Roped In. Crystal Green

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ hadn’t been able to glance away, his groin thudding with every kick of his pulse.

      Then…

      Then he’d seen little Nicki Wade under the surface.

      Nicki, who used to wear that crazy hair of hers in pigtails…until one day.

      Shane remembered something now—a time just before he’d left Pine Junction. A day when he’d done a double take at her.

      She’d been with her friends at the annual spring rodeo, and it’d been the first time he’d seen her with her hair down. A glimpse of who she’d be one day set off a burst of attraction in him that he’d quickly tamped down. After all, she was Nicki Wade and she was fifteen, way too young for a guy on the edge of graduation—a guy who spent too much time being watched by the sheriff because of drag racing and hell raising.

      A guy too fast for a sweet girl like her.

      He’d forgotten all about that until now. But it didn’t matter so much. Shane would be damned if he didn’t tell her what he thought about getting too cozy with that skunk of a business that had contacted him just this morning about his own family ranch, the Slanted C.

      Shane had laughed off the representative, a man named Russell Alexander. What made Alexander think that the Carters would be interested in converting their spread into a dude resort? The businessman hadn’t come right out and said it, but Shane had the feeling the guy knew that the Slanted C was in just as much trouble as the Square W+W.

      And here Shane had thought he’d been doing so well in hiding that fact. No one in town realized just how far Tommy and his idiotic get-rich-quick investments had put the ranch in jeopardy. To make matters worse, the recession had taken every penny Shane had in savings, and his family was already in loans up to their necks—not that he’d ever let anyone know. If there was one thing Shane had always been, it was proud, and he knew he could be more of a man than his dad or Tommy; he would be the one to get the Slanted C turned around. But he would also do it for his mom’s sake, since the ranch had come from her side of the family and he was bound and determined to make sure she had the home she’d grown up in and loved for the rest of her life.

      And he wasn’t about to go dude to accomplish any of that.

      He could almost hear his father browbeating him because, somehow, he would’ve found a way to blame Shane for this entire mess: Didn’t I teach you any business sense, you moron? Don’t you have one lick of smarts in that head of yours?

      Tommy’s part in it wouldn’t have mattered: Shane was the one whom his dad expected to help out on the ranch, like any good son. And Barry Carter would’ve probably even ignored how Shane’s older brother had left Pine Junction with his tail between his legs, retreating to his wife’s family for some support.

      Maybe Shane was just meant to take the brunt of everything, as he’d done whenever Dad let his anger get the better of him with Mom. Taking the brunt back then had been instinctive, a protective urge that he’d hidden well from most everyone except his family.

      It hadn’t been anyone’s business but the Carters’, anyway, yet taking the brunt had forged him into a man early.

      Very early.

      His gaze was still on Nicki as she wove through a crowd of cowboys, away from him.

      Yeah, he was sorry, so then why couldn’t he just come out and say that he’d projected his disappointment in himself onto her? Why couldn’t he admit that he hated that he’d actually been entertaining the thought of accepting Russell Alexander’s interest in the Slanted C, even though it made him feel beaten?

      Because Shane couldn’t admit that he was down before the fight had even begun, couldn’t allow everyone to already see him for the failure his father had always accused him of being.

      The band had paused in their song list, and the lead singer apologized, saying they had a broken guitar string. He chattered to the crowd about all the costumes he saw in the room while they waited for a replacement guitar.

      Shane knew it was now or never with Nicki. Damn it, she was his neighbor, and he couldn’t let things stand as they were, so he caught up to her at the side of the band’s stage.

      “Nicki…”

      It was obvious that she’d been stewing on their conversation, and she launched into another question right away.

      “Just why are you back in Pine Junction, Carter?”

      Her light green eyes were filled with anger, and somehow, he was responding to that passion, a thrust of need bolting straight to his cock.

      But this was Nicki Wade. What did his cock have to do with it?

      A girl like her wouldn’t like it temporary and wild, and that was just how he always wanted it—without strings or commitment. You couldn’t get freedom in a relationship, and he’d never been the type for one of those, anyway. Not after what he’d seen his mom go through with his dad.

      Nicki kept at him. “You can’t come back into town and start passing judgment on those of us who’ve gone through the ups and downs of living here.”

      “You’re right.”

      He didn’t tell her why he’d left, though. There was no reason for him to explain the reasons he’d run off, because that last day with his father had been the point of no return. He’d finally hit the man back while defending his mom, and she’d had no choice but to ask Shane to leave.

      “He’s much easier to live with when you’re not here,” she’d said, brokenhearted at the choice she’d been forced to make.

      And Shane had gone, just as broken, himself.

      “I apologize, Nicki.” He paused, then added, “And I’m sorry about your parents, too—the car accident. They were good people.”

      He’d admired her family and how they were so loving that they even embraced their employees as their own. Shane had never had that. Not even close.

      She looked just like he did most mornings in the mirror: at the end of her rope, having gone through every possible idea to keep the family legacy running strong.

      As she took in his apology, she nodded stiffly.

      It was beyond him to go away with her in such a state. “I just keep seeing the little girl on the W+W riding around on her first pony near our property lines. And I don’t want her to get hurt by a huge corporation like the one that’s coming into our midst tomorrow.”

      Even under her tanned skin, she seemed to blanch. Somehow he’d offended her again.

      “You think I can’t handle some businessman? You still believe I’m some little girl who…?”

      “Hey, I didn’t mean to say—”

      Her voice took on some steel. “You really don’t know much about me at all, do you?”

      With that, she turned around, leaving him near the stage.

      He watched her walk away. Hips. Skin. Heat on a hot autumn night.

      And СКАЧАТЬ