Welcome Back to Apple Grove by C.H. Admirand Page B

tone was light and his manner endearing as he tried to get her to fess up.
    “No,” she said. “But since the cat’s out of the bag, they really are adorable.”
    He straightened to his full height, puffed out his broad chest, and pounded on it with a fist. “I’m a man. Men are not adorable.”
    “Mommy calls Daddy ’dorable all the time,” Joey said, patting Patrick’s jean-clad leg.
    “Jeez,” Dan hissed. “Nothing is sacred once you become a parent.”
    Patrick grinned and nodded. “I hear the most interesting things from my nieces and nephews…out of the mouths of babes.”
    Grace realized that he’d glossed over the fact that she thought he was adorable, but she knew he’d been touched by her words if those intense glances he shot her way every few minutes were any indication. Deciding to test her theory, she took a step closer to where he stood and watched for a reaction. His body tensed. Oh my!
    For whatever reason, this handsome hunk of fireman was interested in her—the youngest of the Mulcahy sisters, the only one who didn’t know how to use power tools or a plumber’s wrench. The black sheep of the family, the only one who’d left home to make a life for herself—the only one who wasn’t wand slim.
    Maybe he was thinking about something else and it wasn’t a reaction to her nearness. Needing to find out, she moved to stand beside him and touched his arm. The muscles in his forearm jumped beneath her fingertips. She looked down at his arm until she heard his sharply indrawn breath. She glanced up and felt her heart skip a beat watching the desire swirling in his amber eyes. Desire for her.
    “Patrick, I—”
    “Grace, can you—” he said at the same time.
    They laughed together and the tense moment eased into something she hadn’t experienced yet in her life. He was focused solely on her, as if she was the most important person in the universe. The heady feeling threatened to topple her resolve not to get involved with anyone until she was good and ready to.
    “I’m ready,” she whispered. Good Lord, she hadn’t meant to say that!
    His eyebrow shot up. He bent his head until it was close to hers, and whispered, “If you knew what I wanted to do to you right now—”
    “Am I interrupting?”
    Meg’s question had Patrick clearing his throat. “I, uh, no. How’s little Deidre?” As easily as that, he’d distracted Meg.
    What was wrong with her? She’d known Patrick for a couple of years and had shared more than one meal with him over at Meg and Dan’s house. They’d always enjoyed one another’s company, but there hadn’t been this sizzle before. Why hadn’t they noticed one another on this level until now?
    He glanced her way, and sparks went zinging just beneath her skin. She fanned herself, but her heated reaction to the man just wouldn’t go away.
    ***
     
    Patrick was listening to Meg talk about Deidre but was staring at the pulse point at the base of Grace’s ivory throat. He had to get her alone for five minutes. A clever man could do a lot in five minutes—given the opportunity. Too bad he couldn’t think of anything to say. His mind had short-circuited from the moment their hands had touched.
    “Gracie?”
    Joe Mulcahy was walking across the yard toward them. “Can you and Pat give me hand with something in the barn?”
    If Grace thought the request was unusual, she didn’t act as though it was. Personally, Patrick had lived with a meddling Irishwoman until he’d moved to Ohio—no one could hold a candle to his mom when it came to sticking her nose into other peoples’ business.
    He stared at Joe until the man had to look away. He was up to something, but Pat wouldn’t find out what it was if he didn’t play along. Grace seemed to be clueless.
    “Sure, Pop. What’s up?”
    When Pat didn’t move fast enough, she looked over her shoulder and asked, “Are you coming?”
    He had to bite his lip to keep from uttering the words that came to mind. “Uh,