The Curvy Astronomer and the Cowboy (He Wanted Me Pregnant!) by Victoria Wessex Page A
Authors: Victoria Wessex
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permanently hot as hell.
And yet the thought of admitting all that, of trusting a man again, filled me with a dread that made my stomach lurch. Rick had wanted me to settle down with him as well. And, once I was good and relaxed, once I’d made a cosy little nest--
I was seeing it all over again. His car, pulling into her driveway. My slow walk up the stairs to her bedroom….
What if Troy turned out to be like that? What if, once the novelty wore off--
So the whole day, I brooded. When night finally fell and I started working, I was no closer to a decision. And now it was ten O’clock, an hour past when I’d said I’d be finished.
I was huddled over the telescope, trying to adjust knobs through two pairs of gloves. Troy was alternating between watching me through the window and coming out to pace around.
“You’re not helping,” I said quietly when he came out to stand over me.
“Have you looked behind you? Have you seen the size of those clouds?”
“No,” I said levelly. “Because I’m trying to get the right exposure for the nebula right now. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Those clouds are going to dump a whole state’s worth of snow on our little corner of Wyoming any minute,” he said. “They’re right overhead.”
I glanced up sarcastically at the clear sky...only to find it wasn’t clear anymore. The area ahead of me, where the telescope was pointing, was still beautifully clear--one of the clearest nights I’d ever seen, in fact. But he was right: the clouds had swept in right overhead while I’d been gazing at the stars.
“A little snow won’t hurt us,” I said. “It’ll take time to build up on the roads. We’ve got hours before they’re blocked.”
Troy let out a groan of frustration. “Is that what you thought? That it doesn’t matter until it’s deep? Emily, this is the country. The weather can change very fast and we get winds like you wouldn’t believe, coming down off the mountain. It’ll be a blizzard. A white-out. We won’t be able to see to drive!”
For the first time, it occurred to me that I might have messed up. “Okay,” I said carefully. “Another ten minutes and I’ll start packing up.”
“You said that a half hour ago!”
“I mean it, this time.” I could feel the wind, now. My coat and all the layers I was wearing had kept me warm, but they’d also lulled me into a false sense of security, shutting out all the warning signs. Now, I could feel the wind’s cruel chill on the narrow slice of skin between my hat and collar, and it was like an icy blade.
Troy managed to restrain himself for another ten minutes. I adjusted, adjusted, adjusted... there! I finally got the shot I’d been waiting all evening for. And just in time. A flake of snow suddenly obscured my view. Then another and another. “Okay,” I said, giving in. “I’m done.”
But it was too late. The weather had changed.
Chapter 6
When I looked up, the clouds were sweeping over us to fill the sky and a million heavy snowflakes were drifting down towards us. The wind was already starting to whip them up, sending them horizontal to plaster against whatever was in their way. My coat went from blue to white in seconds.
“Come inside!” said Troy. Already, the wind was almost drowning out his voice. God, he’d been right about it coming on fast.
But I shook my head. “I have to take down the telescope!” It’d be ruined if I let all of the delicate optics sit out here in the snow. I needed to close the shell, but doing that meant lowering the telescope and locking it down and about a million other things. Shit! I’d never really had to do it in a hurry before. Or in cold like this. My hands slid and fumbled over knobs, clumsy in their gloves, so I pulled them off. Then I had to get down on the floor and crawl around the base of the telescope, and my thick winter coat made me too big to squeeze through the gaps, so I had to take that off, too.
“Are you nuts?”
And yet the thought of admitting all that, of trusting a man again, filled me with a dread that made my stomach lurch. Rick had wanted me to settle down with him as well. And, once I was good and relaxed, once I’d made a cosy little nest--
I was seeing it all over again. His car, pulling into her driveway. My slow walk up the stairs to her bedroom….
What if Troy turned out to be like that? What if, once the novelty wore off--
So the whole day, I brooded. When night finally fell and I started working, I was no closer to a decision. And now it was ten O’clock, an hour past when I’d said I’d be finished.
I was huddled over the telescope, trying to adjust knobs through two pairs of gloves. Troy was alternating between watching me through the window and coming out to pace around.
“You’re not helping,” I said quietly when he came out to stand over me.
“Have you looked behind you? Have you seen the size of those clouds?”
“No,” I said levelly. “Because I’m trying to get the right exposure for the nebula right now. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Those clouds are going to dump a whole state’s worth of snow on our little corner of Wyoming any minute,” he said. “They’re right overhead.”
I glanced up sarcastically at the clear sky...only to find it wasn’t clear anymore. The area ahead of me, where the telescope was pointing, was still beautifully clear--one of the clearest nights I’d ever seen, in fact. But he was right: the clouds had swept in right overhead while I’d been gazing at the stars.
“A little snow won’t hurt us,” I said. “It’ll take time to build up on the roads. We’ve got hours before they’re blocked.”
Troy let out a groan of frustration. “Is that what you thought? That it doesn’t matter until it’s deep? Emily, this is the country. The weather can change very fast and we get winds like you wouldn’t believe, coming down off the mountain. It’ll be a blizzard. A white-out. We won’t be able to see to drive!”
For the first time, it occurred to me that I might have messed up. “Okay,” I said carefully. “Another ten minutes and I’ll start packing up.”
“You said that a half hour ago!”
“I mean it, this time.” I could feel the wind, now. My coat and all the layers I was wearing had kept me warm, but they’d also lulled me into a false sense of security, shutting out all the warning signs. Now, I could feel the wind’s cruel chill on the narrow slice of skin between my hat and collar, and it was like an icy blade.
Troy managed to restrain himself for another ten minutes. I adjusted, adjusted, adjusted... there! I finally got the shot I’d been waiting all evening for. And just in time. A flake of snow suddenly obscured my view. Then another and another. “Okay,” I said, giving in. “I’m done.”
But it was too late. The weather had changed.
Chapter 6
When I looked up, the clouds were sweeping over us to fill the sky and a million heavy snowflakes were drifting down towards us. The wind was already starting to whip them up, sending them horizontal to plaster against whatever was in their way. My coat went from blue to white in seconds.
“Come inside!” said Troy. Already, the wind was almost drowning out his voice. God, he’d been right about it coming on fast.
But I shook my head. “I have to take down the telescope!” It’d be ruined if I let all of the delicate optics sit out here in the snow. I needed to close the shell, but doing that meant lowering the telescope and locking it down and about a million other things. Shit! I’d never really had to do it in a hurry before. Or in cold like this. My hands slid and fumbled over knobs, clumsy in their gloves, so I pulled them off. Then I had to get down on the floor and crawl around the base of the telescope, and my thick winter coat made me too big to squeeze through the gaps, so I had to take that off, too.
“Are you nuts?”
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