Read Online Crazy For the Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Free Book Online

of me, too. I’ve never seen her turn on the charm with any guy, but she took a shine to Mac. Maybe she’ll influence him, and Travis, too.”
    â€œI don’t know. Those guys are loyal to each other. I think if Vince goes, they’ll tag along.”
    Georgie sighed. “If that happens, I’ll be prepared.”
    Her comment was met with silence. “Georgie,” Ike said at last, “I don’t want you doing anything stupid.”
    â€œThey’re the ones who are doing something stupid.”
    â€œI just don’t want you getting hurt.”
    â€œI won’t, I promise. But don’t expect me for dinner tonight. Knowing Vince’s intentions, the less I see of him, the better.”
    â€œIf you say so.”
    â€œI think it’s best. Thanks for keeping me informed.” She disconnected the call.
    In her heart of hearts, she realized that she’d handled this situation poorly from the get-go, but she didn’t know how to change the dynamics now. Instead of getting upset with Vince when he’d announced his boneheaded plan, she should have calmly told him that it was not in the best interest of the horses. That might not have worked, but it would have had a better chance of success than the path she had taken.
    By getting all riled up and then issuing a challenge, she’d put him in a corner and forced him to defend his manly pride, especially when some of the exchange had been in front of his friends. She was a smart lady. She should have known that her knee-jerk reaction wouldn’t be helpful.
    On some level she had known it and hadn’t cared. She was spoiling for a fight with somebody, and Vince just might oblige her. As her father used to say, the fat was in the fire. Too late to backtrack.
    The store was closed on Sundays, so if Vince and his friends followed through, she’d be free to saddle Prince and ride out to defend the Ghost. Thanks to her father’s mentoring, she was fully prepared to do that.

CHAPTER 5
    G eorgie locked up the store at five after what had turned out to be a profitable day thanks to Mac and Travis. Apparently buying camping supplies had turned into a macho competition staged to impress Anastasia. Each cowboy had put a sizable dent in his credit card by the time they’d both walked out loaded down with mattresses, lanterns, and cookware.
    After they’d left, Anastasia had peppered Georgie with questions about Mac, questions Georgie couldn’t answer because she didn’t know the guy all that well. So her sister had gone home to immortalize Mac on paper before his image faded from her mind. Her instant attraction to the tall cowboy was disconcerting.
    Or maybe it was understandable, given the nunlike existence she and Georgie lived. Georgie didn’t know how Anastasia behaved around single men her own age. There hadn’t been any in Bickford since Anastasia had come home from art school a little over a year ago.
    Funny how she’d fought so hard to get there, working to earn scholarships and arguing with her mother, who said the only men she’d meet would be starving artists. Privately Georgie wondered if a starving artist had broken Anastasia’s tender heart while she was away at school. She’d returned a more subdued person who’d lost most of her enthusiasm for her work and hadn’t pursued getting a job in her field. Instead she’d appointed herself Georgie’s assistant at the store.
    Georgie hadn’t glimpsed her sister’s old spark until this afternoon when she’d laid eyes on Mac. Regardless of how this turned out, seeing Anastasia excited enough to rush home and draw the guy’s picture had been gratifying. But would that spark disappear when Mac drove away tomorrow?
    If it did, Georgie vowed to figure out a way to solve this problem of two single twentysomething women in a town composed primarily of senior citizens. It wasn’t good for either