Waiting for You by Heather Huffman Page B

convince you otherwise.” He rose slowly to his feet, coming to stand directly in front of Karise. She looked up at him, waiting to see what he would do next. There was a part of her that would have welcomed the persuasion . He reached a hand out to her, lifting her to her feet when she accepted it.
    With one hand on the small of her back and the other on her cheek, he placed the tenderest of kisses on her lips. Before she could melt into him, he stepped back, giving her one last longing look. Karise was bereft without his touch.
    “ The best things in life are worth waiting for.” With that promise – and she was sure it was a promise—he left her alone in the cottage.
    Karise d issolved into the chair, her head spinning from the encounter. Since crossing her threshold, Aidan had set her image of him on its head and then successfully made her want him even more by not persuading her to want him. She wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but it was disconcerting to say the least. At this rate, she was in danger of losing herself to a man she wasn’t even in a relationship with. In a frustrated huff, Karise rose from her chair and went to get dressed. She was here to do a job, and it was time she got to it.
    The Karise who sat across the table from Kate at breakfast was much more poised than the one who’d risen from the overstuffed chair. Even her eagle-eyed friend didn’t sense anything was amiss as they pored over designs and ideas for the new house. After their meeting, Kate kicked into full gear on party preparations while Karise went to walk the home site before going back to the cottage for round two of sketches.
    Time passed too quickly. She barely had a chance to check in with Devon before getting ready for the party. Armed with the knowledge that a cowboy theme was the order of the day, Karise dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a button-up that was the closest she could come to a western shirt, and her boots. She braided her hair because it seemed the thing to do. She inspected her reflection, thinking she was a poor excuse for a cowgirl, but then again, she had spent more than a decade in Boston so it was probably to be expected.
    Given Kate’s occupation, Karise shouldn’t have been surprised at the transformation the winery had undergone in a few short hours, but she still had to admit she was impressed. Even more striking was that despite the pony rides, petting zoo, and endless tables of food, Kate managed to make the party feel like a child wonderland and not a pompous display of wealth. Of course, the exuberant dog bounding around with his tongue lolling did a lot to make the scene more down-to- earth.
    “You look cute,” Kate observed as she handed Karise a bag of balloons. “Can you take these to Gavin? He’s got a helium tank out back.”
    Karise would have told Kate she looked nice as well, but she’d already turned her attention to the caterers unloading large silver chafing dishes that smelled suspiciously like barbeque. Karise’s stomach grumbled. She placed a hand on her belly in hopes of silencing it as she went in search of Gavin.
    He smiled and waved when she approached, accidentally letting go of the balloon he was in the process of tying. “Damn.”
    Karise caught the balloon as it sailed by her head. “This is so cool. Jonathan is a lucky kid.”
    “Kate is pretty amazing, isn’t she?” His grin deepened.
    “I do have to admit I didn’t peg the two of you as big cowboy types, though.”
    “Jonathan loves old westerns. Don’t ask me why or how Kate discovered that, but he does. I think it has something to do with late- night desperation when he had colic.”
    “Makes sense.” It didn’t really, but Karise knew nothing about child rearing, so who was she to say?
    “And Kate grew up in New Mexico. She’d never admit as much, but sometimes I think she misses it. Maybe we’ll go there for our next vacation.”
    Karise had never seen Gavin ramble. She couldn’t be sure