Jenny by Bobbi Smith Page A

nodded, her gaze meeting and holding his.
For an instant, she was lost in the depths of his intense
dark eyes. Cole was such a strong man. And he was
handsome, too-definitely more handsome than she'd
remembered. She found herself wondering why some
other woman hadn't snatched him up.
    Jenny vaguely realized that she couldn't recall Cole
ever holding her close like that before. Their time
together two years ago had been very closely chaperoned. As she thought about it, Jenny realized that
she and Cole had never really had much time alone
during their engagement. She realized, too, that although they had known each other for years, she had
never known him as a man. They had always been
friends. The startling realization made her frown, and
she tore her gaze away from his, lest he see the confusion in her eyes.
    "We'd better get to work if we're going to finish
today," she said, distracting herself.
    Jenny did not want to reflect too deeply on what
had just happened. In the back of her mind, though,
she knew there was no denying that she'd been
stunned by the sensual awareness that had rocketed
through her when she'd been crushed against Cole's
hard, lean body. She reached for the bucket of nails that Tom had brought with him, ready to go back to
work.

    "Yes, ma'am," Tom answered.
    "I'm ready if you are," Cole told her, his businesslike tone completely changing the mood that had momentarily existed between them. "Let's go to work."
    Tom didn't know what had transpired between the
two of them, and he didn't really care as long as Miss
Jenny wasn't hurt. He grabbed his own hammer and
started pounding. With Cole's help, he knew they
could easily be finished that afternoon.
    Just then Evelyn and Frances came hurrying out of
the house.
    "Jenny! Were you hurt? What happened?" Evelyn
called to her niece as they ran to the bunkhouse.
"Frances and I saw you fall, and we were worried
about you!"
    "I'm fine, thanks to Cole," Jenny answered, a little
embarrassed by their attention as she cast a sidelong
glance at Cole working beside her.
    "That was quick thinking on your part, Cole," Evelyn said earnestly, smiling at him. "Thank you. Jenny
could have been seriously injured if you hadn't been
there to save her."
    "I'm just glad I was able to help," he replied.
    He didn't look at Jenny, though he was very much
aware of her nearness. He was glad she hadn't been
hurt, but if she'd had any sense at all, she wouldn't
have been up there on the roof in the first place. Even
now as they continued to work side by side, he would have felt much better if she'd been down with the
other women where he could be sure she was safe.

    "How much more do you have to do up there? Are
you going to be much longer?" Frances asked.
    "It'll probably take about another hour with the
three of us working," Jenny answered.
    "Well, that's perfect. I was getting ready to start
fixing dinner, so, Cole, why don't you stay on and
eat with us tonight?" Frances invited.
    Cole knew the smart thing to do would be to finish
the roof and get out of there. The farther away from
Jenny he stayed, the better, but for some reason he
found himself accepting Frances's invitation. He told
himself it wasn't all that unusual for him to eat there
at the Lazy S.He had often stayed for dinner when
Paul was alive.
    "I'd like that, Frances. Thanks."

     

Cole didn't know why he'd agreed to stay. He'd come
to the Lazy S strictly to talk finances with Jenny, had
ended up working on the roof, and was now obligated
to spend even more time in her company over dinner.
    And spending time with Jenny was something he
didn't want to do.
    Again, Cole wondered why Paul had put him in
this position; he must have guessed how awkward it
would be. Paul could just as easily have picked Andrew Marsden or Lyle Stevens to do the job, especially since he'd known how Cole felt about Jenny.
    Thoughts of Paul brought Cole up short, and he
immediately regretted the