by Angi Morgan
“You see, once my financial stuff is settled—like selling Jeremy’s house—we can get a loan in our names. What’s that look for? If it’s not money, then what’s making you leave?”
“You.”
“Me?” She sat next to him, dangling her boots over the edge next to his.
“Those are Justins. And they’re extremely pink.”
“Aren’t they great? If you’d told me they came in this color, we would have bought some the first day. I needed some stuff and couldn’t go back to...you know...” She pressed her lips together and shrugged. “So Alicia and I went shopping.”
“You bought boots?”
“Of course I did. If I’m going to live on a ranch, I need boots to walk around in the mud and other stuff. Don’t I?”
“I don’t think those are mud boots.” He shook his head at her expression, thinking he was crazy. “Lindsey, you love the ocean. You said you wanted sand between your toes. I planned to move because you wanted to live on the beach.”
“Brian Sloane, it’s you that I’ve been looking for. I was looking for someone to fall in love with. Not a wave. Not a job. Not a lifestyle. Even though I’m scared to death of snakes and I don’t think I’ll ever learn which ones won’t eat me. Don’t laugh at me.”
“Come here.” He was laughing and smiling so much it hurt. He maneuvered them back into the loft and onto the hay. “Did you just propose to me?”
“I don’t recall the words will you marry me coming from my lips.”
Their greeting kiss had been in front of his family. Not this one. It was a reunion. He tugged her to mold their bodies together. There was no doubt how much he’d missed her. She gave as good as he did and after five minutes there was no doubt how much she’d missed him.
He sat her on an old apple crate that had been there since the time of his grandfather—but maintained by him as a thinking stool. His answer didn’t take much pondering. He’d probably made up his mind about Lindsey before he’d ever met her.
“I think I will.”
“Will what?” she asked, the sunshine creating a halo of light behind her.
“Now that you’ve asked politely, I’ll marry you.”
“Oh, you. Stop fooling around.” She threw a handful of hay at him. “I love you, but I refuse to say yes before we have an official date.”
“What did you say?”
“That I want a date first?”
“No, ma’am. You said you love me, and that’s a real good thing, ’cause you’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to say this to.”
He pulled her into his arms. Sunbeams were flooding the old hayloft, and her eyes were the perfect color of blue that matched the sky behind her.
“Uncle Brian,” came a young singsong voice from the yard below.
“Yeah?”
“Pawpaw wants to know if you asked her yet. And said to tell you to hurry up ’cause we want pancakes.”
“Skedaddle, baby girl.” He plucked some straw from Lindsey’s golden hair as his niece left the barn. “Living here’s going to be an adventure every day.”
“I believe it.”
“I love your boots.” He kissed one of the bruises on her cheek from their previous adventure.
“They say with the right pair of shoes, a girl can do anything.” Lindsey dragged a finger across the pulse point in his throat. “If she’s lucky, she might even catch a handsome cowboy/paramedic turned detective/bodyguard.”
“I’m done with all those jobs. I only have one now. Loving you. That’s it.”
“I’ll take it and love you right back.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from WEDDING AT CARDWELL RANCH by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels.
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Read on for a sneak peek of
WEDDING AT CARDWELL RANCH
by New York Times bestselling author
B.J. Daniels
Part of the CARDWELL COUSINS series.
In Montana for his brother’s nuptials,
Jackson Cardwell isn’t looking to be anybody’s hero.
But the Texas single father knows a beautiful lady in distress when he meets her.
“I’m afraid to ask what you just said to your horse,” Jackson joked as he moved closer. Her horse had wandered over to some tall grass away from the others.
“Just thanking him for not bucking me off,” she admitted shyly.
“Probably a good idea, but your horse is a she. A mare.”
“Oh, hopefully she wasn’t insulted.” Allie actually smiled. The afternoon sun lit her face along with the smile.
He felt his heart do a loop-de-loop. He tried to rein it back in as he looked into her eyes. That tantalizing green was deep and dark, inviting, and yet he knew a man could drown in those eyes.
Suddenly, Allie’s horse shied. In the next second it took off as if it had been shot from a cannon. To her credit, she hadn’t let go of her reins, but she grabbed the saddle horn and let out a cry as the mare raced out of the meadow headed for the road.
Jackson spurred his horse and raced after her. He could hear the startled cries of the others behind him. He’d been riding since he was a boy, so he knew how to handle his horse. But Allie, he could see, was having trouble staying in the saddle with her horse at a full gallop.
He pushed his horse harder and managed to catch her, riding alongside until he could reach over and grab her reins. The horses lunged along for a moment. Next to him Allie started to fall. He grabbed for her, pulling her from her saddle and into his arms as he released her reins and brought his own horse up short.
Allie slid down his horse to the ground. He dismounted and dropped beside her. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. What happened?”
He didn’t know. One minute her horse was munching on grass, the next it had taken off like a shot.
Allie had no idea why the horse had reacted like that. She hated that she was the one who’d upset everyone.
“Are you sure you didn’t spur your horse?” Natalie asked, still upset.
“She isn’t wearing spurs,” Ford pointed out.
“Maybe a bee stung your horse,” Natalie suggested.
Dana felt bad. “I wanted your first horseback-riding experience to be a pleasant one,” she lamented.
“It was. It is,” Allie reassured her, although in truth, she wasn’t looking forward to getting back on the horse. But she knew she had to for Natalie’s sake. The kids had been scared enough as it was.
Dana had spread out the lunch on a large blanket with the kids all helping when Jackson rode up, trailing her horse. The mare looked calm now, but Allie wasn’t sure she would ever trust it again.
Jackson met her gaze as he dismounted. Dana was already on her feet, heading for him. Allie left the kids to join them.
“What is it?” Dana asked, keeping her voice down.
Jackson looked to Allie as if he didn’t want to say in
front of her.
“Did I do something to the horse to make her do that?” she asked, fearing that she had.
His expression softened as he shook his head. “You didn’t do anything.” He looked at Dana. “Someone shot the mare.”
Someone is hell-bent on making Allie Taylor think she’s losing her mind. Jackson’s determined to unmask the perp. Can he guard the widowed wedding planner and her little girl from a killer with a chilling agenda?
Find out what happens next in
WEDDING AT CARDWELL RANCH
by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels,
available July 2014, only from Harlequin® Intrigue®.
Copyright © 2014 by Barbara Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9781460333600
THE RENEGADE RANCHER
Copyright © 2014 by Angela Platt
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