Night of the Cougar by Caridad Piñeiro Read Free Book Online Page B

he wasn’t crazy and that it wasn’t impossible.
    Cracking another two eggs for herself, she whisked them up and poured them into a second cast-iron pan he had set on the stove to heat along with some butter.
    They worked in a companionable and comfortable silence, clearly attuned to each other despite the fact that they had barely spent any time together, even a year ago. But it had been the same way, back then, which was maybe why they had bonded so quickly.
    While the eggs were cooking, she set places at a breakfast bar off to one side of the kitchen that looked out onto a deck along the lower level of his home. The view from this side was different, providing vistas of the valleys and mountains to the west of Cat’s Claw. In the far distance there was even the hint of a church steeple above the tree line. Everywhere she looked, the area was covered with the snow that had fallen the night before.
    He joined her a moment later, carrying plates heaped with eggs and bacon. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
    Although she was a city girl at heart, she couldn’t deny that the view was breathtaking. “Gorgeous and very relaxing. I can see why you chose to come up here to heal.”
    He placed the dishes on the bar and then returned with the toast, butter and jelly. “Coffee, mugs and fixings are on the counter.”
    “You like yours light and sweet, right?” she asked, and walked over to prep the coffees.
    Galen tried not to be pleased that she remembered something as mundane as how he liked his coffee. Of course, they had shared at least three breakfasts when they had first met and been so powerfully attracted to each other.
    He sat on the stool at the breakfast bar, admiring the way her jeans molded to the shape of her ass. He wanted to touch again, but he drove away that want since he knew that as soon as breakfast was over, he had to convince her to return to town. Although he only shifted a few days a month, he feared what could happen to her if she stayed and he got free. But he worried just as much about how they could both be hurt emotionally by becoming even more involved.
    But his thoughts scattered when she turned and the lush curves of her breasts stretched the sweatshirt, which seemed to have shrunk a bit thanks to his laundering skills.
    They sat kitty-corner to each other with Jamie facing the windows while he looked toward her and the kitchen. Their knees brushed occasionally as they ate, silent once again as hunger demanded fulfillment.
    She made short work of her portion of the eggs and bacon, dragging a smile from him as she enthusiastically said, “That was delicious.”
    “Nothing better than fresh from the farm.” He had a number of local farmers and dairymen leave fresh supplies at his gate every few days. A weekly delivery from the local general store filled in anything else he might need.
    “Definitely,” she replied with a mischievous grin, snagging a piece of bacon from his plate.
    “You’ll pay for that,” he warned gruffly, but it didn’t keep her from snatching a piece of his toast also.
    He was about to tease her with the details of just how he intended to punish her when her cell phone rang.
    She made a moue of annoyance when she read the number and left the breakfast bar. Running a hand through the shoulder-length strands of her hair, she began to pace and said, “Good morning, Frank.”
    Frank, her editor. A hard-ass from what Galen recollected of their discussion about him so long ago.
    “Is it a good morning?” Frank challenged, and Galen was thankful that the cougar powers that lingered also included very acute hearing.
    “Not really. There was a major storm up here that’s kept me snowbound. It may take me some more time to reach Hawke.”
    Galen tried not to let her impersonal use of his last name bother him, not to mention the fact that she had apparently come up here primarily to interview him.
    “You have a day, Jamie. If you don’t have it by then…”
    “I know the