Curves and the Rodeo Star (BBW Romance - Coldwater Springs 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

she could catch her
breath, Cade slipped the halter over Shadow’s head.
    She stood still for a
couple of moments, watching Cade talk reassuringly to the horse.
    “ I’ll walk
him home.” Cade led the colt over to her.
    Emma nodded, suddenly
feeling shy, and patted Shadow on the neck. “Okay. Thanks.”
She really was thankful Cade had helped. Although Shadow knew her,
Cade was the one training him nearly every day. If Cade hadn’t
been here… Emma didn’t want to think about the might
have-beens.
    “ You okay?”
He gently touched her hair with his free hand. Their gazes collided.
    Emma yearned to lean into
the caress, but reminded herself he didn’t feel about her that way. He was only being kind.
    She forced a smile.
“Sure.” Looking away from his rugged features, she
focused on his vehicle. “What about your truck?”
    “ Once we get Shadow
settled, we can come back for it.”
    “ No problem.”
She hopped into her SUV.
    Cade leaned into the open
window. “You go first in case he doesn’t like someone
driving up behind him.”
    His face was so close to
hers that if she leaned forward the tiniest bit, their lips would
touch. She drew back slightly, hoping he couldn’t read her
expression. The last thing she wanted to do was to make a fool of
herself - again.
    Emma inched down the
road. Although Shadow was used to her SUV entering and leaving the
ranch, she didn’t know how he would feel about it right now.
But she needn’t have worried. When she glanced back in the
rear-view mirror, Cade and Shadow seemed to be sharing a man to horse
conversation. Lucky Shadow.
    Once she arrived home,
Emma flipped up the sun visor and checked her hair in the small
mirror, smoothing it into a tidier ponytail. She knew it was
ridiculous to do a little primping since Cade wasn’t attracted
to her, but that didn’t mean she had to walk around with
tangled hair.
    Pacing the driveway, she
waiting for Cade and Shadow. Was the horse behaving himself? Or had
Cade run into trouble? She debated whether to jump into the SUV and
look for them when they came through the front gate, Shadow plodding
beside Cade.
    “ Is he okay?”
Emma headed over to them, knowing she wouldn’t be completely
satisfied until the quarter horse was back in the south pasture with
the gate securely locked.
    “ He’s fine.”
Cade patted the quarter horse’s neck. “I think he’s
tired from all the excitement.”
    They shared a relieved
glance. “Then let’s get him tucked in for the night.”
Emma smiled.
    They walked Shadow to the
south pasture. Emma had already put in some hay for him to munch on
when he and Cade returned. Cade stood close to her as she latched
the gate, checking twice that it was locked properly.
    “ It’s fine,
Emma.” His hand closed over hers, stopping her from checking
the lock for the third time. She closed her eyes, savoring his
touch.
    Raising her eyes to meet
his, she asked, “But how did he get out? I’ve been
racking my brains and I don’t know how it’s possible.
The last time I locked this gate was yesterday evening. And I’m
sure it was secure then.”
    Before he could answer,
she heard the faint ringing of her phone from the SUV. “It
might be a client.” Hurrying to the vehicle, she grabbed the
phone from the passenger seat and checked the caller ID. Bernie.
Her heart sank.
    “ Hey Emma,”
her client’s gravelly voice greeted her.
    “ Hi, Bernie.”
Surely he hadn’t heard about Shadow’s escape?
    An embarrassed chuckle
filled her ear. “I visited Shadow today while you were at work
and my phone rang when I left. The thought’s been nagging me
all afternoon that maybe I hadn’t latched the gate properly.
Can you go check?”
    Reliefflooded
her. It hadn’t been her fault Shadow had escaped! She
hesitated. Should she pretend that nothing had happened or should
she be totally honest? She didn’t want anything like this
happening again.
    “ I don’t
think you did latch it securely,