The Rancher's One-Week Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

been caught up in the moment, but he had known exactly what he was doing and the commitment he was making when he vowed to take care of her for the rest of their lives. But arguing that point wasn’t going to accomplish what he had set out to do.
    “That’s all water under the bridge now,” he said, shrugging. “But if you stay here, I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable than in a motel room. And you won’t have to drive the mountain roads more than once to get back to the airport.”
    She gave him a suspicious look. “Why are you being so persistent about this, Blake?”
    “I figure it will save you a few hundred bucks or so,” he said, thinking quickly. She obviously had to watch her finances. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have mentioned that by filing the divorce herself instead of having a lawyer do it for her she was saving money. But he wasn’t going to point out that he knew she was on a tight budget. She had her pride, the same as he did, and bringing up the state of her financial situation would probably send her back down the mountain as fast as that little red car could take her. “Besides, staying here beats sitting in a motel room for several days with nothing to do but stare at the four walls.”
    He almost groaned aloud when she nibbled on her lower lip as she mulled over what he’d said. She wasn’t trying to be seductive, but it seemed like everything about her had his libido working overtime. Maybe it was due to the memories of making love to her that haunted his dreams at night. Or, more likely, it was the fact that he hadn’t been with a woman since they’d parted ways in Las Vegas. Whatever the reason behind his overactive hormones, he had every intention of ignoring them.
    “I suppose not having anything to do would be pretty boring,” she finally conceded. “But I wouldn’t have anything to do here, either.”
    “Sure you would,” he said, careful not to sound too eager. “There’s never a lack of things to do around a ranch. You could help me feed the horses and a couple of orphaned calves. And tomorrow afternoon, you can ride up to the summer pasture with me to check on a herd of steers we’ll be moving back down here in a couple of weeks.”
    “You mean ride a horse?” When he nodded, she vigorously shook her head. “That’s not an option.”
    “Why?”
    “Other than a pony ride at the grand opening of a grocery store when I was five, I’ve never been on a horse,” she said, taking a sip of her iced tea.
    That explained her skittish reaction to Boomer when she’d first arrived. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got the perfect horse for you and it won’t take any time to teach you how to ride her.”
    “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she commented, reaching for a roll. “Horses don’t like me.”
    “Why do you say that?” he asked. “You just admitted that you’ve never really been around horses. How would you know if they like you or not?”
    She frowned. “Your horse snorted and stomped his foot at me this afternoon. If that wasn’t an indication he didn’t like me, I don’t know what is.”
    “Hoof,” he countered, correcting her. “Horses have hooves and he was just shooing away a fly when he moved his leg.” Blake took a bite of his steak. “And for the record, Boomer didn’t snort. Gently blowing through his nose like that is a horse’s way of sighing. It signals that he’s relaxed, curious or in some cases just saying hello. Boomer was just being friendly.”
    “His name doesn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence,” she said, shaking her head. “Boomer sounds rather...explosive.”
    Blake laughed out loud at her inaccurate assumption that the gentle gelding’s name reflected his temperament. “Boomer is short for Boomerang and the reason he got that name is because he likes people so much he can’t stay away from them. I can turn him out into a pasture with other horses and before I know it, he turns around and comes