Read Online WM02 - Texas Princess by Jodi Thomas - Free Book Online

breakfast in his study and Miss Liberty usual y doesn’t get up until after nine, so the kitchen is always quiet in the mornings.”
    Stel a waved good-bye from the doorway.
    Walking back to the barn, he cal ed himself a fool. Most men his age had slept with every wil ing woman they ran across. Most had stories to exaggerate. And as near as he could tel , none had regrets. Just because he never planned to marry didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy a woman. He suspected both his big brothers had tumbled into bed a few times, though they never bragged like some men. Maybe something was wrong with him. Maybe he couldn’t be al that attracted to a woman.
    As he stepped into the dawn shadows of the barn, Tobin col ided with Liberty. His hand went out to steady her, accidental y brushing the side of one of her breasts with his open palm as he put his arm around her waist.
    On second thought, there was nothing wrong with him at al . He was denitely attracted to one woman. Unfortunately, she couldn’t have been more out of reach if she had lived on the moon. She was a senator’s daughter and he was just a man who delivered horses as far as she was concerned.
    “Remove your hand, sir,” Liberty snapped.
    “Sorry,” he managed to say. “Next time I’l let you fal .”
    “Next time don’t run into me.” She looked as jumpy as a l y around re.
    Her beautiful eyes were more gray than green this morning and he thought she looked like she’d been crying.
    As he stared, her gaze l ed with anger.
    Confused, he asked, “Did you need something, Miss Mayeld, or did you come out before daylight just to stand
    in the way?”
    “You said you’d teach me to ride.”
    “It’s not even seven o’clock in the morning.”
    “I want to try before I change my mind.”
    He saw it again. The fear in her gaze, and he knew the anger was not directed at him.
    She was ghting fear with any tool she could nd. “I thought you said you wouldn’t learn?” He lowered his tone.
    “I’ve changed my mind. A woman has the right to change her mind, at least in some matters.”
    He guessed the truth even if she didn’t know him wel enough to be honest. She feared something, or someone, more than she did horses.
    He moved to the stal where Sunny waited.
    Liberty backed into the corner by the door while Tobin saddled two horses. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as light danced across her china smooth face.
    She wore a plain white blouse and a split skirt for riding a regular saddle. The jacket she carried over one arm didn’t look thick enough to offer any warmth. Her midnight hair, which had been curled and tucked back last night, now owed straight down her back. Her boots looked new.
    He grinned. Even in simple clothes, she stil looked every ounce a princess. She was a woman who got everything she wanted when she wanted it, he guessed.
    “What do I do?” she asked when she seemed to be able to stand the silence no longer.
    “Tie back that hair. It might get in the way,” Tobin ordered.
    She looked around. “With what?”
    He looped the reins over a railing and walked over to her. “Turn around.”
    She raised one eyebrow, then did as he asked.
    Tobin tugged off his gloves and gently moved his ngers into her hair. It was even thicker than he would have guessed. “When I was a kid, I always had to braid my little sister’s hair.” His ngers twisted the strands of silk into a long braid.
    “Don’t you do this?” He’d assumed al women braided their hair at night. Sage always did when she changed into her nightclothes.
    Liberty turned her head. “No. Joy, my maid, combs it around damp rags so it wil be curly in the morning. I’ve never worn a braid. My father doesn’t think they’re ladylike.”
    Tobin twisted off the end with a strip of leather. Her hair was beautiful even in the braid down her back, but bore not one turn of curl. “What happened last night?”
    She gave him a sharp look, then