To Wed a Rancher Read Online Free PDF

get out of line,” she said.
    â€œDon’t worry. I will.” That was a promise.
    For some reason, despite his grating tone, she seemedto relax a bit, studying the landscape. They passed the timbered entrance gates to the Bella Bryce Ranch. A few miles down the road were the modest iron gates of the Regal R. Shane could sense Rachel’s curiosity, though she kept silent. But when he turned in at Oak Valley, with its huge timbers with carved oak leaves climbing up and curling around the letters, she turned to him. “This looks big. It’s all yours?”
    Somehow that made it sound too personal. “Yes, I’m the sole owner of Oak Valley Ranch.” Which was all wrong. He’d never wanted it, it should never have been his, and there were plenty of people who would agree with him on that.
    â€œAnd yet you’re selling it?”
    Her voice was incredulous. He tried not to frown, but it was difficult. He didn’t want to have to explain the whys and wherefores, what his life had been like growing up here, what had happened later and why he could never stay.
    â€œI guess,” she said, “if you lived in a place all your life, this would seem like no big deal?” Clearly she was trying to deal with his frown. “And even though this is your home—”
    â€œIt’s not my home.” His voice came out a bit too harsh.
    His comment was met by silence. Idiot. Why had he cut her off and said something that made this seem even more personal? She was just here to do a job. He wasn’t going to expose her to his history.
    â€œI lived here most of my life, ever since I was three, but I’ve been gone for ten years and these days I run a business that keeps me on the move. I live in a lot of different places.” He hoped that explanation was enough to satisfy her.
    â€œThat works for you? Living in so many different places?”
    Yes. Hell, yes. “It suits me perfectly. I was made to be on the move.”
    â€œNot me,” she said, shaking her head, her long dark curls sliding against her shoulders. “Not at all. The one thing I want is my very own home in my favorite place. Maine. Same place all the time.”
    He chanced a closer look at her and found that she had turned toward him. Those pretty brown eyes were intense, more than he would have expected given her casual lead-in questions. What must have happened to her to cause that kind of raw longing for a roots-buried-deep home of her own?
    His curiosity must have been written on his face, because an enticing trace of pink painted her cheeks and dipped deep into the collar of her white shirt. Immediately a smoky trail of heat slipped through his body.
    That wasn’t good. He was her boss. She was his employee. He needed to start acting more like an employer and help her get her bearings.
    â€œYou said you were a city girl. So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
    â€œAbout ranching?”
    â€œAbout whatever you need to know.”
    â€œYou might be sorry you said that.”
    He had no doubt she was right. He’d seen Rachel in action, stranding herself in Moraine when a man had wronged her. She’d been magnificent, but perhaps a bit impulsive. He’d already been treated to one or two of her more impulsive questions. And he had fences. High fences with padlocks.
    â€œThere’s a good chance I might not answer every question in the way you’d like,” he warned.
    She nodded. “That’s okay. You’re my boss. You’re allowed to tell me to slow down, to stop. You can tell me no.”
    There was that dreaded heat again. Shane wanted to groan. No wasn’t the word he thought of when he looked at her. Certainly not slow down.
    It occurred to him that he probably hadn’t been dating enough of late if he was having these kinds of erotic thoughts about a woman who made him cringe with half of what came out of her mouth. It also