Read Online Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) by Leeanna Morgan - Free Book Online

questions about my father.” The smile in his eyes was infectious and Emily felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders. “You, Alex Green, are a force to be reckoned with, even if you’re not feeling all that great.”
    “I’ll take that as a compliment. Are you willing to keep me out of harm’s way and drive me home?”
    “Only if you promise not to ask anymore questions about my father.”
    “I won’t have to,” Alex said. “Because you’re going to tell me all about him.”
    “Not in this lifetime, I’m not.”
    “You owe me.” He rubbed his thigh and stretched his leg, clenching his jaw tight. “It took three months to figure out why you left me. And when I found out you wouldn’t speak to me. So I’d say telling me about your father is a small price to pay. Where are you meeting Tess?”
    “In the parking lot. You’re crazy.”
    “Maybe.” He picked up the box Emily had salvaged from a tent and stood up. “At least after today we’ll both know why you don’t want anyone’s help.” He swore and almost toppled sideways.  
    Emily grabbed his arm to keep him upright. A lot of good that would have done her. If he’d lost his footing she would have ended up on the ground, buried under a mound of cowboy.  
    And that, she decided as they slowly made their way out of the Festival, was the last thing either of them needed.

    “Tess seemed shocked that you’re taking me home.”
    Emily turned left out of the parking lot and merged with the other vehicles slowly leaving the Festival. “I blame Cody.”
    “You do?”
    Emily held the steering wheel tight. Even though they weren’t moving fast, Alex’s truck was a big black beast with more horsepower than anything she’d ever driven. “My brother’s favorite place in Bozeman is Tess’ café. He probably told her about your bull riding exploits and she was star struck by your brilliance.”
    “Are you trying to puff me up with compliments so that I won’t ask about your father?”
    “Is it working?”
    Alex gave a dry laugh. “No. Let’s start with something easy. Where’s your dad now?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Why don’t you know?”
    Emily growled. “I should have limited your questions to the top three. We’re going to be here all day if you keep asking stupid questions.”
    “What’s stupid about knowing where your father is?”
    “There you go again, assuming that I even care about him.” Emily lifted one of her hands off the steering wheel and waived it in the air. “I haven’t spoken to him in years. I gave up wondering where he was living long before that.”  
    Alex folded his arms across his chest. “Sounds like you’ve got a few issues to sort out.”
    “Issues?” Emily scoffed. “My father didn’t stay around long enough to know anything was wrong. Mom spent more time talking to him after they divorced than when they were married.”
    “Why did your parents get a divorce?”
    Emily’s foot slipped off the accelerator. “Can we stick to easy questions?”
    “I’ve only got another twenty minutes of your undivided attention. I want to make the most of it.”
    Emily wanted to ignore Alex, but he kept staring at her, waiting for her to sift through all of the things that had led to the end of her parents’ marriage. She tried to find the one defining moment when everything had fallen apart. There were too many, so she picked the one that hurt the least.
    “Dad traveled a lot with his business. I guess they grew so far apart that staying together didn’t seem important.”
    Emily could feel Alex’s gaze on her face. She stared straight ahead, concentrating on the road as if crawling along at a snail’s pace needed her undivided attention.
    For as long as she could remember, her dad had never been at home for more than a few weeks at a time. When her parents’ divorced she didn’t think it would have mattered, but it had. There was a big difference between seeing her dad every few weeks and knowing she