Resisting the Rancher by Christine Rimmer

Author:Christine Rimmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-03-08T18:57:57+00:00

Chapter 2

The Ambling A was a sight for the ole sore eyes. Sore brain, really. Xander had thought about Lily all the way home, half wanting to call her to make sure she’d gotten home all right, half not because she might read into it.

Which made him feel like a jerk again, flattering himself.

But the way she’d leaned in for that kiss...

He would not lead her on.

He parked his new silver pickup and got out, the sprawling dark wood ranch house, which literally looked like it was made from Lincoln Logs, making him smile. He loved this place—the house, the land, the hard work to get the ranch the way they wanted. Xander headed in, never knowing who’d be home. Hunter, the second-oldest Crawford (Xander was third born), lived in a cabin on the property. A widower since the birth of his daughter, Hunter and his six-year-old, Wren, needed their own space, but the girl still had five uncles to dote on her. Logan, the eldest, had recently moved to town now that he was married with a baby to raise, but he worked on the ranch, as they all did, so it was almost like he’d never left.

The place sure had changed since the day they’d arrived. They’d mended fences for miles, repaired outbuildings, cleaned out barns, burned ditches and worked on the main house itself when they had the time and energy. A month later, it was looking good but they had a ways to go.

He came through the front door into the big house with its wide front hall and grand staircase leading up to a gallery-style landing on the second floor. He saw his dad and three of his brothers up there, going over blueprints, which meant his dad had proposed a change—again—and his sons were trying to talk him out of it. There was many a midnight argument taking place at the Ambling A. When they heard the door close behind him, they all came downstairs.

“Well, well, if isn’t the knight in shining armor,” Wilder, the youngest of the brothers, said with a grin.

Xander made a face at Wilder and shook his head, hoping they’d go back to talking blueprints. “Lily is hardly a damsel in distress. She’s very focused on what she wants. She can definitely take care of herself.” The more he thought about her, about what they’d talked about, her plans, her dreams, the more impressed he was.

Logan smiled. “Sounds like the date switch was a date match. Knox’s loss.”

Knox wasn’t around. He probably had left to get away from their matchmaking father.

“So? Was it a love match?” Finn asked. “When’s your next date?”

Twenty-nine-year-old Finn was the dreamer of the group. He could keep dreaming on this one, because another date wasn’t going to happen.

Lily was too young. And Xander was too jaded. She’d barely lived, and he was already cynical about love and guarded.

Xander rolled his eyes. “Get real. She’s twenty-three. C’mon. And very nice.”

“Ah, he used the kiss-of-death word. Nice,” Wilder said.

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