One Hot Cowboy Read Online Free PDF

“That’s
    ridiculous,” he said finally. “Auntie Dee
    loved Rose. This was—is—her home. She
    had nothing to worry about.”
    “Try telling her that. You think she
    knows about the reverse mortgage?” Rory
    tossed the question out there.
    “You want to play twenty questions
    now?” An image of Rose’s face last night
    at the swimming hole was burned into his
    memory. Excitement and passion had lit
    her up from within when she’d talked
    about Auntie Dee’s house and her plans for
    the place. Just how many times had she
    gone over those plans in her head? And
    why? And would a check be enough to buy
    her a different dream?
    It didn’t matter.
    He needed those water rights. Hell, he
    already owned them. He just had to claim
    them.
    “No,” Cabe bit out. He fired up the ATV
    and got the quad pointed back toward the
    closest road. Another day he would have
    ridden out to the drill site, because on
    horseback it was easier to feel that
    connection between the ranch and himself.
    There just wasn’t as much room for
    thinking when he took the ATV out, which
    was why he’d done so today. He’d already
    thought this thing to death.
    “She doesn’t have a clue,” he said
    grimly, and he started following Seth on
    back to the ranch house. The raw power of
    the ATV motor matched his mood, the
    primal vibration devouring the sound of
    Rory’s curses.
    “Rose won’t like it,” Rory warned. Dust
    puffed up in small clouds as he took the
    lead. “She’s always had a thing for that
    crazy little house.”
    Yeah. Cabe tugged the Stetson down
    farther as the ATV crested a lazy roll of
    field. There was no surprise there. He’d
    been ranching all his life, had watched
    good men be forced to give up the land
    their families had held for generations
    because they couldn’t make the note and
    couldn’t force a living out of their place. In
    her own way, Rose Jordan had looked
    every bit as passionate as those men.
    But she’d only spent a handful of years
    living in Lonesome, and she’d run, first
    chance she’d gotten. Had she even thought
    about what it would take to keep up a
    property? This wasn’t a game, and she
    couldn’t just come on back and play house.
    He didn’t like what he was going to do, but
    not doing it wasn’t an option.
    She might not want anything from him,
    even though part of him ached to learn
    every sweet inch of her, but she was going
    to take that damned check.
    This time, when she took off, she’d have
    what she needed to start over.
    He’d make damn sure of it.

    The Honda Civic rattled up Lonesome’s
    main—and only—street, making it clear
    that the car was only going this far because
    Rose had insisted. Since Lonesome wasn’t
    exactly sporting a Motel 6, Rose had spent
    the night sleeping on the Honda’s backseat,
    parked in Auntie Dee’s driveway. She’d
    considered breaking a window and getting
    into the house, but then she’d just have to
    fix the window with money she didn’t
    have.
    She could wait one more night to get
    into her house.
    Fortunately, parking was never an issue
    in Lonesome. There were more than
    enough spots for cars, although horses
    were a different story. Picking her place,
    she parked the car and got out. When she’d
    consulted the trunk of the car earlier,
    looking for something clean to wear, she’d
    settled on a purple chiffon sundress that
    floated above her knees in a tease of airy
    fabric—make-you-look clothes.
    She wasn’t stupid, and she’d take every
    advantage she could get in this meeting.
    “I know what I want,” she told herself,
    loudly slamming the Honda’s door so no
    one could hear her talking to herself.
    “Different” didn’t sell well in Lonesome.
    She’d learned that the hard way, too. “I’m
    keeping that house.”
    Sure, the cowboys decorating the
    outside of the bar-and-grill looked plenty
    sexy, but she knew better. Everyone here
    knew everyone else, and not just on a first-
    name basis or a