Free Rugged Hearts by Amanda McIntyre Page A

with an odd sense of wonder at her gutsiness. “That’s mighty big of you.”
    Her mouth turned down. “Look I’m just trying to be nice. Everybody gets lonely now and again.”
    “I don’t.” At least if he did, he hadn’t thought about it in a long while. Which wasn’t the point. Good Lord, did people really think he was a Brokeback Mountain man?”
    She tipped her head and gave him a sweet look of pity.
    “Oh for gawd’s sake, this is ridiculous.” He wasn’t sure exactly what it was he intended to prove by his knee-jerk reaction, but the next thing he knew, he’d grabbed her fluffy, pink coat by the shoulders and captured her mouth in a kiss. His immediate thought was to end all question about his lifestyle choices, the second, a realization that while it was a horrid idea, parts much lower found it quite exhilarating.
    Wyatt dropped his hands to his sides, surprised as she seemed to be at the fire smoldering between them. She grabbed the truck and stared at him in shock. He backed up and then rounded the end of the vehicle to place a barrier between them. He swallowed hard and rubbed his hand over his still-tingling lips. “You know, lady, you have plenty of nerve implying that you know one blessed thing about me and second….” His gaze fell to the sweet mouth he’d just kissed. “For the record, I happen to like women just fine.” He adjusted the brim of his hat. “And I’ve had no complaints, by the way.”
    She blinked a couple of times and cleared her throat. “My apologies. I wasn’t questioning your…just who you use it with.” Her statement faded into a soft, shaky whisper.
    His brow rose. It was insane of him to be pleased at her chagrined look, worse that it seemed he’d rendered her speechless. “Believe me, it takes a great deal more to offend me than a stranger questioning my sexual preferences.”
    She swung her gaze to his. It felt like a sucker punch to his solar plexus. “Just the same, we’re not exactly total strangers, are we?” She tossed him a smile. “Did you get the stains out of your shirt?”
    Wyatt studied her a moment before answering. She was new in town, new in comparison to three-quarters of the population, at any rate. Young, single, pretty—hell, she was a knockout and didn’t his recent fantasies confirm that? Maybe her aggressive city-girl attitude was creating issues in the dating department. “Maybe it’s you that’s having problems finding a social life around here.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “It just so happens my job keeps me pretty darn busy. I don’t have much time to socialize.”
    Something about the way she faltered pleased him. “I guess we have more in common then.”
    “So you don’t date much either?”
    The corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. “No, to be honest, but maybe I haven’t found anyone that interesting…yet.”
    He saw the wheels turning as she processed his remark.
    She blew out a soft breath. “Okay, so, about coffee?” she asked, brushing the hair from her eyes.
    He glanced around, pretending to weigh his options, but the truth was that the minimal taste he’d had of her whetted his appetite for more. She was going to have to understand the parameters, because the last thing he wanted—needed—was a relationship. She apparently grew impatient for an answer.
    “Good heavens, it’s coffee, not a pre-nup.” She turned on her heel and tossed her hand in the air. “I was just trying to be neighborly.”
    God help him, his eyes zeroed in on her heart-shaped butt in those denim jeans. Neighborly was tempting. Neighborly was a start. Sensing things were going to get messy, and against his better judgment, he called out to her. “I’ll meet you over at Betty’s.”
    She spun around to face him, wearing that ridiculous cotton-candy-colored excuse for a coat. Her face lit up like a neon sign, and he briefly debated why it should make a part of him happy—granted a part of him long overdue in the