Page 43 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

She didn’t look sick. Just annoyed.

“Come on, Reid. We need to head out to the west pasture and check the fences. Decker called and said someone spotted cows wandering along the highway and I’m worried they’re ours. Plus if I stay around my overprotective mama and know-it-all grandma for one more second, I might scream.”

Reid jumped up. “Yes, ma’am.” He grabbed the other half of his sandwich to eat on the way. It was a bad idea. A glop of egg salad fell out and landed on Hallie’s boot. She took one look at the egg and mayo mixture and her face lost all color. Covering her mouth, she whirled and pushed past Mimi who was just coming out the door.

Mimi smiled slyly as she watched her granddaughter disappear inside the house. “I know what I know.” She looked at Reid. “And I know you’re going to need to take care of those cows and fences by yourself.”

Chapter Fifteen

Reid spent the rest of the day searching for stray cows and fixing fences in the west pasture. With the temperatures in the mid-eighties, by quitting time, he felt like a sweat-soaked, wrung-out dishrag. On the way to the trailer, he called Sophie to see if she wanted to go to Cooper Springs for a swim.

“Do I have to, Uncle Reid? I’m helping Mimi plant her vegetable garden and Darla asked if I could stay for supper. She said you’re welcome too. We’re going to have tuna casserole and one of the blueberry pies I helped her make for dessert.”

“That sounds delicious, but I’m pretty beat. I’m just going to take a quick swim and go back to the trailer. But that doesn’t mean you can’t stay. Just make sure you thank the Holidays for the invite and call me when you’re ready for me to come pick you up. I don’t want you walking home in the dark.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was the first time she’d called himsirand he was a little taken back. “Umm . . . okay then. Have fun.”

When he got to the trailer, he let Patsy Cline out of her enclosure in Sophie’s room to get some exercise while he changed into his swim trunks. For only having three legs, therabbit was fast and agile. She had made herself an obstacle course through the house that included racing down the hallway, across his bed, then racing back down the hallway to dive over the living room ottoman before heading to Sophie’s room. He let her do the circuit over and over again until she wore herself out, then he scooped her up and put her back in her enclosure. Once he filled her food and water bowls, he grabbed a towel and headed out.

After his long, sweaty day, the cold water felt like heaven. He swam a little, then floated on his back and watched the sunset lower behind the tree line as his thoughts drifted to the last time he’d been there.

That night, he’d been such an arrogant jerk to Sunny. He’d convinced himself that his rejection of her had to do with her being Corbin’s sister and him not wanting to get fired. And that had been some of it. But most of it had been jealousy—jealousy that she had everything handed to her on a silver platter while he’d had all his dreams taken away.

But she hadn’t had things handed to her on a silver platter. Her life had been so much worse than his. And yet, she had never let her childhood, or her inability to succeed at what she loved, make her resentful and angry. Unlike him, she didn’t focus on the tragedies in her life. Instead, she pinned a smile on her face and focused on being happy.

His assessment of her was right. She was a sunbeam. A bright sunbeam that made people feel warm and happy. He’d certainly become happier since she’d arrived. But that didn’t mean he should be obsessing about her. Corbin might say he didn’t mind Reid dating her, but Reid wasn’t about to go down that treacherous road. Relationships were hard enough for normal folks who didn’t have a lot of psychological baggage. Between her parents and his father, he and Sunny needed a damn aircraft carrier for their baggage.

Yes, he wanted her. He had never wanted a woman more. And yes, he liked her. He liked her a lot. But he had made a vow to Sophie to keep this job and dating Sunny was a surefire way to screw that up. Reid didn’t exactly have a good record with relationships. In fact, he had no record. He didn’t know what a woman needed to be happy. Hell, he was just figuring out what made him happy.

No, Sunny was not for him. Period.

“Reid?”

He came up out of his float as if a shark had suddenly appeared. But it wasn’t a shark standing on the shore with the setting sun reflecting off her hair in rivers of golds and reds. It was Sunny. Sunny in the same yellow sundress she’d worn at her surprise birthday party, the pink-painted toes of her bare feet standing out like tiny flowers against the muddy brown of the shore.

In the last couple weeks, he’d only seen her briefly when he dropped Sophie off for community service. Every time, he felt like he was walking a tightrope of desire. And that had been with Sophie there. Now that they were alone, that tightrope felt even more slippery and dangerous. Or maybe what made it more slippery and dangerous was that another layer of her façade had been peeled back.

He no longer saw a spoiled little rich girl.

He saw a strong woman who had survived a horrible childhood the only way she knew how.

“I’m not stalking you if that’s what you’re thinking. Mimi called and told me the sisters were meeting here for a swim.” She glanced around. “Has anyone shown up?”

“No, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

He swam to shore. He had no desire to be part of the Holiday sisters’ swimming party. Or to be alone with Sunny. But when hestepped out of the springs, he didn’t grab his towel and hurry to leave. He just stood there . . . basking in Sunshine.

She did shine. He struggled to take his gaze off the wealth of sunlit hair that fell around her bare shoulders and the full curves of her breasts. He remembered those sweet breasts well. Every night, he fantasized about filling his hands to overflowing with their abundant flesh before taking their centers into his mouth and suckling until they pebbled hard and needy against his tongue.

Her gaze ran over him as well.

He had never been one to think too much about his body. He fed it when it was hungry and gave it rest when it was tired. But he didn’t worry about what women thought of it . . . until now. He wanted Sunny to like what she saw and he couldn’t help flexing the muscles hard ranch work had given him.

After a thorough perusal, her brown-eyed gaze lifted and locked with his. There was a long silence that should have been awkward but wasn’t.

Leave now, his brain said. But his body refused to listen.

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