Page 35 of Her Guarded Hero

“I like your friend,” Dalton said as he shifted so he could look down at Aurora. She swallowed nervously. “I take it Danny is her husband?”

“Yep.”

“So how extensive is their list?”

The man had a killer smile. Crystal was right, she should have invested in toys years ago.

* * *

Pulling the porkchops out of the oven, Dalton listened for Aurora’s footsteps. He tried to throw off his nervousness, but it was impossible. He’d realized midway through glazing the meat that the last time he’d cooked dinner for a woman had been for Lacey. Did his past have to color every aspect of the present?

“What smells so good?” she asked as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of lemonade.

“I bought wine, if you’re interested,” Dalton said as he cut into one of the porkchops to see if it was cooked through. “It’s there on the table.”

When she didn’t answer, he turned to get a good look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I didn’t realize that this was going to be a dinner, dinner.”

“What do you mean?”

She held out her arms and looked down at her jeans, then up at him. “Fancy.”

“Sunshine, I’m wearing jeans.”

“You bought wine,” she said as she tilted the bottle. “It’s really good wine too.”

Dalton left the stove and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you like it.” She’d washed her hair, it smelled like strawberries and vanilla. “Why don’t you tell me where the wine glasses are.”

“I’ll have to rinse them.”

“I’ll take care of it, just point me to the right cupboard.”

She pointed, then he held out her chair, and she sat down. He watched with amusement as she practically vibrated in her seat. The woman had trouble sitting still.

“I can help,” she offered after three seconds.

“It’s handled.”

“I could-”

He slid the plates of food on the table, then dried off the wine glasses and set them down as he picked up the bottle of wine and uncorked it. Dalton sat down and poured them both a glass.

“This looks amazing.”

“Hopefully it’ll taste good too.” He’d tested the peach glaze to be on the safe side. It hadn’t been too bad, even though he hadn’t made it in years. He watched her close her eyes after taking a bite.

“This is heavenly. I see you went against policy and used peaches, I love it.” Dalton felt a bone deep satisfaction as she savored her bite.

She was quiet as she cut into more of the pork. When he started to talk about the boys, she waved him away. “Quiet. Eating zone.”

He watched as she demolished two thirds of the meat, then she grinned up at him. She picked up a sprig of asparagus and swirled it in the peach glaze then licked off the sauce before biting into the vegetable. It took everything he had not to groan.

“Do you do that on purpose?”

“Huh?” She looked genuinely perplexed. He thought about the fact that she normally just ate with her grandfather and decided that she probably didn’t.

“Never mind. I’m glad you liked the meal.” He topped off her wine.