The Rancher and His Unexpected Daughter by Sherryl Woods Page A

in her voice contradicted the statement and gave him hope. “I think we both know that’s not so,” he said. “But I’m willing to slow down and take things nice and easy, if that’ll give you some peace of mind.”
    â€œWhy is it that peace of mind is the last thing I feel around you?” she asked plaintively.
    He winked at her. “Darlin’, I think that’s exactly what we’re going to find out. Now, why don’t you and Jenny stick around for dinner? Let’s see if we can’t get things on an even keel again.”
    Janet protested, but she didn’t put much oomph in it. After seeing her resort to takeout the Sunday before, he could see why. Any meal she didn’t have to prepare herself must have seemed like a godsend. Just like any meal he didn’t have to eat alone these days was a genuine pleasure for him.
    If he had his way about it, there were going to be a whole lot more evenings starting off just like this one.

Chapter Seven
    J anet couldn’t quite decide whether or not to be irritated at Harlan’s high-handedness in sending Jenny off to work with Cody. She knew he had done it just so he could end the stalemate she had started following that devastating kiss.
    Jenny’s shocked reaction had been partly responsible for her retreat, of course. But it was her own response that had truly shaken her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to deal with a man as strong-willed and compelling as Harlan Adams, a man who made her heart pound and her blood sizzle with lust and temper in equal measure. She resented the fact that he had forced her into confronting the issue by facing him again.
    Still, once dinner was on the table, her exasperation dwindled at an astonishing rate. Apparently she could be bought for a decent meal she didn’t have to cook herself. Tender chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, vegetables—it was heaven.
    Jenny wasn’t nearly so easily won over. She sat at the dining room table in stubborn silence, glaring from Janet to Harlan and back again. Apparently she had belatedly guessed that the price of her afternoon with Cody was this unwanted reunion. By the end of the meal Janet’s nerves were raw from the tension in the room.
    â€œI think we should go,” she said the minute they’d finished dessert. The housekeeper had served a chocolate silk pie that had almost inspired Janet to ask for the recipe until she’d reminded herself what a disaster she’d make of it. “I know eating and running is impolite, but we have things we should be doing.”
    Harlan regarded her with undisguised amusement. “Such as?”
    â€œHomework,” she retorted automatically. “Jenny’s doing some make-up assignments so she’ll be ready to take advanced English in the fall. She fell behind at the end of the term at home.”
    â€œMom, it’s Friday night,” Jenny protested, then clamped her mouth shut the instant it apparently dawned on her that speaking out might mean staying at White Pines longer.
    Janet hid a smile. “I suppose we could stay a little longer,” she said, her expression innocent.
    Alarm flared in Jenny’s eyes. “No, you’re right,” Jenny contradicted hurriedly. “I should get my homework done. I have a big project due next week. It’ll probably take me hours and hours, maybe the whole weekend. I won’t get any sleep at all.”
    â€œSounds like a tough assignment,” Harlan agreed. “What is it?”
    Jenny looked trapped. “A paper,” she finally blurted in a way that said she was ad-libbing as she went along. “On Edgar Allan Poe.”
    Harlan leaned back. “Ah, yes, Poe. Now there was a writer. Pretty scary stuff, it seemed to me when I read him.”
    â€œYou read Poe?” Jenny asked in an insulting tone of disbelief that suggested she was surprised to discover that Harlan