The Bridal Path: Ashley Read Online Free PDF Page A

man of Dillon Ford’s questionable reputation and penchant for heartbreaking. Ninety-nine percent of the women in Riverton under the age of thirty could probably testify that he was bad news. She certainly didn’t want to be the one to give him a perfect record.
    Satisfied that she was on the verge of taking control of her destiny again, she sank into a comfortable chair and tucked her feet under her. Just as she prepared to get on with some serious thinking, she heard an all-too-familiar thump on the front deck. She closed her eyes and sighed. Apparently she’d spoken too soon. Trouble was back on the horizon. To her very deep regret, anticipation kicked in with predictable urgency.
    When Dillon entered a moment later, carrying two fat, sparkling trout, she could cheerfully have shot all three of them.
    Where the dickens had those fish been, when she’d been standing hip-deep in the water for the past week? The fact that she’d informed Dillon the night before that the fish weren’t biting made his gloating expression all the harder to take.
    “I thought you weren’t all that interested in actually reeling in a fish,” she commented, ignoring the laudable size of his catch. “Or did you go out this morning just to prove that I was wrong and that you–the superior male of the species–could lure one in?”
    “Why would I need to prove anything to you?” he inquired in a testy way that suggested she’d hit the nail on the head.
    “You’re a man, aren’t you?”
    Ignoring the jibe, he wrapped the fish, stuck them in the refrigerator, then returned to settle in the chair opposite her, coffee mug in hand. Once again, he looked as if he had no intention of budging. She had to admit, he looked more at home in her father’s very masculine wood and leather environment than she did. That grated on her nerves, too. Wasn’t there anywhere these days that she belonged?
    “Maybe we should talk about this attitude you seem to have toward men,” Dillon suggested helpfully.
    That was a path Ashley had no intention of going down. Men were a topic she’d avoided ever since her last disastrous relationship. She’d discovered that Linc, like so many others infatuated with the glamour of modeling, had wanted a trophy, not a woman. Now that her modeling career was in doubt, she suspected her suitors would be moving on to new cover girls.
    “There’s no time to discuss my attitudes or anything else,” she said blithely.
    “Oh, are you going somewhere?”
    “Nope, but you are. While you were gone, I gave this a lot of thought. I’ll make a couple of calls. I’m sure one of my father’s friends would be happy to loan you another cabin. In fact, there’s one about fifty miles upstream I’m sure would be available.”
    He grinned. “Fifty miles, huh? Do I make you that nervous?”
    “Oh, go to hell.”
    “I wish I could accommodate you, but I like it here.”
    “I was here first,” she reminded him, then clamped her mouth shut. This conversation was promising to disintegrate just as rapidly as the one they’d had the night before. Another argument would resolve nothing. It would just add to his impression that she was scared of being close to him. The sky would turn green before she’d admit that.
    He shrugged. “It’s not as if this is some tiny little shack. We’ll share. If we work hard at it, we’ll hardly notice each other.”
    Despite her resolve to find a workable compromise, Ashley was shaking her head before he’d finished. “No way. I came here for solitude, so I could do some thinking.”
    “Do you have a lot on your mind?” he asked, his gaze all too penetrating.
    “Don’t we all?” she retorted.
    “Maybe you need to do your thinking aloud to an objective outsider.”
    “And that would be you?”
    “Naturally.”
    “No, thanks. If I want an outsider’s opinion, I’ll see a shrink.”
    “I’m cheaper and I’m here.”
    “Yes, but you’re rapidly becoming part of the