Read Online Thunder Canyon Homecoming by Brenda Harlen - Free Book Online Page B

how to respond to the invitation. She’d met Russ and Melanie a few times and didn’t want to refuse his generous offer, but she wasn’t sure she’d feel comfortable sitting down at a table with people she barely knew.
    â€œThanks for the invite,” Corey said, coming to her rescue. “But Erin and I have other plans.”
    â€œYou’re sure?” Russ pressed.
    â€œPositive. But please thank Melanie for us.”
    His friend nodded. “I will. And I hope you’ll find your way out here again before you head back to Texas.”
    â€œYou can count on it,” Corey said, shaking his hand firmly.
    The rancher tipped his hat to Erin, then led the horses into the barn.
    Â 
    â€œHow are you holding up?” Corey asked when they were back in his truck and heading away from the ranch.
    â€œNot too badly,” she said.
    â€œYou should take a hot bath before you go to bed tonight,” he suggested. “It will help ease any soreness in your muscles.”
    â€œThat sounds like a wonderful idea.” She tipped her head back and closed her eyes as if she was imagining herself sinking into a tub filled with bubbles.
    Or maybe he just assumed that was what was on her mind because it was on his.
    â€œAnd if it doesn’t work, I’ll call Stefan in the morning and see if he can squeeze me in for a quickie during my lunch.”
    â€œStefan? A quickie?”
    She laughed. “A quick massage,” she clarified.
    â€œOh.” But his frown deepened. “Don’t they have women who give massages?”
    â€œOf course. But Stefan has the most amazing hands.”
    â€œAnd you let him put them all over your body?”
    â€œI pay him to put them all over my body.” She didn’t usually engage in this kind of flirtatious banter, but Corey’s reaction to her statement was so typically and possessively male, she couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “And he’s worth every penny.”
    â€œI could do the same thing—for free.”
    She lifted a brow. “Show me your diploma, cowboy.”
    â€œWell, no one’s ever called it a diploma, but—”
    She laughed. “I was referring to a professional accreditation. Stefan trained in Sweden.”
    â€œI graduated from Texas A&M,” he said, flicking on his indicator.
    Instead of heading in the direction Erin lived, he turned the opposite way.
    â€œWhere are we going?” she asked, more curious than concerned.
    â€œI told Russ we had plans for dinner,” he reminded her. “You don’t want to make a liar out of me, do you?”
    â€œI just don’t want you to feel obligated—”
    â€œErin.”
    She frowned at the interruption.
    â€œYou seem to be forgetting that I’m the one who tracked you down this morning and pretty much blackmailed you into spending the day with me.”
    â€œYou did, didn’t you?”
    â€œWhich should prove that if I didn’t want to be with you, I wouldn’t be.”
    â€œOkay,” she finally said, but the furrow in her brow deepened when he pulled into the parking lot of the Super Saver Mart, still referred to by a lot of the locals as the Thunder Canyon Mercantile. “This is where we’re going for dinner?”
    He chuckled. “This is where we’re going to get the ingredients for dinner.”
    She looked at him suspiciously.
    â€œNo, I don’t expect you to cook dinner for me,” he said be fore she could ask. “I’m going to cook for you.”
    â€œYou are?”
    â€œWhy do you sound so surprised?”
    â€œI guess because I am,” she admitted, as they made their way toward the entrance. “No man has ever cooked me dinner before.”
    He eyed her warily. “Are you one of those—what do they call them—vegetarians or vegans or whatever?”
    The tone of his voice left her in no doubt what this manfrom cattle