Free The Rancher and the Runaway Bride Part 1 by Susan Mallery Page B

answer that doesn’t sound nuts. The truth?”
    She nodded.
    “I hired you because my gut didn’t tell me not to. I get this feeling about people, and I’ve learned to listen to it. If my gut said you were going to be bad news, I wouldn’t have offered you the job.”
    She had thought his answer would make her feel better, but it didn’t. She felt worse because his gut had been wrong about her. She was bad news.
    “It turned out right in the end,” he said, and leaned forward to capture her left hand. She was too surprised to stop him, and once he’d taken her fingers in his, she didn’t want to.
    He held her gently, almost impersonally. After turning her palm to the light, he ran his thumb across the bumps at the base of her fingers.
    “New blisters,” he said. “Thicker calluses. A few more months of this and your hands are going to look like mine.” He turned his wrist so his palm faced up. With his free hand he pointed at the marks on his skin. Several fingers were scarred; there was a healing cut by his thumb. “See what hard work can do.”
    He was bigger than her, his fingers longer, his palm broader. Maybe his strength should have frightened her, or at least pointed out how vulnerable she was with him. Instead, she found comfort in his physical power, sensing he would use it to protect rather than threaten.
    “I’ve seen the rewards of hard work,” she said, raising her gaze to his face. “The ranch is wonderful. You should be very proud of yourself.”

    Dark eyes blended with the dark night until she couldn’t read his thoughts or emotions. She desperately wanted to know if he felt the same things she did, if her touch affected him with the same intensity that his did her.
    There were no overt sparks, no conflagration of instant desire. Instead she felt a steady glow, similar to that given off by a well-built fire. Instead of flash and smoke, there was security, as if the heat would last a long time.
    He released her hand. “The ranch was already a success when my father left it to me. I’ve followed in his footsteps. I’m lucky—he left me a clear path.”
    Randi drew her fingers into her palm as if the action would allow her to hold on to the sensations he’d created with his touch. Her belly tightened as if she was nervous, but she wasn’t, at least she didn’t have reason to be. What was going on? She’d never felt this way before—content, yet unsettled.
    It wasn’t like when she’d spent time with Hal. She frowned, trying to remember what her ex-fiancé had looked like, and realized she couldn’t force his image into her mind. She couldn’t remember the color of his eyes, or the shape of his mouth when he smiled. She certainly couldn’t remember being with him. How strange. A man she’d considered marrying had disappeared completely from her mind.
    A fast-moving shadow caught her attention. She squinted to see in the dark. “What is that?” she asked, pointing.
    “Princess. She makes one last round about this time. Just in case.”
    “How often does she find cats?”
    “We can go a couple of months without anyone leaving any, then we might have three additions in a week.” He muttered something that sounded like “damned felines,” but she wasn’t sure.
    Tilting her head so he wouldn’t see her smile, she said, “I’ve been thinking about talking to some people the next time I’m in town. You know, maybe find a few homes.”
    “That would be great. At this rate, I’m going to have to get licensed as a zoo or something.”
    She laughed. “If they don’t make you do that for all the steers you have, they’re not going to make you do it for the cats.”
    “I guess. At least the steers are money on the hoof. What good are the cats?”
    “They’re great hunters. I’ll bet you don’t have a bug or a small rodent within a mile of the house.”
    He grumbled low in his throat, but didn’t respond.
    “You talk tough, but I’ve seen you petting them,” she