Read Online Wild Ride: Lance and Tammy by Lietha Wards - Free Book Online

He’s a very strict businessman and highly intelligent, but he was also just as demanding with us getting an education and not living off of our inheritance.  He expanded the ranch to horses, less with cattle, and made good money. Then, my mother died and it took the drive out of him.  He’s still in our lives but lives in Texas.  He has a small spread, about a thousand acres.  He seems happier there, and it keeps him busy.”
    Small? She supposed the fifteen thousand acres they owned in Montana was a reference.  “I’m sorry about your mother,” she said sincerely.  He only shrugged and continued talking.
    “He’s been to visit a few times, but it’s hard for him.  My mother was an amazing woman.”
    Well to throw such well-adjusted handsome sons, she would have to be. “You were very lucky to have her.”
    He nodded. “We all were. Now, I would ask you what you do in your spare time, Tam, but I know for a fact, you don’t have any.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t, but I like what I do.”
    “Past boyfriends?”  He shifted the subject suddenly surprising her again.
    She flushed.  She wished she wasn’t the only uncomfortable person in the room all the time.  Lance still seemed totally at ease with himself and these questions.
    “Intimate couples share these details. We don’t want to be unprepared.”
    Intimate?   Oh how she wished. She sighed heavily. She knew what he was getting at.  If her mother brought up Richard and her it would take Lance by surprise. “I was engaged, unhappily, and not by choice, to Richard.”
    “Anyone else?” he asked in the same non-hesitant and calm manner.  Not feigning interest or disinterest.
    She shook her head.  For the first time he looked a little surprised at her confession.
    “I take it he ruined you for a decent relationship.”
    “I think my mother ruined me more, pushing me into it. I was young and wanted to make her happy.  Over time I realized nothing I did would have accomplished that. She was very controlling.  Then Richard expected much of the same.”
    “He’s not good enough for you.  He’s got a mentality that women have their place. He’s no prize, Tammy.”
    He hit that nail on the head. It actually made her feel better.  She always had regrets about leaving everyone, but it was for her survival. “No he’s not.  Although he thinks he is, and the people that surround him think he is because he knows how to fit in, behave.  I hate that lifestyle. I don’t like being someone I’m not.  It seems—well, dishonest.”
    Lance observed her thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again. “Most people raised in that lifestyle are spoiled and selfish.  That’s why I like the ranch.  It keeps my feet on the ground.  It does that for my brothers too.”
    “Yes, but this penthouse is amazing.” She tilted her head and looked up at the scalloped ceiling of his bedroom, which was no small room.  She could fit her entire apartment in it.
    “It’s my escape every now and then.  I like to indulge myself sometimes.  I have a healthy balance. Here, I can do that without my family witnessing.  At home, I’m myself.” He smiled while poking fun at himself.
    She laughed at the humor he was displaying. It was rare. He was always so serious.
    There was an uncomfortable silence after that, well, for her.  “What about your past relationships?”
    He sat back in the chair and rubbed his stubble dusted chin with his thumb and forefinger while contemplating that question.
    “Tit for tat Lance.”
    He smiled, his eyes on hers. “Yes, very true, but I’m thinking.  Let’s see.  Six partly serious ones.”
    “Any serious-serious ones?”
    He shook his handsome head slowly with his eyes locked on hers  looking as comfortable as the man could be.
    Well I guess that rumor was put to rest on why he quit the city life. “What about less-serious.”
    “Too many to count.”
    Her eyes popped wide.
    “I’m a wealthy man Tammy.