“Doc asked Hannah to bring groceries up. Except Hannah was busy. Her dryer—no, wait, her washer. Yes, it was her washer. The repairman was coming by later today and she had a bunch of sheets to wash and new customers tonight and since the salon wasn’t busy, I figured I’d help her out. I bought the groceries and didn’t see anyone inside and figured that—” Oh mercy, but she was babbling like an insane woman, wasn’t she? But she couldn’t seem to stop. “I figured that coffee would go great with the doughnuts and since Doc can’t get around, it would be the neighborly thing to do to clean up the kitchen and . . . yeah.” She exhaled slowly. “Yeah, that’s about all of it.”

The big guy glanced down at his boots.

She did, too. The leather was wet, she noticed, and where it was wet, grounds were sticking to them.

She giggled.

He made a sound in his throat that was like a hmph.

But that was it. And she decided he wasn’t all that scary. Not really. Large, sure. Bearded, sure. But she’d dealt with her fair share of taciturn men and she could always charm them. She’d look at him as just another snarly customer she needed to win over. “Well, if you wanted a cup of coffee, there are easier ways to get one,” she told him breezily. “If you’ll wait a few minutes, I can clean up the floor and get the coffee started.”

He stared at her.

“To go with the doughnuts.”

He blinked.

She winked at him. “Trust me, you’ll like them. Then I can do a little cleaning up while we wait for Doc to wake.”

He blinked again. Looked over at the table and the pretty plate of doughnuts she’d set out. Looked over at her. Then he moved over to the table and picked up a doughnut with pink icing and sprinkles and set it carefully on a napkin. “Save that one for Libby,” he said gruffly. “And follow me.”

Mystified, she set down the coffee filter basket and followed him as he turned and left the kitchen.

CHAPTER FOUR

Hank was starting to wonder if fate was working against him.

That had to be the reason that the pretty hairdresser he’d turned down months ago was in the ranch’s kitchen, humming and making coffee. He’d done a good job of avoiding town up until this point specifically because she was there. He’d done his best to forget about her and the soft fall of her long hair, the bright smile, the curvy figure.

He wasn’t the type to dwell on what could have been. He’d thought the date request was a joke, he’d turned her down, and that was that.