Read Online Angel Creek by Linda Howard - Free Book Online Page A

come back.”
    â€œThe shotgun tends to be persuasive,” she said with humor in her voice. “There’s nothing like buckshot in his backside to make a man reconsider an idea. Besides, I’m not sure I can afford to have you as a protector.”
    He didn’t pause in his milking, but his brows drew together and his head came up. “Why not?” he demanded sharply.
    â€œFolks would think we were sleeping together.” When he didn’t reply to that, Dee continued to explain. “The men around here pretty much leave me alone now because I’ve convinced them I don’t want
any
man. But if they thought I’d let one man in my bed, then they would think I was available, and they’d take even less kindly to being turned down than they did before. It would get nasty, and I’d probably have to kill some of them.”
    His strong hands had emptied the cow’s udder, and he lifted the bucket away, rising to his feet just as Dee finished milking. Her cheeks were flushed with her exertions as she slid the bucket away and stood, stretching her back. Lucas leaned down, picked up the other bucket, and walked out of the barn toward the house, leaving her to follow. Her brows rose at the way he made himself so at home on her place. It was obvious he was used to being the boss. Then she shrugged; he was being helpful, so it would be petty of her to complain that he was too self-confident about it.
    He waited on the back stoop for her to open the door. “What do you do with this much milk?”
    â€œMost of it goes back to the animals in their feed,” she admitted. “I churn it for butter, drink some of it, use it in cooking.”
    â€œOne cow would do.”
    â€œWith two cows I get two calves a year that are butchered as yearlings. You had some of the beef in the soup you ate the other day. And this way, if one ofthe cows dies, I still have milk.” She wrestled the churn out and tied the straining cloth over it. “I don’t guess one cow more or less matters much to you.”
    â€œNot when I have a couple thousand heads of beef on the range.” He tipped one of the buckets and slowly poured the milk through the straining cloth, then emptied the other bucket.
    Dee picked up the coffeepot and shook it. “There’s more coffee left. Would you like a cup?”
    Lucas was too smart to push her this early in their acquaintance, but being around her was fraying his patience, and he decided not to linger. “Not today. I need to get on to town, then back to the ranch. Thanks for the offer, though.”
    â€œYou’re welcome,” she replied gravely. “And thank you for your help. I promise not to tell anyone you milked my cow.”
    He looked sharply at her, and though her expression was bland he could see a gleam of laughter in her eyes. “You’d better not.”
    She actually smiled then, and his body responded immediately. Damn, she was something when she smiled!
    She walked out on the porch with him and leaned against a post while he returned to the barn, then walked out leading his horse. She watched him mount, noting the play of muscles in his arms and shoulders and the way his pants pulled tight on his buttocks and thighs. The brim of his hat shadowed his face, but she could still see the intense blue of his eyes.
    â€œSee you,” he said, and he rode off without looking back.
    She tried, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him as she went about the rest of her morning chores. She knew plain enough why he’d come over the first time, since he’d been honest about wanting to buy the land, but why had he ridden so far out of his way this morning? At first she had been expecting him to make a grab for her, but he hadn’t said or done anything the least suggestive, and she admitted to herself that she was just a tad disappointed.
    Not that she would have let him kiss her. After all, the man was