Ranchers and Sheriffs Collection by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459296237
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

ELI GRITTED HIS TEETH and hunched his shoulders, trying to ignore the sound of the running water. Trying to ignore any and all thoughts of Sadie in the shower.

It was hard, no pun intended, because there hadn’t been a woman in his house, in his shower, in...possibly ever. It had been so long since he’d had an actual relationship, he couldn’t remember. Longer still since a relationship had mattered, since every actual girlfriend he’d had sort of faded into the distant past like a soft hazy dream.

The kind he had no desire to revisit. Because girlfriends were a whole level of responsibility he didn’t want or need. At this point, with Kate still unsettled and Connor deep in his grief, Eli couldn’t fathom taking on much more.

Which is why it’s obviously the best time to increase your workload.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, before dropping his hands back to his sides and stalking to the fridge. He was going to drink a beer. And he wasn’t even going to bother to go back for the poker game. They’d all do fine without him.

He pulled a cold bottle out from the back and popped the top off with the magnet opener he kept stuck to the freezer.

Yeah, it was a terrible time to take on more. Connor needed help on the ranch, and he always would. It was their legacy, and Eli had to take part in it. Then there was the emotional aspect of dealing with his family.

On top of that, Sadie being in residence was adding another layer to his to-do list that he did not need. Because for all Connor said he was going to handle it, here Eli was, freaking handling it.

Not a huge surprise and not much he could do about it, either. Five years. Five years of Sadie and foibles that would undoubtedly be similar in nature to this. Sometimes he wondered if he’d been an ax murderer in a past life and he was destined to spend this one atoning.

But then he remembered reincarnation was bullshit and took another drink of his beer.

And reincarnation was not the only thing that was bullshit. That there was a naked, wet woman in his house whom he could not and would not touch was also bullshit.

He’d had a permanent frown etched into his face since Sadie had shown up. He didn’t even feel like trying to fix his attitude. It was just one more thing to add to his list of things to worry about. One more thing that he had to add to an increasing, unwieldy pile of Things For Eli to Manage.

Things he knew without a doubt wouldn’t get taken care of if he didn’t do it. Because that was life. It was his life.

Which he was normally not so bitter about. But something about the addition of a woman whom he wasn’t allowed to touch, a woman he shouldn’t even want to touch, naked in his house was like jamming an injured thumb into the center of a lemon.

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