Harlequin Special Edition March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Mendoza's Secret Fortune\A Second Chance at Crimson Ranch\From City Girl to Rancher's Wife by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The evening was much different than Olivia had expected. The man who’d interrupted them at the community center turned out to be Jim Thompson, Logan’s closest friend from high school. Jim had gone to prison for shooting a man. A man whose life Logan probably had saved by calling the police and having his best friend arrested.

She could feel the tension between the two of them, but Jim didn’t seem to hold Logan responsible for his fate. He didn’t need to when Logan clearly blamed himself for the events of that long-ago night, for letting his wild streak rule his life years ago, for not stopping Jim from pulling the trigger. Jim had committed the crime, but Logan still held on to a lot of guilt from that time.

Jim recently had been released from prison and had come through Crimson on his way to his sister’s home on the Western Slope of Colorado near the Utah border. Logan had seemed shocked to see his old friend, who’d tracked him down through people in Telluride.

Jim’s arrival had changed their plans. Instead of a romantic dinner, the three of them had met Logan’s friend Noah Conrad for burgers and beer at a bar in town. Olivia had met Noah several times while she was married to Craig and was grateful that Noah’s affable nature brought some levity to their group.

Logan had been tense the whole night, barely making eye contact with her. At first she’d thought it was because he’d been left with as much pent-up sexual tension as she with no way to release it. Now, as she watched a trashy blonde she didn’t recognize lean close to his ear while he lined up his shot at the bar’s corner pool table, she couldn’t help but wonder if his mind was simply elsewhere.

“Does it feel strange to be out after all that time?” Olivia asked Jim, hoping this conversation could distract her from how off track the night had gotten. She shifted uncomfortably on the bar stool where her lingerie-clad bottom had been sitting for the past hour. Were fancy underpants really worth this much fidgeting?

Jim Thompson looked at her over the rim of his glass. “I was sentenced eight years ago. The world feels a lot different now...”

She nodded. “Have you reunited with your family?”

“Reunited,” he said slowly, as if testing the sound on his tongue, “is a funny word.” He placed his glass of water on the table and studied her. “You ask a lot of questions, Ms. Wilder.”

“I’m sorry,” she said automatically. “Usually I mind my own business. But Logan doesn’t talk much about his past or why he ultimately left Crimson.”

“We were young and stupid back then.” Jim gave her a friendly smile. “No need to apologize. I don’t think I should have come here, though,” he added, his gaze following hers.

Noah gave Logan a quick high five after the shot, and the young woman said something that made Logan smile at her.

What had

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