Secret Love Read Online Free PDF

realized what he was talking about. She looked down at herself and chuckled again. Flour covered most of her clothing. She then raised her head and smiled up at him. “Would you believe I actually had on an apron?”
    Jake shook his head. With a smile like the one she had just given him, he could believe just about anything. “I don’t even want to think about how the kitchen looks.”
    She laughed. “I have to admit it’s not the neat, clean place it was when I arrived three days ago. But I promise to get things back to normal.” A huge grin covered her face. “I had so much fun baking.”
    Jake chuckled and nodded. There was even a dab of flour on her nose and cheek. “Yeah, I can tell.”
    Diamond looked up at him. Even sitting on a horse, he looked tall, lean and muscular. There were some qualities about him that reached out to her: strength and capability. “I was just about to sit down and enjoy some of the fruits of my labor. Would you like to join me for cookies and milk?” she found herself asking him.
    Jake looked at her thoughtfully as he shifted in his saddle. Common sense told him to decline her offer. After all, it was pretty close to dinnertime and as usual Blaylock had probably prepared a feast. But thethought of sitting down at a table, eating cookies and drinking milk with Diamond was a whole lot nicer than sitting down to dinner with Blaylock and a few of the men who lived on the ranch. He glanced at the cabin before glancing back down at her. “Cookies and milk, huh?”
    Diamond smiled. “Yes. Fresh-baked cookies and a tall, cold glass of milk. You can’t go wrong with that, Jacob.”
    Jake nodded as he dismounted, thinking that in truth, he could easily go wrong with just about anything involving Diamond. He followed her inside the cabin, gritting his teeth and calling himself all kinds of names for having such a weak resistance to her.
    The echo of his boots sounded on the hardwood floor when he stepped inside the kitchen and glanced around. Pots, pans and dishes were piled in the sink and a dust of flour covered the floor. For once the kitchen actually looked used. When he had built the cabin, he had added additional square footage in the kitchen on the assumption that it would get plenty of use. But Jessie had had other plans.
    Diamond saw Jake glance around and mistook the meaning of his silence. “I’ll clean up the mess,” she said warily as she watched his expression.
    Jake gave no sign of having heard her as he continued to look around the kitchen. He even noticed the cookbook lying on the counter. His six sisters-in-law had gone to great lengths to collect all those recipes for that cookbook and put it together. It had been a labor of love and just one of the many gifts his family had lovingly given; their contribution to the home he had built for his wife.
    “Jacob, I said that I’d clean up my mess,” Diamond repeated softly, slanting a glance at his rugged profile.
    Jake turned and met her gaze. She was looking at him with intense concern, and he saw an apology shimmering in her eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with how this place looks. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it looks just like a kitchen should.”
    He smiled down at her. “I’m dying to try out those cookies to see if they were worth the fight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go wash up.” He held her gaze for another quick second before abruptly moving toward the mudroom.
     
    “You know,” Jake commented to Diamond a short time later, “you may want to consider a career in baking if you ever decide to give up acting. These cookies are delicious.” They were seated across from each other at a table in the kitchen by the window.
    Diamond smiled, appreciating his compliment. She had tried baking for Samuel once or twice. He had laughed at her effort. “It was really nothing. I simply followed the recipe.” She motioned to the leather-bound cookbook lying on the counter. “Whoever put that book