Bound By Desire (The Acadian Curse) by Rebecca Lyndon Read Free Book Online

probably go in and relieve Dr.
Carter,” Sarah said, turning to Grant. “But I’d like to finish our
conversation later, Mr. LaCroix.”
    Grant nodded curtly but didn’t say a
word.
    Sarah thought she’d sounded nothing short of
professional, but there was no fooling Linda. The woman’s gaze shot
back and forth between them like she watching her favorite soap
opera.
    Sarah nodded back and stepped through the
door. She didn’t wait for Grant to close the door behind her before
she started striding toward the Ford. Linda followed close behind.
Sarah could tell she was dying to say something, but, thankfully,
for once in her life, Linda chose tact.
    The sun was higher now and there were a few
other trucks in the driveway. A few heads curious faces peeked out
from the stables. What had she been thinking? This was a working
ranch and it was time for the day to start.
    Sarah looked around but didn’t see Linda’s
red Honda anywhere.
    “How did you get here?” she asked.
    “Dick drove me,” she said, pointing to her
husband’s blue and tan GMC parked next to the stables.
    “Dick works here?”
    “Just a couple of days a week. It gets him
out of the house and keeps him from driving me crazy.”
    Dick had been one of the best horsemen in
Plumas County before he’d shattered his hip in a car accident a few
years ago. Now he had so much difficulty getting around that he was
more trouble than help when it came to being in a stable, but his
pride was still as strong as ever.
    “So, you just knew that I’d be here to give
you a ride back to the office,” Sarah said, opening the truck
door.
    “I may have had that feeling.” Linda smiled
slyly as she slid across the bench seat. “I don’t know of a woman
in this town who would say no to spending the night at Grant
LaCroix’s place if they got the chance. Heaven knows, almost all of
them have tried, but so far as I know, you’re the first one to
succeed.”
    Sarah turned the key in the ignition and gave
a few pumps on the accelerator before she threw it into gear. She
kept her eyes straight ahead as she pulled out into the dirt drive,
but she could still fell Linda’s expectant gaze boring into
her.
    “It’s not what you think,” Sarah said.
    “Oh, yeah? Because it sure looked like
something from where I was standing.”
    Sarah fiddled with the knob on the radio, but
Linda slapped her hand away and clicked it off. There was no way
she was getting out of this without an explanation.
    “There were problems with the birth last
night. I got stuck out there and spent the night. He let me use his
shower this morning.” All of it was technically true. She’d jut
left out the parts that Linda would never believe, and the parts
she would be embarrassed to admit.
    “I saw the way you were looking at each
other, like a pair of hungry bobcats.”
    “What am I supposed to say? Grant’s an
attractive man.”
    “Yes. Grant is.”
    Sarah sighed. There was no stopping this now.
She could only hope to stem the damage.
    “Listen, don’t go around telling every one
about this. I’m sure it would upset my father.”
    “Are you kidding me,” Linda’s hearty laugh
filled the cab. “You getting your hooks into the most eligible
rancher in the county? Your father will be as pleased as puppy
that’s gotten into the larder.”
     
     

 
     
    He should have never agreed to see her again.
He should have said no. Absolutely not. Even a simple shake of his
head would have sufficed.
    The thought tormented him all day. It was
there as he looked into the amused expressions of the ranch hands
that were not accustomed to seeing women leaving his house early in
the morning. It was there later in the day as he drove into town
for groceries. It grew stronger at as he caught the buzz of
whispers as he walked down the aisles of the supermarket.
    Grant knew how it went. He’d lived in a town
as small as Rutledge his whole life. Though they’d never admit it,
these people lived for