Cowboy Take Me Away by Soraya Lane Page A

focused on her son. When he was with her, nothing else mattered—not even Chase King. She was a mom and that was just the way it had to be.
    â€œSorry, sweetheart, I was just about to come back up and check on you.”
    â€œWho’s that?” he asked, peering over her shoulder as she cuddled him.
    Hope turned slowly, taking a deep breath and holding Harrison even tighter. His legs were looped around her waist and he leaned back to get a better look at Chase when she faced him. This was a moment she’d never imagined, not in a million years.
    Harrison, this is your dad. That’s what she should have been saying. Only she’d planned on keeping this a secret forever, or maybe she just hadn’t accepted that this was something she had to face one day. Instead she took a deep breath and forced a smile, her heart starting its rapid beat.
    â€œSweetheart, this is mommy’s friend Chase. Chase, this is Harrison.”
    â€œHarris,” her son said, wriggling to get down. “Only Mom calls me Harrison.”
    Hope forced her breath out, her lungs constricted enough without forgetting to exhale. The sensible part of her knew that there was no way Chase would put two and two together, that all he’d see was a cute kid and not even think about who his father might be. As far as he was concerned she’d had a husband, and he was the dad. But another little part of her wondered if he might see the resemblance, if the deep brown eyes mirroring his would set off something inside him that told him the truth.
    She watched, helpless, as Harrison took a couple of steps closer to Chase, his teddy tucked firmly under one arm now as he sized up the man in front of him.
    â€œHey, Harris,” Chase said, dropping to his haunches and holding out his hand. “I’m a friend of your mom’s from way back when she was at college studying to be a veterinarian.”
    Harrison eyed him, not taking his hand but watching him anyway.
    â€œHow about a high five instead?” Chase asked, holding up his hand and grinning when Harrison touched palms with him.
    â€œWhy were you touching my mom before?” Harrison asked.
    Hope clamped a hand over her mouth, meeting Chase’s gaze as they both tried not to laugh. She could see that he was finding keeping a straight face even harder than she was.
    â€œThat’s a great question, buddy,” he said, still staying at eye level with Harrison, facing his accuser. “You’re pretty protective over your mom, huh?”
    Harrison nodded and she moved closer to her son, dropping a hand to his shoulder.
    â€œChase used to be Mommy’s best friend,” she told him, letting Chase off the hook. “He was trying to help me with the, ah, coffee machine.” She didn’t like lying to her son, but it wasn’t like she had another option right now. Besides, if she was honest with herself, she’d been lying to him all his life where Chase was concerned.
    â€œHow about I make that coffee,” Chase said, clearing his throat and rising. His eyes were dancing with humor, the corner of his mouth tilting upward just enough to make his dimple crease. “Black?” he asked her.
    Hope dropped a kiss into Harrison’s hair, inhaling the sweet smell of his shampoo as she took a deep breath. “Please,” she murmured.
    Never in a million years had she expected to end up in Texas again, with Chase King standing at her coffee machine, in her kitchen, and her son wriggling out of her grasp to clamber up onto a barstool to watch him.
    â€œOh yum, bagels!” Harrison announced, not noticing the box of Froot Loops and bowl she’d put out already for him. He also didn’t seem to notice it already had a bite out of it when he reached for Chase’s discarded bacon and cream cheese one, tucking straight into it.
    â€œSorry,” Hope whispered when Chase turned around.
    He just laughed. “Don’t sweat