THE RENEGADE RANCHER Read Online Free PDF Page A

pancakes and I’ll tell you everything.”
    “My moment of feeling sorry for myself is over. I want all the details. Everything you’ve learned about my family.”
    He could pass along what he’d discovered. Maybe not everything. He couldn’t admit that he’d been admiring her gorgeous body since seeing her picture on her website four months ago. Probably better to keep that information to himself. At least for a while.
    And why today? If this guy waits years, planning his murders to disguise them as accidents, then why attempt a hit and run? Had he brought Lindsey to the murderer’s attention? Or worse, sped up his timetable?
    How could he walk away if he was responsible?

Chapter Four
    Lindsey restrained herself through the short drive, asking only how Brian had received the cut. He’d laughed as he’d said to avoid an inexperienced intern with overeager fingers, he’d stitched it himself. But the story had left her queasy after dropping him off at the ambulance company’s home base. The Pan-Hop was right around the corner.
    While she waited, the memory of the car lights blinded her again. The awful thought that her life had been about to end replayed over and over. Because of Brian’s visit earlier that day, she was still alive. She’d only been alone waiting for him to arrive about five minutes before a tap on the window made her jump out of her skin.
    “You ready to go inside?” Brian asked.
    She grabbed her purse and locked the car. He’d changed into the street clothes he’d worn when they’d met that afternoon. A lifetime ago. She hadn’t noticed his scuffed boots until he’d held the door and she’d looked to the ground. The only boots she’d noticed before were on men shopping for a new phone. She hadn’t been in Texas too long and hadn’t made an effort to get to know anyone or discover any real cowboys.
    Now one had found her.
    He waited, holding the restaurant door open while she looked past him through the windows. Any of those people could have been driving the car that rammed her off the road. It could be anyone...anywhere.
    A creepy feeling crawled up her spine. He was out there. She could feel him staring from his hiding place. Pure panic drove her. She spun and searched the dark.
    “We going to eat?”
    “I can’t.” Darting under his arm, she began clicking the rental’s key, trying to unlock the door. The car alarm set the horn blaring and she looked closer to see which button was which, but her eyes were full of embarrassing tears.
    Tears? Now? She’d remained calm throughout the accident and police. But couldn’t handle pancakes in a public place.
    Brian clasped his hands over hers, tilted her chin toward him and took the keys. The alarm stopped, then she heard the horn beep that it was reset. He hadn’t looked away. His dark eyes reassured something deep inside. More than basic attraction, sort of as though he shared part of her no one else could—or would—ever understand.
    Even with his eyes comforting her, the panic bubbled. She looked into the dark corners of the building, right at the edge of the light. He was there, watching.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I can’t go in there, it’s...it’s too crowded.” Her mind acknowledged that the restaurant was more than half-empty, but it just didn’t matter. She couldn’t force her feet to move through the entrance.
    Brian seemed to understand. He led her by the elbow to his truck, opened the door and removed a bag from the floor. “Want me to help you inside?”
    It was an older model and it took a little doing one-handed, but she managed to climb in on her own.
    “Mind if I hook you up? This thing can be sort of stubborn.” He pulled and held the seat belt forward.
    She nodded and he leaned across the seat. She would never have been able to lift her arm to lock herself in and he’d helped without her asking. He smelled of a mixture of hay and man. Attractive. Musky. Like a guy who did honest work or who’d driven