Page 23 of Not Over You (Prosperity Ranch 3)

Jana was surprised she’d slept at all the night before. She was pretty sure Knox went to bed soon after her—at least, she didn’t hear any sounds about the house. But when she awakened, the house was completely silent. Which was a good thing. She could shower and be ready before he woke up.

She crept out of bed, listening for any signs of Knox being awake. After her shower, the house was still silent, and she chanced a walk by the bedroom he’d chosen—Natalie’s, as opposed to her parents’.

The door wasn’t shut all the way, allowing for a sliver to see into the room. Although Jana slowed her step, she wasn’t about to peek in on him. So she continued toward the kitchen. She’d make two batches of jam today before pickup, then she planned on devoting the afternoon and evening to her book. She was caught up on a week’s worth of columns, anyway.

She debated whether to make breakfast for Knox. Would he be sleeping in? Or would he be heading to the rodeo grounds as soon as he woke up?

She cracked a few eggs into the frying pan and set the burner on medium. Then she made a fresh batch of orange juice. She didn’t have bacon or hash browns, so Knox would have to be grateful for what he got. Which he had been so far…

Which brought her thoughts circling to the fact that her ex-boyfriend had spent the night in her house. And… they’d been cordial. All right, more than cordial. Friendly, and maybe a tad flirty. She exhaled and flipped the eggs. The other sides of the eggs sizzled while she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

Knox would be leaving tomorrow, and who knew when she’d see him again. Sure, he’d come into town to see his daughter, but not Jana. Unless he needed a place to stay again? She grimaced. He’d stay at the bed and breakfast, since the rodeo crowd would be gone.

She spent the next hour preparing the jars and canning more raspberry jam. While the jars were in the water canner, she brought her laptop to the kitchen table to finish the scene she’d started the day before. She read through what she’d written, and that’s when she realized she was nearly to the first kiss between the hero and heroine. Right now in the story, Ryan and Sandy were in New York and were working late hours on a business deal together at a marketing company. They’d been friends for a couple of years, but Sandy’s boyfriend had stopped Ryan from asking Sandy out.

But now that Sandy was a free woman, Ryan was testing the waters a little. The sun had set, and the shadows had turned purple in the conference room. Ryan ordered in dinner, and Sandy was glued to the computer making adjustments on their digital design. When dinner arrived, they began to eat, and the conversation turned flirty—very flirty.

Jana was smiling as she typed, totally absorbed in the scene, when a voice spoke close to her ear. “Ryan, huh? He’s got some moves.”

Jana yelped, closed the laptop cover, and placed a hand over her chest. “You scared me. Don’t do that again!”

Knox chuckled.

He still stood behind her, and he leaned forward, then opened the laptop screen. “Why’d you shut it?”

She shoved his hand away. “No, you don’t.”

He was still behind her, and so close she felt his warm breath against her neck. Ignoring the goose bumps racing across her skin from his scent of soap and pine, she rose, careful to move away from him as she did so. Then she tucked the laptop under her arm and turned to face him.

Oh boy.

Knox was wearing a fitted T-shirt and jeans. His dark blonde hair was damp from a shower, and his whiskers only made him look more handsome.

“You’re seriously not going to let me read your book?”

Jana knew she was blushing, but she didn’t care. She took another step back. “It’s a romance novel, if you have to know, and you’re not exactly my target audience.”

He merely smiled and folded those tanned arms of his, which only made her heart skip another beat. The full force of allowing Knox Prosper to sleep in her house last night was starting to hit her. He was dang sexy in the morning. She needed to keep her distance, and she needed to change the topic. She moved around the table, still clutching her laptop. “Made you some breakfast.”

His gaze cut to the counter, where she’d piled the eggs on a plate and covered it. “Jana, you’re an angel.”

While he brought the plate to the table, she slipped into the living room to set the laptop in there. When she returned, Knox was halfway through his eggs.

“Want some orange juice?” she asked. Staying busy would be good.

“Love some.”

She brought over a tall glass of juice, then set about checking the jam in the water canners, even though she knew they weren’t finished.

When Knox finished his breakfast, he washed his dishes, then moved to where she was checking her phone for any delivery notifications. Nothing had come in, so she figured the pickup would be the same time this afternoon. It was nearly ten in the morning now. But she couldn’t ignore him when he was standing so close, watching her.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him.

Knox smiled as he shook his head. “How many people have you let read your book?”

This was not what she expected. “Um, a few people have.”

“Who?”

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