Read Online Cowboy in My Pocket by Kate Douglas - Free Book Online Page A

the circumstances, create its own set of problems.
    It wasn’t going to be easy, pretending to marry a gorgeous thing like Lee, then keeping his hands to himself. But if that kiss they’d shared this morning was any indication of the attraction that sizzled between the two of them, he’d be a damned fool to take the chance of kissing her again.
    She could just stay right there in his parents’ old room, right where she belonged. He’d stay in his.
    Tag glanced at his watch and realized the minutes were quickly ticking away. It was almost eleven. Now that Gramma Lenore had met Lee, there’d be no backing out.
    He was committed. Oh what a tangled web we weave . . . oh Lord, I can’t do this.
    He took a deep breath and swallowed, then another, but a huge fist squeezed his lungs, pressed down on his heart. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t go through with it, couldn’t . . . uno, dos, tres, quatro . . .
    Coop’s quiet voice interrupted Tag’s escalating panic. “It’ll be okay, boy. I hope you know how much I appreciate what you’re doin’.” The old man slowly took his hat off and held it in both hands in front of him. Tag took one more deep breath. Then he noticed Coop’s fingers were trembling.
    It wasn’t often Coop removed his hat.
    Tag had never seen the old man tremble. In fact, until now he’d never really thought of Coop as old. At least not old in the sense of aging. Coop just was. Tag couldn’t stop staring at those gnarled, trembling hands.
    “Since your mama and daddy died, I guess I al’ays felt like you were my responsibility. I know what I’m askin’ you ta do is wrong, I know it goes against everythin’ you believe. You’ve always been truthful to a fault, and I . . . well, I truly appreciate the chance you’re takin’ for me. For the ranch. I truly do.”
    “It’s okay.” Tag exhaled one big calming breath and pushed himself back from the window. He grabbed Buck’s bottle of Jack Daniel’s and poured a shot for each of them, then handed one to Coop. “To save the ranch, Coop. Here’s to the Double Eagle. No bird and bunny foundation is going to destroy what my grandfather and my father . . . and you and I, have worked so hard to build.”
    He downed the whiskey in one quick swallow, and closed his eyes against the burn. He thought of the woman in the other room and wondered how he’d ever allowed himself to be talked into this mess.
    “It’s time, Coop. Go fetch Lee and Gramma.”
     
    LEE TURNED, dipped, pirouetted, then stopped, caught once again by her reflection. She pictured Tag, the look on his face when she stepped into the front room, and her resolve wavered.
    She heard a soft knock on the door, and spun around to answer it, fully expecting Tag, half afraid of his reaction. Coop waited in the hall, but his reaction was more than satisfactory.
    “Ahhh,” he sighed, his eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “You found Lenore’s dress. She was a beautiful bride, you know, but you look almost as lovely, Miss Lee. Just lovely.”
    “Did you really think I was beautiful, Coop?”
    Lenore stepped out from behind the door, and for the briefest of moments Lee thought she could hear the sizzle in the room. But they’re both so old . . .
    “More lovely than any woman I ever saw, and don’t you forget it.” Coop stripped his hat from his head and clutched it in front of him, obviously forgetting Lee was even there. “I never told you, Lenore, but I thought you were beautiful the first time I saw you when you were seventeen, and you’ve only grown lovelier. Many’s the time I wanted to . . .”
    “Why Cooperton Barlow Jones, you silver-tongued devil. You watch what you say in front of Lee. You’ve embarrassed her.”
    But Lee noticed it was Lenore who blushed and stammered and looked away. Coop’s watery blue eyes followed Lenore with such unabashed love it made her heart ache.
    She looked down at the full satin skirts billowing out from the trim waist and felt an ache