Read Online Rancher Rescue by Barb Han - Free Book Online Page B

to Noah’s bedroom.
    “I know it’s here somewhere,” she said, tossing around toys and clothes.
    “What are you looking for? I’ll help.”
    “No. I found it.” She held up a stuffed reindeer. “It’s Prancer. One of Noah’s favorites. He apparently used to sleep with it all the time. Now he’s into the rabbit. I was just thinking he’ll need as many of his things as possible to make my place feel like home.” She gathered a few more toys from the mess.
    “Prancer? Seems like an interesting choice for a name. I mean, why not Rudolph?” He examined the stuffed animal.
    “Noah thinks the other reindeer get overlooked. Said Rudolph gets all the glory,” she said, melancholy.
    Caleb couldn’t help but crack a smile. “How old did you say he is?”
    “Four.”
    “Sounds like a compassionate boy.” He tucked the stuffed animal under his arm. “We’ll keep Prancer safe until he’s back with Noah.”
    When Caleb looked at her, his heart dropped. A dozen emotions played across her delicate features. Fear. Regret. Anxiety.
    He walked to her and took her hand in his.
    “We’ll find him. I promise.”
    Before he could debate his actions, he tilted his head forward and pressed his lips to hers gently. The soft kiss intensified when she parted her lips to allow him access. His mouth covered hers as he swallowed her moan.
    Both his hands cupped her cheeks, tilting her face until his tongue delved more deeply, tasting her.
    She pulled back long enough to look into his eyes.
    “I believe you mean that,” she said, her voice like silk wrapping around him, easing the ache in his chest.
    Caleb always delivered on his commitments. He hoped like hell this time would be no different.

Chapter Five
    Exhaustion dulled Katherine’s senses, but she managed to follow Caleb back to the car. The visit hadn’t produced any real optimism. All their hopes were riding on a dead phone.
    And what if there’s nothing there? a tiny voice in the back of her mind asked.
    What then?
    Hot, burning tears blurred Katherine’s vision. Her mantra— Chin Up. Move Forward. Forge Ahead —had always worked. She’d survived so much of what life had thrown at her repeating those few words. Hadn’t she been stronger because of it?
    Then how did she explain the hollow ache in her chest? Or the niggling dread she might live out the rest of her days by herself. Everyone let her down eventually. Who could she lean on when times got tough? Who did she really have to help celebrate life’s successes?
    Before meeting this cowboy, she’d never realized how alone she’d truly been. She gave herself a mental shake as she opened the car door and buckled in.
    Caleb found her cable-knit sweater in the back and placed it over her as she clicked the seat belt into place.
    She slipped the sweater over her shoulders and closed her eyes, expecting to see the attackers’ faces or to hear their threats replaying in her mind. She didn’t. Instead she saw Caleb and relaxed into a deep sleep.
    * * *
    K ATHERINE DIDN ’ T OPEN her eyes again until she heard Caleb’s voice, raspy from lack of sleep, urging her awake. For a split second she imagined being pressed up against him, snuggled against the crook of his arm, in his big bed. She’d already been introduced, and quite intimately, to his broad chest and his long, lean, muscled thighs. He’d left no doubt he was all power, virility and man when his body had blanketed her, pinning her to the ground. Her fists had pounded pure steel abs. Warmth spread from her body to her limbs, heating her thighs.
    The reality she was curled up in her car while running for Noah’s life brought a slap of sanity.
    “Where are we?”
    “Dallas. If the address on your license is correct, we’re a couple blocks from your house.” He glanced at the clock. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of time before the drop.”
    She sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes. They were at a drive-through for a local coffee