The Cowboy's Gamble: Destined For Love Series Read Online Free PDF

those nasty taunts, but Robert wanted to keep the rift fueled any way he could, and whenever he’d suggest they leave her alone, Robert had made his life miserable until he proved that he could dole out his share of jeers and mean insults.
    Seth shook his head at the immaturity of his youth, more than a little disgusted that his own father had encouraged the dissension between the McAllister girl and his own boys.
    That familial pressure ebbed when Robert finally graduated high school, leaving Seth as a senior and Josie as a sophomore. By that time she took great care to avoid him, not that he could blame her after the way he and his brother had treated her. When by chance they passed in the halls or on the campus, she never looked him in the eye. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like the thought of her believing he was as rotten as his brother.
    One day as she walked out of a classroom he’d literally slammed into her, so hard that the impact knocked her back on her ass and the books in her arms flew in five different directions. She’d sat there frozen, with her skirt up around her thighs, staring at him with a panic-stricken look on her face. Just like an animal cornered by a hunter, waiting for him to either shoot or let her go free.
    He remembered thinking how pretty she was, with her wild curly hair the hue of fire and cinnamon, wide green eyes emphasized by her dark brows, and the smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose. And he couldn’t help but notice those shapely legs of hers, and the small firm breasts beneath the clingy t-shirt she wore—her blossoming curves were what boys his age fantasized about.
    And in that moment, he felt as though he’d been struck by lightning. His heart thudded erratically in his chest and his palms grew damp. It was a crazy feeling, one he’d never experienced before.
    Clearing his dry throat, he squatted to her level and handed her the biology book that had landed by his sneakered foot. “Are you all right?” he’d asked.
    Not sparing him the slightest glance, she scrambled to collect her other books. “I’m f-f-fine,” she’d said in a soft, quivering voice.
    She stood, and just as she attempted to dart around him, he caught her arm. Immediately, she stopped and stiffened, as if she feared he’d rip off her limb if she didn’t. Her body began to tremble as she waited.
    “I’m sorry,” he said gently, not for bumping into her, but for all the years of torment he and his brother had put her through.
    “I, uh, s-s-should have, um . . .” she swallowed back the tears he heard in her voice, the same ones he saw pooling in her eyes, “watched where I was g-g-going.”
    Before he could explain what he’d meant, she wrangled her arm away and fled down the corridor and out the doors leading to the front of the school. He should have let things end there, but found he couldn’t. He followed her home from school, and when he was positive they were alone, he approached her as she entered the woods that lined both of their properties.
    This time, she didn’t cower. Fire flashed in her eyes and she dropped her school books on the ground. She told him she was tired of being bullied, then came at him full force in an attempt to defend herself. Her attack knocked them both to the moss covered ground, him on his back, with her sprawled on top of him.
    Eyes closed, he didn’t move a muscle, not wanting to threaten her in any way, though the press of her lithe body along his conjured up some interesting fantasies . . . so he began mentally reciting his times tables to detach himself from the situation until his randier thoughts settled.
    She squirmed on top of him, her breasts brushing across his chest as she propped herself up on her elbows to look down at him. “Oh, my Gosh!” she exclaimed, worry in her voice.
    Six times seven is forty-two.
    She sat up, straddling his lower body so her thighs bracketed his hips, and gently cupped his face in her cool