Page 19 of A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy

“Shall we?” His question broke through her reverie and she forced herself to look him square in the face.

“Sure,” she murmured.

They strode along the street as if it were the most natural thing in the world but inside, her body was warring with itself. She was supposed to despise him—or at least dislike him enough that spending extra time outside of their volunteer hours would be out of the question. Instead, she was becoming more drawn to him.

Duke stopped into the supply store first—it was an in and out sort of visit—then he motioned for her to lead the way to her next stop.

She kept looking at him, half-expecting him to tell her he was joking and he had no interest in going to get a coffee after she picked up a few lotions and bubble baths. They entered the store and were immediately hit with heady scents of Pine, cinnamon, and vanilla. Most of the smells in the shop were Christmas themed. Sophie grabbed a bag and moved over to the bubble bath table. She grabbed a sweet pea and a melon cucumber. Those were Pippa’s favorite. She wasn’t quite sure on Allie, but she opted for a vanilla sugar cookie and a pumpkin spice.

Her hand hovered over an almond infused shea butter but then she returned it to the table.

“Aren’t you going to get it?” Duke asked from behind.

Sophie glanced up at him, ignoring the chills his low voice elicited. “Not today.” With everything in her blog up in the air, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go through a bottle before leaving the country. Her agent had said there was a high probability she’d be sent to Paris first.

Duke’s focus lingered on the bubble bath then he looked to Sophie, but he didn’t utter a word. “Anything else you need?”

She shook her head.

“Good, because after we get coffee, I’m going to run a few more errands.” He winked at her. “I think today is the perfect day to play hooky.”

Sophie bit back a smile. “What other errands are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “You’ll see.” Then he wandered over to the front of the store and grabbed a basket before grabbing various shampoos and body washes. They both checked out and they were on their way.

Once they had their coffee in hand, Sophie met his gaze. “So…” she drawled, “where to next?”

He pointed with a finger from the hand that held his coffee to a shop across the street.

She followed his gesture and smirked. “A toy store?”

Duke nodded.

Then Sophie laughed.

“What? You don’t think I should be entering such establishments?”

“I guess that depends on what you’re going there for. Unless your little sister is still a child…” She noticed the slight way he stiffened but then he relaxed once more. “Nope. But you could still help me pick out a few things.”

A few toy cars, dolls, and various craft sets later, and they were back on the street. Duke was utterly weighed down and yet he wanted to head into the pet store at the end of the street. Sophie opted to wait outside so she could finish her coffee whileshe watched people coming and going. When Duke emerged, he grinned at her. “Want to help me deliver these?”

“Deliver—” She didn’t have a chance to finish her question when he headed down the street, presumably to where he’d parked.

Sophie scrambled after him, climbing into his car without a second thought. It wasn’t until they showed up at a local woman’s shelter that she started to piece everything together. She turned surprised eyes on the man she clearly didn’t know well at all.

Duke grinned at her as he climbed out, pausing before he shut the door. “Well? You gonna help, or what?”

She hurried from the truck and moved around to the back to gather the bags of items Duke had purchased. “You’re donating all of this?”

He grunted as he hoisted one of the larger boxes for a toy track set onto his shoulder. “Yep.”

She stopped, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “You’re doing this to impress me, aren’t you?”

Duke gave her that flat look he’d worn when she accused him of faking his accent. “I do this every year.”

“Oh.” It was all she could muster, the single syllable practically dripping with embarrassment again. She watched in awe as he took the items to the front desk. The woman up front knew him by name, validating what he’d said before. After they chatted for a moment, he led Sophie back outside.

The heat from his hand at the small of her back sent waves of warmth skittering along her nerves. She skidded to a stop at thetruck and turned to face him. “You’re literally a saint.” Sophie hated how her statement sounded so accusatory.

---