The Cowboy's Gift-Wrapped Bride

“How ’bout some breakfast? Are you hungry?” Matt asked then, interrupting her thoughts.

When Jenn focused on him again it was to find him making sure the tails of his heavy wool shirt were tucked in in back and then bending over to retrieve the newspaper from the floor.

The red shirt was worn over a white Henley T-shirt that peeked from behind his open collar and below the cuffs of his sleeves rolled to midforearm. It made Jenn think of lumberjacks. The look suited the big man, though.

But then she couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t suit Matt. He was just so terrifically good-looking and well-built…

Breakfast. He’d asked if she wanted to eat, she reminded herself somewhat belatedly.

“I’m not all that hungry,” she finally answered. “Maybe just a cup of tea.” She held up her mug. “Besides, I was such a slugabed it’s not long to lunchtime. No sense making a special mess for me, I’ll just wait until then to eat.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” he said so easily she believed him.

“Tea will be fine. Thanks anyway.”

Matt nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Let’s make tea, then.”

They went down the hall together and as they did, Jenn said, “The place is quiet. Is everybody gone?”

“The ladies got brave and thought they’d see if they could make it into town. My brothers are workin’ out in the barn. Junebug—she runs things around the house—didn’t make it in because of the snow, and Buzz is glued to the tube for The Price Is Right about now. So you’re stuck with just me.”

“Stuck” with him was not how she felt. She was glad to be alone with him, much as she knew she shouldn’t be. But she wasn’t going to say that.

Once they were in the kitchen, Matt took the cup out of her hand and pointed to the breakfast nook with his slightly but sexily dimpled chin.

“Sit while I make your tea,” he ordered.

“I can do it. I’m really okay today. Well, except for the screws that are loose in my head.” Loose screws that had her thinking more about him than about what she should be thinking about.

“Nope. You’re a guest here and guests don’t make their own tea,” he decreed.

Since there didn’t seem to be a point in arguing, Jenn opted for changing the subject. “Has there been any word from the sheriff or the radio station about me?”

Matt put a fresh cup filled with water into the microwave and turned it on.

“The phone lines were apparently fixed during the night because they’re up and running again. I called the sheriff’s office an hour or so ago. He said there’s still been no response from the general public. He contacted the Cheyenne and Denver police early this morning, but you don’t fit the description or the names in any of the missing persons cases.”

Jenn just nodded, knowing it was probably par for the course for other police departments to be contacted by Elk Creek’s sheriff but feeling uneasy with the thought of it anyway.