The Texan's Diamond Bride by TERESA HILL Read Free Book Online Page B

boxers, the sweatpants and the flannel shirt.
    They felt fabulous. Better than any designer gown she’d ever tried on.
    Then she went to work trying to squeeze what water she could out of her hair.
    Finally, she wrapped it in the towel and went into the main room.
    He had a fire just starting to burn in the giant stone fireplace and she knew they’d soon be warm, given how small the cabin was, once the fire really got going.
    She sat down on the raised stone hearth, and her hero presented her with luxuriously thick, warm socks.
    “Ahhh!” She moaned in pure ecstasy, then exclaimed, “That’s it. It’s official. I would do absolutely anything for you!”
    “Red, I haven’t even made you a cup of hot coffee yet, but I’m about to. What is that gonna get me?”
    “I don’t know. What do you want?”
    “Well, if that fire was going and this place was even halfway warm, I’d have dried you off myself and not given you any clothes to wear. I’d have taken you straight to bed. But I was planning on being gentlemanly about it and warming the place up first, maybe getting some food in you, and then getting you naked. That was my plan.”
    “That sounds like an absolutely glorious plan.”
     
    Okay, just like that.
    They had a plan.
    A highly satisfying plan.
    Travis figured there was only one other thing he absolutely had to do before hauling her off to bed, and that was to try to get hold of someone at the ranch house, just so they’d know he was okay and not waste time trying to find him.
    He was sure they had better things to do right now, to make sure everything else on the ranch was okay. He could wait. He might be very happy waiting here with her, letting someone else take care of things for a change.
    After all, how many times did he find himself stranded with a gorgeous, willing woman?
    It was definitely a first for him. Years of good clean living and hard work were being rewarded right here, he decided. He deserved it and he intended to enjoy it. She would, too. He’d make sure of it.
    But first, he took her satellite phone and dialed the ranch. Nothing but static greeted him, despite repeated attempts.
    “Try it outside,” she suggested, warming herself by the fire, just starting to catch well and throw off some heat and light. “There’s just enough of an overhang on the roof to keep you dry, and point the antenna toward the mine. That’s where I finally found a signal.”
    “Okay. Be right back, Red.”
    He got outside. Lord, it was a miserable day out there, but he was smiling, whistling, even.
    He did as she suggested and pointed the antenna toward the mine, and sure enough, there was something of a signal. His housekeeper, a fierce-looking, no-nonsense woman named Marta, answered.
    At least, he thought it was her.
    The line crackled with static.
    “Marta, it’s Travis. I’m holed up in the hunting cabin near the Eagle Mine. I’m fine. Tell the men to see to the animals and not to worry about coming to get me until they can.”
    She said something. He thought she got it. Then asked, “Everything okay there, Marta? Look, tell Jack that the creek near the mine is a roaring river right now, not to be in a hurry to try to cross it to get to me. I’m fine.”
    He hoped she got that, because the static only got worse. He clicked off the phone and let it be.
    He realized he hadn’t said anything about his pretty trespasser, but then, what was the point? Nobody there really needed to know, he reasoned.
    It was his ranch, and he’d decide for himself what to do with her once they were out of here.
    Travis sighed and looked out into the mess of the storm.
    He intended to enjoy himself in what time they had here. They’d figure out the rest later.
     
    She sat on the hearth and used the towel to dry her hair as best she could, then finger-combed it to get out the tangles and separate the strands in hopes it might dry faster.
    The fire was soon roaring. With that and the light from the half-dozen