Read Online Erin's Way by Laura Browning - Free Book Online Page B

me home.”
    She prowled the room again, feeling like an animal in a cage. Erin jumped at the knock on the door. She wrenched it open and stared at Sam’s big frame filling the opening.
    “I need to get home, bed animals down for the night,” he rumbled. His gaze shifted from her to Tabby and Jenny before settling once more on Erin. “Just wanted to check to make sure you’re okay.”
    She nodded and swallowed, drinking in his dark eyes and serious expression, wanting so desperately to stay with him, stay anywhere but Richardson Homestead. He had always been a refuge, someone who made her feel safe, and if not wanted, at least tolerated. “Please, Sam,” she pleaded quietly. “I don’t want to stay here. I won’t be any bother. You wouldn’t even know I was there….”
    Sam shook his head. “No, Erin. It wouldn’t work. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”
    She froze, feeling like she’d been slapped down yet again. “Yeah. I’ll be there, Sheriff. Good night.” She shut the door in his face. Tabby and Jenny were watching her. Her stomach knotted. “I think I’ve had as much family as I can handle for one night.”
    Tabby stood. “You need some time. Remember, Erin… We’re here if you want to talk.”
    As Jenny and Tabby halted at the door, Erin knew she couldn’t let them leave without saying something, but it was so hard to open up to anyone. She reached out awkwardly and hugged first Jenny, then Tabby. “Thanks. I know you’re trying to help.”
    * * * *
    When Sam entered the barn the next morning, the last thing he expected was that Erin would be there. He figured he would get one day out of her and that would be it. But as he looked around, the radio was playing in the background, and the horses were already munching hay while Erin leaned against a stall doorway with a hose in hand filling water buckets. He paused in mid-stride. She was here. He took his cap off and scratched his head.
    “Good morning. I didn’t see your vehicle anywhere. Did you get a ride?”
    “I walked.” She turned off the water, rolled the hose, and entered the feed room to carefully measure grain. He was impressed that she remembered exactly what each horse ate. “If you’ll tell me which ones we’ll ride this morning, I’ll knock them off and tack them up.”
    He told her, and they worked together as the news played in the background. While he picked up eggs from the hens, she brushed the two mares. Sam listened to her talk nonsense to them. From a spot where he knew he would be unobserved, he studied her for a moment. She looked relaxed, the tension gone from her face and a bloom to her cheeks. Erin had always been gorgeous. Fourteen or twenty-six, it didn’t matter. She still had a powerful, elemental impact on him, and it still made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want to be attracted to her—but he was.
    He’d already been an adult when she was just a kid. While he still had all his hair, he was getting a few gray strands around the temples. She needed someone closer to her age. Whoa, man. What was he thinking? As screwed up as she was, Erin didn’t need a complication of any age in her life. And he had the feeling that as fragile as she seemed right now, a man—any man—would be more than she could handle.
    When she stood practically on tip-toe trying to adequately tighten the cinch, Sam walked over and reached around her to easily pull it up another two holes. She stilled instantly, trapped as she was between his arms and the horse. She turned, bringing their bodies into almost perfect alignment.
    Sam was only inches away from eyes that had suddenly gone dark and vulnerable. As he searched her face, her lips parted and her gloved hands trembled against the front of his coveralls. The desire to kiss her poured through every part of him. Her mouth looked soft and sweet. Instantly, his imagination thrust an image of her melting against him, her mouth opening beneath his. Sam leaned toward her. The