Second Chance Ranch: a Hope Springs novel (Entangled Bliss) by Cindi Madsen Read Free Book Online

so nervous when they handed me the microphone that I thought I was going to ralph, and I was totally regretting scarfing half a pizza earlier. Dude, I’m still shaking.” She gave a nervous laugh and then looked him over, her eyes slowly coming back to his. “Hey, good luck on the cowboy thing tonight. I’ll be cheering for you.”
    And that was it. He was a goner.
    So he started talking to her every chance he got—she had this infectious laugh that lit up her eyes, and she also did this shoulder-bump thing every time he cracked a joke. She was funny and quick, always with a comeback when most people never even got that he wasn’t being serious. Unfortunately, she was still with Forrest.
    The day he found out they’d broken up, Royce strode up to her and said, “Go out with me.”
    She turned to him, her eyes going wide. “Royce, I just—”
    “Broke up with Forrest. I know. So go out with me. Dinner. Movie. Dancing. You pick. I’ll be at your house tomorrow night at seven and you can tell me then.” He walked away before she could say no, and his nerves were tangling themselves up in his gut.
    But when he glanced over his shoulder, she was staring after him, and he knew that he’d never be the same again.
    He’d been right. Just not in the way he’d expected.

Chapter Four
    Going through these pictures was torture. She should rip them down without looking. Why was she studying each one?
    But she couldn’t stop.
    For one, she’d been forced to pass them by a dozen times over the last few days, and she was sick of it. Two, she didn’t have a job or anything else to do, and three—and really, it was the main reason—she looked so blissfully happy in all of them. The few months after she’d moved to Nashville had been hard. She’d missed home and had found herself halfway through dialing Royce’s number on several occasions. Each time, she’d force herself to stop and go out with her new roommates—there’s no moving on when you’re still holding on to the past, and she knew hearing his voice would completely undo any progress she’d made.
    Eventually, it got easier. The city was alive, events happening day and night; she’d met great people and started booking singing gigs. She was doing what she loved and, before long, it became home. Lately, though, she’d had to put on a lot of fake smiles, even during some of her auditions. Once she started singing and everything else faded away, they’d turn genuine, because when she was performing and tingly energy wound through her, all that existed was her and the song.
    But the picture version of Sadie was the kind of happy that looked like she was in on some big joke. Then there were the pictures where she was looking at Royce like he was the only thing in the world that mattered.
    As she ran her eyes across the picture of them, him in his Wranglers, his too-big jacket draped over her, noses so close they almost touched, she remembered what it was like being Royce Dixon’s girl.
    She’d noticed him her first day at Hope Springs High—how couldn’t she? But he’d hardly talked to her, unlike Forrest, who’d showered her with attention and had been her first boyfriend here. Once she started talking to Royce, though, she’d learned that underneath the steely, badass cowboy shell was an amazing guy who was quick-witted and had a soft spot for his family and his horse. They’d quickly become friends, and she developed a wicked crush—even though she was still with Forrest.
    The second she was single, Royce had asked her out, and she knew she didn’t stand a chance at a respectable period between relationships. She’d heard people talk about electricity and butterflies; being with Royce was like a lightning storm and hummingbirds. She’d actually gasped the first time he’d pressed his lips to hers. Then he’d enveloped her in his arms, deepened the kiss, and made her forget anything else existed.
    No wonder the Sadie in the picture is smiling.