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her as she had never been kissed. Valentine’s knees went weak, her blood thundered and tears sprang into her eyes. His touch felt so good! Nothing had ever felt so perfect.
    She was surprised when Crockett stepped away from her. “I can’t—” he said.
    “What?” she asked softly.
    “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “I may not be so different from my brother after all.”
    He walked out of the bakery. The tinkle of the bells on the door let her know he had gone. Valentine touched her lips in wonder. Maybe he regretted their kiss, but she certainly didn’t. Crockett kissed like a dream.
    Of course, he had frosted her. And what woman could resist being a lickable treat?
    Her gaze fell on the pastry board across the room.
    A new, exciting, almost shameless idea blossomed in her mind.
     
    “W ERE YOU EATING CAKE , Uncle Crockett? Did you bring us some?” Minnie asked as they sat in the truck.
    Crockett frowned. He had been hungry for something, and it wasn’t cake. “No. Why?”
    “You have chocolate on your face,” Kenny observed. “Right on your mouth.”
    Crockett cleared his throat. “I might have tried a little something sweet,” he said.
    “Valentine bakes real well, doesn’t she?” Minnie asked. “Dad says if Last was smart, he’d ask Valentine to marry him.”
    “What?” Crockett cleaned off his mouth with a handkerchief.
    “I hope he doesn’t,” Kenny said. “I don’t want Valentine to have to stay home and have more babies. I mean, I like Annette, but Valentine bakes my favorite things. Even Mom says it’s worth a drive to town just to say hello to Valentine and see what she’s got in the oven. We keep a special jar of change marked Valentine’s.”
    Crockett was astonished by Calhoun’s suggestion that Last should marry his one-night flame. It just showed how crazy Crockett had been to kiss Valentine. He had a funny feeling no one in his family would think him romancing the tempting little baker was a good thing.
    “I don’t even like chocolate,” he said.
    “Then why did you eat it?” Minnie asked curiously.
    “Because it tempted me,” he said. “But I’m giving myself a deadline for getting over it.”
    “What’s a deadline?” Kenny asked.
    “It means doing something by a certain time.”
    And he planned to get Valentine off his mind by the time her Father’s Day picnic rolled around. He had just about one month.

Chapter Five
    “You have chocolate on your face,” Mason said when Crockett walked into the house.
    “Still?” Crockett took a look in the hallway mirror and rubbed at his face again, this time removing all traces of the kiss he and Valentine had shared. “That stuff has staying power.”
    “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had time to sit around and eat bonbons lately.”
    “Shut up, Mason, you ol’ sourpuss. You had your chance at frosting.” That’s when Crockett saw the note beside the phone. “Need cowboys for charity rodeo.” He glanced up. “ Marvella is giving to charity?”
    Marvella was the owner of the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls salon in the nearby town of Lonely Hearts Station, Texas. Over time, the Jefferson brothers’ relationship with her had grown difficult. They were friends with her sister, Delilah, who owned a rival salon across the street from Marvella’s. The two salons—and the two sisters—battled constantly, for customers, for stylists, for any imagined infraction. And Marvella had never been known for her charity.
    Valentine had been working for Marvella when she’d first met Last. It had been Marvella’s idea—and her threats—that had convinced Valentine to begin the paternity lawsuit against Last. Luckily, Valentine came to her senses before any damage was done, and she’d been more than happy to leave her work as a stylist at the Never Lonely Cut-n-Gurls salon for the world of baked goods.
    “Yeah,” Mason answered. “Delilah’s got Marvella on a do-good kick, and it seems to be softening the old