Cowboy with a Cause Read Online Free PDF Page B

to stretch into a grin.
    Tilly sprawled on a nearby chair with a hand to her heart, her wrinkled face still holding the remnants of horror. “I went up to dust the rooms and he stepped out of the bathroom and I thought for sure he was going to kill me.”
    “What did you think he was going to do? Flip you to death with the end of his towel?” A giggle escaped Melanie as Adam’s cheeks flooded with color.
    “I’ll just go back upstairs and get dressed.” He backed up the stairs, as if afraid by turning around, his bare tush might show.
    Melanie had no doubt it was a fine tush, and for the first time since she’d returned to Grady Gulch, she released a full belly laugh. It felt good. It felt so darned good after so many months of having nothing to laugh about.
    Tilly looked at her in surprise and then straightened up on the chair. “Well, I’m certainly glad you find it funny. You might have warned me that Adam Benson had moved in here.”
    “He just moved in yesterday, so I haven’t had a chance.” Melanie tried to erase the vision she’d just had of Adam, but it was proving difficult.
    His broad chest was fully muscled and his abdomen above the towel was a perfect six-pack. His long legs were sturdy and masculine in shape and for a moment the sight of him had halted Melanie’s ability to breathe.
    “Are you sure renting the rooms to him is something you want to do?” Tilly asked, worry darkening her hazel eyes.
    “It’s something I have to do,” she replied. “Tilly, you know my situation. Mom’s estate left me nothing except the house and I was living paycheck to paycheck in New York. I need some extra cash coming in and Adam was the only person who came to see the rooms. I’ve had that For Rent sign in the window for months.”
    Tilly glanced up the stairs, where he’d disappeared. “Talk around town is that he’s cleaned up his act, but if he gives you any trouble, you just say the word and I’ll kick him to the curb for you.” To demonstrate her intentions, she stood and kicked out one skinny leg, which might move a gnat but certainly not a man as big, as built as Adam.
    “Oh, Tilly, I don’t know what I’d do without you!” Melanie exclaimed in a burst of gratitude.
    Tilly walked over to her and planted a kiss on top of her head. “You’d do fine without me. You’re brave and strong, but in any case I like doing things for you. Your mother was my very best friend in the world and she’d roll over in her grave if I didn’t do what I could to help you.”
    She cupped Melanie’s face with her hands. “You’re the daughter I never had. Olive shared you with me.” She straightened. “And now I’m going into the kitchen to make you a big breakfast. If that man wants to eat, then I’ll make enough for all of us.”
    “I imagine he’ll want to eat,” Melanie called after her as the skinny Tilly walked purposely toward the kitchen.
    When she was gone, Melanie thought of that moment of laughter that had spilled out of her. It had felt good. She used to laugh a lot, but the laughter had been stolen from her at the same time that dance had been taken.
    She couldn’t get her dance back, but maybe it was time she tried to get a little bit of laughter and fun back in her life.
    She suddenly realized that she’d shot out of bed so quickly at the sound of Tilly’s scream that she was still clad in the silk nightgown that clung to her naked curves.
    Hopefully Adam had been too concerned about his own half nakedness to have noticed hers. By the time she changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and returned to the living room, the scent of fried bacon filled the house.
    As if pulled by the savory scent alone, Adam came down the stairs, this time fully dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt.
    He cast her a sheepish grin. “I’m a little more presentable now, but I’ve got to admit she scared me as much as I frightened her. I didn’t realize Tilly was a friend of yours. She used to help out