New Leaf by Catherine Anderson Read Free Book Online

better.” Barney hooked a boot heel over the top stool rung to rest his arms over his bent knee. “It’s completely out of character for me. I don’t do local gals. How does a guy feel when he finally meets Miss Right?”
    Jeb chuckled. “There’s no easy way to describe how a man feels, and I’m not sure all of us feel the same way.” Lowering his voice, he added, “I felt befuddled, a little scared, and a whole lot reluctant. Mandy gave me no signals at first that I stood a chance with her, and I didn’t want to get my heart broken. But even though my rational side told me to run the other direction, I couldn’t do it.” He gave Barney a wink. “When it’s the real deal, a man just knows.”
    Barney shook his head. “Taffeta Brown is totally not my type.”
    Jeb barked with laughter. “It’s entirely possible that you won’t know what your type is until you meet her.”
    Barney heard the door open behind him just then, and Amanda’s musical voice rang out. “What’s so funny?”
    Barney sent Jeb a charged look and then turned to greet his sister-in-law. She wore a parka and snow boots, and in her gloved hands, she held a tray covered with aluminum foil. Below the fur-lined hood of her jacket, her large dark eyes gleamed with curiosity. As he often had, Barney noted her resemblance to their mom.
    “I’ve been entertaining him with crazy cop stories,” he said, which wasn’t really a lie. He’d told Jeb about the shadow dance.
    “Ah.” Amanda toed a piece of wood out of her way and brought the tray to Jeb’s workbench. “Well, I saw you pull up, so I made extra sandwiches. Couldn’t juggle drinks. You guys will have to make do with that mud Jeb calls coffee.”
    Barney laughed and peeked under the foil. “Yum. Those look fabulous. How’d you know I’m starving?”
    Amanda’s cheek dimpled in a smile. “You’re
always
hungry. I wish I could stay and eat with you, but little Jeremiah is taking a nap. Bozo is babysitting.” Bozo was Jeb’s dog, a mottled brown-and-goldmastiff nearly as big as a horse. “Needless to say, I have to race right back.”
    She pushed off her hood, revealing a thick mane of dark brown hair, and stepped around to hug her husband. Jeb bent his head to plant a kiss on her cheek. Barney was glad that his brother had finally found someone wonderful. He had contentment written all over him.
    Barney’s thoughts drifted to Taffeta again. Maybe Jeb was right, and a man didn’t know what kind of woman suited him until he met her.
    •   •   •
    Taffeta had only just flipped over the OPEN sign the following morning when Barney Sterling shouldered open the front door.
Again.
This time he carried a bag of pastry along with two coffees, and her heart skittered as she watched him balance the load. For so big and muscular a man, he moved with a precise economy of motion.
    Give him no encouragement,
she reminded herself.
Chase him off with frigid indifference.
Only with the rush of cold air that came inside with him, she caught the scent of his cologne and something else exclusively his own. Saliva pooled under her tongue, and she knew it wasn’t the delicious aroma of coffee and warm cinnamon rolls that had her responding to his presence.
    This man made her yearn for everything she’d never experienced—things it seemed many other women took for granted. To be held in strong arms. To have someone treat her as though she wasspecial. Oh, and feeling sexually satisfied just once in her life wouldn’t be hard to tolerate, either. Somehow she knew instinctively that Barney would eclipse Phillip in the bedroom.
    Except she couldn’t let herself go there.
So what if he’s cute? So what if he makes your knees feel weak? So what if he loves
To Kill a Mockingbird
and can talk in depth about the scenes? Or that he looks irresistible in his uniform?
She had never understood women who drooled over men in uniforms. Now she finally got it. His badge winked at her from under the