Her Rugged Rancher by Stella Bagwell Read Free Book Online

breasts. And even when he looked away, the image was still so strong in his mind it practically choked him.
    â€œI’m not a guest,” she reasoned. “I’m just a neighbor who’s intruded on your privacy. But thanks for letting me.”
    Why did she have to be so nice? Why couldn’t she be one of those spoiled, abrasive women that got on everyone’s nerves? Why couldn’t she be a woman who considered herself too good to come near his cabin, much less enter it? Then he wouldn’t be having this problem. He wouldn’t be wanting to throw caution to the wind and let himself simply enjoy her company. Instead, she was warm and sweet. And just having her near filled him with a hollow ache.
    â€œWell, I don’t normally have company. Uninvited or otherwise,” he told her. “So my manners are a little rusty. I’m afraid you’ll have to overlook them.”
    He glanced her way to see she was smiling and for a moment his gaze focused on her dark pink lips and white teeth. That mouth would taste as good as her voice sounded, he imagined.
    â€œWho’s worried about manners? You and I are family,” she said. “Well, practically. You’ve been here on the ranch longer than I have. We just never had the opportunity to talk much. When I was still living with Jett, you would stop by, but never say a word to me. I’m glad you’re being much nicer today.”
    He laid a portion of ground meat onto a piece of wax paper and smashed it flat. “A guy like me doesn’t have anything interesting to say to a lady like you.”
    From the corner of his eye he watched her move a step closer. “Lady? I’ve not had a man call me that in a long time, Noah. Thank you.”
    Her voice had taken on a husky note and the sound slipped over him like a warm blanket in the middle of a cold night.
    â€œThat’s hard to believe, Bella.”
    She shrugged. “Not really. Men aren’t very chivalrous nowadays. At least, not the ones I cross paths with. Maybe that’s because of my profession. In the courtroom they see me as an adversary. Not a lady.”
    â€œJett says you worked hard to get your degree. He also says you’re good at your job.”
    â€œJett is obviously biased. But I can credit him for getting me in the law profession. When I was growing up, I never dreamed of being a lawyer. But after Marcus and I divorced the course of my life changed. Jett got me interested in being a paralegal and from there I guess you could say I caught the bug to be in the courtroom.”
    Her gaze fell awkwardly to the floor and it suddenly dawned on Noah that every aspect of this woman’s life hadn’t been filled with success. She’d endured her own troubles with the opposite sex. And though he’d heard Jett label his ex-brother-in-law as a liar and a cheat, Noah had never questioned the man about Bella’s divorce or how it had affected her. It was none of his business. But that didn’t stop him from wondering how much she’d really loved the guy.
    Or whether she was finally over him.

Chapter Three
    C learing his throat, Noah said, “Excuse me, Bella, but I’d better take this out to the grill. It’s probably hot enough to put the burgers on now.”
    â€œSounds good,” she told him. “I’ll join you.”
    She followed him out of the cabin and around to the back. Although there were only a few clumps of grass growing here and there over the sloping ground, he kept it neatly mown. For a makeshift patio, he’d put together four flat rocks. On one corner of the space, he’d erected a small charcoal grill atop a folding table.
    A few steps away sat a lawn chair made of bent willow limbs and cushioned with a folded horse blanket. Near it lay a huge pine trunk that had fallen long before Noah had ever moved into the cabin. The smooth, weathered log made a playground for squirrels and