Page 9 of A Cowboy Of Her Own

“First time for everything. Do you feel all right?”

She pushed herself up and leaned back against the sofa. “Yes. Thank you for carrying me inside.”

“No problem. Do you want something to eat? Water?”

“No, thanks. I just need to relax. I think the traveling has caught up with me.” She stood and bumped into him. “Sorry.”

“Did you have your glasses on? I didn’t think to look for them.”

“No. I don’t wear them all the time. Just when I want to see.” She smiled.

Roark stepped back and grinned. “Okay. I think I’ll go take that nap now. I’ll probably see you later. I can put some steaks out for dinner, if you’d like, or don’t you eat beef?”

“Why wouldn’t I eat beef?”

“I just figured anyone who hates to see anything killed would be a vegetarian.”

Priscilla laughed. “It would make sense, wouldn’t it? It just so happens, I love beef.”

Roark frowned at her. “I will never, for the life of me, figure out women.”

Shaking his head, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the kitchen. He returned and after giving her a nod, walked down the hallway. She heard his bedroom door close. Priscilla grinned and then headed to her room to relax in the tub and then maybe, just maybe, she’d take a nap too.

Over an hour later, she was still trying to fall asleep. The day had worn her down but she couldn’t wind down enough to nap. She wondered if Roark wasasleep. Tossing the covers aside, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, reached for her glasses then stood. What to do now? She sighed as she put her glasses on, walked to the window, and looked out. It was still early enough to see the yard in front of the house. It really was a beautiful place. The yard was green and lush with no trees shading the front.

She walked out of her bedroom to the living room. The front door was solid mahogany and heavy when she pulled it open, to then step onto the front porch. A rocking chair beckoned to her. She took a seat and watched as the sunset turned the sky from bright blue to shades of darker blue, pink, and yellow. The air was still hot but shewanted to enjoy this. She rarely sat and watched the sun going down.

As it slowly sunk below the Glacier Mountains, she took a deep breath. The air was so clean here—nothing like the air in California. Even living in San Jose didn’t allow her to breathe fresh air like what they had in Montana. This was just… nice. It was real nice to be able to take a deep cleansing breath, and not cough. She loved California but at times, the air would get so heavy she hated to step outside.

She smiled as she stared at those beautiful mountains and wondered how they would look in the winter capped with snow. Hearing a sudden noise beside her, she glanced over to see Roark standing in the doorway. Her breath caught in her chest.

“Did you have a nice nap?”

He nodded. “Except it was too short,” Roark said, as he took a seat in another rocking chair.

“Sorry. By the way, how do you know Earl?” She removed her glasses and swung them from her fingers.

“He’s a friend of my dad’s—actually, my uncles’ too.”

“Hmm…he doesn’t seem like the type to have friends,” she muttered.

Roark chuckled. “He can be a bit gruff at times but then so can my dad and uncles.”

“How did he talk you into this anyway?” She looked at the sun setting because it was safer than looking at him. Dimples peeked out from his cheeks and histeeth were straight, white, and perfect. Was there anything wrong with the man?

“He was visiting my dad and I just happened tobe there. He asked about his magazine doing a piece on me.” Roark shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it and said sure, why not. Hell, who knew he was serious?”

“I’ve never known him to not be serious.” Priscilla glanced at him then looked back to the setting sun.

“So, how didyouget this job of following me around to document what a cowboy does on the circuit? Earl had mentioned a man.”

“Oh… well, Andrew Abbott was supposed to do it but he broke his leg. I begged Earl to let me do it instead. He finally gave in but told me if I screwed up this time, I’d be out of a job.”

“Nice guy.”

“This article means a lot to the magazine. I’ll try not to screw it up.”

“You said you’ve screwed up too many times before. How many and what happened?”

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