Riding West Read Online Free PDF Page A

could convince her, who cares if they marry before or after.” One dark blond brow rose just a fraction.
    Dammit, she still had the ability to leave him speechless after more than thirty years of marriage. They hadn‘t exactly waited until their vows had been legal and binding to consummate their passion for each other, but the gentle reminder didn‘t make him feel a whole lot better. Joshua had been born eight months after their wedding.
    “She‘s my child, and I want her to be happy. If she turned him down flat the first time, what makes you think things will be different now?”
    His wife and daughter exchanged a look that made him feel like an idiot. Rose said, “She‘s every bit as in love with Parker as he is with her, Pa. I know she‘s a flirt sometimes, but that‘s the exact point. Celia never pays attention to anyone else unless Parker is around to see it. Otherwise, she pretty much ignores other men, she always has. It‘s been Parker all along. She‘s just never let him see it.”
    The last thing he wanted to do was defend the man who‘d essentially abducted his daughter against her will, but Gerald found himself saying, “Teasing him that way…it‘s plain mean.”
    “She does it—consciously or unconsciously—to rile him up enough to declare himself.” Lila looked a little too pleased with herself. “I guess it finally worked.”
    Women , he thought in disgust with a mental shake of his head. He had a pretty good idea his wife had a hand in all of this, because he just didn‘t see the very patient and responsible Parker West concocting such a harebrained scheme.
    Yes, this was definitely Lila‘s meddling.
    Gerald muttered to his wife, “I hope you know what you‘re doing.”
    ———
    Her lashes fluttered and lifted, registering dappled sunlight at the same time she caught the tantalizing smell of frying bacon in the air.
    Where was she?
    Celia lifted to one elbow and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. The small space was neat and tidy, the plain rough table set with two plates and cups. There was already a pile of biscuits in a tin bowl. The sizzle of meat in a skillet made a soft, comforting sound.
    She was entirely naked under the blankets, Celia realized with a jolt of memory. Her thighs, also, were slightly sticky. As the night before began to return in a small rush of erotic images, she blushed even though she was completely alone.
    Parker West had done some fairly outrageous things to her body. Things she didn‘t imagine men and women ever did together. He‘d had his mouth between her legs, for heaven‘s sake, and acted as if he liked doing it.
    He‘d put more than his mouth there. She remembered what it was like to be filled with his long, hard length, and a treacherous throb began in the very spot he‘d invaded so carnally.
    God help her, she‘d liked it. Worse, he‘d known it too, for she‘d been vocal enough about her enjoyment.
    It was a little humiliating.
    But not enough to keep her from wanting to do it again.
    The door swung open and he came inside, carrying the odor of pine and a breath of fresh mountain air. Dressed in his faded jeans, a patterned flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and hatless, he looked boyishly handsome with his carelessly combed hair and a grazing of dark whiskers on his jaw.
    She tried to ignore the treacherous reaction she had to his presence. “Good morning.”
    His smile always had the power to beguile and disarm, no more than a quick, almost shy curve of his well-shaped mouth. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.”
    It was a polite thing to say, but ridiculous, as he certainly knew just how she‘d slept. Naked, curled against him, his arms loosely clasped around her waist as they shared the bed. “I slept just fine,” she told him, unaccountably chagrined. She pulled up the blanket to cover her bare breasts.
    “Are you hungry?”
    She was famished actually. They had never eaten supper the night before as they‘d been