension of the family business. We’ve expanded globally. I need people with more expertise in international laws. He’s fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish, and studying Chinese. After he finishes the year here, he’ll move into an immersion program.”
    “He’s here for a year?” Randi moved away from the tempting heat of him. He still smelled of expensive leather and a touch of bay rum, that was the scent she’d found so elusive. And creamy coffee.
    It was easier to keep things light while she moved about the kitchen with her tasks. The rest of the appetizers she’d made and put in the fridge earlier came out now. Thank God for double ovens. Once more Wyatt had been ahead of her when renovating the kitchen. Double ovens and a huge Sub-Zero refrigerator. The man had liked to entertain, and he’d loved his food. All the more reason for her to start thinking heart-healthy in terms of her own diet. More than once, she’d asked herself if she’d indulged Wyatt’s preferences, hoping he’d have a heart attack. No, she honestly believed she hadn’t tried to sabotage his health. He’d been set in certain ways, and no amount of cajoling had moved him an inch.
    Randi sighed. This endless conjecture had to end sometime. Wyatt was gone. That’s all there was to it, and she had a serious situation on her hands. A potential disaster in need of delicate handling. What chance did she have of getting away with subtly breaking up Birdie and Drew and leaving it all there?
    A glance into the dining room showed the two putting the final touches on the table setting. How was she supposed to think through this situation with Court standing far too close? He occupied too many of her thoughts, which were scattered at best and completely destroyed at worst. She couldn’t seem to string two thoughts together today. The top priorities, she reminded herself, were to get dinner to the table on time, keep Court and Jordan at a distance, keep Dad occupied enough that he didn’t start wearing at her with questions she didn’t want to answer, and, oh, keep her daughter and Court’s son as far away from each other as possible. No worries. Easy. Could do it all in her sleep. If she’d managed to get any.
    Consumed by a need to put more distance between them, hoping her mind would return, she arranged the remaining deviled eggs and relish plate on a tray. She nabbed a stack of napkins and carried everything out to the family room where the game announcers were beginning their warm up. With no coffee table, she set the tray on the leather sofa between the men.
    “Thanks, sweet pea. Now don’t block the screen.”
    “Thanks, Dad. It’s a sixty inch screen. If you can’t see around me, then I guess we don’t need to be eating dinner today.”
    “Now, darlin’, don’t get yourself in a lather. I didn’t mean that at all. If anything, you could stand to add a few pounds,” Dad said. The suck up.
    “Anything I