Michael's father by Dallas Schulze Read Free Book Online

woman as beautiful as you are doesn't need to twitch her nose to be bewitching," Gun said with such obvious gallantry that Megan grinned.
    "Flattery Hke that could get you any niunber of things," she said lightly.
    "Fd settle for another slice of that pecan pie you made for dinner."
    Megan chuckled, a soft warm sound that made Kel want to see if it tasted as good as it soimded. And Gun was the one who'd made her laugh. Not that it meant anything. Charm came to Gim as naturally as breathing, a fact that had never bothered Kel in the past. But it bothered him now.
    "I think there's a couple of sUces left over," Megan said. She straightened away from the railing as if to go into the house and cut the pie. Gun would go with her, and unless he wanted to trail along like a lost calf, the two of them would be alone in the kitchen.
    "It's getting late," he said abruptly.
    Gun and Megan turned to look at him, their expressions faintly surprised. As if one of the posts had spoken up, Kel thought sourly.

    **Not quite time to turn into a pumpkin," Gim commented.
    **Workdays start early on a ranch," Kel said, addressing the comment to Megan, speaking as employer to employee. "You probably have things to do before you turn in." He ignored the knowing grin that appeared on Gim's face.
    Actually, she didn't have much to do but Megan knew a dismissal when she heard one. She flushed a little, wondering if she was being gently reminded that she was the housekeeper and shouldn't be fraternizing with a friend of the family. Kel hadn't struck her as being the sort who'd care about such things but snobbery turned up in odd places.
    "Now that I think about it, it is getting late," Gun said. "Maybe I'll have a piece of that pie for breakfast in the morning."
    "I'm not sure pecan pie qualifies as a healthy start to your day." Megan smiled at him.
    "Breakfast isn't part of your job," Kel reminded her before Gun could say anything.
    Gun's grin grew even wider and he shot Kel a look she couldn't interpret. "I can probably manage to cut myself a slice of pie," he said.
    "I thought you could." Kel looked at him, green eyes clashing with blue.
    Megan felt as if she'd come in on the middle of a movie and had missed some vital piece of information. There seemed to be something going on between the two men but she hadn't the faintest idea what it was. Perhaps it was one of those strange masculine

    rituals that women simply weren't primitive enough to understand.
    "I think I will go up," she said. She said good-night to both men and went inside.
    She actually was rather tired, Megan thought. A warm bath sounded like heaven. Then she could crawl under the covers and read for a httle while. She'd bought a history of Wyoming while she was in Casper and she was looking forward to reading more about this place that felt so strangely like home to her.
    Before going upstairs, she went to the kitchen, checking to be sure that the meat for tomorrow night's dinner was thawing in the refrigerator. As Kel had so pointedly told Gun, each person was on his own for breakfast. At lunch, the men generally ate with the hands so she only had to worry about feeding herself and Colleen. Dinner was the only meal Kel would be sharing with them on a regular basis. Which was probably just as well, she thought ruefully. Considering the effect he had on her nervous system, his presence could wreak havoc on her digestion.
    Satisfied that the kitchen was in order for the next day, she snapped off the light and left the room. Her foot was on the bottom stair when she heard the door open behind her. A shiver of awareness ran down her spine even before she turned and met Kel's eyes. He wasn't close enough for her to read his expression and she sincerely hoped that his eyesight wasn't sharper than hers. If it was, she was afraid he might be able to see the way her knees weakened at the sight of him.
    **I was just going up to bed," she said, feeling the need to fill the silence.

    "I think rU