Lone Star Winter Read Online Free PDF Page B

over her and he smiled slowly. “His loss.”
    â€œYou get out of here, you fresh varmint,” she said, rising. “And there’s no use trying to seduce me, either. I’m immune.”
    â€œReally?” he asked with raised eyebrows and a twinkle in his green eyes. “Shall we test that theory?” He took a step in her direction.
    She flushed and backed up a step. “You stop that,” she muttered.
    He chuckled as he reached for his hat. “Don’t retreat. I’ll keep to my side of the line in the sand. Keep that door locked,” he added then, and not with a smile. “I’m having you watched, just in case Lopez does trysome thing. But if you need me, I’ll be as close as the telephone.”
    â€œI know that. Thank you.”
    â€œYour car has a busted water pump,” he added, surprising her that he remembered. “I’ll have one of my men come get it and overhaul it for you.”
    She was all but gasping. “But, you don’t have to…!”
    â€œI know I don’t have to,” he said, eyes flashing. “You can’t be stuck out here without transportation, especially now.”
    She didn’t want to accept what she knew was charity, but the temptation to have her little red car fixed and running again was too much. She couldn’t afford an extra spark plug. “Thank you,” she said a little stiffly. It hurt her pride to know that he was aware of her financial situation.
    He searched her face quietly. “No need for thanks. I’ll take care of you. And the baby.”
    She stared at him while confusing sensations washed over her like a gentle electric current. She’d never felt such a surge of emotion, with anyone.
    â€œI don’t have any ulterior motives, Lisa,” he said, speaking her name for the first time. It sounded soft, mysterious, even beautiful in his deep, measured tones.
    â€œThen thanks, for seeing about my car,” she said gently. “And if you get sick, I’ll take care of you. All right?”
    His heart ran wild. He’d never had anybody offer to look after him. His wife hadn’t been compassionate. It hit him right in the gut that Lisa thought of him with such kindness. He searched for an answer and couldn’t find one.
    â€œI’m sure you never get sick,” she said quickly, a little intimidated by his scowl. “But just in case.”
    He nodded slowly.
    She smiled, reassured.
    He turned and went out the door, speechless for the first time in recent memory. He couldn’t have managed a single word to save his life.
    Lisa went onto the porch and watched him drive away with confused emotions. She shouldn’t let things intensify. She was a recent widow and he hadn’t been widowed all that long ago. People would gossip, if for no other reason than that Cy Parks was the town’s hermit. On the other hand, she was lonely and a little afraid. She remembered what Walt had told her about Manuel Lopez and the men who worked for him in the narcotics underworld. She knew what they did to people who sold them out. A shiver ran down her spine. They’d killed Walt and they might not stop untilthey wiped out his whole family—that was the reputation that Lopez had. She wasn’t going to put her baby at risk, regard less of what people thought. She touched her flat belly protectively.
    She smiled. “I’m going to take such wonderful care of you.”
    The smile remained when she thought how Cy would care about the baby, too. He wasn’t at all the sort of man he seemed on first acquaintance. But, then, who was? She went back inside to work in the kitchen, careful to make sure the doors were locked.
    Â 
    Cy used his cell phone to have a local wrecker service take Lisa’s small car over to his ranch, where he had one of his two mechanics waiting to fix it. Harley was good with machinery, but he had the mechanic do the work