Read Online Can't Resist a Cowboy by Elizabeth Otto - Free Book Online Page B

relaxed, her cheek a warm imprint over his heart. Their connection was bittersweet. He’d longed for this, but now that he had it, he knew he had to let it go.
    “Rain’s stopping,” he murmured as the downpour receded to intermittent drips. Reluctant to release her, Levi peered out from under the overhang where a break in the clouds uncovered a patch of blue. “Looks like it’s moving on. We should go.”
    He moved to check the horse’s saddle and wipe away as much water from the leather as he could. Holding her clothes, Carrie mounted the horse and Levi swung up behind her. It was a tight fit that pressed his thighs against the backs of hers, contact that had him buzzing. Ignoring the sensation, he guided the horse down the hill and headed toward the ranch.
    He wanted to make small talk, but silence felt better. He enjoyed the feel of her close to his body, while still concentrating on the land. She didn’t seem in any hurry to talk, either. She’d stopped shaking, her warmth making the cool air a little more tolerable for him, to the point where this was almost nice. Comfortable. Another memory he’d cherish in the days to come when she was gone.
    …
    “What do you mean, you’re leaving?” Carrie set down the wooden spoon in her hand and turned to her father. Darren filled his coffee mug slowly, as if he could postpone having to elaborate. Putting the carafe away, he leaned against the kitchen counter next to her. Warm and dry after a hot shower and fresh clothes, she’d heated up the stew and bread she’d made the day before and took it out to feed the crew. The men had waited out the rain and then gotten back to branding. Stopping just long enough to wolf down the food, the men were back at it.
    “Got a rancher in Colorado interested in one of our bulls and some breeding stock. He’s paying higher prices than what I can get here. If he likes ’em, he’ll buy more.” He took a long draw of his coffee. “He called me while you were out there getting rained on.”
    So far, this trip home had left them with a lot of work to do and little time for talking. In a snap, her time here would be up and she’d be leaving, without ever getting to anything meaningful. He had asked her to come home for a visit, after all. Turning to reach a plastic container, she winced against pain that lanced beneath her ribs. Her dad set down his cup and immediately reached out a hand.
    “What’s wrong?”
    Carrie waved him off. He was always so quick to find a reason to ban her from doing anything but lie around and bore herself to death. “Just pulled a muscle when I fell off the horse.”
    The coffee mug slammed down. “You fell off a horse? Goddamn it, Levi is—”
    Carrie picked up his mug and handed it back to him with a sigh. Home a few days and here it was, the overprotecting bullshit. “Levi kept me warm and safe. And you need to stop worrying so much.” She pointed the spoon at him. “And he fixed your fence, so be happy.” She’d tried to give him back his jacket at lunchtime, but he’d refused. He’d accepted the flannel shirt, though, but kept it unbuttoned as if he welcomed the chill. Hot-blooded, that man. Her face flushed at the thought.
    Her dad scoffed and swirled his mug, watching the liquid slosh around. “His fence.”
    “What?”
    “ His fence. All this, everything, is his.” He waved a hand around, the tension in his voice heavy in her ears. “I messed up, Carrie-girl, and I had to have a Haywood come save me.” Shoving her ponytail over one shoulder, she leaned against the counter, hip-to-hip with him.
    “All I have left is you. I did this because I didn’t want you to look at me and see failure—hate me because the ranch was gone. It’s going to be…gone, anyway. Mostly.”
    She gripped his wrist tenderly, searching his face until he looked at her. “Dad, I’d never hate you. Things happen, things you don’t expect or can’t really prepare for, so you do what you have