The Perfect Ingredient (Dare Valley) Read Online Free PDF

Yes, he could be a badass, but with her, he had always been so much more. After they’d gotten past the crazy, erotic first weeks of their…relationship, they’d started talking afterward and sleeping in the same bed and hanging out in the mornings. His defenses had come down, and so had hers.
    “Primetime, huh? That’s huge. I mean I knew his show was pulling in serious ratings, but wow.”
    “And he’s got that gourmet food and kitchen product line too,” she added. “I’m happy for him. He didn’t have it easy growing up.”
    “I remember you telling me,” Jane said. Their food order had arrived in the middle of Elizabeth’s spiel, and Jane took a big bite of her crepe. “Every time I eat one of these, I swear if I close my eyes I’m back in Paris.”
    “We should go,” Elizabeth said automatically, then bit her lip. “Sorry. Here you are, newly engaged, and I’m talking about girl trips.”
    Jane grabbed her hand. “Stop. I told you. My engagement to Matt doesn’t change our friendship. Right now I can’t fly off to Paris with you, but we will.”
    Some day. She took a bite of her own crepe and made herself smile.
    Just then, she caught sight of Rhett walking into the coffee shop. Even though he no longer wore his trademark cowboy hat now that he was married to Abbie, he was still a head taller than most of the men in Don’t Soy With Me. His mouth broke into a huge grin when he spotted them, and he sauntered over like an old gaucho crossing a saloon.
    “Hey, Margie,” he called out to the barista, who was drinking her own cup of coffee now that the line had finally cleared up. “How are you doing, honey?”
    “Great. Good to see you, Rhett. Do you want your usual or something special?”
    He stroked his chin. “Let’s go with my regular, but be a sweetheart and add some Tabasco to my eggs.”
    “Sure thing, honey,” she bandied back easily.
    Yeah, that was Rhett. Everyone in town loved him even though he stuck out in Dare Valley like an albatross in the desert.
    “How’s my girls?” he asked in his typical Southern fashion as he bussed their cheeks.
    They both gave him the thumbs up, which made him chuckle.
    “Ma’am, do you mind if I take this chair over to my friends here?” he asked the woman at the table next to them. She blinked rapidly, no doubt caught off guard by his drawl and his handsomeness. “Not at all.”
    “Thanks, you’re a darlin’,” he said with a wink, dragging it across the short distance to their table and plopping down in it.
    “So the rumors are true,” Jane said to Rhett. “Matt told me you were coming in today to pick up some flyers to spread around town.”
    “No way,” Elizabeth echoed.
    If there was one thing Rhett was not, it was political. Something she had always liked about him.
    “Yes, way,” Rhett replied. “I need to stand up for my girls now that everyone knows who you are. That, and I want to continue to make peace with Young Matthew by supporting him.”
    Elizabeth snickered. “Matt hates it when you call him that, doesn’t he?”
    “It’s what Uncle Arthur calls him from time to time,” Jane said.
    Rhett waggled his eyebrows. “I’m just needling Matt a little bit since he’s managed to take away my poker scout and my sweet little dog.”
    Now Jane rolled her eyes. “You gave Annie as a present, and you told me I had your blessing to pursue my own poker career.”
    “I know, but there’s not much I can get into trouble for anymore being married and living in Dare Valley, so I have to get creative with my carousing.”
    Carousing. Now that was a Rhett word if she’d ever heard one. He’d certainly done some carousing in the old days, and in some ways, so had she. Perhaps she was settling down too, and funny how it hadn’t taken marriage to do it. Just moving to this small town.
    “Oh, we feel so bad for you, Rhett,” Elizabeth said, her voice teasing.
    “I know. Everybody feels sorry for me. Some days it’s simply