The Rancher's Rules (2 of 2 free samples)

CHAPTER ONE (CONT'D)

She had a soft spot for animals that resembled a Double Tuffed down pillow.

He'd never forget the look on her face the day they'd met. He'd saved her life from a mountain cat, only to find out the reason the six-year-old had been wandering the range was that she had been trying to save her pet cow, Flower, from a stock sale. Her dad had been furious, but had reluctantly agreed to sell the cow to Grant instead.

At eleven, he had given up the money he'd been saving to build a soapbox car to buy that cow. He had learned the lesson well, and he'd been taking care of Zoe ever since.

He put the hamster back in its cage as he heard the back door open. Zoe came into the kitchen with a blast of cold air and a flurry of snow. He hadn't realized it was snowing.

He frowned. "You should have waited to come until tomorrow. Just because your truck has four-wheel drive is no excuse to risk the ride over in the snow."

Zoe pulled off her stocking cap, revealing the silky length of her pretty brown hair. The ridiculous bobble on her hat bounced when she tossed it on the counter.

"I'm not driving my truck." She yanked on one glove with her teeth and shivered. "Something went wrong with the doo-hickey and Wayne has it down at the garage. I borrowed my landlady's compact." She shivered again. "The heat's broken."

Grant grabbed her hand and pulled off the other glove. "What the hell were you thinking? You could have frozen on the way over here." She nearly had. Her small hand felt like an icicle. He chafed it between his own much larger and warmer ones, enjoying the smell of spring she carried with her, even in the dead of winter. "Angel, you need a keeper."

Zoe smiled up at him and her chocolate-brown eyes twinkled. "I already have one. You."

He did not smile back. "I'm not doing a very good job if you're out driving in the snow in some broken-down car without a heater, niña." No way was she driving home in that death trap.

She pulled her hand from his grip and started unbuttoning her coat. Her fingers trembled. "I'm not a child, and the car isn't broken--just the heater. What's the emergency?"

He picked up the hamster cage. "This is the emergency."

Zoe's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest, pressing the swell of her breasts against her loose knit sweater. "No."

Ignoring his body's blatant reaction to the subtle stimulus, he forced his gaze to her less than welcoming expression.

She stomped her foot and snow fell onto the kitchen floor. "Do you hear me? I'm not taking him."

Grant opened the cage and pulled the hamster out. He extended his hand to her. "Look at those sad little eyes. He's already been rejected by one woman. Don't do this to him."

She did not take the animal, but stood defiantly silent--all five feet two inches of her.

"He was a gift to my foreman's daughter, along with another hamster. The pet store said they were both female."

The Rancher's Rules (2 of 2 free samples)

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The Rancher's Rules

The Rancher's Rules