Free Her Heart for the Asking (Book 1 - TEXAS HEARTS) by Lisa Mondello Page B

got
everything in the back.  It'll get soaked if we get caught in
a downpour.  Better off unloading at the cabin.  We'll be
back soon enough."
    "But if we get stuck..."  She let her
words run off, unable to say them aloud.  What would they do
if they were stuck together in inescapably small quarters?  If
her memory served her correctly, the cabin was nothing more than
one room with a potbelly stove, a handful of bunks and a small card
table.  Much too small for her to spend any length of time
alone with Beau.
    He had taken her there once long ago. 
Mandy knew she shouldn't be there alone with Beau, not with the way
they were feeling about each other.  It was too easy, too
tempting to give it to their feelings.  They were both too
young.
    They hadn't stayed long.  Beau knew
Uncle Hank would have shot him if they'd been caught
together.  Beau held a deep respect for her uncle, or so she'd
thought at the time.  He'd said he respected her too much for
a quick thrill.  At the time, it had made her feel incredibly
special and loved despite the adolescent longings she had to be
with Beau.
    But she wasn't an adolescent any more. 
And no matter how hard she tried to tell herself that she was over
Beau Gentry, it was becoming increasingly hard to keep lying to
herself.  She wasn't over him at all.  And being trapped
alone with him would only bring that realization crashing down upon
her like a tidal wave until she'd drown it in.
     
    # # #
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Less than fifteen minutes later the truck
pulled up in front of a small one room cabin in the high
country.  It had been quite a feat for Beau to navigate the
dirt road given the fact it had been washed out in places and
gouged with ruts from past storms.  But they'd managed to make
it with thanks to four-wheel drive.
    Mandy stepped out of the cab of the truck
and looked at the rolling gray sky.  The sky was still black
with clouds hanging low and ominous and getting darker still. 
Every so often the sky would flash with a zing of lightning and be
chased by a rumble or crack of thunder.  The torrential
downpour hadn't come yet, but the light drizzle that had started
promised it was just on their heels.
    Most all the supplies were tucked underneath
a tarp in the back of the truck.  They left everything in the
truck and went inside.
    Beau wasted no time at all in lighting a gas
lamp set on a small table in the center of the room.  The
light cast an amber glow against the room.  Mandy hugged
herself to keep the chill of the cabin from making her
shiver.  But she did anyway.  Wet clothes, cold cabin
didn't make for warmth.
    She pushed past the thought that only being
in the warmth of Beau's arms would chase away the
chill.  
    "We'll drop everything inside first and
unload it later."
    She looked around the compact cabin. 
It was only meant for a few cowboys while the herd was in the high
country.  Certainly not meant for a romantic
interlude. 
    The sturdy wood table sitting in the center
of the room was about all the furniture the small cabin had. 
A small kettle wood stove stood at one end of the room while on the
opposite side four bunks were built into the wall.  They were
bare of bedding, just clean, bare mattresses.
    She needed to get out of there. 
Following Beau outside, she felt a drop of rain on her cheek and
then another.  Looking up at the dark clouds, she sighed. They
needed to work fast to unload the truck so they could head
back.  The rain made her work quicker and it was better to put
this anxious energy to physical work rather than allowing her mind
to wander to thoughts of Beau.
    The clouds were practically sitting on their
shoulders as they unloaded box after box of supplies that the hands
would need for the cattle drive.  Half way through unloading
the sky opened up and swallowed them in a downpour.
    Beau yanked two bright yellow rain slickers
from the rack in the cabin and handed Mandy one. 
    "We have to hurry or we'll never