Touch by Touch (Riggins Brothers 4)

“Well, it was warm with you lying there with me.”

“I didn’t peg you for a cuddler,” I counter before I can think better of it.

“I’m not.” He gives me a dazzling smile that I’m sure has hearts breaking and panties dropping all over Tennessee.

“Come on, lazybones. I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for almost an hour. Let’s go make some breakfast.” He tosses off the covers and climbs to his feet. Reaching out, he offers me his hand and pulls me to mine as well.

“Are you making breakfast?” I ask him.

“Yep.”

“Huh,” I say, following him up the stairs.

“Huh? What do you mean, huh? I know how to cook. I’m damn good at it if I do say so myself.”

“Your momma raised you right.”

“She did. I remember growing up she used to tell us that our future wives would thank her one day.”

“Smart woman, that Lena Riggins.” I smile as I perch my behind on a stool at the kitchen island. “So, fancy pants, what are we having?”

He opens the fridge and peruses his options. “How about scrambled eggs and bacon, with some toast?”

“Perfect. What can I do to help?”

“Nothing. Just keep me company.”

“I’ll start the coffee.” I slide off the stool and get busy starting the coffee pot. When I go to fill the pot with water, I look outside and gasp. “Oh my gosh. Did you see how much snow is out there?” I ask, staring out the window at the blanket of white that’s covering the ground.

I feel his body as he slides up behind me and looks over my head out the window. “No,” his deep voice says next to my ear. “That’s a lot, and it’s still coming down. Good thing Mom thought ahead and ordered supplies to be delivered.”

“How did she do that anyway?” I ask, hitting Start on the coffee pot.

“She has a service company she uses. They take care of maintaining the place when we’re not here. We used to come up a lot as kids, not so much now that all five of us kids are working at the company. Adult life keeps us from having as much downtime.”

“That’s good that you have someone who helps maintain it. It’s not so good that you don’t get to spend as much time here. I love this place.”

“Yeah, me too,” he says wistfully. “All right.” He claps his hands. “Sit back and watch the master at work.”

I do as he says, taking my seat at the island, and watch as he prepares us breakfast. “Is this snow going to affect the wedding?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think they were calling for this much snow. I’m surprised we haven’t heard from anyone at home asking about it.” He turns off the stove and plates our food. “We have a company we use to clear the drive, but we can’t call them until it stops snowing. Removing the snow now won’t do a bit of good with it still coming down like it is.” He places a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon in front of me. “Eat up, and we’ll get some warm clothes on and go check it out.”

Not needing to be told twice, I dive into my food, Conrad doing the same as we clear our plates. “I don’t know if I brought warm enough clothes for all of that.” I point out the kitchen window after I finish washing the dishes. It was only fair since he cooked. Besides, he stood next to me the entire time and dried as I washed.

“Mom has this place stocked for the winter. Come on. I’m sure we can find something that will fit you.” He grabs my hand and pulls me to a room off the back of the kitchen. There he opens a door that leads to a huge closet that’s more like a bedroom than a closet. The walls are lined with shoe racks and closet organizers. “Told you.” He chuckles. “Mom likes to be prepared. We have winter gear on this wall and summer gear on this one.” He points at each wall as he tells me what they hold.

“Your mom is a superhero. I want to be like her when I grow up.” My words cause his chuckle to turn into all-out laughter.

“Come on, crazy girl. Let’s find you something to wear.” We shuffle through the winter racks, and within fifteen minutes, I’m in snow pants, a jacket that makes me feel like the abominable snowman, and snow boots that fit like a glove.

“Now, we need a scarf and some gloves. What about a hat? Are you good with the one on the coat?” he asks.

“Yes. This should be fine. I’m actually burning up. Can you get with the program?” I tease.

“Hush it, woman. I’m making sure you don’t freeze to death.”