Read Keeping Katie (A Mother's Heart #1) for Free Online Page B

find so many layers to this woman. Now there was this new side to her. This courage. The whole time she’d talked about her husband, there was a strength in her voice. Her husband’s death, and the circumstances surrounding it, saddened her. But she had dealt with it. She was not the type of woman to fall apart when left without a man.
    Once again, he knew this woman was no drifter. So why was she here? What would make her pick up her daughter and leave home, only to end up waiting tables in a town like Wyattville?
    “You intrigue me,” he said, shocking himself by saying the words aloud.
    She opened her eyes and looked at him, surprised. Then he saw the slight tightening around her mouth, the stiffening of her shoulders.
    “I’m just a novelty,” she said, her voice hard and cold. “Someone you haven’t known all your life.”
    He thought about that. There might be something in what she said. He’d been back in Wyattville for ten years, and none of the women in town had sparked his interest. Hell, he
had
known most of them all his life. Maybe there was something in the fact she was new in town, but he thought there was more to it. She wasn’t the first unattached stranger to visit Wyattville.
    “No,” he said, turning to get a clearer view of her face. “I don’t think that’s it.”
    She met his gaze head-on. “It must be my raving beauty, then,” she said, sarcasm lacing her voice.
    He reached up and brushed the hair away from her face. It was all wrong. Her hair, short and lifeless, took away from her beauty. His fingers strayed to her temple, the softness of her skin drawing him, pulling him toward her. She trembled ever so slightly, while her eyes softened. “You are lovely, you know.” He realized only as he said it that it was true.
    Her eyes widened, making her look even younger, more vulnerable. Then they shut down, closing him out. “I’m not interested,” she said, her voice sounding far-off, shaky.
    “Liar.” He whispered the word, but she flinched as if he’d hit her.
    Something undefinable sparked in her eyes. “How dare you.” But there was no potency in her words, no conviction.
    He shifted on the step, moving closer, one hand slipping behind her while the other wove itself into her hair. He planned to kiss her. When the idea had first entered his mind, he couldn’t say. He told himself he wanted to comfort her, but he knew in a flash that comfort had nothing to do with what he wanted to give her. He only knew he wanted to taste her, to feel her lips under his.
    He lowered his mouth to hers, anticipation sparking a deeper yearning … and stopped cold. Her eyes spoke volumes. She desired him, and she was angry about it. But more than anything else, she feared it. Taking a deep breath, he removed his hand from her hair and eased away from her.
    “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment.
    She didn’t answer, and he turned back to look at her. She sat coiled within herself, lost in her own thoughts.
    “I guess it’s too soon,” he said, although he didn’t believe that was the problem.
    “Yes.”
She nodded without looking at him.
    “Well, we have plenty of time.” She glanced at him quickly then, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing. “I mean …” He meant to say something to reassure her, but he didn’t know what.
    “No,
Sheriff,”
she said, and there was steel in her voice once again. “There is no
we.
Not now. Not ever.” She rose from the steps. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d remember that.” Reentering the house, she closed the door firmly behind her.
    As he watched her go, Alan wondered what she was running from. More than that, he questioned what he planned to do about it. Too many things about this woman didn’t add up, and he’d had every intention of finding out the truth about her. Now there was this other feeling, this attraction, creeping up on him, and he didn’t quite know how he was going to deal with it, either. For the moment, he would