Mocha Latte (Silk Stocking Inn #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of some much deserved attention.” He reached across and pushed back a strand of hair. I held my breath as his fingers grazed my cheek and ear. As light and gentle as the gesture had been, he might just as well have taken me into his arms and kissed me.
    “It shows,” he said.
    “What shows?” I asked with my first real breath since he’d touched me.
    “Whatever the hell that guy did to you. It shows.”
    I pulled my face away and stared down at the horse beneath me. “Thought I was covering it better than that. I never let myself cry about it. In fact, I’m not completely sure tears would have come if I had allowed them. I was more disappointed in myself. Figured it was all my fault for not keeping his interest.”
    “The guy was an idiot.” He threw his long leg over the saddle and dropped down to the ground. I followed. We walked the horses to the thick grass growing along the perimeter of the pond. They instantly dropped their heads to graze.
    Having my long term boyfriend and fiancé run off with another woman hadn’t exactly been my proudest moment. I was anxious to change the subject. Thankfully, Jackson didn’t know any details, even though he was astute enough to see through the poker face I’d been wearing since Nate’s phone call.
    “Did you grow up on a ranch?” I asked.
    “Sort of. My parents split when I was young. They sold off the ranch. I bounced around the country with my mom until she couldn’t handle my wild ways anymore.” He looked pointedly at me. “Her words, not mine. She shipped me back to my dad, who had no interest in raising me. So I found a way to raise myself. I wandered from ranch to ranch as a hired hand, never really settling in anywhere.”
    “No other family or friends?”
    “I’ve got friends from one side of the country to the other but no one rock solid. No one I keep in steady contact with. And no one to come home to.” His last words tugged at my heart.
    “I’ve been working late every night, hanging out in the studio long after everyone else has gone home, just because I hate walking into my empty apartment. Everyone should have someone to come home to. Don’t you think?”
    He stared out at the water. “I think you’re right about that, Spunky.”

Chapter 9
    We rode back, mostly in silence. I’d learned a few things in the half hour ride with Jackson, revelations that hadn’t occurred to me until tonight. I’d convinced myself that I’d handled the break-up stoically, that I was certain everyone was marveling at just how unflappable I was. It had been important to keep a stiff upper lip at work. I was the producer, the person everyone came to with problems, and I didn’t want to appear weak by falling apart at the seams after Nate left me. I hoped that I’d been imagining the empathetic smiles and glances from the cast and crew. But all along, it seemed, I’d been wearing my broken heart right on my proverbial sleeve. Jackson had seen it the moment I walked into the bakery, and he’d known nothing about me or the break-up.
    I’d also realized that I badly needed to move on. It was time to shove the Chunky Monkey and Mocha Swirl back into the freezer and get serious about dating again. Going home to an empty apartment had been the hardest part of all. I needed to know someone was waiting for me to come home. I needed that again.
    My biggest fret, now, was how the heck I was ever going to trust anyone with my heart again.
    We reached the barn. I watched as my extremely appealing trail guide jumped down from his horse. Jackson was, of course, the last thing I needed. A man like him would have no shortage of women. But I wondered if a flirtatious, sexy weekend away from home with a man who I would probably never see again, would be just what I needed to restore some confidence. I climbed off Archie and followed Jackson and his horse into the stables.
    We put the horses in cross ties. “You’re the only guest this weekend. If you like, we can take