The Bull Rider's Fresh Start by Heidi McCahan

Author:Heidi McCahan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-06-14T14:23:49+00:00

Chapter Eight

He’d barely eased his truck to a stop in front of his sister’s house before Kelsey grabbed the door handle and hopped out of the cab.

Landon jammed the gearshift into Park, cut the engine, then hurried after her. “Kelsey, wait.”

Man, he was saying that a lot lately. Tonight was not going at all how he’d planned. He wanted to make things right before she rushed inside and closed the door in his face.

While he expected her to ignore him like she had when she’d stormed out of Pizza Etc. a few minutes before, she surprised him by whirling around before her boots hit the porch.

“What?”

That terse, one-syllable response hinted at her barely contained anger. Her ramrod-straight spine and fierce glare warned him that he didn’t have much time to plead his case. And here he thought they’d made progress. Somehow he’d managed to mess that all up before they’d even started their meal.

He stopped in the middle of the driveway, keeping a safe distance, and cupped the back of his neck with his hand.

“Can we talk about this, please?”

“We just did. You ruined it by insulting me.”

“What? I didn’t insult you. I was trying to empathize.”

An exasperated look that silently screamed oh, please flashed across her features. The breeze picked up, rippling her hair against her shoulders. Despite the tension arcing between them, his arms ached to hold her. Draw her close. Leave a trail of kisses along the curve of her jaw.

He banished the thoughts as quickly as they skidded through his mind, though, because she looked angry enough to spit fire.

“Huh,” she said. “Which part was the empathy? When you judged me? Or maybe it was the part where you insulted my career? Wait, no. I bet it was the part where you criticized the way I live my life.” She moved toward him slowly. Deliberately. Each click of her boot on Laramie’s driveway landed like a punctuation mark.

Whoa. He opened his mouth to protest, but she wasn’t finished.

“You have no idea how hard it is to be a single mother.” She stopped in front of him, her eyes glittering, and jabbed her finger into his chest. “In fact, you know very little about me.”

“That’s where you’re mistaken.” He captured her hand, then pressed it over his heart, pinning her palm with his while he stepped closer. “I know that you love our baby girl with your whole heart. Otherwise you wouldn’t have come here. I know that your parents hurt you. Deeply. I know that you’re scared and that’s why you run. Now you want to keep running because that’s what’s worked in the past.”

Her chest heaved and her eyes widened, but she didn’t pull away. “You can’t charm your way out of this.”

He caressed the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb. “Really?”

They were so close he could smell the tantalizing fragrance of her perfume.

“Yes, really.”

“I don’t believe you,” he whispered, boldly stepping closer, leaving only a sliver of daylight between them. “You secretly find me incredibly charming.

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