Husband For Keeps. Kate Little

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СКАЧАТЬ good looks. Carey forced herself to look away.

      “I think we’ll be okay,” Carey replied, as she slipped the transmission in low gear. The truck wheels spun for a long, agonizing moment, then suddenly gripped the mud as the vehicle lurched out onto the road.

      Carey quietly sighed with relief and thought she heard the same from Luke’s end of the cab. “You shouldn’t have parked so far onto the shoulder like that. We might have been stuck in the mud,” he observed.

      “Well, we weren’t, so that’s mud under the bridge in my book.” Her reply was delivered in a cheerful, even tone, though she actually felt put out by the need to explain herself to a stranger. For goodness’ sake, he was lucky she’d come along when she had and offered him a ride.

      “My name is Carey, by the way,” she added. “Carey Winslow.”

      Out of the corner of her eye, she caught him glance her way over Tyler’s head. Then he looked back out at the road.

      “Luke Redstone,” he replied. “And this is Tyler…my nephew.”

      “Yes, I know. We’ve been getting acquainted.” Carey glanced down warmly at the boy.

      Luke looked at him, too. A questioning look, as if he was worried about what the boy had said in his absence. “We were just talking about horses,” Tyler explained in a quiet voice to his uncle.

      Luke seemed satisfied with that reply, his features fixed in the serious, thoughtful expression that was quickly becoming familiar to her.

      “And I asked her about, you know, what I thought,” Tyler added in an even quieter voice. “And you were right. What you said. She’s not…one. She’s just dressed up that way for a party.”

      Taking her eyes off the treacherous road for a moment, Carey noticed that this last comment caused a slight grin to soften Luke’s expression.

      “Well, that makes some sense, I suppose,” he replied to Tyler. Then to Carey he said, “I did notice that you weren’t quite dressed for the weather.”

      He turned, his gaze moving slowly down her body with an assessing, slightly amused light dancing in his dark eyes.

      She knew she looked a sight, from the circle of wilted flowers in her long, wind-whipped hair, to the soggy skirt that clung damply to her legs. His appraisal of her appearance unnerved her. Annoyed her, actually.

      “It’s not a party exactly,” Carey replied, unsure of how much she was willing to disclose about her present predicament. “I’m supposed to be getting married today.”

      The words just burst out. Maybe just to shock that amused, slightly smug look off his handsome face, she realized.

      And she’d succeeded, she noticed.

      “Married? Today?” His gaze narrowed, attractive little creases forming at the corners of his eyes.

      “Uh-huh,” Carey nodded, pulling hard—but carefully—on the wheel as the truck swerved on a wide stretch of flooded blacktop.

      Carey was suddenly conscious of how her passengers held their breath for a second, waiting to see if she had saved them from skidding off the road.

      She had. The truck bumped along in a straight path once more.

      “Congratulations,” Luke said quietly.

      “Thanks.” Carey wasn’t quite sure if he was congratulating her on her driving skills or her upcoming marriage, but she didn’t bother to ask.

      He sat silently for a moment, then added, “Can I ask you what you’re doing riding around out here if you’re supposed to be getting married? High-tailing it from the poor groom?”

      These last words were spoken lightly. But the underlying bitter note in his accusation was not lost on Carey. Not a man with a very high opinion of women, was he?

      “Actually, it’s sort of the opposite,” Carey kept her eyes glued to the road, noticing that they were finally approaching the ranch. “So far, the groom is the no-show. I came out looking for him…and found you.”

      She felt him looking at her, and she turned to meet his gaze. She couldn’t say he looked contrite or apologetic for assuming the worst about her, but a bit mollified, perhaps.

      “Probably just stuck in the rain,” Luke offered.

      “Probably,” Carey agreed. Though she knew Luke couldn’t imagine what this minor delay would cost her.

      In most any other case, a delayed groom would be the cause of some inconvenience, some change in plans. But the show would go on. In her case, however, it was a pure and simple catastrophe.

      But she didn’t need to explain that to Luke Redstone. Didn’t even want to try. Everything about him, from his worn, wide-brimmed hat to the scuffed toes of his black boots spoke of a practical man, a straightforward man, who would neither understand nor approve of her sham wedding plan. No, she thought, stealing a quick glance in his direction, he wouldn’t understand. Her plan was pure Hollywood, and he was clearly 100 percent all-American cowboy. The stuff legends were made of. And she had to admit that she herself wasn’t entirely proud of this plan: though not illegal, as her attorney assured her, it was certainly a willful misinterpretation of her father’s final wishes.

      They drove on in silence, the wipers squeaking against the windshield and the truck’s thick tires making a muffled sound as they sped over the wet road.

      She didn’t know why she should care what Luke Redstone thought of her. And quickly brushed the thought aside. She would take these two home, let them dry out and warm up, and as soon as they could get a tow truck out here, she’d never see them again.

      Two

      “Well, here we are. Almost,” Carey announced as she steered the swerving truck off the main road and into the turnoff that led to the ranch.

      “This is where you live?” Luke asked her.

      “Used to be my dad’s place. I grew up here but moved to California right after high school. Hardly been back since,” she added.

      She glanced over at him, willingly answering his unspoken questions. A man like this, clearly private and guarded himself, would never be pushy about pulling out personal information. But she didn’t mind disclosing a few basic facts.

      “Where’s your dad?” he asked. Did his tone imply that it seemed unlikely that a woman alone—especially one rushing around in a thunderstorm, dressed like a “fairy princess”—would be up to the task of running a ranch on her own?

      “He passed on.” Carey replied without turning her head

      “Sorry for your loss,” Luke replied politely.

      Carey nodded. “Thanks.”

      It had been over six months since her father’s death. But talking about it aloud was still hard for her.

      The long months since Jonah Winslow had passed away had been filled with mixed feelings of regret and resentment. She and her СКАЧАТЬ