Her Rugged Rancher Read Online Free PDF Page A

Bella.”
    She smiled faintly. “What makes you think that?”
    â€œJett does a lot of entertaining at home. And you two are brother and sister.”
    â€œJett and I are siblings, but we think differently. Besides, most of his entertaining has to do with his law practice or ranching cronies. As for me, I don’t normally mix business with my home. I have invited our mother over for a night or two, though. She thinks I need my head examined for building a house up here on the mesa, away from everyone. She’d go crazy from the solitude.”
    â€œAnd you haven’t?”
    That made her laugh. “Not yet. Of course, my sanity is subject to opinion,” she joked.
    He didn’t smile. But then, she didn’t expect him to. She’d never seen a genuine smile on his face.
    By now they’d reached the driver’s side of the truck. After he’d opened the door and climbed behind the wheel, he glanced at her briefly, then stared straight ahead at the windshield.
    â€œYou be careful when you ride in the canyon,” he said.
    She wanted to believe his warning was out of concern for her safety. Not because he was a bossy male. “I will. And thank you again for your help.”
    â€œNo problem.”
    He closed the door and started the engine, leaving Bella with little choice but to step back and out of the way.
    â€œGoodbye,” she called to him. “And you don’t have to be a stranger, you know. The sky won’t fall in if you stop by once in a while and say hello.”
    He lifted a hand in acknowledgement, then put the truck into gear. Bella remained where she stood and watched the truck follow the circle drive until it disappeared into the dense pine forest.
    So much for making an impression on the man, she thought. Noah hadn’t even bothered to give her a proper goodbye. But then Noah Crawford wasn’t like any man she’d ever met before. And that was darned well why she was determined to see him again.
    * * *
    Later that night, as Noah sat on the front step of his little cabin, he was still cursing his unfortunate luck of running across Bella. If he’d stayed with the men a half hour longer before heading home, he might have missed her. Or if she’d still been down in the canyon, he would’ve never known she was there or that her mare had thrown a shoe.
    But for some reason, fate had aligned everything just right to put them on the road at the same time. No, fate had situated everything all wrong, he thought dismally. Now he was going to have a hell of a time getting Bella off his mind. After this evening, each time he passed her fancy house, he would think about too many things. How the kitchen had smelled of her baking, the way she’d talked and smiled as they’d sat at the pine table, and last, but hardly least, the way his heart had thudded like the beat of a war drum each time he’d looked at her.
    Through the years Noah had worked for Jett, the man had never warned him to steer clear of his sister. Why would he bother? Both of them knew that Bella would never give Noah a serious look, anyway.
    No, early on Noah had made his own decision to avoid Bella. Because he’d instinctively understood she was the sort of woman who could cause him plenty of trouble. Certainly not the devastating kind that Camilla had brought him, but enough to cause havoc in his life.
    The sky won’t fall in if you stop by once in a while and say hello.
    Had she truly meant that as an invitation? he wondered. Or had she simply been mouthing a polite gesture?
    What does it matter, Noah? Even if she meant it, you can’t strike up a friendship with Bella. Getting cozy with her would be pointless. She’s an educated lady, a lawyer with enough smarts to figure out a loser like you.
    Shutting his mind to the mocking voice trailing through his head, he watched a small shadow creeping along the edge of the underbrush growing near the left