The Wrangler Rides Again by Stella Bagwell

Author:Stella Bagwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-11-15T21:21:12+00:00

* * *

Minutes later, as they ate, Jim inwardly marveled over the fact that he’d found enough strength to exit the bathroom without drawing her into his arms and kissing her over and over.

While she’d been gently administering to his hand, all sorts of thoughts and desires had made dizzying circles in his head. By the time she’d finished smoothing the last piece of tape into place, he’d been aching to taste her lips and feel the softness of her body melding against his.

Jim didn’t understand how or why this attraction he felt for Tallulah had developed so rapidly. He only knew that it scared him. He’d never been an impulsive man. The choices he’d made concerning his happiness and future welfare had always been carefully thought through. But this thinking he was doing about Tallulah was far from careful. It was downright reckless. And yet he’d not felt this alive in years and he didn’t want to turn back, to hide his emotions behind a sad wall of memories.

“If I finish the last of the dumplings on my plate, I’ll be too stuffed for dessert,” Tallulah said as she placed her fork on her plate. “And Sophia made blackberry cobbler. The kind with real crust and gobs of cinnamon and sugar on top. It’s loaded with calories, but it’s one of Maureen’s favorites. I honestly don’t know how the woman keeps her svelte figure.”

“I do. It’s all the hard work she puts in from sunup to sundown. She’s rarely out of the saddle, and if she is on the ground, she’s most likely punching cows into a squeeze chute, or lifting a branding iron.”

“Yes, that was one of the first things I noticed about my employer when I moved to the ranch. She’s an incredible woman in more ways than one,” Tallulah said. “I wish I could be a bit more like her.”

The wistful note in her voice had Jim studying her face. “In what way?” he asked.

“She’s so strong both emotionally and physically. That’s to be admired. But I think...well, I wish I could make wise choices like she’s obviously made. She has an adoring husband, children and grandchildren. Even without her money, she’d be a rich woman. And I think she’d be the first to agree with that.”

Her remarks didn’t surprise Jim. She was the family type. She was the kind of woman who’d relish holding a baby to her breast. She’d want a home and everything that went with it. And yet for now, he didn’t want to think about her needs. He didn’t even want to stop and consider his own. He merely wanted them to be together without dwelling on the past or future.

“So that’s what you’d like for yourself?” he asked. “A husband and kids?”

She let out a long breath before her gaze finally landed on his face.

“Sounds unreasonable, doesn’t it? I mean, I married a man who couldn’t have been further from the homey type. At the time I was too ignorant or blinded to see that Shane was all about himself.

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