Roping Your Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

head. Her eyes were red and he could tell she’d been crying.
    But she had a hard set to her jaw that told him how angry she was. It reminded him a lot of himself at her age.
    “Maybe I didn’t handle that in the best way,” he started.
    “You think?” she said, in a sarcastic tone.
    “But you know the rules,” he continued. “No boys in your room. You’re fourteen and a sixteen-year-old boy has no business in your bedroom. Hell, no teenage boy of any age belongs in your room.”
    “We were just studying.” She glared at him. “We weren’t doing anything wrong. Besides he’s not like that—he wouldn’t do anything. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “I was his age once,” Blake said. “And I damned sure know how teenage boys think.”
    “He’s not like you,” she snapped back.
    “Honey, all teenage boys have one thing on their minds.” Blake tapped her math book. “And it’s not homework.”
    She raised her chin. “I can’t believe you don’t trust me and that you treated him like that.”
    “I made that rule for a reason.” Blake studied her for a long moment. “It’s boys. I don’t trust boys.”
    Her tone grew sharper. “If you trusted me, you would never have done what you did.”
    “It had nothing to do with trusting you,” he said. They were going around in circles. “It has everything to do with boys being boys.”
    “You embarrassed me.” Her bottom lip trembled. “How could you do that? I’m not going to be able to show my face at school.”
    As he studied his daughter, Blake wondered if he was enough for her. Maybe she needed a feminine touch or support from a woman who wouldn’t go crazy when she talked about boys and dating.
    Blake let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Demi. You’re right. I should have handled it differently, but I didn’t. But you need to follow the rules. No boys are allowed in your bedroom.”
    “I want to go live with Mom.” Demi crossed her arms over her chest and the set of her jaw reminded him of himself. “She’s not as strict as you are and she wouldn’t have that stupid rule.”
    Again, pain slammed into his chest. Demi knew exactly what she was doing when she’d said she wanted to live with Sally.
    “That’s not going to happen.” He kept his tone even. “I have full custody and it’s going to stay that way.”
    “Why?” Her glare was back. “Mom has an apartment now, someplace that I can live.”
    It was true that Sally wasn’t transient any longer, but knowing Sally, her life could turn from stable to unstable at any moment. Once again she could turn back to drugs and alcohol if she hadn’t already, and he wasn’t about to allow his daughter to be put in that kind of situation. Sally was the one he didn’t trust one damned bit.
    Blake tried to relax because his body had tensed at the thought of Sally.
    “I was very clear about it before,” Blake said, “I need you to follow the rules of this house. Boys aren’t allowed in your bedroom. Period.”
    “That’s not fair.” She grabbed an old stuffed horse and held it tightly to her chest like she had as a young girl. Ironically, she added, “You treat me like a little girl.”
    “You’re a young woman now and not a little girl,” he said. “But we have rules in this house and that’s just how it’s going to be. You know there are consequences to breaking the rules. If I find you with that boy again, you’ll lose your cell phone for a week.”
    She looked at him stubbornly. “That’s not fair.”
    “If you follow the rules then you don’t have to worry about losing privileges,” he said. “But when you don’t follow them, there will be consequences for your actions.”
    Her jaw was set and she scowled.
    “You’re growing up to be a beautiful young woman,” Blake added quietly. “I want you to know how proud I am of you.”
    Demi said nothing but looked away. She was a lot like he’d been as a teenager and he knew it was hard to back down once riled