To Court A Cowgirl. Jeannie Watt

Чтение книги онлайн.

      “Huh.” He flexed his knee as if testing whether or not his administrations would hold. “Well. I’m good as I’ll be. I guess I’ll head on back and try not to get hurt.” He pointed to the back door. “Can I go out this way?”

      “Of course.”

      He paused, his hand on the door handle. “Are you going to dock my pay for this?”

      “Not if you don’t sue me for having an attractive nuisance on my property.”

      “I recall signing a paper releasing you from indemnity if I got hurt.”

      “Good call on my part.”

      “Looks like it.” He held her gaze and when she didn’t say anything more, he turned and headed out the door. After he was safely out of the house, Allie moved to the window to watch him walk to his truck, free to watch his ass all she’d like. She let out a breath as she let the curtain drop.

      The house felt empty and as she started toward the kitchen, it seemed to echo alone, alone, alone in time with her footsteps.

      Alone had been her natural state for the past year, but not one that she particularly welcomed, even though she wasn’t certain how to change that without jeopardizing the fragile sense of control she had over her life right now. It was crazy, but even when she was with people she felt alone—probably a holdover from all those years that she pretended everything was okay with her and Kyle when they were not. She’d been the great pretender, with her sisters and her mother. With herself. She’d protected her deep secret, the fact that she was barely holding herself together in the face of the disintegration of both her marriage and the ranch, by erecting barriers. Not letting conversations get too deep, or herself get too close to others. Her sisters had been off in distant places, living their own lives. And she’d been here on the ranch, lying about hers. Lying hadn’t turned out well in any respect, so she was determined to be honest with herself this time around.