Free Cowboy Redeemed by Parker Kincade Page B

working knowledge, I’ve got in spades. Did your parents give you grief about not going?”
    Ainsley hesitated. She’d never shared her story with anyone. Until now, no one had cared enough to ask.
    “I grew up in the system. I didn’t know my parents. I didn’t know the man who owned this place. In fact, until he died, I didn’t even know he existed.”
    Clay set down his fork and reached for her. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on each of her knuckles. Once done, he didn’t release her. “How is that possible?”
    She stared at their joined hands resting on the table between them, his much larger one cradling hers. “Honestly? I have no idea. I suppose because I never took the time to look. I was too busy surviving to spend time searching for people who, I believed, hadn’t wanted me to begin with.”
    “I asked the wrong question. Nelson must’ve known about you to leave you this place. He didn’t try to contact you?”
    His thumb brushed across the back of her hand, sending shivers up her arm and through her breasts. She swore she felt them swell as her nipples tightened.
    He made it difficult to concentrate on anything but his touch. “No. He had an attorney who’d been secretly keeping track of me, which pissed me off and creeped me out at the same time. A few days after Lawrence … or did he go by Larry?”
    “Most folks called him Nelson.”
    Not a hint of fondness to be heard in Clay’s voice.
    Right after she’d arrived, Ainsley overheard the crew discussing what an asshole her uncle had been. It seemed the men hadn’t been talking smack as she’d assumed.
    “I guess not a lot of people liked him.”
    “He wasn’t known for his friendliness. But I won’t speak badly about a man who isn’t around to defend himself. To be honest, I didn’t know him all that well. I’d heard he didn’t have any family.”
    “According to the attorney, my mother’s sister was married to Nelson, making him my uncle by marriage. The story goes: my parents were killed when I was a toddler. By the time my aunt learned what had happened, I was already well-buried in the foster system. My mom and aunt weren’t close. Lots of bad blood. Of course, I’m only repeating what I’ve been told, because I don’t have any memory of it, or of them. The attorney said Nelson had no other living relatives. My aunt, either. Apparently, she looked for me until the day she died.”
    “I’m sorry. I don’t know how the foster system works. Weren’t there records of where you’d been? At the very least, where you lived at the time?” He turned her hand palm up and traced soft, tiny circles across the surface.
    Ainsley didn’t know how much more she could take of his gentle ministrations. “Yeah, that’s the thing about the system. It doesn’t always work. I moved around a lot, until finally I took off on my own.”
    “How old were you?”
    “Not old enough to be alone in the world, that’s for damn sure. And it beat the alternative.”
    The caresses stopped. His gaze sharpened. “Someone hurt you?”
    Clay’s deadly tone caught her off guard. She rushed to reassure him. “Bumps and bruises mainly. Nothing time and a little peroxide didn’t heal. Trust me when I say, it could’ve been worse.” She cleared her throat, not wanting to drag the ugly parts of her past into their dinner. “This isn’t the greatest conversation for a first date.”
    Oops.
    A sly smile tugged at his lips. “Date, huh?” He stared at their hands as he brought them palm-to-palm and laced their fingers together.
    Her breath caught. “Let’s just say I wasn’t easy to find.”
    “And now you’re here.”
    “And now I’m here.”
    Clay stood and pulled her to her feet. “Thank you, Ainsley. For sharing your story with me and for the best spaghetti I’ve ever had.” He placed a soft, almost chaste kiss, on her lips. “But now you need to come with me.”
    “Where are we going?”
    His molten