One Hot Cowboy by Anne Marsh Page B

first time. And
    right now, she needed him.
    Needed what he could give her.
    She’d lost a damned fine woman. They
    all had. Auntie Dee had been part of
    Lonesome for so many years that the town
    seemed a little emptier without her. He
    respected Rose for mourning the older
    woman’s loss, but her tears woke some
    primal strain in him he hadn’t known he
    possessed.
    He wanted to fix this.
    Wanted to make Rose feel good. Her
    unspoken trust as she fit her head into the
    hard curve of his shoulder made him feel
    important. And, yeah, it was sexy as hell.
    When he stroked a hand down her back, his
    fingers found the soft line of her bra straps
    beneath the gauzy dress. The soft, warm
    weight of her breasts pressed against his
    chest had him thinking about other ways he
    could make Rose Jordan feel.
    Christ. He was a bastard.
    He wasn’t fixing anything for Rose.
    He didn’t know what she had expected
    to find here. The house wasn’t in good
    shape, although it could have been worse.
    He’d made sure Auntie Dee was taken care
    of, but months of standing empty wreaked
    havoc with an old house.
    Rose was still crying. He wanted to
    howl, to hit something, and those feelings
    were unfamiliar.
    “Where did you sleep last night?” he
    growled against her skin.
    “The car,” she said, confirming his
    earlier, uneasy suspicion.
    The image of that hit him hard. He could
    just see her, sleepy and flushed, on the
    backseat of that little car. So vulnerable.
    Because a woman sleeping alone out here
    with just the flimsy protection of a Honda
    Civic door would be easy prey for a man
    who didn’t care about right and wrong.

“That won’t do.” He looked down at
    her. Ask, don’t tell, he reminded himself.
    “Why don’t you come on back to the ranch
    with me, Rose? We’ve got plenty of
    bedrooms there.”
    This time, when she stiffened up like a
    poker in his arms, she didn’t relax again.
    “Be reasonable, Rose.” He looked at the
    house again, because staring at Rose
    wasn’t going to help his cause any. He
    could see daylight through the roof of the
    porch, for Christ’s sake. “Staying here
    would be only one step above camping.
    Just this once, can’t you let me take care of
    you? Giving in this one time doesn’t mean
    you’re surrendering unconditionally.”
    “Why?” she asked quietly. She stepped
    away from him, leaving his arms empty.
    “Because you need a place to stay.” He
    forced his feet to get moving and headed
    for the truck. When he opened the
    passenger door for her, though, she was
    still standing there on the porch step,
    unconvinced. “There’s more than enough
    room out at the ranch,” he reiterated.
    “I belong here,” she argued.
    “Doesn’t mean you have to do without
    electricity tonight,” he countered. “Or
    dinner.”
    “If I come, that doesn’t mean I’m giving
    up the house.”
    Christ, he didn’t need to think about her
    “coming.” Not now. Forcing the sensual
    images from his head, he made his case.
    “I get that. This is a temporary deal. A
    little détente. Come stay at the ranch, and
    take a couple of days to think things over.
    You don’t have to decide standing on the
    damned porch, do you?” Her feet finally
    started moving, and he knew he was on the
    right track. “Back at the ranch,” he coaxed,
    “you can look over the estimates, see
    what’s possible.”
    “All right,” she said, climbing up into
    the truck. “But this is just temporary, Cabe.
    I’m coming back here.”
    “Got it.” Shutting the passenger door, he
    went back around the pickup.
    Primal satisfaction flooded him.
    He was taking her home.
    To his home.
    Chapter Three
    T aking Rose home with him had meant she
    couldn’t run out on him again. But it also
    meant she was sleeping just down the hall
    from him, and that was a distraction Cabe
    hadn’t been prepared for. The fucking
    fantasies were driving him nuts. There was
    no escaping her. Three days running, he’d
    gotten up