Read Online The Bridal Path: Sara by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online Page B

How’s the first Saturday after Memorial Day?”
    Jake regarded her with astonishment. He wasn’t sure which of them was more stunned by the impulsive announcement. “That’s less than a month away,” he protested.
    She gave him one of her saucy grins that had his stomach clenching and his blood pumping harder. “Then I say you’d better start practicing,” she retorted. “After all, you haven’t been tossed around by any bulls lately.”
    “That was not what I meant.”
    “I’ll be ready,” she vowed.
    “We’re not competing until Zeke clears you,” Jake countered. “I will not be responsible for you breaking your neck just because you’re too stubborn to back down.”
    “If you’d just sign the ranch over to me, we wouldn’t have to compete at all.”
    “No way, sweetheart.”
    She shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said, echoing his earlier remark.
    Jake smiled grimly. “I always do.”
    Of course, what would suit him right now would be to throttle Miss Sara Wilde and there was no way in hell he could do that without putting everything he’d worked for at risk. Trent might recognize what a handful his daughter was, but he wouldn’t appreciate another man calling her on her behavior.
    Unless, of course, that man happened to be married to her.
    * * *
    Two hours into the icy silence that had fallen between her and Jake, Sara realized that she actually enjoyed driving him to distraction. In fact, she’d found the whole morning downright amusing. The frustrated look on Jake’s face when he’d realized he couldn’t talk her out of coming along had been priceless. He’d appeared cornered, maybe even a little desperate.
    That expression confirmed what she’d guessed the night before. He was susceptible to her and he wasn’t happy about it. Which meant there might be more than one way to land Three-Stars for herself.
    Despite her brave comments on her ability to win their bet, Sara knew that her chances of outlasting Jake on a bronco were slim at best. She needed a backup plan and it appeared that seduction might be its cornerstone. If she could keep Jake off guard and rattled, he might make a mistake that would give her the edge she needed in their competition.
    She cast a cautious glance sideways at his harsh profile. With his Stetson settled low on his forehead and his mouth narrowed to a thin line, there was no question about his mood. He was definitely not a happy camper.
    Since he’d never reacted so negatively to her presence before, she could only conclude that he suddenly didn’t trust himself to be alone with her. That conclusion did wonders for her relatively untested feminine ego.
    “Jake?”
    “What?”
    “Could we call a truce? We are pretty much stuck with each other for the next day or so. We might as well try to be pleasant.”
    “If you wanted chitchat, you should have gone into town for a visit with your sister.”
    Sara wasn’t about to be put off so easily. “I was just wondering what it was like on the rodeo circuit.”
    He glanced over at her. “Thinking of taking it up full time?”
    She scowled at him. “Hardly. I was just curious.”
    “I thought I satisfied your curiosity on this particular subject years ago. You pestered me about it enough when I first came to the ranch.”
    She grinned at him. “I do recall something about ending up polishing your championship buckles.”
    The hard line of his mouth softened just a fraction. “You were an easy mark.”
    “I suppose I had a bit of a crush on you back then,” she admitted, not sure why she was willing to share such a secret now. Maybe because she’d always thought of Jake as a trusted friend, right up until the moment she’d realized he intended to take what she so desperately wanted.
    “I would have done anything to please you,” she recalled with a wry smile. “You never took advantage of that, though.”
    “Except to get you to polish those buckles for me.”
    She met his gaze. “You know what I