RESCUED BY THE RANCHER Read Online Free PDF Page B

Which left her
wondering all over again how a guy like Jake could be single.
    “It’s just lasagna. It’ll be ready soon,” Faith
told him.
    He walked past her. Damn. He even smelled good.
    “I was going to offer you a glass of wine, but
the only bottle I have in here is probably years old.” Jake was rifling through
a cupboard. “You don’t drink beer, do you?” His expression was hopeful.
    Faith laughed. “As a matter of fact, a beer is
exactly what I feel like.” Perhaps not with dinner, but sitting down with a
beer and chatting to her rescuer didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.
    Jake shut the cupboard and opened the fridge
instead. “I don’t believe you, but here.” He passed her a beer. Then he
frowned. “Help if I opened it first.”
    He moved closer, into her space. Faith looked
up at his face as he expertly took the top off her bottle, watching him, taking
in what it felt like to have a man so near. Especially one
that smelled like soap, with a body so big that she couldn’t see around him or
over him without moving.
    “Thanks,” she murmured.
    “Did you see the sheriff? Talk to him about
what happened?”
    Faith took a long, cool sip of beer. “No.” The sheriff was not someone she wanted to
talk to . “I was hoping the fire chief would be in touch if there was any
news.”
    Jake nodded. “I’ll call him in the morning, see
what’s happening.”
    She smiled, refusing to think about anything
right now other than the man beside her and her son in the other room.
    “I hope this isn’t too much. I mean, me
cooking, being here…” Faith let her voice trail off. She didn’t know what to
say to him, this man who’d been so kind to them, but who was clearly struggling
with having them in his home.
    “It’s different,” he admitted, taking a long
sip. “But I’m guessing it’s kind of awkward for you, too.”
    Faith smiled. She wasn’t used to such honesty,
and part of her wished he’d given her a different answer, but he’d been
truthful and that’s what mattered. She sat at the counter, keeping a barstool
between them so they weren’t too close.
    “Cheers,” she said, holding up her bottle to
clink against his. “To new friends.”
    Jake raised an eyebrow, but he held his bottle
up in silent acknowledgement, before taking another sip.
    “So how were those pregnant mares today?” Faith
asked him.
    That made him laugh . “Good. No one demanded a manicure.”
    “No rubbing hooves, then?”
    Jake shook his head, beer bottle poised for
another sip as he grinned at her. “Nope, no rubbing hooves.”
    They sat in silence for awhile, both looking
down, focused on their beers. Maybe he was as out of practice as she was when
it came to casual conversation, to flirting, or not flirting in their case.
    “Did you manage to sort a locksmith out, to
look at your car?”
    Faith nodded. “Yep, all under
control. I’m just waiting on a new set of keys to arrive.”
    “You know, I still can’t believe someone would
torch your house. That anyone around here would be that, I don’t know, so mean-spirited.”
    She gave him a tight smile. “I can.” She didn’t
want to admit it, but there was one person she knew who could be capable of doing it. Someone who had a motive, only she’d
never have thought he’d have the guts. She could be wrong, but something told
her she could just as easily be right.
    Jake looked confused. “When you said you hadn’t
been here in a long time…”
    Faith sipped her beer before jumping from the
stool, saved by the oven timer as it alerted her to the lasagna being ready.
    “Let’s save that conversation for another day.”
    Jake didn’t push her, just shrugged and leaned
forward on the counter, elbows resting as he held the beer out in front of him.
    “You didn’t have to cook me dinner.”
    Faith laughed. “Yeah, I did. After what you did
for us last night? I think dinner is the least I could do.” She paused, glanced
at him over her shoulder