Free True Blue Cowboy (The Cash Brothers) by Marin Thomas Page B

again.”
    “Doing what?” he asked.
    “Acting like a boyfriend instead of a friend.”
    “I can’t help it if Grandma Ada taught her grandsons manners.”
    They squared off, and when she attempted to speak he interrupted her. “I want to be friends with you, and I meant it. I like you, Beth. You’re different from other women I’ve known.” She looked everywhere but at him. He entered the cabin and grasped her shoulders. “What’s really bothering you?” Her eyes watered again. “Can’t we see where this...whatever is happening between us leads?”
    “It can’t lead anywhere,” she whispered.
    Not the answer he hoped to hear, yet it wasn’t a flat-out no, either. “I get that you might need time to—”
    “I’m over Brad.”
    Okay, she was over her ex, but he doubted she’d put his betrayal behind her. “I’m a good listener.”
    She stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about my marriage.”
    He released her and closed the cabin door. “We don’t have to talk.”
    She licked her lips. “This isn’t a good idea.”
    He eyed the trail of moisture left behind by her tongue then flipped the lock on the door. The quiet click echoed through the cabin. “What’s not a good idea?”
    “You and me alone.”
    He moved forward.
    She retreated. “Don’t you have work to do?”
    “It’ll wait.”
    Her shallow breathing convinced him that she was as turned on as he was. Why was she fighting her attraction to him? He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.
    That’s all it took—one brush of Mack’s lips across Beth’s and she lost the will to fight. All she wanted was to be left alone to figure out her next move in life, but Mack was everywhere—always in her thoughts and now here in her cabin. She didn’t understand what a man like him saw in her, but he was too handsome, too male, too everything, and she didn’t have the strength to resist him.
    Trust your instincts.
    She trusted that Mack’s intentions were honest—he did like her, and there was no denying the attraction between them, but a guy like Mack wasn’t looking for forever with a girl like her. She wished with all her heart she hadn’t lost her sanity that night at the Number 10 Saloon. Mack had given her a taste of what girls like her could never have. Part of the thrill for him was the chase and once he caught her, he’d grow bored and move on—like Brad had. Heart thudding painfully in her chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, giving herself over to his expert care.
    One kiss turned into two then three and finally he pulled away. “We can take it as slow as you want,” he whispered.
    The truth was she didn’t want to take it slow. She wanted fast. Hard. And often. But if she gave in and lived day by day with Mack, she’d never make plans for the future.
    She should leave. Tomorrow. No, tonight.
    Not yet.
    Enjoy Mack while you’re at the ranch then move on.
    Could she lower her guard and allow them to be friends with benefits, then skip out on him when she found a new job?
    “I’m leaving...”
    “Stay,” he whispered.
    “I need to look for a job.”
    “You’re not thinking of searching anywhere else but Yuma, are you?”
    “I haven’t decided if I want to continue living in the same town as my ex.”
    “Don’t let him run you off.”
    “If I go, it’s because there’s nothing to keep me here.”
    Mack’s brown eyes gleamed with intent, and Beth’s heart tumbled a little farther down heartache hill.
    “Then I guess it’s up to me to give you a reason to stay.”

Chapter Six
    Mack took his promise seriously to change Beth’s mind about her feelings for him and remain in Yuma. He couldn’t say for sure where their relationship was headed—he only knew he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her. And no matter how she protested, gut instinct insisted that she didn’t want to part ways with him—not after the kiss she’d planted on him at the rodeo. He understood her