Ride Me Cowboy #2 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was bored
out of my mind but looking forward to having dinner with Samantha soon. She had
to take a look at her schedule and get back to me. She was doing summer school
this year to get ahead on her credits. I admire her for knowing exactly what
she wants to do. She wanted to become a nurse and work with kids. Lucky for her
– and the kids I suppose, she was a really patient girl.
    Mom had came and got me when
it was time to feed the calves again that evening. I guess they had to be fed
often, like babies. This time she wanted me to do it. I did my best to recall
everything she’d said this morning, although I wasn’t listening to a lot of it.
She guided me along though, and before I knew it, I was feeding a tan calf with
huge brown eyes that were trained on me the whole time. In spite of myself, I
got a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I thought about them not having a mother and
that reminded me of Mark. It seems everything reminded me of him these days.
    “What happened to their mother?” I asked my mom.
There were three of them that we were bottle feeding. They were so tiny and
cute. Another way I surprised myself. I’d never considered barn animals to be
cute in the least.
    “A coyote got them, we think. Somehow something got
into the pen one night and got all three of them. Thank goodness the babies
were in the barn. Poor Mark was the one that found them. The poor thing was
sick over it.”
    “Oh, poor things,” I said of the babies. I saw Mom
smile out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t get that smug look. I’m acclimating
so I can spend more time with you, but this still isn’t my thing.”
    She laughed. “That’s okay. Just the fact that you’re
here and you’re willing to do these things with me for now makes me happy.”
    “I’m glad. I want you to be happy. I have to say
though; I am surprised that you’re so happy here. It’s so different from your
former life.”
    She smiled. “Former life makes me sound like I’m in
witness protection or something.” With a nervous laugh she said, “Different is
not always bad, honey.”
    I thought about how “different” it was to have the hots for your stepbrother. Sometimes different is bad…I
begged off dinner again that night, making Mom suspicious once more, I’m sure.
I just don’t think I can sit across from him and make casual conversation
without Mom and Rob being able to pick up on the fact that something is not
right. I feel such a strong pull towards him. It’s like gravity – like nothing
I’ve ever experienced before. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep
hiding it.
    I had just gotten out of the shower
and was dressed in a tank top and shorts. I brushed out
my hair and was about to sit back down in front of the laptop for my nightly
Facebook session when there was a knock on my door. Thinking it was Mom, I pulled it open and was surprised to find Mark
standing there. He let his eyes roam from my head to my toes and back up again.
They left a trail of heat on my body, and I was afraid that I was blushing.
    “Hi,” he said when he made it back up to my eyes.
    “Hey. What’s up?”
    “Can we talk?”
    “About?”
    He made a face. The poor guy. I was making this really hard on him. “About us and about what happened last
weekend…”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because we both know it was a big mistake and it
can’t happen again. End of story. There’s nothing else to talk about . There is no ‘Us.’”
    “I hate this awkwardness between us.”
    “We don’t really know each other, Mark. Just because
we…spent the night in a barn, doesn’t take that fact away. It’s supposed to be
awkward.”
    “I want to get to know you,” he said. Damn him. Why
can’t he be an ass so that I’m justified in ignoring him? I want to get to know
him, too, but I’m not going to admit that, either.
    “Mark…We can’t do this…”
    “All I want to do is get to know my stepsister,
Lexi. We’re going to be spending time