The Ranger's Second Chance: A Ranger Valley Romance (Ranger Valley Ranch Book 5) by Lia Rae

Author:Lia Rae [Rae, Lia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

Tori danced around the kitchen the following afternoon, preparing the food for the evening. Even though breakfast for dinner was her favorite meal, her second favorite was stir-fry, which could be generic and boring if you weren’t careful, but she loved the creativity she could bring to it with extra flavors and vegetables. She already had the shrimp thawing out so she could wash and peel them. The rice was cooked and waiting to be made into fried rice. Now, all she had to do was chop the vegetables.

When the Black-Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling” came on something lifted inside her. It took her a second to blink back the tears. She really had her second chance. Not just with Nick, but with her brother too. Having them both so close to her and both talking to her was like having a dry well filled for the first time in years. Tori was determined to make the absolute most of it.

She let the music take her, dancing around using the rice spattered spoon as a microphone to sing her heart out. Tori let herself put all her hopes into the lyrics that felt like they really meant something for this night. With a quick button push, she turned the volume all the way up and shimmied and shook around the kitchen.

The silence between songs descended, and she screamed when someone cleared their throat behind her. She jumped, whirling to see who was there, while brandishing the spoon still in her hand as though it were a weapon. Nick stood in the doorway to the hall. He must have come in when the volume was too loud for her to hear him.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She’d showered at least, but she wore only an overlarge t-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts. Nothing else.

His eyes told her he knew that and had enjoyed the show. “I thought I’d come over a little early to see if I could give you a hand.”

She studied his face, waiting a beat and saw only admiration there, no laughter.

“I’m not ready,” she whispered.

“You look plenty ready to me.”

Tori blushed. “I guess I’ll go get dressed.”

“Only if that’s what you want.”

“I—”

“Because you look perfect to me,” he finished.

Tori swallowed hard. Her eyes traveled up and down his body in his jeans, button-down shirt and newly cleaned boots. “I think you’re overdressed then.”

His eyes held hers. “I suppose you’re right. Can you take these?”

He held out a bottle of wine and a pile of papers. Tori’s forehead scrunched in confusion.

“Your mail was on the floor in the hall. I picked it up.” He glanced down at the papers, one of which was a large yellow, legal-size envelope.

“Croman, Reid, and Vine?” he asked, quirking one eyebrow at her. “Having some legal trouble?”

Tori looked away. Of course that would be in the mail today with a big red stamp RETURN TO SENDER.

“What? No, of course not, just some forms I need.

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