Cowboy for Keeps Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the wagon. The extra weight would provide needed balance on the steep
hills.
    “Why not? You’re both single. You like each other. If you
hadn’t let her slip through your fingers when you did, you two might still be
together.”
    Would they? It was possible. Conner did like her. More than he
should. As good of pals as he and Richard were, he’d always been a little
jealous of his friend and mad at himself for letting Richard steal her.
    “No.” Conner all but barked out the word and wiped his damp
brow with the sleeve of his jacket. “Not happening.”
    “Because she’s pregnant?” Dallas had told Gavin about her
condition and, after checking with his wife and sister-in-law, he’d reluctantly
agreed to let her go on the ride into the mountains.
    “I don’t care that she’s pregnant.”
    “Didn’t think so, because your old girlfriend had a little girl
and that didn’t bother you.”
    It hadn’t bothered Conner. He’d gotten along well with the
child and missed her. More than he did her mother, who’d dumped him when his
severance pay ran out and he could no longer afford her expensive tastes.
    “Be a big step, getting involved with a woman carrying another
man’s baby.” Gavin’s voice was absent of judgment.
    Conner paused and rested his arm on the side of the wagon.
“It’s not her pregnancy stopping me.”
    “Her ex-fiancé? Kind of awkward with him still in the
picture.”
    “No fooling.”
    Gavin scratched behind his ear. “I’d be wondering if she was
comparing me to him.”
    Conner’s stomach clenched. He hadn’t considered that unpleasant
possibility.
    “’Course, there would be a certain satisfaction in dating her.
Paybacks are hell.”
    Conner rarely got mad, but his temper abruptly flared. “If I
was to ever go out with Dallas, and I’m not, it wouldn’t be to get back at
Richard. She’s too good for that.”
    Gavin chuckled and retreated a step. “Hey, relax. I wasn’t
serious.”
    Conner reached for the canvas satchel containing the snacks
he’d packed, shoving it next to the ice chest.
    Gavin watched him closely. “What’s the real reason you won’t
ask her out?”
    “Richard being her baby’s father isn’t enough of one?”
    “I know you, buddy, and you’ve got a hankering for Dallas. Did
from the first time you laid eyes on her.”
    Conner wished his friend was less astute.
    He had always been drawn to her. She was pretty and genuinely
nice, with a heart of gold. Her small, curvy body enticed him more than his
model-thin ex-girlfriend’s ever did.
    What really appealed to him, however, was her gumption. Her
adventurous nature and love of life. Her many passions and her dedication to
them. The fearless way she pursued her ambitions.
    Conner had been the same once. Passionate and fearless, with an
endless supply of gumption.
    Then he’d lost his job and a large chunk of his self-esteem in
the face of countless thanks-but-no-thankses.
    “Richard was a fool to let her go.”
    “Here’s your chance, buddy,” Gavin continued. “You don’t ask
her out, I guarantee you someone else will, pregnant or not.”
    “I’m not asking her out,” Conner repeated.
    “She doesn’t care that you aren’t bringing home six figures a
year.”
    He jerked at the reminder of his former circumstances. “I
care.”
    “Money’s not important to her.”
    “Easy to say.” Conner’s ex-girlfriend used to profess a similar
sentiment. Funny how people change.
    A horn beeped, causing both men to turn. Dallas waved from her
Prius, then headed behind the barn, where the parking area was located.
    “You’re wrong.” Conner returned to loading the wagon. “A
husband who can provide for her and her child is what’s important to her.”
    “She tell you that?” Gavin asked.
    “It’s what she deserves.” And what, at the moment, Conner
couldn’t give her.
    “She’s planning on raising her child alone. If money was
important to her, she’d have stayed with