* *
“Wow.”
Poppy looked down, paper stars between her teeth as she stood on a chair and stuck the last of them to the wall. There was already a row strung from the ceiling, but she was determined to cover some old stains on the wall to complete the effect she was trying to create.
“Your children are like little worker bees,” she mumbled, trying to talk without losing one of the stars.
“Little worker bees who’ve started to fade,” he replied.
Poppy glanced back in his direction and saw that he’d scooped Alex up into his arms. The young boy wasn’t even pretending he was too big to be cuddled, and had his head happily pressed to his father’s chest as he watched her.
“It’s getting pretty late. Why don’t you head home? I’ll be fine here.” She wobbled on the chair, but righted herself before it tipped.
“How about we give you a lift home?”
Poppy shook her head. “It’s only a short walk. I’ll be fine, honestly.”
Harrison didn’t look convinced. “What else do you need to do here?”
Hmm. “I want the kids to walk in tomorrow and not be able to stop smiling,” she told him. “So I need to put the glue glitter over the hearts in the middle, and the same with the border over there—” she pointed “—because that’s where I’m going to write all their names in the morning when they arrive, in their favorite colors.”
She heard Harrison sigh. Which made it even crazier when, from the corner of her eye, she saw him put his son down on his feet and pick up a gold glitter pen.
“Is this what you use for the fancy border thing?” he asked.
Poppy took the remaining paper stars from between her teeth and bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from smiling. She nodded, watching as Harrison walked to the wall and started to help.
“Like this? Kind of big, so it’s obvious?”
“Yep, just like that,” she said, still trying to suppress laughter.
From what she’d seen of him so far, she had a feeling he’d just storm out and leave her if she made fun of him for using the glitter, and she didn’t mind the help. Not at all. Even if a masculine rancher wouldn’t have been her first choice in the artistic department.
She stepped down and pushed her chair back behind her desk before finding the silver glitter and covering some shapes at the other end of the wall from Harrison.
“Daddy, we didn’t eat the cake,” called out a sleepy-sounding Katie.
Poppy had forgotten all about the cake. She moved back to look at the wall, pleased with the progress they’d made. The children could help her decorate it more in the morning, but for now it looked good.
“How about we finish up and reward ourselves with a piece? What do you say?” she asked.
Harrison passed her the pen as his kids nodded. “Only problem is we don’t have a knife.”
She gave him a wink. “But I have a pocketknife. That’ll do, right?”
He stared at her, long and hard. “Yeah, that’ll do.”
Poppy pulled it out and passed it to him, careful not to let their skin connect this time. “Well, let’s each have a big piece, huh? I think we all deserve it.”
And hopefully, it would distract her, too. Because she might be done with men, but she sure wasn’t done with chocolate.
CHAPTER THREE
“THANKS FOR THE ride.” Poppy swung her door shut and waved to the children in the back. She didn’t expect to hear another one open and close.
“I’ll walk you to the door.”
What? She hadn’t ever had a man walk her to the door just to be chivalrous.
“Thanks, but I’m fine. It’s not like we’re in the city and I’m at risk of being mugged,” she joked.
The look on his face was anything but joking. “I’m not going to drive you home and not walk you to the door. It wasn’t how I was raised, and if I want my daughter to grow up expecting manners, and my son to have them, then I want to make sure I set a damn good example.”
“Well, when you put it like that...” She smiled at Harrison, shaking her head as she did so.
“I know I’m old-fashioned, but then so is this place. You’ll realize that pretty soon, Ms. Carter.”
“There’s nothing wrong with old-fashioned,” she said. And there wasn’t; she just wasn’t used to it. “Except, of course, when it comes to plumbing.”
His eyebrows pulled together as he frowned. “You having problems with this place?”
She waved her hand toward the door as they reached it. “The shower produces just a pathetic drizzle of water, and the hot doesn’t last for long. But for the price I’m paying I wasn’t exactly expecting a palace.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he told her.
“Honestly, I shouldn’t have said anything. Everything’s fine.”
Harrison stood a few steps away, cowboy hat firmly planted on his head, feet spread apart and a stern look on his face. “I’ll take a look myself, check it out. Maybe later in the week.”
“If you’re certain?” She didn’t want him going out of his way, but if he could work his magic on the shower she’d be more than grateful.
“I’m certain,” he replied. “You take good care of my kids at school and I’ll make sure your house doesn’t fall down around you. Deal?”
“Deal.” This guy was really something. “You better get those children home. Thanks for all your help tonight. I’m glad you came back.”
“So we could start off on the right foot second time around?” he asked, one side of his mouth tilting into a smile.
“Yeah, something like that. And thanks for the lift.”
Harrison tipped his hat and walked backward, waiting until she’d gone inside before he turned away. Poppy leaned on the doorjamb and watched him get into the car and drive slowly off, trying hard not to think about how nice he was.
Considering she’d wanted to make a voodoo doll of him and stab it after his comments earlier in the afternoon, she’d actually enjoyed his company. Or maybe it was just that his children were really sweet.
She shut and locked the door.
Who was she kidding? The guy was handsome and charming, or at least he had been this evening, and she was terrified of how quickly she’d gone from hating the entire male population to thinking how sexy the rancher dad was.
And
