Claiming the Rancher's Heart. Cindy Kirk

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СКАЧАТЬ apologies.” Josh covered his smile with a hand. “Would you like to see the six smaller versions in the barn?”

      “Are you crazy?” Stacie straightened and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go.”

      Her hand felt small in his, but there was firmness in the grasp that bespoke an inner strength. When he’d discovered that he’d been matched with Anna’s friend from Denver, he’d wondered if Anna had monkeyed with the results.

      He realized now that he and Stacie had more in common than he’d first thought. And he found himself liking this city girl. Of course that didn’t mean she was a good match.

      He’d been with a city girl once. Fell in love with her. Married her. But he was smarter now. This time he’d keep his heart to himself.

      “I feel guilty.” Josh stabbed the last piece of apple dumpling with his fork. “You spent the whole evening in the kitchen.”

      Stacie took a sip of coffee and smiled at the exaggeration. She hadn’t spent the entire evening in the kitchen. They’d played with the puppies for the longest time. After that Josh had shown her all Bert’s tricks, including catching a Frisbee in midair. By then, they were both hungry and she’d offered to make dinner.

      “I told you,” Stacie said, relishing the taste of the rich Columbian brew against her tongue. “Cooking is a hobby of mine. I love making something out of nothing.”

      Josh lowered his fork to rest on his now-empty plate. “You’ve impressed me. That noodle thing with the sausage and peppers tasted like something I’d get in a restaurant.”

      “And we didn’t even have to go out.” Stacie glanced around the modern country kitchen. After seeing the outside of the house, she’d been a bit apprehensive about the inside. But when Josh had ushered her through the front door and given her a tour, she’d been pleasantly surprised.

      While the exterior needed some attention, the interior was up-to-date and exceptionally clean. When she’d complimented Josh on his tidiness, he sheepishly admitted that he had a housekeeper who came during the week to cook and clean.

      “I’d have taken you out,” Josh said, his gaze meeting hers. “I hope you know that.”

      “I do,” Stacie said. “But this was more fun.”

      “I agree.” Josh smiled and the fine lines that fanned out from the corners of his eyes crinkled appealingly. He pushed back his chair. “How ‘bout we take our coffee into the family room?”

      Stacie rose. Her gaze lingered on the dishes in the sink before returning to the ones still on the table.

      “Don’t even think about it.” He placed his hand in the small of her back and nudged her toward the doorway. “I’ll clean up later.”

      Moments later, Stacie was sitting on a burgundy leather sofa listening to Josh finish his story about the fire that had threatened 180,000 acres several years earlier.

      “I was fortunate,” Josh said. “The damage to my property was minimal. It could have been so much worse.”

      Stacie studied the rugged cowboy who sat on the sofa a mere foot away from her. “You love it, don’t you?”

      He tilted his head. “Love what?”

      “The land. Your life here,” Stacie said. “I see it in your eyes. Hear it in your voice. This is your passion.”

      “From the time I was small, all I’ve wanted to do was be a rancher.” His expression turned serious. “This land is part of me, and it will be part of my legacy.”

      “What about your parents?” Stacie asked, realizing that up to this point they hadn’t discussed family at all. “Are they around?”

      “They live in Sweet River,” Josh said. “My dad runs the bank. My mother is the director of nursing at the hospital.”

      Bank? Hospital? “I thought you’d grown up on a ranch?”

      “I did,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “But my father was never into it. As soon as I returned home from college, he turned the place over to me.”

      “Sounds like the passion for the land skipped a generation,” Stacie said in a light tone.

      Josh lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s a great life, but definitely not for everyone.”

      Stacie wished her family had the same attitude. Why couldn’t they understand that what worked for them didn’t work for her? That’s why she’d gone away to college and stayed in Denver after graduation rather than returning to Michigan. She wanted to find her passion, her purpose, not lead a life she hadn’t chosen.

      A coyote howled in the distance, the eerie sound drifting in on the breeze through the screened patio door. Stacie shivered. “It’s so quiet out here…so isolated. Do you ever get lonely?”

      “I have friends.” The smile that had hovered on the edge of his lips most of the evening disappeared and his shoulders stiffened. “I see my parents at least weekly.”

      “But you live by yourself.” Stacie wasn’t sure why she was pressing the issue, but the answer somehow seemed important. “Almost an hour from civilization.”

      “Sometimes I get lonely,” he said. “But when I have a family of my own, it’ll be different.”

      “The solitude would drive me bonkers.” Stacie took a sip of coffee. “I need people. The more the merrier.”

      “It’s important to know what you want and what you don’t.” Josh’s expression gave nothing away. “I need to find a woman who could be happy with this kind of life.”

      “Cross me off that list,” Stacie said, keeping her tone light.

      Josh’s gaze never left her face. “I’ve never been much for lists.”

      Regardless of his obvious reluctance to hurt her feelings, she knew he’d made his decision, just like she’d made hers. No matter what the computer thought, she and Josh weren’t meant to ride together into the sunset.

      She took another sip of coffee and gazed out the screen door, feeling a little sad at the thought. Which made absolutely no sense at all. “The good thing is we haven’t completed our first date and we already know it’s not going to work.”

      “What’s so good about that?”

      Didn’t he understand that she was doing her best to see the glass as half-full? “We don’t have to waste time—”

      “Are you saying tonight was a waste?”

      She exhaled an exasperated breath. “No, but—”

      “I don’t think it was a waste at all,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun or ate such a delicious meal.”

      He smiled and her pulse skipped a beat. Yikes. She’d never thought a cowboy could be so sexy.

      Stacie СКАЧАТЬ