Her Texas Hero (9 page)

Her eyes widened as she took in the entire room. “You did all this while we were away?”

“Amazing how a good, home-cooked breakfast and a pretty female can motivate a man to put some real work in.”

Audra turned away, falling silent.

“Darlin'?”

“Please don't do that,” she said softly, keeping her gaze averted.

“I'll try not to,” he said, studying her with a frown. “But first you've gotta explain to me what it is I've done to upset you.”

“Calling me
darlin'
,” she said. “And saying...well, that I'm pretty.”

His mouth quirked up into a grin once more. “
Darlin'
just happens to be common Texan speak,” he explained. Yet, with her, it felt like more. “And my momma raised me to never tell a lie. You're pretty. That's a fact. I won't apologize for telling the truth.”

A blush filled her cheeks. “I'll try to remember that.” Then her gaze shot up to meet his. “The darlin' part. Not the pretty part.”

Carter chuckled. “Make note of both, darlin', because you are.”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you for the compliment.”

“My pleasure,” he replied. “Now about this here floor of yours...”

Chapter Seven

“W
orking hard I see.”

Carter paused in his work to glance up, finding Audra smiling down at him from the living room entryway, something he found himself looking forward to each time he came to work on her house. Three weeks of her beautiful smile, one that rivaled the sunlight when it came to lighting up a room, wasn't near enough. “Work hard. Play hard,” he replied with a grin.

“I'm glad.”

“So are most of Cooper Construction's customers.” Setting the measuring tape he held in his hand onto the floor beside him, he straightened and stood.

“I wasn't referring to the ‘work hard' part,” she amended. “I'm glad you take the time to play hard and enjoy life. A lot of men don't.” A flicker of sadness moved across her face before she glanced away. “Looks like I'll be putting down all new flooring.”

Carter worked his way across what was left of the old living room floor to stand before her. “Not all men are like your ex.”

Her gaze lifted to meet his and her soft smile returned. “I'm finding that out.” She held up the plastic carryout bag she held in her hand. “I thought you might be hungry.”

He chuckled. “Darlin', I'm always hungry. My brothers tell me I should be the size of a barn with as much as I eat. But I've told you before I don't want you spending your hard-earned money on buying me lunch, or wasting your time making me lunches.”

Every day for the past two weeks, Audra had either brought him carryout she picked up when she ran out to pick up her children from school, or left a note taped to the front door, telling him his lunch was in the fridge. From egg salad for sandwiches to homemade potato-bacon soup. The woman could cook. He never thought he'd be thinking it, but this was a woman who could have honestly given his momma a run for her money in the kitchen.

“Part of our deal was you work for only the cost of supplies, which I still am not comfortable with, and in exchange I cook for you. And since I didn't have time to make lunch for you before I left this morning, you get this.” She held the bag out to him. “Hope you like a meatball sub with extra provolone.”

“Darlin',” he said with an exaggerated groan as he reached for the bag, “you know what they say about the way to a man's heart.”

She stiffened visibly and Carter wanted to yank the words he'd just spoken back into his mouth.

“I should get going,” she said, pulling her van keys from the purse slung over her shoulder.

“Audra,” he said apologetically, knowing she wasn't looking to be part any man's heart. She'd made that pretty clear. Friendship was as far as anything could ever go between them. But he found himself wanting more. He chose his next words carefully. “I know what you've gone through and understand your need to be guarded. But the truth is, I'd like to move beyond a working relationship where you're concerned.”

“Carter,” she said in a panicked whisper, “please don't.”

“Friendship, Audra,” he said determinedly. “That's all I'm asking for. Like you, I'm not looking for anything more right now,” he added, hoping it would ease her worry. It wasn't a lie. He knew that there would be no right now with her. But tomorrow, or the day after...well, that was another story.

“But we're already friends.”

“We are,” he agreed. “But I'd like the opportunity to get to know you better outside of our working together on your house. Maybe go to dinner or a movie. With the kids, of course.”

She looked surprised. “You'd include them?”

“Wouldn't have it any other way.” Her children were her world. Their acceptance of him was every bit as important as Audra's. “Besides, I think we should be able to fit in some alone time on the front porch swing after we get back from our friends-only date. Time to talk without having to shout over my power tools.”

“Isn't there some sort of policy at your company about not mixing business with...” She hesitated, as if searching for the right word.

“Friendship?” he responded with a grin. Though he understood her wariness. He felt the same sense of panic himself at the thought of taking a chance with his heart. But try as he might to ignore the feelings she stirred in him, they refused to go away. Maybe it was time to take a chance. Only with Audra, that meant starting from the ground up. “I own the company,” he reminded her. “If there were such a policy against becoming friends with a client, I'd waste no time in changing it.”

“Oh.”

“Audra, my wanting to take our acquaintance to a deeper level shouldn't equate in your mind to having someone threaten to toss you into a den of hissing, writhing rattlesnakes.”

His teasing had her features easing, a small smile pulling once more at her rosy lips. “That might be exaggerating things just a bit,” she replied. “It feels more along the line of deep-sea diving without a tank.”

“Ah, so much better,” he teased and then grew serious once more. “So it's a good thing for you that our friendship is gonna take place on dry land. How about I give you and the kids a lift to church this Sunday and then to the pie bake-off later in the afternoon?”

“I have to come back home after church to bake my pie. Maybe we could meet you at the bake-off.”

“I've got a better idea,” he countered. “How about if I bring you home after Sunday services and do some work around the house while you and the kids do your baking?”

“You are not going to work on a Sunday,” she said, sounding appalled by the very thought of it.

“Why not? You'll be working in the kitchen.”

“That's not work,” she replied. “I enjoy spending my free time cooking.”

He leaned in closer, resting a forearm against the pocket-door frame beside her. “And I happen to enjoy spending my free time working on your house.”

“Impossible man,” she muttered as she looked up at him.

“Plucky female,” he said with a teasing grin.

Her gaze locked on his, and then she blinked as if trying to collect her thoughts. A second later, she was backing away out into the entryway. “I have to run. School will be out in a few minutes.”

He nodded, watching as she practically flew out the door. It was a good thing she'd run when she had, because the sudden urge to kiss her had nearly overrun his plan to take things slow. And nothing meant more to him than doing right by Audra and those two adorable kids of hers. That meant making certain he knew what it was he really wanted, because seeing them truly happy in their new life had moved to being first and foremost in his mind.

* * *

“Knock knock.”

Audra glanced up from the note she'd been making for the reverend, who wouldn't be back to the church until after Audra had gone home for the day, to find Lizzie standing in the doorway of the church's office. She smiled in greeting. “This is a change. I'm usually coming to your place of work.”

The young waitress, dressed in her Big Dog's uniform, apron and all, stepped into the room. “I've been meaning to swing by and get signed up for the annual pie-baking contest, but by the time my work shift ends I'm rushing home to do schoolwork. Since we're getting down to the wire and two o'clock is pretty much downtime at the restaurant, Mrs. Simms sent me over here to get us both signed up. Not that I'm much of a cook,” she admitted. “But I really wanna see that new rec center get built. So I'll pay the fee and hope not to make the judges swear off pie for good after they've tasted mine.”

Audra laughed softly. “Your cooking can't be that bad.”

“It is,” Lizzie said with a dramatic sigh. “Just ask Verna. That's why she keeps me out front waiting tables.”

Verna Simms owned Big Dog's. A middle-aged widow with a passion for cooking, she spent most of her time back in the restaurant's kitchen whipping up her customers' orders.

“I have the forms right here,” Audra said, pulling two from the stack of preprinted papers. “The kids and I are signed up for the competition, as well,” she said with a smile as she handed them to Lizzie.

“How fun! I'll bet they're excited.”

Audra nodded. “You have no idea.”

“So how are things coming along at the new house?” Lizzie asked.

“If only it were a new house,” Audra said, laughing softly. Thanks to Carter, she no longer felt overwhelmed by the work the old house required. His coming into her life had been such a godsend. For both her and her children. “But things are moving right along,” she said, answering the other woman's question. “I don't think there's anything Carter can't do.” Ballet and baseball included, she thought with a smile.

“Funny, but I seem to recall him saying the very same thing about you when he stopped by Big Dog's with his niece last weekend,” Lizzie said with a sly grin.

“He did?”

She nodded. “Let me see,” she said as if trying to recall his exact words, “you're raising two children on your own while holding down a full-time job, your cooking rivals his momma's, which, by the way, is one of the biggest compliments a man can give a woman, you have no problem with getting your hands dirty while working alongside him on your house renovations and you can throw a wicked curveball.”

A wicked curveball.
Audra fought the urge to snicker at that last compliment. Her so-called wicked curveball was the result of a poorly thrown baseball, nothing intentional on her part. “Carter Cooper has a tendency to bend reality to his way of thinking.”

“I think he's sweet on you,” Lizzie teased.

Audra shook her head. “He's just a good man with a never-ending supply of kind words.”

Lizzie eyed her skeptically.

“He's been very up-front about his not looking for a relationship,” she added, feeling the need to stop any rumors before they started. No matter how much she wished what Lizzie was saying was true, there was still a part of her afraid to put her trust completely in another man. “Neither am I,” she added, more for herself than anything else.

“Sorry,” the younger woman was quick to apologize. “Despite the lack of a love life to call my own, I'm still a romantic at heart.”

“No need to apologize,” Audra assured her with a confirming smile.

“I guess I'll see you Sunday.” She started for the door, pausing to call back over her shoulder, “Carter has a thing for pecan pie. Just so you know.” Then with a fluttery wave of her hand, she was gone.

Pecan pie?
Her specialty. Too bad Carter wasn't going to be one of the judges who would be deciding on the winner of Braxton's annual pie bake-off. Maybe she'd bake two pies on Sunday. One for the competition and one for dinner that evening. He deserved a special treat for all the hard work he'd been doing on her house the past few weeks.

She couldn't help but feel guilty about the amount of time her home repairs had taken up in his life. Now that his and Nathan's company was contracted for another job, Carter had been coming by in the evenings and weekends to do what he could do.

In addition to some much-needed plumbing work, Carter had replaced almost all of the living room subfloor and then put down the wood-look laminate that Audra had chosen, one guaranteed to wear well with two young children running over it. He'd also made adjustments to the beautiful, old oak pocket doors so they now slid open and closed with very little effort, and caulked all the windows as a temporary fix until fall when she would invest in replacement windows before the cold months set in.

All in all, the inside repairs were coming along quite nicely, thanks to Carter's expertise and hard work. Outside was another matter. The roof still needed to be repaired in several places. But with the last bit of daylight ending shortly after eight in the evening, Carter had limited time to see to her roof by the time he got there after work and ate the dinner she usually had ready for him.

The phone rang, bringing Audra from her thoughts. “Church office. This is Audra speaking. How can I help you?” she answered as Mrs. Johns had instructed her to.

“You can help me by joining me and my family for dinner tonight.”

“Carter?”

“Expecting a dinner invitation from someone else?”

She laughed at his teasing remark. “Hardly.”

He chuckled. “How's work going?”

“Really well,” she said. “It's worked out so wonderfully with the kids being able to come here after school.”

“Happy for you,” he said with all sincerity. “I don't wanna keep you since you're still at work, but I wanted to catch you before you left for home and started making dinner. Nathan asked me to bring you and the kids over to his place for dinner. A pizza party to be exact.”

“That's so kind of him to include us.”

“Nice of Katie,” he explained. “Not that Nathan wasn't more than happy to invite you and the kids over, but this whole pizza party thing was Katie's idea. A sure way for her to get to play with her new friends. I'm sure you've picked up from the times Nathan and Katie stopped by that he'd do just about anything to make his baby girl happy.”

“Ha!” she replied. “You're a fine one to talk,
Uncle
Carter. I'd say you and Logan give your big brother a pretty good run for his money when it comes to making Katie happy.”

“Reckon we might at that,” he admitted with a husky chuckle. “So can I tell Katie she'll have some playmates this evening?”

“I'm sure Lily and Mason would love spending time with Katie. And pizza sounds wonderful.”

“I'm gonna take that as a yes,” Carter replied. “I'll give Nathan a call and let him know. I know the kids have school tomorrow, so we won't be too late getting home. In fact, I hope to get those hinges on the bathroom towel cupboard before I head home tonight.”

Getting home
. Those words sounded so right. As if Carter was a part of her family. If only their lives before meeting each other had been different, maybe then... Audra shook the wistful thought from her head. It would never be their home. He wasn't looking for a family. Just a friend. She needed to keep that foremost in her mind.