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He flipped on the lights and glanced around his kitchen The stainless steel glearanite shone, and he had to ad dinner prepared and told hian, would find other work Hell, he didn’t need her He could keep up with things Sure he used a service when he was in California or Florida, but out here, he liked being on his own

Cooper cracked open a beer and gazed through theat the now-darkened sky He found hi about her unusual eyes—odd, but at theabout her he could recall She was hiding sout—and that made him curious

“Leave it alone,” he muttered into the silence

With a frown, Cooper collected his steak and headed out to the deck and his barbecue He didn’t have time to worry about a woman he’d just met and her secrets He needed to focus

If he didn’t get his shit together, the reclusive, ht disappear fro Lee Holloas prettyin Cooper Simon’s life, he wasn’t about to let that happen It was an entirely different level of pathetic, but at the moment, it was all he had

2

Morgan Campbell swept the last bits of crumbs fro the blinds closed over the kitchen sinkIt was just after seven o’clock, and she shivered slightly, tugging her cardigan tighter as a gust of histled against the panes, shaking theo anytime soon

It was one thing, on a list of land

She folded the da away Morgan and her father had just finished their evening meal It had been a simple affair—meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli She’d be the first to admit she wasn’t much of a cook, so the meatloaf had been dry and the mashed potatoes runny, but hey, the broccoli had been done to perfection So her dad had remarked on several ti, but because they didn’t have much else to talk about

The television blared from the front of the house She knew her father was already settled into his worn brown La-Z-Boy, and that his butt would stay there until he went to bed aroundthe brown paper bag in the trash

He’d be stu to bed, more like

With a sigh, she diood-night to her father as she passed the front room Not that he heard, and if he did, there was no response

Morgan had just entered her bedrooe into her pajaood book—when she heard the front door open and then slam shut The house vibrated from the force, and a few moments later, boots on the stairs told her that her book would have to wait

It wasn’t a pal of her father’s or anyone Morgan called friend (the no-doorbell kind of gave that away) And of course there was no knock at her bedrooan barely had time to turn around before her sister Sara breezed inside, tossing a pea-green coat onto Morgan’s bed, before flopping down beside it Sara’s long blonde hair indblown, and she flashed a quick smile as she settled back onto the worn pink-and-blue comforter She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head

“So?” Her pouty lips glistened as she waited expectantly