The Ranger's Texas Proposal. Jessica Keller

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Chapter Two

      At first Josie followed Heath around. “My ranch may look like a mess. I know it does. But I’m only starting out. This has been mine for the last five months. I haven’t had time to turn this place into what I’ve envisioned. But I will.”

      Heath nodded. “I’m certain you will.”

      He moved the cows out of the barn and into the pasture. After the cows were cleared out, he wrangled the three large hogs into a separate penned area, away from the cattle. The man spent an hour mucking out the stables and refreshing them with clean straw. While he worked, Josie minded the chickens, hunted for eggs and milked her dairy cows along with the two goats that rounded out her animals. Heath lunged for the metal buckets when Josie made a move to lug them toward her house.

      “I got them.” He scooted over and made a grab for the pails.

      “I’m perfectly capable of bringing them in, Officer Grayson.”

      “Heath. And while I know you’re capable...remember...my dear old mother.” He winked at her.

      She rolled her eyes, but moved out of his way. “Fine, then. Follow me, Heath.”

      “Lead the way.” Heath grabbed the pails and inclined his head. “I’ll follow you wherever.”

      I’ll follow you. He’d meant it about the pails, but the words made her heart speed up just the same. Foolishness. Josie had only ever dated Dale, and Dale didn’t believe in chasing a woman in order to win her. She’d never been followed...pursued. Not when they were dating and definitely not after they had married. Dale had referred to romance as a “mind game.”

      But as Josie made her way toward the cabin with Heath trailing her, the Ranger’s hard-won smile and teasing wink flashed through her mind.

      Oh, this was bad. Very bad. Mayday bad.

      Most mistakes started in the form of a good-looking man.

      She peeked a glance at him over her shoulder.

      Definitely a mistake.

      In those leg-hugging jeans, boots and with his sleeves rolled up until they were snug around his tanned forearms, the man was far, far too handsome for his own good. And when he’d taken off his hat and invoked his mom, his almost-black hair, messy and sticking out at weird angles from wearing the hat, about did her in.

      Josie had always been attracted to the tall, dark and handsome type. Heath Grayson definitely fit the bill. He had dark, wide eyebrows, and his eyes were black coffee—hold the cream.

      Don’t forget tall. The man had a foot on her, maybe more.

      Josie had met her late husband, Dale, when they were in high school, and they’d started dating soon after. He’d never grown beyond the five foot seven he was when they’d met. And Dale’s face had been rounder—softer around his edges. Whereas Heath had sharp lines, as if his face had been chiseled from stone by some great, ancient artist.

      She shook her head, releasing her wayward thoughts.

      There was zero reason to compare the two men. None whatsoever. So they were both in law enforcement? Big whoop. That didn’t mean she needed to pull out a chart and make a pros-and-cons list of whom she was more attracted to. Goodness... Dale was her husband. Her husband. At least, he had been her husband and he hadn’t passed away that long ago. She was still working through the grief of losing her first love, losing the man who would have been the father to the child kicking in her stomach.

      The attraction she felt for Heath—a man she’d only just met—had to be her pregnancy hormones talking. The doctor had said her emotions would do silly things in the next few months leading up to the birth. That must be the reason for her rapid heart palpitations, and the way her gaze kept tabs on Heath all morning and memorized the way his dress shirt pulled across his shoulders... It was crazy pregnancy stuff. End of story.

      Besides, Heath Grayson was a lawman. Not just any lawman—he was an officer who worked the most dangerous and high-stakes cases in the state. A Texas Ranger. If Dale, who had been a sheriff’s deputy, could die in the line of duty, Josie imagined the target on a Ranger’s back was even bigger.

      Especially these days.

      Her front porch made a horrible moaning sound under their combined weight and Josie grimaced. The old fishing cabin had belonged to her father and had fallen completely out of use after his passing several years ago. Dad had left it to her, and Dale hadn’t wanted to care for the property. Once she’d moved out of her and Dale’s old home, the fishing cabin was all she had to her name. She’d been proud of the little space. It was hers. One hundred percent hers. It was the first time ever that she’d lived alone, which she discovered she didn’t like, but that was a different issue altogether. The fact was, now she knew.

      But for as much pride as she had in the small patch of land that she was trying to turn into a functioning ranch and the tiny two-bedroom cabin that was going to be the perfect amount of space for her and her baby, worry lanced through her. She tried to see the place through Heath’s eyes. Would he consider it shabby? Think her poor and tragic?

      Josie lifted her shoulders, filled her lungs and held up her chin as she opened the door. This was her home. She refused to care what anyone else thought СКАЧАТЬ