Chapter Three

      Kenzie awoke to the smell of luscious, just-brewed coffee. It had somehow wafted into her bedroom and tickled her nose with its delightful, inviting aroma. It was the one scent she could bathe in for hours, the one taste she craved more than anything else in the morning.

      Morning!

      Kenzie bolted upright in her bed, realizing that the sun was already shining through her windows, which meant it had to be way past 5:00 a.m. When she glanced over at the clock and read nine thirty, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

      “What? That’s impossible.”

      She slipped out of bed, and made a beeline to the bathroom down the hall where the bronze clock that hung next to the mirror echoed the same time.

      “Darn!” she scolded out loud.

      The night had not gone easy. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said to Jake about her making love like an alley cat...as if. What could have ever possessed her to say such a thing? She had no idea.

      Sure, she’d slept with a few men over the years, but she could probably count them all on one hand. Okay, on three fingers. Kenzie wasn’t exactly versed in the art of seduction when it came right down to it.

      Still, that didn’t seem to stop her competitive edge with respect to Jake Scott. She wanted him to see her as an all-around accomplished woman...even when it came to the bedroom. She only hoped it would never come to that, or she might possibly be in a heap of trouble.

      Kenzie couldn’t remember when she’d awoken so late. It had to have been back in her college days. Hopefully one of her hired cowboys had put the mares out or they’d be even twitchier than they already were.

      She quickly showered; pulled her hair up in a ponytail; decided to apply eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss; dressed in her usual work attire of jeans and a T-shirt, checked a few things on her laptop and phone and then made her way into the kitchen. All she needed was a cup of that glorious-smelling coffee her mom had brewed and to wave goodbye to Jake as he drove away, and life on the ranch would settle back down...or as much as it could with her mares being in season and her parents’ anniversary wedding moving up closer by the minute.

      At this time of day, the kitchen would be virtually empty, and she looked forward to taking a moment to enjoy her first cup of coffee.

      As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, not only did Dora and Dolly walk up to greet her, tails wagging, tongues flapping, but her mom sat at the table, along with her dad, her sister Callie, Callie’s hubby, Joel Darwood, and the dreaded Jake Scott. He stood at the counter pouring coffee into a mug. And not just any old mug, but her favorite mug, the one she’d used almost every morning for the past five years, give or take a few weeks here and there when someone in the family would buy her a new one.

      The fact that he hadn’t left and had claimed her mug as his own when everyone around the table knew she’d brought that mug home from Paris when she’d gone there for a semester while she attended college was unbearable. His callous behavior, combined with her family’s inability to stand up for her mug rights, caused her agitation...not to mention frustration that was quickly swelling to a bursting point.

      And she was just about to blow off some steam when Jake held out the coveted mug. “Coffee?” he asked, looking all doe-like as he offered the mug that now contained her favorite brown liquid.

      “Thanks,” she mumbled trying her best to pull in her claws.

      She smiled and swiped it from his hand. Then she padded over to the table where the pitcher of fresh milk sat and added a little to her brew.

      Okay, so maybe he hadn’t taken her mug, but he was still there, in the kitchen, when he should have been loading his stud horses into his trailer. Or better still, he should have been long gone with just his tire tracks left as a reminder of his short visit.

      “Jake brought his own coffee beans and ground them for us,” Callie said, then she looked over at Jake and grinned.

      “They’re organic,” her mom crooned, after she took a swig from her own special mug, the one she’d bought at Holy Rollers when they’d celebrated their first year in business...a bright pink mug with a picture of a crispy donut dripping with a white glaze and a halo floating over it. A pink box of donuts, muffins and scones lay open in the center of the table. Kenzie tried to ignore the box of goodies, but right away she spotted a raspberry scone, her absolute favorite breakfast food. Her mouth watered for the scone.

      “Joel drove me into town and we stopped at a great bakery,” Jake told Kenzie. “Wish we had something like that in Starlight Bend. Nothing even comes close. Amanda, the owner, told me you liked raspberry scones so I added a couple to the box.”

      “I’m not hungry this morning,” Kenzie told him, even though her stomach growled for that yummy scone.

      Every fiber of her being cried out, but she didn’t want to give Jake the satisfaction of knowing he’d done something she clearly liked.

      She wanted him gone...until she tasted the coffee. It was pure magic. The smooth flavors danced in her mouth and suddenly she couldn’t stop lapping it up. She thought perhaps she’d let him stay long enough to brew another pot of the wondrous elixir, then he’d have to go for sure.

      “I take it you like the coffee,” Jake asked Kenzie, looking all full of himself, as if I told you so would pop out of his mouth at any second.

      She forced herself to put her mug down on the counter. “It’ll do.”

      At