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Now, morning light barely peeked through the slit in the curtains. She tossed the blankets and sheets to the side and beat her best time at managing a shower and squaring away her things before making her way downstairs. Texan summers were no joke. If the day ahead matched the previous ones, it would be sweltering before nine so she opted for a strappy dress with sunflowers and white sandals.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Marshall smiled as she rounded the corner, following the smell of food.
“Morning to you, too. You’re up early.” He pulled out a stool at the high counter, planted a kiss on her all before turning back to the food on the stove.
“Sporadic naps are more my style. I hope you like scrambled eggs and bacon this time.”
She snatched a piece off his plate and bit into the crunchy goodness. “I don’t trust anybody who doesn’t.”
That earned her a husky laugh. “Good answer.” She watched him whip up a fresh batch of scrambled eggs like a pro from her favorite cooking show. Okay, not entirely true. Yes, she had a favorite cooking show but none of that came to mind at the moment. Right now, she watched the way he filled out a pair of Wranglers.
Huh. Come to think of it, she'd never seen him out of a suit.
She peered over the island and cracked a grin. Yep. Black boots. She didn’t know why she thought he’d have on anything else. You can take a cowboy out of the fields and all that, she supposed. He coupled the dark jeans with an equally dark dress shirt neatly tucked in and a deep blue tie with tiny golden stripes that matched the color of her sunflowers.
Her phone rang, and she swooped it off the counter where she’d placed it seconds ago.
“Need to take that?”
She saw Jon’s, name pop up on the screen. He’d received her message about the wedding venue and probably wanted to know why she needed his place.
An hour conversation would ensue. The man loved details.
She could answer or push it off and talk to him later after breakfast. The quiet time and the shared meal didn’t happen nearly enough and definitely not with a man like Marshall. An hour or so wouldn’t make a difference.
“Nah. It’s not important right now.”
Marshall served her a plate then refilled his own and joined her at the counter.
She scooped up a mouthful and let out a low moan of appreciation.
“That good, huh?”
She nodded forgoing words as she crunched another piece of bacon and chased it down with some fresh orange juice. Not the bottled stuff either.
“Wow. You really know how to do breakfast. If this keeps up, I’ll be as round as the dining table.”
He leaned in, “I’ve pictured it. But not with food.”
She almost choked, sputtering eggs. “Marshall!”
He only shrugged, with a wild look in his eyes.
“I’m on the pill, you know.”
“I figured as much. But you’d still look beautiful round with a child. My child. I told you, I try really damn hard not to lie.”
“I noticed.” She crunched on her last slice of bacon and went in for his. “Change of topic, do you wear anything other than boots?”
He shifted on his feet and she had to wonder how his feet didn’t hurt from all the standing and pacing he did. Boots weren’t the most comfortable of footwear.
“I bet your first pair of shoes were cowboy boots.”
“I’d wager you’re right.” He grinned and took another mouthful of eggs. “In fact, my mom knitted them herself.”
She eyed Marshall. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head and pulled her from the stool to follow him down a hall off the side of the kitchen. Picture after picture of family members, all smiling, hugging and enjoying life filled every inch of both walls from eye-level to belt line.
