The Rancher's Mistletoe Bride by Jill Kemerer

Author:Jill Kemerer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-27T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

What kind of a cotton-pickin’ fool was he?

He’d almost kissed her. Sure, he’d brushed her cheek in the nick of time, but it had been a close call. Too close.

The cold air bit at his exposed cheeks as he rode around the pasture that afternoon checking pregnant cows. His insulated coveralls kept his body warm, but his heart had been chilled ever since Lexi thanked him.

She’d thanked him.

For what? For being inappropriate? Because he had been. At breakfast she’d been talking about babies, and then she’d been so over the moon about the abandoned building. When she’d uttered the words wedding reception, he’d taken one look at her face—sparkling and beautiful and good—and he’d lost his mind. And when she’d burrowed into his embrace with her cheek against his shoulder? He’d actually allowed himself a peek at the dreams he’d buried long ago.

He couldn’t seem to put the dreams back. He hadn’t simply held her. He’d kissed her cheek. Thought about kissing her lips. He’d taken their relationship beyond employer/employee, way past friendship...to risky.

He couldn’t go any farther. Not where she was concerned.

His horse trotted through the frozen pasture around the grazing herd as snow fell. The air pinched Clint’s lungs, made him feel alive. This—riding a horse on a winter day, checking pregnant cows, making sure their drinking water hadn’t iced over—this was what he’d been made to do. The good Lord had blessed him with a love of ranching. And he was working on one of the finest ranches in Wyoming, so how could he jeopardize it by wanting more?

He was Lexi’s employee, and his status wasn’t going to change unless she fired him. He’d spent his entire life as no one’s choice. There was something flawed inside him. It was why his dad had abandoned him, why his grandfather couldn’t stand him, why none of the foster families considered making him a permanent part of their lives. Other kids had gotten adopted. Not him.

He belonged to nobody, and no one belonged to him. And that’s the way it would stay.

Wishful thinking would only bring disappointment, the way it always had.

Lexi was nice to him because she was nice to everyone. She was lonely, needed a friend, and he was nearby.

And when she finds out the reason you lost your land?

She wouldn’t want him around at all. She’d made it clear she hated being lied to. And he hadn’t told her the whole truth.

Lexi made people’s dreams come true. It was who she was, what she did. And she deserved someone who would make her dreams come true.

Every dream he’d had, he’d found a way to mess up.

She might not know him as a worthless brat or that Romine kid, but he did. He’d never been enough. Never would be enough for someone like her. When she got her life figured out, she’d find someone who belonged in her world. Someone with a family who would treat her like their daughter. And she’d be happy.

With a clicking sound, he urged his horse to keep moving.

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.