Lonesome Ryder: Lonesome Ryder / Restaurant Romeo. Carol Finch

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СКАЧАТЬ that must’ve been a typo,” Laura said into the phone. “He’s not thirty-three. He’s eighty-three. He wears hearing aids and I have to yell so he can understand what I’m saying to him. He has no hair, wears eyeglasses as thick as ice cubes and has very few teeth. His favorite friend in the whole world is his dog. Now, do you really think I’m going to have romantic notions about the man?…I’m perfectly safe here and I’ll be back in Colorado for a week before the fall session of school starts. In the meantime, you need to get a grip, Michael. I’m not falling in love with Wade Ryder so you can calm down and relax.”

      Wade didn’t wait for Laura to disconnect because he figured he’d have to barge in before another incoming call demanded her attention. The moment Laura realized he’d been standing in the hall, eavesdropping on her conversations, her face turned a fascinating shade of guilty-as-hell red. His condemning gaze locked on her and he didn’t let her off the hook when she flashed him a blinding smile.

      “Bald? Toothless? Gums his food?” Wade gritted out.

      Her chin came up and she stared defiantly at him. “You have no room to complain, Ryder. Duff said that you told Vance and Quint that I can’t cook, don’t clean and that I sleep until nine, at which time you wake me up to fix your meal.”

      “Well, that’s different,” he muttered.

      “How are your white lies different from mine?” she asked, arching a challenging brow.

      “I’m trying to get rid of you since you won’t quit.”

      “And I’m trying to reassure Michael, David, Everett and Jerret that nothing is going on between us so they’ll stop worrying about me.”

      “Just how many lovers do you usually keep on a fishing stringer at a time?” he asked brusquely.

      “None,” she replied just as brusquely.

      “Oh, really? Then what was that ‘Hi, handsome’ and ‘Hello, gorgeous’ all about?” he challenged.

      Laura spun around to stuff Wade’s clean briefs in the dresser drawer. “I have four overprotective brothers who happen to be every bit as handsome as you are—”

      Laura slammed her mouth shut and darted him an embarrassed glance. She hadn’t intended to let her tongue loose without first engaging her brain. Wade stared at her, flashing a rare smile, undoubtedly gloating over her unintentional compliment. As if he didn’t already know he was drop-dead handsome, the jerk.

      “You think I’m handsome?” he asked. “Without hair or teeth? Wearing overalls and listening to you yell at me because I’m hard of hearing? I gotta tell ya, Seymour, with you it’s hard to separate the lies from the truth. So what is the truth? Were those your boyfriends or your brothers?”

      Laura shoved the dresser drawer shut with her hip and stamped over to the walk-in closet to hang up his chambray shirts. “They are my older brothers. My mom died when I was six and I lost Dad when I was twelve. My brothers taught me to work, but when it comes to friendships and relationships they watch over me like mother hens, because my dad made them promise to take care of me. I can’t even turn around without one of my brothers looking over my shoulder, checking on me, telling me what to do and how to do it.”

      “So you packed up and moved to Hoot’s Roost and you’re bustin’ loose in Oklahoma with your newfound liberation,” he presumed. “You’re trying your hand at poker, beer and cigars because your brothers aren’t around to advise you against it?”

      “Precisely.” Laura strode from the closet to pluck up two pairs of jeans that had the left leg whacked off at the knee to accommodate Wade’s cast. “My brothers are afraid I’ll fall for some jerk who doesn’t deserve me while they aren’t around to screen my dates and do background checks. My mistake was actually giving them your name. I should’ve lied about that, too, so Michael couldn’t run your criminal record.” She glanced at him sweetly. “But it’s nice to know you aren’t a convicted rapist or murderer.”

      “Just a grouch,” he remarked, smiling grudgingly.

      “Right, Mr. McGrump, so what do you want for lunch?”

      “Fried crow, maybe,” he said. “I guess you aren’t some floozy who toys with men.”

      Laura nearly fell over when Wade smiled at her again. This was a genuine, good-natured, peace-treaty smile and it made her weak in the knees. Her heart somersaulted around her chest, making it difficult to breathe normally.

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