Read Online Second Time Around by Katherine Allred - Free Book Online Page A

done, she carried them to the table, placing one in front of him then taking the seat across from him. Her chin firmed and lifted as she watched him. “I think we should set up some ground rules right now, before we go any farther.”
    He took a sip of the tea. “You’re right. And here’s the first one. If you think you’re going to spend the entire three months pretending I’m not here, then the deal is off. I want part of your time every day, above what we spend together with Zack.”
    Her jaw clenched. “I have a ranch to run. I can’t just drop everything on a whim.”
    “I’m assuming the people working for you are competent or they wouldn’t be here.
    Let them do their jobs. If you need more help, hire extra people. I’ll pay their wages.”
    “I don’t need your money. If I hire anyone, I can pay them myself.” She looked down at the cup cradled in her hands and a flush of red climbed into her cheeks. “I’m not going to sleep with you, Quinn. Sex isn’t part of this agreement.”
    He shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on forcing you. Making love to an unwilling partner takes the fun out of it. However, since you agreed to the deal, I do expect an honest effort from you to make this work. Can you do that much?”
    Lanie took a deep breath, then nodded. “I’ll try.”
    Quinn toyed with the handle on the cup. “And what about Harper? Am I going to be tripping over him every time I turn around?”
    Her head shot up and she glared at him. “I said I’d try, damn it! But I’m not going to hurt Zack by keeping Jared away from him. He loves Jared.”
    He studied her silently, one brow arched. “I don’t want to see Zack hurt either, so I’ll make this easy. I won’t try to stop Harper from seeing him, but when he’s around, you won’t be alone with him. And there’s one more thing, Lanie.”
    “Of course there is,” she muttered sarcastically. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
    4Slowly Quinn reached across the table and took her left hand, noting the goose bumps that erupted on her skin with a great deal of interest. “I think it’s time you took that off,” he tilted his head at the diamond engagement ring on her finger, “and put your wedding rings back on.”

4Chapter Six
    Quinn kept his eyes closed, a smile playing around his lips as he drifted on the edge of waking. The bed was warm and comfortable, the scent of breakfast teased his nostrils. Waking up on the ranch again after all this time had memories flooding his mind, but he pushed most of them away, only interested in the ones involving Lanie.
    He settled a little deeper into the bed, thinking about the second time he’d seen her. It had been the day after that wild date with Susie Morsten…
    ~~~~~
    Depositing his Stetson on the ground beside him, Quinn settled back on the grassy bank and let his eyes drift shut. He wasn’t crazy about fishing, but it had been the only way he could think of to escape Ethan’s incessant questions about his date with Susie.
    His friend had tried to get her to go out with him for years with no success. The fact that Quinn had managed it in less that a week had his nose out of joint.
    Fishing had also been a way to evade Jonesy. Even though it was Saturday, the ranch foreman hated to see idle hands. He’d have found something for Quinn to do, and he was just too sleepy to spend the day shoveling manure or mending fences. It had been well past dawn before Susie had let him go, and his body felt like an old sponge with all the water squeezed out.
    There certainly was a lot to be said for older women. A smile tilted one corner of his lips. It had been his experience that girls his own age or younger didn’t offer half the pleasure women like Susie did. Maybe he’d continue to see her while he was there.
    The hot, midmorning sun soaked into him and soothed him toward sleep. From the tree above came the hypnotic drone of bees busily gathering pollen from the new buds.
    Three months before college