Marriage At Any Price. Lauren Canan

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       Two

      “Ally,” Mr. Rucker said in a cautioning tone, indicating she had spoken out of turn.

      “What?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t care who hears. Half the town knows anyway.” She turned her focus on the newcomer. “The old man was a crook. He stole my ranch. Claimed my father used it for a loan that Dad never paid back. My father wouldn’t do something like that. Old man Masters took it all. Everything. Had me evicted after Dad died. I even had to fight to keep three mares and a stallion that were registered in my name. Talk about greed. You’d think someone with that much money wouldn’t feel the need to swindle people out of their home.”

      “The horses, as I recall, were simply a misunderstanding,” Mr. Rucker asserted.

      “Yeah. How long would it have taken to straighten that out had I not caught it?”

      When Ally turned away from Seth Masters, she could still feel his golden eyes watching her. Ben Rucker was probably right. She shouldn’t be spouting off in front of strangers, although she found it hard to consider Seth Masters a stranger. He could almost be Wade Masters’s brother, so alike were their looks. He had thick brown hair with a slight wave and gold highlights and a five o’clock shadow that covered a sharp jaw and prominent chin, complete with a sexy little cleft. High cheekbones complimented brown eyes with flecks of gold. His lips, too kissable to put into words, delivered a sexy grin showing perfect white teeth. In his white dress shirt and tie, he was the epitome of handsome.

      “What about you, Ally? What do you do?” he asked.

      “Rancher. Or I used to be before...” She grimaced and pressed her lips together. “Now I work at the Triple Bar Ranch east of town. I train horses.”

      “That must take a lot of skill and agility.”

      She’d never really thought about it. It was something she’d done most of her life. She shrugged. “Maybe.”

      The man nodded. “I would venture to say our jobs are equally challenging.”

      “Oh, you would, huh? Tell me, Mr. Masters, how many stalls have you mucked out? How many horses have you trained?” She couldn’t help but laugh. The idea that she was anything like this rich hunk from California was absurd.

      Ben Rucker snorted at her comment and fought not to choke on his coffee.

      “It just so happens,” Seth said, “that in my younger days, I mucked out plenty of stalls. Never trained a new horse, but logged plenty of hours exercising them. I spent most summers here in Calico Springs at the family ranch growing up. So I guess I have a good idea of what you do. Clearly you’re accomplished. And that’s worth saying.”

      “Thank you,” she replied, feeling a blush coming on. “Still...my accomplishments probably don’t measure up compared to yours.”

      “You don’t accept compliments very well, do you?”

      “Compliments I can handle. It’s bullshit I’m not so good with.”

      “Then allow me to backtrack and just say you’re a very skilled horsewoman.”

      “Damn good thing for you.” She sat back as the waitress set her plate down in front of her. “It took me most of the ride back to the ranch to calm Monkey down.”

      “What happened to Monkey?” Ben asked.

      “He had a fright this morning,” she said, picking up half of her sandwich. “Some idiot nearly ran him down with his car.”

      “Good grief!”

      “No grief. Just bad driving.” She took a bite and picked up a napkin.

      “Not that bad or I would have hit you. And it occurs to me that I wasn’t the only one speeding.”

      “I take it you two have met each other before, then?” asked Ben.

      “We almost had a collision on the country road leading to town this morning,” Seth explained.

      Ally dropped the sandwich back onto her plate, wiped her hands with the paper napkin and glared at him. “There’s no speed limit posted on the bridle path. Most people with any common sense would appreciate the fact that it’s the cars going down the road that are the hazard. Especially if they are trying to break the sound barrier.”

      “I say again, I was not going all that fast.”

      “That would depend on your definition of fast.”

      They held each other’s gaze. After a few long seconds, she turned back to her plate. “You were in the wrong, and I really don’t care to discuss it further.”

      She couldn’t miss his pursed lips as he tried to hide a grin.

      Hateful man. She didn’t know what he was doing in Calico Springs. She hadn’t missed how he’d sidestepped her question when she asked. And she hadn’t appreciated that “enjoying the view” remark, even though it had been a long time since a man flirted with her. She didn’t want any of the Masters men to say one word to her after what their father had done. She could only hope their paths would not СКАЧАТЬ