Millionaire on Her Doorstep by Stella Bagwell Page B

horses. “I’m the one who’s as boring as vanilla pudding,” she called over her shoulder.
    Adam could have told her his favorite flavor was vanilla. He could have gone after her and took pleasure in tasting the sweetness of her lips. But he’d made a pact with her to be just friends . And he couldn’t risk jeopardizing the fragile truce they’d struck between them. This past week, he’d learned that having her company like this was much better than not having her company at all.
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    The next morning, Maureen was surprised when Adam invited her to ride into work with him rather than drive her own vehicle.
    A week ago, she would have instantly found an excuse not to accept his offer of a lift. But after last night, she was beginning to believe he really did want their relationship to be friendly. And since they were both going and returning to the same place, Maureen decided taking one vehicle would be the practical thing to do.
    The twenty-mile trip into town passed quickly as they discussed the day’s schedule ahead of them. Once there, Adam stopped at a bakery long enough to let Maureen. pick up a couple of sweet rolls, then
she went to work in the lab and he in his office. She didn’t see him again until quitting time that evening when he came back to the lab to fetch her.
    â€œReady to go home?” he called to her.
    Maureen looked up from the microscope and glanced over her shoulder to see him standing in the doorway. He was dressed more like a businessman today, in dark trousers and a white shirt. The clothes gave him a suave appearance that no doubt turned the heads of all the secretaries and VIPs who met with him. But as for Maureen, she preferred to think of him as he’d been last night—in old boots and jeans, the battered gray hat dipped low on his forehead and a shadow of beard on his face.
    Slipping off her glasses, she said, “Just give me a minute to put these tests away.”
    â€œI’m in no hurry,” he said, then walked over to where she was stashing away several tubes of soil and sludge. “In fact, I hope you’re not in a big rush to get home. I’d like to drop by my place to see how the carpenters are faring.”
    She hadn’t expected him to be making a detour this evening. But after last night she could hardly suspect his motives. If he’d really wanted to try to take up where they left off at the swimming pool, he’d had plenty of opportunities. In fact, the more Maureen thought about it, the more confused she became.
    From the moment she arrived to work at Sanders, she’d told herself she couldn’t let anything happen between her and Adam. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t allow anything to happen. But still, she had to admit it had been deflating, even disappointing, last night when he hadn’t kissed her. And
the whole situation was making her wonder if she was losing her mind.
    â€œThat’s fine with me,” she told him. “I don’t have any errands to run.”
    Adam helped her put away the last of the material she’d been using, then the two of them left the building through a back exit. Outside, the evening sun was still hot and it burned through Maureen’s thin blouse as they walked to Adam’s truck.
    â€œI still haven’t gotten used to the climate here,” she admitted to him. “During the day I nearly keel over from the heat and at night I’m shivering. Does it never change?”
    â€œIn the winter. It stays cold all the time. After the years you’ve spent living in Houston, all the snow might have you deciding you don’t want to live here after all.”
    Was that what he was hoping for? she wondered, then shook away the suspicious thought. It didn’t matter whether Adam wanted her here or not. She’d come to Ruidoso and Sanders to make a new life for herself. Adam Murdock Sanders wasn’t going to be a part of