Sandra Chastain by Firebrand Read Free Book Online

town.
    Eugene was right. Pixie deserved a different kind of life than in a pipeline camp: a father who was a line troubleshooter and was gone much of the time; a gruff old sourdough as her caretaker. So he’d put his own feelings aside and answered the ad, the ad that brought him to this ranch and a wild, red-haired woman who had offered him a strange proposal of marriage.
    If he accepted Rusty’s proposal, it would be with his eyes wide open. Whatever attraction he felt to this woman had to be tempered with reality. What was best for Pixie would be the deciding factor, not what he wanted. And getting to know more about his potential employer was the only way he’d be able to determine that.
    With that decision made, he pulled on a down vest and loped down the stairs to the kitchen where Letty had a cup of coffee and a sweet roll waiting for him.
    “Figured you wouldn’t want to sit down and eat either. Rusty’s worse than a kid at Christmas, waiting for that bull to be delivered. She’s out—”
    “At the corral,” Cade cut her off. “I saw her from the window.”
    “I thought you might. Heard you walking around up there.”
    Cade winced. He’d spent more than a few hours pacing back and forth last night. After bolting his breakfast he went out to the yard.
    As he watched Rusty Wilder, his thoughts danced around in his head like the plastic Ping Pong balls in a bingo machine. She slowly turnedher head, finding his gaze and locking onto it with a frown.
    “I didn’t expect you up so early,” she said.
    “I might as well have come downstairs two hours ago,” he answered, “I couldn’t sleep. Change in altitude, I suppose. When’s your pretty new boy due?”
    “ ‘Pretty boy’?”
    “The bull.”
    “Oh, any minute now.”
    “How long will it take you to prove your theory about the new crossbreed?”
    “I don’t know,” she admitted, allowing a twinge of doubt to show in her eyes. “Probably too long. If the snowmelt is as light as anticipated, the Silverwild may be in jeopardy before I’m able to produce the kind of cow I’m going for.”
    “You mean I’m likely to lose my twenty-five percent before I ever get it?”
    “Then you’ve decided to accept my offer?” She forced her voice to remain calm, to conceal the unreasonable spurt of adrenaline that his words inspired. Sometime before dawn she’d decided that a business arrangement with Cade McCall could exist in spite of the tension between them. That would pass, once they’d … mated. The excitement now was enhanced because of anticipation, because she’d never had a relationship with a sensual man. It was the end result that she had to consider—children. If their relationship was wildly exciting in the meantime, she wouldn’t fight it. From what she’d seen of people and animals, once they’d mated, they lost their craving for each other. Desire served a necessary purpose.It was temporary and could therefore be dealt with on a logical basis.
    Once she’d arrived at her decision, she’d believed that she was prepared for him. She wasn’t. Desire was one thing, but when it interferéd with the operation of Silverwild, she couldn’t allow it. And it just had. She’d already blurted out her fears, and she’d never done that before. She held on to the fence and tried to concentrate on his readiness to answer.
    “No, I haven’t made a decision yet about the marriage. But if you’re pulling a scam about what you’re offering me, at least you’re the most honest crook I’ve met. And”—he caught the tie of her scarf and held it for a moment—“the most beautiful too.”
    “Don’t, Cade. I know that I’m not beautiful. You don’t have to flatter me. Those kinds of lies aren’t part of the deal.”
    “If a man never told you you’re beautiful before—and proved to you he wasn’t lying—well, then I guess there are
some
things you’re not an expert at. I’m glad. Being close to you is intimidating