Page 213 of The Donovan Dynasty

One of the twins was fussing, making it difficult for Sofia to hear everything her mother was saying.“Someone sounds unhappy.”

“It’s Bella.She’s tired and won’t go to sleep.”

“Tell baby Bella that her Auntie Sofia loves her.”

The crying stopped.

“She heard you.Her eyes are wide.”

Another streak of lightning burst down.It was followed by an ear-splitting sound, like an explosion.Loopy whimpered.Sofia jumped, and the phone momentarily buzzed with static.“I’m going to have to go, Mom.”

“Promise me you’ll stay put.”

She remained patient.It didn’t seem to matter to her mother that Sofia was an adult.She worried ceaselessly.“I will.I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

After ending the call with her mother, she returned to the kitchen and he was nowhere in sight.She heard noises in the mudroom, so she walked over there.“What happened?

“Sounded like the lighting hit something,” he replied as he fastened up his slicker.“Stay here.I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

The sight of a man in a bright-yellow slicker and plastic-wrapped hat should not have been sexy, but it was.

The lights flickered three times, then went off and stayed off.

“I think that settles the matter of whether or not you’re staying.”

Chapter Six

“Could be worse,” Cade said nearly half an hour later, as he forced the door shut behind him.

Sofia and Loopy met him in the mudroom, and the kitchen was filled with the rich scent of something cooking.

He’d told himself he liked living alone on the ranch, just him, the dog and the wide-open spaces, but now he wasn’t so sure.A long-denied part of him appreciated the difference between a house and a home.

She grabbed a couple of towels from the top of the dryer and put them on the floor.

“Thanks.”He stomped water off his boots then tossed his hat on one towel and dropped his slicker on the other.

At her request, he’d removed her small duffel bag from the SUV, and he put it on the bench.“Kept it as dry as I could.”

“Thank you.”

“We have most of a live oak tree down, and it looks as if it may have done some damage to the roof of one of the guest houses.From the inside, I didn’t see anything leaking.Power poles look okay.My foreman is checking on the cattle and horses.As soon as the weather clears, we’ll be able to better assess the situation.”After wiping off his boots and hanging his wet coat and hat from pegs, he said, “Something smells good.”

“Stir fry.I wasn’t sure how long the power will last, so I figured I’d make us something to eat.”

“Thank you.”He tucked back a wayward strand of her hair.As he did, he imagined it bound with rope and secured in a hog-tie.The thought of her bent in that exquisite arch was enough to make his cock hard.

After toweling dry his hair, he followed her into the kitchen.“Wine with that?”

“A red would be wonderful,” she said.

While she tested a vegetable for crispness, he pulled out a bottle of merlot from the under-counter cooler then uncorked it.

It hadn’t taken her long to find her way around the kitchen.And she’d put two place settings on the counter, complete with napkins.Just in case, there was a candle and a lighter nearby.

She transferred the food to a platter and moved it to the island.He watched her all the while.

He put food in Loopy’s dog dish, but when the thunder rumbled again, she dashed off to hide under the table.