Waiting for You by Heather Huffman Read Free Book Online Page B

promised, returning the hug.
    “Aunt Joan, Uncle Mason, this is Karise – the friend we made in Boston and our new architect.” Kate made introductions.
    Karise worked really hard to avoid eye contact with Aidan while she exchanged pleasantries with Kate’s family. For his part, he seemed content to play with Jonathan, who obviously adored him. She knew this because she watched him every chance she got. If it was possible, she’d forgotten how sexy he was in the two short weeks since they’d seen each other last. Her time in Ecuador had dulled the experience, softened it. Now the whole thing came back in full force. He was a beautiful man, and she wanted to wrap herself around him.
    Her attention was drawn away from Aidan by Mason. “Did you bring your portfolio with you? We’d love to see some of your ideas.”
    “No, I didn’t. Most of my work has been in the corporate setting so far.” Karise felt woefully unprepared for her new undertaking. Now they probably saw it, too.
    “You didn’t bring your sketchbook?” Aidan interjected.
    “Excuse me?” Karise no longer wanted to wrap anything around him, except perhaps her hands around his throat.
    He read her expression and grinned. “Your sketchpad is full of ideas for houses. There were a couple that would look amazing on this property.”
    “Really?” Kate brightened so much Karise found herself offering to go retrieve the sketchpad.
    “I’ll walk you back. It’s getting pretty dark.” Aidan handed Jonathan to Gavin and extended his arm to Karise. She couldn’t turn him down without looking like a jerk, so she grudgingly placed her hand on his arm, allowing him to lead her away.
    Determined not to be rendered a total idiot by this man yet again, she tried making small talk once they were alone. “How have you been?”
    “Very well. And you?”
    “Great, actually.” Karise meant it. Present discomfort excluded, she felt better about life than she had in a very long time.
    “Really?” He stopped walking to look at her.
    Karise wasn’t sure what he was searching for, but she found herself opening up to him yet again – though she had no clue why. “Yes, really. Ending the engagement with William was difficult, mostly because I felt like a royal ass, but it was the right thing to do. Luckily, my brother was in town when everything happened. He whisked me away to Ecuador with him. It wound up being just what I needed.”
    “So, things are better with Devon now?”
    Karise tucked away the fact that he’d remembered her brother’s name. “They are. A lot of healing took place. And I got to meet his wife. She’s lovely. I think we’re going to be great friends. She says it’s good to have a sister.”
    “That’s fantastic.” There was true warmth in his voice.
    “Yeah, it is.” Karise felt the tension melting away. She was enjoying their conversation. “So really, how have you been?”
    He opened the door of the cottage for her and stood aside for her to enter. “Business out east went well, and now I get to be home for a while. That’s a good thing.”
    “You had business out east? I thought you were in Boston for the showing.”
    “I was. But I was in that neck of the woods for business; otherwise I would have had to pass on the showing. I don’t have the Nichols’ budget.”
    “Most don’t.” Karise left Aidan in the living room so she could sift through the boxes in the bedroom.
    “You’re a McAlister,” he reminded her. “I’m not sure you and I have the same budget, either.”
    She stopped searching and turned in his direction. “That’s Devon and Alex’s inheritance, not mine.”
    “You’re right. I’m sorry I said it.” The smile he gave her was genuinely contrite, almost sheepish. It was an expression she hadn’t seen before on him, and it was entirely endearing.
    Karise turned back to her boxes, chanting to herself, “I will not nibble. I will not nibble.”
    “What won’t you nibble?” Aidan had come to