Royal Holiday Baby by Leanne Banks Page A

in Dallas. Doyle’s into everything and he happens to have a large mobile home the Gordons can use until their house is rebuilt. Should be ready in two days.”
    Tina dropped her jaw in surprise. “Two days? My goodness, that’s fast. How in the world did you—”
    He rubbed his jaw. “You give me a couple minutes to think and a shower, and I’m good.”
    â€œThank you. I’m sure the whole family will be thrilled.”
    â€œI don’t know about Matthew. He looked like he was getting attached to my chair and my remote.”
    She laughed in agreement then silence descended betweenthem. “Is there anything else I can get for you?” she asked, rising.
    He rose to his feet too and shook his head. “No, I’m hitting the sack. You should do the same. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long one.”
    She walked to the door and turned around, startled to find him mere inches from her.
    He lifted his hand to her chin. “I mean what I say. Part of the reason you came here was to rest.”
    She nodded, determined to ignore the way her heart was pounding in her chest. “Yes, I’ve done that.”
    He paused a half-beat. “So you don’t need any more rest now?”
    She glanced. “Too much rest is boring,” she said. “Tell me you don’t agree. That is,” she added meaningfully, “if you’ve ever actually rested more than a few hours.”
    â€œYeah, I get you. I had appendicitis and that recovery drove me crazy. But I’m not pregnant and you are,” he said, stroking her jaw again. “Don’t overdo it.”
    â€œI thought I wasn’t going to have to take orders since I’m away from my country,” she said with a sigh.
    â€œI won’t be giving you the same kind of orders your brother does,” he said. “You can count on that.”

Chapter Eight
    â€œA nd why wasn’t I invited?” Daniel Logan asked as Zach flipped burgers on the large gas grill.
    Zach glanced up from the grill, surprised to see his brother. “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked, since Daniel lived in Dallas.
    â€œI was out this way because I’m looking into buying some land—”
    Zach stared in amazement at his younger brother. “You? Land? You swore you’d never do any kind of ranching again.”
    â€œYeah, well, we’ll see,” Daniel said evasively, glancing around at the crowd. “What’s going on here?”
    â€œIt’s a cookout,” Zach said in a dry tone. “Can’t you tell? Or have you forgotten since you only eat inside restaurants these days?”
    Daniel shot him a sideways glance. “What’s the deal? You barely ever invite me out here. Now you’re throwing a big neighborhood party.”
    â€œIt’s not really a party. It’s a charity thing, and I didn’t throw it,” Zach said, glancing across the large backyard at Tina fluttering from one person to the next, charming each of them. “It got thrown on me.”
    â€œWhat do you—” Daniel broke off as he gazed in the same direction as Zach. “A woman,” he said in amazement. “You mentioned something a few weeks ago on the phone about a complication, but you didn’t say it was a woman. When did you meet her? Does she live in town or out here? I can’t remember seeing her before.”
    â€œIf you can shut off your diarrhea of the mouth for just a moment, I’ll explain,” Zach said, although explaining Tina wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. “Tina and I met a few months ago and got along—” He cleared his throat. “Pretty well.”
    Daniel gave a low laugh. “How well?”
    â€œWell enough that she’s pregnant,” Zach said.
    Daniel did a double take first at Zach, then at Tina. “Damn. I couldn’t tell at first from how the dress fit her, but, yeah.” He turned