Bad News Cowboy Read Free Page B

ice bucket her brother put his beer in. Well, beer and soda now, since Liss was pregnant and Connor barely drank anymore.
    â€œAlthough, if it isn’t a wolverine, it just means that I lack restraint.” Liss groaned. “I can’t pass Rona’s without going in for a milkshake. And I can’t pass The Grind without getting an onion cheese bagel. I’m a cliché without the pickles.”
    Connor leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek. “You’re having a baby. You can be a cliché if you damn well please.”
    Kate’s heart squeezed tight as she watched the exchange between Connor and Liss. Connor’s first wife, Jessie, had been an influential figure in Kate’s life. The two had gotten married when Kate was only nine, and seeing as she didn’t have a mother, Jessie was as close as she’d gotten to a female influence.
    Jessie’s loss had been devastating for everyone. Though she knew it had been the worst for Connor. Considering that, him falling for and marrying Liss was only good in Kate’s eyes. And Liss had always been a fixture around their house, seeing as she’d been best friends with Connor since they were in high school.
    Having her as a sister was a bonus that Kate quite enjoyed.
    â€œUgh. Can I be a cliché eating French fries?” she asked, sitting down at the table and digging a Coke out of the ice bucket.
    â€œI’ll get you a plate.” Connor turned and walked back into the kitchen just as they heard a pounding on the door.
    â€œWho even knocks?” Liss mused.
    She had a point. Jack, Eli and Sadie never knocked. “I’ll go see.” Kate walked back out to the entryway and jerked the front door open, freezing when she saw Jack standing there holding a stack of four pastry boxes. Her heart did that weird thing it did sometimes when she was caught off guard by Jack. That thing where it dramatically threw itself at her breastbone and knocked against it with the force of a punch. “Were you kicking the door?”
    â€œI couldn’t open it. Not without setting all of these down.”
    Kate looked up, studying his expression. He was so very tall. And he always made her feel...little. Sure, Connor and Eli were tall, too, but they didn’t fill up space the way Jack did. He was in every corner of every room he inhabited. From the spicy aftershave he wore to his laugh, low and rough like thunder, rumbling beneath every conversation.
    Kate stepped to the side and held the door. “What do you have?”
    â€œPies. From Alison’s.”
    â€œFour pies?”
    He sighed heavily and walked past her into the dining room. She shut the door and followed after him. “Yes.” He placed the boxes on the table next to the fish and chips. “Four pies.”
    Liss’s eyes widened. “What kind?”
    â€œI’m not sure. I just bought pies.”
    There was something about all of this that made her feel weird. A little bit weak, a little bit shaky. He’d done this for Alison, which was...touching. Definitely touching. And nice. Beyond nice of him. And a little bit curious. Because he was Jack, and he had a tendency to be kind of a self-centered asshole. So when he did things for other people, it was notable.
    And strange.
    And it made her throat a little bit dry. And her face a little bit hot.
    â€œIs that going to be your solution for her?” Kate asked. “Going on a four-pie-a-day diet?”
    â€œObviously not,” he said, sitting down at the table and snagging a beer out of the bucket.
    â€œWhat solution are we talking about?” Liss asked, crunching on a French fry.
    Connor returned then, setting a plate in front of Liss before setting places in front of the rest of the chairs, then taking his seat next to his wife. “Hey, Jack,” he said.
    â€œHey,” Jack replied, putting a handful of French fries on his plate.
    â€œI brought fish,” Kate