Rugged Hearts Read Online Free PDF

mind of any red-blooded, single woman. Were any of them married? That was a question for her friend, Sally. “Thanks, Dusty.”
    She waved a quick good-bye and hurried to her car. The snow had slowed to intermittent flakes by the time she climbed in and turned on the ignition to warm it up. She glanced at her watch and realized she had just enough time to get home and register for the online poetry class she promised Sally she’d take. Aside from her duties as End of the Line’s elementary music teacher, Sally moonlighted as an online instructor through Billings Community College. She spotted the map on the seat, picked it up, and thought of Wyatt’s sincere concern for her safety. True he hadn’t smiled much…at all, in fact, but his gaze was kind, if not tinged with a puzzling look that made her want to know more about what he’d been thinking. Still, in the entire time she was alone with him, she never felt threatened, as she had around Mr. Metallica in a public bar.
    Aimee tucked the map into the console between the seats and eased her car out onto the main road. For as early as it was in the evening, she could’ve shot cannon down the street. Like a scene from It’s A Wonderful Life , the store fronts were dark, in contrast to the festive holiday wreaths waving in the wintery challenge of the wind. Small white lights dotted the branches of the dwarf trees along the businesses, twinkling with each northerly breeze. A twinge of melancholy hit her. She missed not being at home with her parents, especially this time of year. She wondered at the wisdom in accepting a job in a place so remote that it was truly worthy of its name—End of the Line.
    She glanced down at the map and remembered the encounter earlier with Wyatt Kinnison. An interesting man and a challenge if ever there was one, if what she’d heard about him was true at all. Then again, she’d never backed away from obstacles before. Maybe there was more to why she was there than she’d considered. After all, it was the season of miracles.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    She was a vision of frothy seductiveness standing before him, taunting him in the pink jacket that covered just enough to make his imagination explode. His gaze traveled up her shapely, bare legs, and he thought of how her silky flesh would feel wrapped around his waist. He met her smiling eyes and watched as she began the slow descent of the coat’s zipper. The view of her creamy, white breasts caused his body to ache with need. He watched, barely able to breathe as the coat slipped from her shoulders, falling in a soft pastel pool at her feet. Behind her, the fire crackled and snapped, seeming to react to his heated image of the two of them, limbs entangled, her sighs urging him ….
    “ Can you help out a girl in trouble, cowboy ?”
    Her tempting mouth puckered in a slight frown, but fire flashed in her eyes. He wanted to start at one end of her and nibble his way to the other. Mesmerized by her smile, he dropped his hat on the couch beside him, and in the back of his mind puzzled why he’d be wearing his hat indoors. She reached for him and his body ignited into flames. He swore he could hear the clanging of the station firehouse bell ….
     
    The loud bong of the old clock on the mantle brought Wyatt straight out of his decadent dream. Dazed by his fantasy, he shifted painfully and attempted to get control of his arousal. His heart raced in his chest. It had been a long time…too long, since he’d thought of a specific woman like this. While he didn’t condone Jessie’s infidelity, he couldn’t deny that he missed what they’d had in bed. Thoughts of his fantasy woman drifted back into his mind, and he laid his head back and shut his eyes, allowing her to reappear. Unzipping his jeans, he freed himself and rubbed his hand over his burning erection. Thoughts of the blue-eyed stranger kneeling either side of his thighs caused his teeth to clench. His palm gripped his hard