The Cowboy's Saving Grace, an erotic western novella (Taming the Cowboy) Read Online Free PDF Page A

fun with, not someone he went out of his way to see. She nodded.
    “I wish you’d looked for me. I wish I’d known, Grace.”
    Her stomach squeezed. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m here for two weeks. I want to get to know him, spend time with him.”
    Her palm, where it rested on the top of the table, began to sweat at the idea of handing over her little guy. “Liam. He doesn’t know you.”
    Liam shook his head. “I’m not—hell, I’m not going to take him away from you, Grace. I want to spend time with you, too.”
    She frowned. “Why aren’t you angry?”
    He sighed and released the counter for the first time, scrubbing his hands down his face. “I don’t know what I am, honestly.” He pushed away from the sink. “You working tonight?”
    She nodded hesitantly. Another fear gripped her then. Could he take Noah away from her because she worked in a strip club?
    He pushed away from the counter and started toward the door. “I’ll be in after the rodeo, see you home.”
    She opened her mouth to say he didn’t need to. She wished she understood his expectations, but maybe he didn’t even know. He had to still be processing the new information. So she nodded.
    He paused at her chair, kissed the top of her head, and walked past her out the door.
     
    ***
     
    “You ride like that, you’re going to be going home broke. Or laid up for a few months,” Santiago Ortiz, Liam’s mentor, shouted across the arena, as Liam lay on his back and stared at the lights overhead. The arena was quiet this afternoon, but would be buzzing with rodeo fans tomorrow night. “You have no focus today.”
    No shit. He had lasted two seconds on his practice mount. He stayed on his back a moment longer, catching his breath, before he rolled to his knees and retrieved his hat from the dirt.
    “I can do better than that.”
    Liam pivoted to see his brother Luke leaning against the rail, grinning.
    Despite the ribbing, something in Liam’s chest loosened. Until this morning, Luke had been his only family. He’d been thinking about how he was going to break the news to his brother when he showed up. He didn’t expect him until next week, since Luke wasn’t competing. Like him, his brother rode the rodeo, but Luke was a steer wrestler. He hadn’t qualified for the nationals, so he’d come to cheer Liam on, though it meant leaving his farm back in Texas.
    Liam stood, a little stiffer than he expected, and hobbled over to his brother.
    “Good to see you, bro. Hey, want to go get some lunch?”
    Luke narrowed his eyes. “Are you kidding? You don’t ever walk away after a bad ride like that.”
    That was true, but Liam wouldn’t have a good ride until he got the news off his chest. He vaulted over the fence. “I’ll get back to it after lunch. Come on, the place across the street has a good buffet.”
    Luke’s step faltered, but Liam clapped him on the back and steered him toward the door.
    “Is Kennedy with you?”
    “Yeah. She’s sleeping in the RV. I let her drive part of the way out.”
    “You mind if we eat lunch without her? I need to talk to you.”
    Luke’s frown deepened. Okay, Liam didn’t think he’d ever said those words before, but hell, he’d never had anything to share before, had he?
    They crossed the giant parking lot outside the arena, and jaywalked across the street. Liam let his brother go through the buffet first, choose a table by the window and shovel a couple of bites down before Liam cleared his throat.
    “I—have some news.”
    Luke pointed his fork toward the arena. “Other than you’re one of the top rodeo riders in the nation?”
    “Possibly bigger. I went looking for an old girlfriend last night. Found her. Took her back to her place. Woke up looking into my mirror image.”
    Luke went absolutely still, staring at his brother. “She had mirrors? I wouldn’t have thought that would be new for you.”
    “No. Christ.” Liam scrubbed his hand down his face. He wasn’t