Free The Cowbear's Christmas Shotgun Wedding (Curvy Bear Ranch 3) by Liv Brywood Page B

Her stomach dropped. In the darkness last night, it hadn’t looked so terrible. But now, as she surveyed the destruction, her heart ached.
    “Don’t worry. My brothers are coming over later to help clean this up. I ordered a dumpster. We can start over and rebuild it better than it was,” Logan said.
    She released his hand and leaned over to pick up a melted lock. She let it fall to the scorched earth. “What’s the point?”
    “You can’t give up on this place,” Logan said.
    “I never wanted the ranch to begin with. I don’t know what’s gotten into me this week. I was supposed to just show up, clean out his stuff, and then sell it. Somewhere along the way…”
    “What is it, honey?”
    “Somewhere along the way I got caught up in wanting something I can never have,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Hope.”
    “You can’t give up hope. It’s what makes life worth living,” he said.
    “What does that even mean? I used to hope my father would stop beating my mother, but he didn’t stop. I used to hope he wouldn’t chase me with a hammer in one hand and a bottle of cheap tequila in the other. I used to hope…” her voice cracked. “Never mind.”
    “Tell me.”
    “I used to hope I’d find someone to love,” she whispered. “But that never happened either.”
    “Oh, honey.” He pulled her into his arms and caressed her hair. “You’ll find love. You just have to keep looking. Hell, I never thought Mack would get married and now he’s engaged. I know you don’t believe me when I say you deserved to be loved and cherished, but you do.”
    “I don’t believe in love.” She tilted her head up and gazed at him through tear-drenched eyes.
    “Love isn’t something you need to believe in, it just is . It’s all around you. Your friends love you, your family loves you—”
    “I don’t have any family left.”
    “I’m your family. My brothers are your family. Hell, everyone who’s lived here their entire lives are your family. This isn’t some big city full of strangers. There is a lot of love here, and I wish you could see it.” He clasped her hand and held it to her heart. “I wish you could feel it.”
    Her throat swelled. As much as she wanted to believe him, she couldn’t. She’d never felt anything but fear and pain on the ranch, and she couldn’t ever imagine living here.
    “Come stay with me for a few days. I’ll show you what it’s like to have love all around you,” he said.
    “Why? So I can lose it all?”
    “No, I want you to stay. I want to have time to explore whatever this is that’s growing between us.”
    “A few naked rolls around my bed doesn’t mean anything’s happening between us,” she countered.
    “You sound pretty sure about that. But do you really think I’d keep jumping into bed with you if I only wanted sex?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. You didn’t seem too discerning in high school.”
    “That was ten years ago. Haven’t you changed in the last ten years?”
    “Well, yes.”
    “Then couldn’t I have changed too?” he asked.
    “It’s possible.”
    “I’m not just spending time with you to get in your pants. I actually like being around you a lot. You’re sweet and funny and strong. I don’t know many women who would try to tear out and install windows by themselves.” He smiled.
    “It didn’t seem so hard to do until I cut myself.”
    “When do you need to go back to work?” he asked.
    “Right now. I’ve hardly touched the house.”
    “No, I mean, when do you need to return to Idaho?”
    “I’m off until January 2. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to sell the place,” she said.
    “I’ll make a deal with you. Stay with me, just for a few more days. Let me help you clean up the house and get rid of what’s left of the barn.”
    “I need to sell the horses too,” she said.
    “I’ll talk to Mack and see if we can buy them from you. If not, we can find someone to sell them to.”
    “I still have to clean out my