Marrying the Cowboy by Trish Milburn

Author:Trish Milburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Pete walked away from the arena after his and Charlie’s ride, glad to be in one piece.

“At least we didn’t come in dead last,” Charlie said as he walked beside Pete.

“Glad I got a day job, though.”

“You and me both, buddy.” Charlie glanced back at the arena, where the bull riders were getting ready for their turns in the spotlight. “Must be like all that Spanish I learned in high school, use it or lose it.”

Pete snorted. “Come on, let’s get a drink and watch these crazy fools.”

The honest truth was he needed a beer to relax. He was nervous about his date with Leah, and he had a distinct suspicion it had nothing to do with Leah at all. Well, other than he was going to feel guilty taking her out when he couldn’t get his mind off the dream he’d awakened from that morning. The one that had him nearly bolting from the house before he could possibly run into Elissa and not be able to explain why he couldn’t look her in the eye.

While he slid onto the end of the bleachers and tried focusing on the bull riders, his traitorous brain kept replaying how very real that dream had felt. The softness of Elissa’s skin, the way she’d smelled like the flowers she was around all day, the warmth of her lips as he’d captured them with his own. And then... He couldn’t think about what had come next or he was going to get very uncomfortable really quickly.

He thought back through everything that had happened since the night of the tornado, and he couldn’t point to any one thing that had shifted his thinking about Elissa. It was almost as if it had always been there, and living under the same roof had simply flipped the “on” switch. Was that possible? Had that long-ago crush not really disappeared but simply gone into a long hibernation?

It didn’t matter where it had come from or when. It was there now. What had once passed between them without a second thought now camped out in the front of his brain, playing over like a video clip on constant repeat. The pie on the front porch, dancing with her at the music hall, that night they’d fallen asleep together on the couch.

Pete only halfway watched the riders competing in the arena. All he wanted was to get the rodeo over with so he could get his obligation to Connor fulfilled, too.

And then do what? It wasn’t as if he was going to tell Elissa one iota of what was going on in his head. He’d likely freak her out so bad she’d fly off to whatever remote corner of the world her parents were currently exploring just to get away from him.

No, if he were smart he’d focus on Leah and having a good time with her. She’d seemed nice enough when she’d stopped by the sheriff’s office earlier and Connor had introduced them.

After the bull riding was over, Pete stood and took a fortifying breath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.