Christmas with the Rancher by Mary Leo

Author:Mary Leo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Bella was off the porch and high-tailing it to her truck so quickly that Travis could barely keep up with her.

“Bella, wait,” he called but she kept right on walking, the snow crunching under her feet.

The woman was relentless once she made up her mind to do something. She left him no choice so he did the only thing he could think of to get her attention: he threw a wet snowball at her. It made contact with her sweet butt as he took pride in his aim.

“Yes!”

She jumped and turned around, staring as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. This could go either way. He waited, breathing hard as snow began to fall.

“Do you even know how much you hurt me?” She yelled it as if she was well and truly riled, not to mention losing control.

“It was a snowball, not a rock,” he yelled back as he moved toward her. “But I’m sorry if it hurt.”

She didn’t move. He could see raw emotion brewing on her face and wondered what the heck was upsetting her to the brink of tears. He felt helpless, as if she had built up a fortress around her and nothing and no one could ever break through.

“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked him.

“I know it’s not the smack on the butt with a snowball, but other than that, no. I don’t get why you’re so upset. Maybe if you gave me a clue.”

“You can’t be that naive.”

He now stood right in front of her and could see the emotion burning on her face. Again he reached out for her, and again she pulled away.

“Come on, Bella. I’m a guy. It comes with the DNA.”

“You’re a Granger.”

“Yeah, and...?”

“Didn’t you learn anything from your dad?”

“Apparently nothing that can help me out with understanding you.”

“You’re impossible!”

“Me? I’m a straight shooter. No misfires with this ole cowboy. Everything is out in the open. Nothing hidden in my barn but hay.”

He caught the smirk she tried to suppress. “And you expect me to believe you after all the games you’ve been playing since I arrived?”

“Games? Me? You’ve got me mistaken with some other cowboy.”

“I know that you and your family, along with my conniving dad, are all trying to get me to back down, to return to Chicago and leave my dad right here in Briggs running that money pit.”

“Nobody wants you to leave Briggs, Bella, especially not me.”

“That’s never going to happen.”

He rested his hands on her arms. He could feel her tremble through her coat. “Your dad’s given up. I won’t.”

“You gave up on me a long time ago.”

His voice got low. “I never gave up on you, Bella.”

“You broke my heart.”

“If I did, that was never my intention.”

“You should have written back to me. Answered my letters. Sent me an email. Found me on a search engine.”

Her eyes watered.

“You’re ripping your dad from his home because you’re angry at me over my social-media skills? This may come

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