Cowboy to the Rescue by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online Page A

course I’m not afraid of you.”
    Her heartbeat hammered out of control as he moved closer and his hand slid lightly up and down the side of her arm. “You don’t need to worry about me, Christina. I would never hurt you or any woman.”
    No. She figured this man would die before he’d ever lay an angry hand on a woman. But there were countless ways to cause another person pain, and she wondered how many women in his past had cried themselves to sleep at night, waiting for a call, waiting to hear him say, “Honey, let’s spend the rest of our lives together”. She’d experienced firsthand some of the ways a man could hurt a woman, and she wasn’t up to getting another dose of education on the subject.
    Forcing a teasing smile to her face, she lifted her head and met his gaze. “The only thing I’m worried about is convincing your mother that I don’t need you hanging at my side eight hours of the day.”
    That obviously surprised him. “You don’t?”
    â€œNo. I always work alone. It’s better for my concentration that way. If I come across things I need to ask you, I’ll make notes and get to you later.”
    The relief on his face was almost insulting.
    â€œWell, I do have plenty of work that can’t be done by anyone else but me,” he admitted. “And anyway, I’m not very good at putting puzzle pieces together. Now my sister Mercedes is a different matter. She worked as an intelligence gatherer for the military.”
    Christina nodded. “Yes. Geraldine told me. But she’s pregnant with her first child, and Geraldine doesn’t want to put any undue stress on her—especially with such dark matters. And your other sister, Nicci, has her days packed full with being a doctor and caring for her family. And your mother is incredibly busy, too. So that leaves you. But I don’t expect you to drop everything and alter your life just because I’m here.”
    His gaze was almost suspicious as it roamed her face. “Are you giving me this reprieve for other reasons?”
    Forcing a light chuckle, she turned her back to him and reached to untie Hannah’s reins. “Reprieve? You make it sound like spending prolonged time with me would be a prison sentence.”
    â€œThat’s a ridiculous notion. You must realize that you’re a very attractive woman. I’m sure you’ve never had a man complain about spending time with you.”
    No, she thought dismally. Mike had never complained about spending time with her. Especially while they’d been making love. He’d just never wanted to make their time together into something permanent.
    Glancing over her shoulder at him, she said, “You’d better get to know me before you say that.”
    â€œI plan to,” he promised. Then reaching for her arm, he helped her back into the saddle.
    Â 
    During the next week Christina rarely saw Geraldine Saddler. The ranching matriarch was an extremely busy woman, spending most of her waking hours working on some sort of charity project or overseeing the actual running of the ranch’s daily activities. It was as common to see her dressed in jeans and chaps, driving around in her old Ford truck, as it was to glimpse her leaving for San Antonio in a sequin and satin cocktail dress. She was a woman to be admired, and Christina envied her children for having such a strong, respected mother, a mother who viewed loving a man and raising his children as the most ultimate blessings and responsibilities in her life.
    As for Lex, she’d been meeting with him in the evenings, after supper, to go over details of the investigation. So far she couldn’t have asked for him to be a more perfect gentleman. And he’d even helped her begin to see inside the person who’d died in the gulf waters off Corpus Christi. She had to admit that Lex wasn’t the problem that she’d first expected