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This little guy wagged its tail at him. “Imprints on chickens?” Porter’s voice broke as he stared at the tiny wriggling form. “What is this,Twilight?”
Cole shrugged. “No more foxes getting into the chicken coop. Besides, you can take your new girlfriend over to see the baby chicks and the adorable little puppy. She’ll fall in love with you both.”
Porter let out a guffaw. He glanced back up at Emily’s house, feeling like a fox himself. “What are we naming her?”
Chapter Eight
Cadence wasn’t about to let that gorgeous man chase her out of town. Porter’s threats that their paths would cross again meant nothing to her.
Dang. A man shouldn’t look that good, not when he’s that bad, especially not now! I’m not in my right mind. Be careful, huh? Don’t make any more mistakes that you can’t come back from.
She slipped on one of Emily’s floral dresses. It was a cute wraparound number. She’d bet the last of her Oreo cookies that the hem was meant to slap flirtatiously against her shins, not her knees! Cadence had always been taller than Emily. Still, it was Sunday and she was determined to dress up after vegging in her PJs all day yesterday.
The ties gathered the dress in at the waist. For now, Cadence didn’t look any different. Her hand went to her belly. How long would that last?
Not for long. She was drawn to the kitchen like a starving creature. The fridge had been empty yesterday. Not anymore! Her first order of business had been to stock up on the food—mostly chocolate, junk food, lots of red meat.
Was she pregnant or what?
Cadence dragged out the ice cream and hamburger meat, and decided to make popcorn while she was at it. She was literally the opposite of Snow White. She was making messes, laying around, tormenting the neighbors. Her mind ran back to Porter as she threw the popcorn into the microwave. She thought for sure that he would’ve blabbed to Lacy where she was hiding out, but it had been over twenty-four hours since she’d almost clocked him with that lamp, and still no Lacy.
That was a good sign, right?
Their unusual encounter yesterday morning kept running through her mind. She’d had very little to do besides ruminate. It was easier thinking about Porter than Lacy, that was for sure.
Strange, how the sparkle in Porter’s blue eyes had arrested her for far too long, along with his smiles that actually seemed genuine; even his teasing seemed good natured. She’d almost softened under them.
Goodness! What was her problem? She’d feltnoneof those things when she had first seen him in Lacy’s office.
Of course… at that point, Cadence had thought she was in love with Lacy. Even then, she had no excuse for her thoughts to drift to Porter’s smiles.
Maybe these overwhelming feelings stemmed from being so angry at Lacy and wanting her revenge on him for cheating on her, like she wasn’t the only one who could be so easily replaced or–or she was desperate to find a way to forget all her good times with Lacy that kept crashing through her mind to destroy her resolve. She needed to cleanse her palette of all the grossness of that party when she’d caught him kissing another woman.
She’d been so sure that Lacy would never cheat on her since he was so sensitive and attentive.
Porter had seemed the complete opposite—she’d never trust him, and besides that, he wasfartoo attractive. Still, if Lacy had taught her anything, anyone could cheat—no matter how sweet they acted, or how settled they looked. What was on the cover was very different from what the book had to offer.
And Porter’s stupid “cover” kept coming back to her. When he’d walked in on her yesterday, it was all she could do not to try to get a peek at that man within… and at his powerful shoulders. Those shoulders were the thing of daydreams.
Uh… say what?
Her hand stilled on the spoon going into the ice cream. Wait, she knew what was going on! These mindless thoughts had something to do with looking for a protector. Someone strong enough to stand between the world and her baby.
Yes! Suddenly it all made sense. That had to be it! She was a victim of instinct.
She wasn’t going crazy; she was just feeling fragile and broken, and Porter had looked so chiseled and strong in that gray T-shirt and worn jeans; he was not that polished man in a tux at the party. Nothing could hide Country Casanova’s muscular build from her this time.
She buried her face in her hands. She felt foolish now that she put two and two together! She was looking for a hero. This must be some sort of pregnant thing, searching for a possible father when there was none.
Well, forget about him. Porter had deserted her to Lacy in Nashville. If theydidcross paths again, Cadence should tread very carefully. She wouldn’t put it past Porter to sink even lower and rat her out to Lacy.
Her stomach turned.
No matter how much Porter had pretended to know nothing about her, he’d have binders of information on whoever he worked with. Trout and his minions did their homework. To make things worse, she wouldn’t put it past that oil tycoon to try to sweeten whatever deal Porter and Lacy had cut in his office by offering his new colleague any information of “interest” that he might need.
The last person to help you out is Porter Slade. Remember that!
She’d ask Emily all about him to see if she was safe. Porter had been pretty chummy with her at that party, hugging her like that, though try as she might, Cadence couldn’t remember exactly what Emily had said to her when they’d met up near the bag check. Cadence had been so distracted. She searched through her fog of memories. Emily had hinted about some guy that she liked coming from here to Nashville.
