Love a Woman Right (The American Soldier Collection 17)

“They’re good.” Evan winked, sitting down at the computer.

“Really tasty,” Ford added and put his hands in his pockets.

“Kind of wish we had our own,” Evan said to her.

“Well, thank you all for the compliment.”

She walked over toward Evan and he patted the seat next to him.

“I came up with a few ideas, but we can change or add what you want. I figured you might like something simple, like ours for the jellies,” he said and started pulling up different pictures.

Ford moved closer and placed his hands on the back of her chair. When she shifted he caught a glimpse down her shirt and was surprised by the deep cleavage of her breasts. He wet his lips and felt his throat dry up.

“Maybe we’re jumping the gun. I don’t even know if people will buy the cookies and like them,” Lois whispered.

Evan gave her shoulder a nudge. “Are you kidding me? They will buy them, and we’ll be printing these out in the hundreds.”

“Oh, God, that’s a lot of cookies to make and sell,” she said and then pressed her fingers to her temples.

Ford reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder. She seemed shocked as she turned and looked up at him. He gave her a soft expression. “They’ll love them, and if you want to be sure, then make some batches of cookies and we’ll be your test tasters,” he offered, surprising himself and obviously his brother, too, who snickered.

“You better take Ford’s offer, because he never volunteers to do any taste testing. Especially not the jellies.”

“Why is that?” she asked him. Ford held her gaze.

“I have very particular tastes, darling. Once I find something I really like I’m not really interested in anything else.” He saw her face turn a nice, bright red and he knew she felt the attraction for him like he felt for her. Just then, the door opened and Laverty appeared.

“When I find Brosnan I’m personally going to kick his ass, that stupid son of a—”

He stopped short as soon as he saw Lois and she leaned closer to Evan. Ford squeezed her shoulder and gave Laverty a mean look.

“What are you doing coming in here, carrying on cursing?” Ford asked and released Lois’s shoulder. He stepped closer to Laverty who pulled his hat off his head and gave Lois an apology. “Sorry, Lois. I didn’t know you were in here. Evan, Brosnan never fixed that fence this morning and didn’t do any of the other things he was supposed to do. We have those deliveries in town and then we’ll need to come back here and do his work.”

“Where the hell is he?” Ford asked.

“I have no idea, but we need to get moving now on those deliveries or we’ll be working in the dark with flashlights later. I got a few of the guys to help us out.”

“Shoot. Do you need me, too?” Evan asked.

“No, I got the guys helping. I just came in here to let you know if you see Brosnan, then you give it to him. What did you need from me, Ford?” Laverty asked his brother.

“Good luck picking out a label. I can’t wait to get those samples, either,” Ford said and winked at her. She sealed her lips and blushed as he headed toward Laverty and placed his Stetson on his head. Once they were outside Laverty smiled. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain. Hopefully it means we’ll have the opportunity to help Lois to trust us and maybe get a little closer to her.”

“She looked pretty damn timid in there, and Evan is the most calm of all of us.”

“He’ll ease her mind and get her to see we’re good guys. I can’t stand seeing that fear in her eyes. I want to see her smile. She’s damn beautiful when she’s smiling,” Ford said and walked with Laverty over to his truck.

“So what’s going on in there anyway?”

“Cookies. Get ready to taste test lots of cookies.”

* * * *

Evan couldn’t help but inhale Lois’s perfume and the scent of her shampoo as she sat next to him. He was showing her how to change the design with the program he was using and when he covered her hand that sat on the mouse she turned to look at him. He stared at her lips and then her eyes. She looked intimidated.

“You smell really good,” he whispered to her, and her face flushed pink.