A Family to Come Home To (Saddle Falls) by Sharon De Vita

wouldn’t know how much one kiss had affected her.
    “That shouldn’t have—we can’t do that—” She shook her head, trying to put a thought together. It was difficult with him standing there studying her with those glorious blue eyes that seemed to see all the things she’d never wanted a man to be able to see. “I don’t think this was a good idea.” Unable to resist, she touched her trembling fingertips to her lips. They were warmed from his kiss, and she could still taste him there, which sent a wicked shiver of delight through her.
    Jesse frowned, slipping his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t reach for her again. Kissing her was far more pleasurable than he’d even imagined. Too pleasurable. It was something he could clearly get used to very quickly. He clenched his fists in his pockets so he wouldn’t reach for her again. Hannah surely packed a wallop. “Actually, darlin’, I think it was a great idea.” He grinned then, falling back into his customary role of keeping things light with women. But somehow with Hannah it seemed wrong. And he didn’t quite understand why. “The best I’ve had all day, actually.”
    She shook her head. “No, Jesse, you have to understand something. I can’t get involved with you.”
    “Something wrong with me?” he asked mildly, trying not to let male pride get in the way.
    “No,” she said quickly, too quickly. It had him grinning again. “Nothing’s wrong with you, Jesse. It’s just I can’t get involved with any man.”
    “Don’t like men?” he asked with a frown, almost laughing at the horror that flashed across her face.
    “Of course not.” Off balance, Hannah blew out a breath. “It’s just that I don’t have any room in my life for a man.”
    “I see. Unless I miss my guess, though, you must have been involved with a man at some point.” At her questioning look he continued. “You have a daughter, Hannah, and unless you adopted her, and I doubt that since she’s the mirror image of you, you were involved with a man at some point.”
    “Yes,” she admitted hesitantly, not wanting to go into an explanation about her past. “But that was in the past.” Stubbornly, she lifted her chin. “I…I… Jesse, it’s just not feasible for me to get involved with you. Please understand?”
    The fear and pleading in her eyes made him back off. He’d obviously been right about someone hurting her deeply, but he had a feeling today with everyone’s emotions strung tight that it might not be the best time to get into it.
    “Well, I don’t reckon I can understand something you haven’t clearly explained to me, but for the moment we’ll let it go.” At his words, her shoulders slumped in relief.
    “Thank you,” she said softly.
    “You’re welcome.” He stepped back, dropping his arms to his sides. “Now, I came in here to rustle up something cool for Tommy and I to drink. Think you might be able to help me out with that?”
    “Absolutely.” Turning out of his arms, she reached over her head to open a cabinet and remove two glasses, deciding to ignore how shaken she was. “Tommy usually likes a glass of cold lemonade in the afternoon.” She headed toward the fridge and pulled out the icy-cold pitcher of pink lemonade she’d just made. “If you’ll hand me that tray sitting on the shelf up there.” She pointed and he managed to reach it without the step stool she kept handy for just such occasions. She set the glasses and the pitcher on the tray, then scooted by Jesse to grab some white napkins from the counter before setting those on the tray as well.
    “Would you like a snack or anything, Jesse? Are you hungry?”
    He laughed, then shook his head as he took the tray from her. “No, darlin’, but thanks for the offer.” He cocked his head. “Are you really as good a cook as Tommy claims?”
    “Absolutely,” she said proudly, slipping her hands into her apron pockets. “And I’m sure during the next few days you can judge