Cowboy After Dark by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

that way. We used to talk about it around the campfire at night. Sure, we were young and naive, but we meant every word. Herb and Rosie encouraged us to think in those terms. They said real cowboys stand up for what’s right and protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
    “That’s very heroic.” She was doing her best not to be dazzled, but it wasn’t easy. Sure, they were only words, but it was the way he said them that caught her attention. They were more than words to him.
    “Nah, we’re not heroes. Just cowboys.”
    “If you say so.” Despite living in Wyoming all her life, she hadn’t spent much time around cowboys.
    “So what other movies do you like?” he asked.
    “Love stories and action-adventure, mostly. Sometimes you can get a combination of the two, which is my favorite if they’re well-done. How about you?”
    “I like any movie where good triumphs over evil. Spare me from the weep-fests where everybody dies at the end.”
    “I know! I hate that!”
    “What kind of stories did you used to write?”
    She felt as if he’d dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. Phil had brought up the topic at dinner, and Hope had dismissed it as a dead issue not worthy of conversation. Everyone had seemed willing to let it drop.
    But not Liam, apparently. Answer him, and fast, so you can ditch this discussion. “Love stories with some action-adventure thrown in. Amateur stuff. I never had anything published.”
    “Except in the school paper. You must have been happy about that.”
    “I was.” Overjoyed. Proud as a peacock. The comments from her teachers and her friends had convinced her she would eventually be a bestselling author, maybe even make a living with her writing. “But that was a long time ago. I’ve outgrown all that.”
    “Hmm.”
    “What about you? Did you letter in every sport the school offered? I’ll bet you did.”
    “Sports were a great outlet for me. Can’t say my grades were terrific, though. Fortunately I had a few friends who were bookworms. They helped me pass.”
    “Girls?”
    He laughed. “Yeah, mostly. They took pity on me.”
    “Oh, no doubt. I’m sure they felt extremely sorry for the captain of the football team who almost single-handedly took the school to the state championship. That’s why they spent hours out at the ranch helping you with your homework.”
    “You must have been quizzing Grady about my checkered past.”
    “No, I just made that up.”
    “Really?” He turned around to stare at her. “You haven’t been talking to Grady or Rosie or anybody about me?”
    “Scout’s honor.”
    “Wow. You weren’t kidding about your imagination. Even more amazing, you nailed it, except I didn’t single-handedly take us to the championship. It was a team effort all the way. We had some awesome players that year.”
    She smiled at that. Heroic and modest, too.
    He faced forward again. “So what do you do with that supercharged imagination now that you’re not dreaming up love stories with some action-adventure thrown in?”
    Heroic, modest and persistent. Damn. “I, um...do crafts.”
    “Oh? Like what?”
    She should have guessed he would ask. Quickly she reviewed the various half-finished projects tucked in her closet—knitting, embroidery, woodcarving and candle making. She’d lost interest in all of them, so she couldn’t actually claim to be doing those crafts. “This and that.”
    “What’s your favorite?”
    “Don’t really have one.” They all bored her equally. Man, wasn’t she the fascinating conversationalist tonight! “Lately I’ve been thinking about stained glass.” It was one of the few she hadn’t tried because materials and lessons were pricey, and she’d already wasted quite a bit of money on things that hadn’t worked out.
    “I like the look of stained glass. Grady’s talked about putting a stained glass window in the loft of our barn.”
    “In your barn ?”
    “Our renovated barn, I should have said. The only