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Or rather he saw her backside.
She had a huge canvas bag in one hand and had leaned down to gather items off the bottom shelf. She probably didn’t realize that (a) anyone would be behind her watching and that (b) her position caused her pale green dress to ride up so he could see her thighs and nearly all the way to her panties. If she was wearing them, that is. He forced his brain not to consider that she might be commando.
He cleared his throat to let his presence be known, and she nearly smacked her head on one of the higher shelves when she spun around to face him. The peep show was over, but Egan got a show of a different kind when he looked at her face.
No tears today. Or bits of ice cream on her mouth. She looked rested and...amazing. He gave up trying not to notice that about her, and for a moment, he let himself savor the little kick of heat.
“I’m just putting the final touches in place for your dad’s homecoming,” she said, lifting the bag. “Maybell’s getting the new groceries, but I’m replacing a few of the items like brownie-stuffed chocolate chip cookies and marshmallow ice-cream topping with healthier options so he won’t be tempted.”
He saw those items in her canvas bag and noticed that there were different brands now on the pantry shelf.
“I’ve laid out some recipe cards for Maybell,” Alana went on, sounding all business as she stepped around him and went to the kitchen counter where, yep, there were recipe cards. “And I’ve had some talks with your dad about sticking to his new food plan. He was very, uh, compliant, but if he has any questions, or if he’s tempted to completely toss the diet, he can think of me as a foodie sponsor and call or text me.”
She stopped her spiel and huffed.
“I dreamed about you,” she said, no longer sounding all business. “I don’t want to dream about you. Except now that I’ve had the dream, I do want that since it was a good one. Do you know what I mean?”
Sadly, he did. And he nearly blurted out,Was the dream about kissing?Because the kissing dream he’d had about her was damn sure sticking with him.
“I understand,” he admitted.
That admission should have gotten him moving back away from her. It should have made him recommit to keeping Alana hands off. But Egan stayed firmly in place and wondered what cure he was going to need to make himself immune to what would certainly be an emotional train wreck if that kiss happened. Because a kiss would lead to other things.
Like hot naked sex.
Probably incredible sex. Which in turn would lead to hot, raw guilt. There. He’d mentally spelled it out, and while it didn’t cool him down one little bit, it at least got him moving. Well, that and the alarm he’d set to remind him it was time to leave for the hospital to pick up his dad.
According to Dr. Abrams, he was expecting Derek to be released at ten o’clock, which was still well over an hour and a half from now, but Egan had wanted to get there early. Effie must have felt the same way since she’d already had one of the hands drive her there.
Egan tore his gaze from her face to the canvas bag. “Uh, you need any help with...anything before I leave for the hospital?”
She sighed as if the answer were obvious. Alana likely needed help dumping a proverbial cold shower on this lust just as much as he did, but she didn’t voice that. She merely seemed to conjure up a smile and shook her head.
“No, I’ve got it,” she assured him. “Go ahead and bring your dad home.”
Before the moment could turn awkward, or hotter than it already was, he grabbed his keys and Stetson from the pegs by the door and headed out to his truck.
The ranch was two miles outside of town, but as usual there wasn’t much traffic on the country road. Added to that, it was usually a drive Egan liked to make because he could often spot the ranch’s horses or Angus cattle in the east pastures that he passed on the way. Today didn’t disappoint. The Angus were milling around one of the ponds that dotted the ranch grounds.
Egan reached the hospital in just a couple of minutes, parked and went in, heading down the hall that was familiar to him now since he’d visited his dad at least twice a day. This morning, the door to his room was slightly ajar so Egan poked in his head, figuring his dad would already be dressed and waiting to be released.
He was.
But he wasn’t alone. And he wasn’t with Effie, either. She was nowhere in sight.
Egan practically snapped to attention when he saw the woman in uniform sitting at the foot of the bed next to his dad. Audrey.
“Oh, hello, Egan,” Audrey said, getting to her feet. She gave him what he thought of as a general’s smile. Reserved and with no teeth showing. “Derek and I are just catching up while we wait on his release paperwork.”
“Audrey,” he greeted back, wondering if his expression was one of a lieutenant colonel addressing a higher-ranking officer. Probably.
Egan shifted his attention to his dad to see how he was handling this visit, and noticed he wasn’t exactly smiling, but he also wasn’t sporting the gloomy expression he had been since the heart attack. His dad was obviously happy, or rather happy-ish at least, to have Audrey there. Which, of course, only confused Egan. He couldn’t imagine being happy with an occasional spouse, but his dad seemed to be just fine with it.
“Audrey and I were going over some of the diet changes on my agenda,” his dad explained.
Egan thought there was more to it than that. There seemed to be some heat in the air. Or maybe he was just projecting because of the heated situation he’d just left with Alana. Maybe, though, he was picking up on actual attraction that was still there between Audrey and his dad.
“Alana’s at the house now setting the stage for your diet changes,” Egan told him.
