Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) by Lynn Cahoon Page B

demanding and soft as the same time. He groaned as his body reacted to the memory. “Calm down boy, we need to figure out the lay of the land this morning.”
    A door opened and Maggie stepped into the room wrapped in an oversized towel and using a second one to dry her hair. “Did you say something?”
    “Just reacting to the view.” He stood and crossed the room. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. When his grasp lowered and started exploring, she pushed him away with a laugh.
    “Go take a shower. We’ve got to hit the Farmer’s Market this morning or we won’t have any fresh fish for tonight’s dinner. Dirk, the fish monger, sells out quick, then he leaves to go back out on the lake.” She crossed over to the dresser drawers and dropped her towel. “Of course, some of those fish probably died of shock if they were watching us last night.”
    He groaned but turned to the door she’d come from, expecting it to be a bathroom. “You’re truly evil, Maggie Castle. And if we have a chance later, I’ll make you pay for keeping me at arm’s length this morning.”
    “Just get showered. I’ll go down and start coffee.” Her laugh echoed through the room and stayed with him after he turned on the water. As he thought of her and last night, he pushed the memories out of his head. He wasn’t going to fall in love in the first town he stopped in. He had a plan for his life. A plan that didn’t involve cooking at a restaurant even if the owner was as lovely as Maggie Castle. He turned the water a little colder and thought of his motorcycle sitting at the auto repair shop.
    Ten minutes later, with a towel around his waist, he wandered through the house, led to the kitchen by the smell of fresh coffee brewing. “Tell me you have eggs and bacon. I can make you an amazing breakfast. It will be better of course, if you have some Anaheim chilies, but I’m just dreaming now.”
    He turned the corner and Maggie stood in the large modern kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand. She choked when he entered the room.
    “Come on, you have to have remembered I was here. We just talked in the bedroom…” Josh paused, seeing Maggie’s face turn beat red. He turned to where her gaze darted. A young girl sat at the counter between the kitchen and what appeared to be a family room.
    She looked at the towel around his waist, then met his eyes. “Good morning, I’m Tami. And you are?”
    “Getting dressed.” Maggie turned around and moved him into the hallway. When they were at the bedroom door, she lowered her voice. “She’s supposed to be at college. What possessed her to come home this weekend?”
    “Maybe she had a feeling you were going to be having fun.” He grinned at her. “My sister-in-law says her kids have an uncanny ability to need her right when her and my brother are feeling romantic.”
    Maggie grimaced at the thought. “Eeew, you guys talk about things like that?”
    “Actually, she told my mother but I was in the kitchen making a sandwich and overheard. I’ve never let her forget it.” He pulled her close. “You aren’t sending her back to school just because of me, are you?”
    “No, why would I send her away?” Maggie glanced behind her. “This is her home.”
    “Wait, I’m getting kicked out?” He laughed. “You should see your face, it was a joke. Let me get dressed and I’ll make that breakfast I promised you.”
    She bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I mean, Tami’s never seen me with anyone. Maybe I should just take you back to the motel.”
    “If that’s what you want, that’s fine.” He pulled her into his arms. “But maybe it’s a good thing for her to see you as a woman, not just a mother.”
    “You’re talking like an adult here. Where’s the bad boy drifter I met a couple days ago?” Maggie rested her face on his chest.
    Josh chuckled. “Oh, he’s still here. You’re just getting the version my mother is more familiar with.”
    She pushed away from him.