Free Hunter's Montana Bride (Montana Ranchers and Brides #8) by Maya Stirling Page B

Gretchen. No words were exchanged by the men and the ranch hand went on his way.
    Thoughts were tumbling about inside Gretchen's mind. What was she going to tell Hunter? It was inevitable he was going to ask her questions about where she had been in the past year. She knew he was probably going to demand answers. And she thought he had every right to ask those questions. She would do the same if she were in his position. But he simply had no idea how hard it was for her to break the promise she had made.
    "What do you think of the place?" he asked suddenly, taking her by surprise. The tightness in her middle softened slightly when she heard his innocent, simple question.
    "You mean the ranch?" she asked.
    Hunter nodded.
    "Looks like you've taken on some extra men. And there's that extra room you've been building," she said with a glance toward the end of the house.
    "I needed the extra men. Got some more cattle. So I had to get a hold of some fresh hands," he said. He smiled at Gretchen. "I can't do everything by myself," he said with a quirk of his brow.
    "Really? And here was me thinking you liked to be the one in charge of everything," she said teasing him.
    Hunter slid closer to Gretchen. She felt the hand on the back of the bench gently touching the edge of her shoulder. At his touch she felt a tingle make it's way down her spine. Her breath caught slightly and she looked into his eyes. There was a sudden, intense interest in those eyes.
    "I still like to think there are some things I'm in charge of," he murmured, his eyes penetrating her with a smouldering gaze.
    Gretchen glanced down at her lap. Her throat felt suddenly tight and she was sure she could feel her heart thudding faster.
    Hunter leaned in closer and she could smell his scent, a mixture of soap and leather. As it had done so often in the past, the aroma made her pulse quicken and, she was sure, the color of her face change.
    This was all too fast, she thought. She'd barely returned home and she was already submitting to her husband's charms as if nothing had happened. As if she had simply been by his side for the past year, with no absence to act as a barrier between them. How could a man like Hunter be so forgiving? How could he simply just accept her return without harboring even the slightest suspicion, the slightest doubt?
    There was the sound of a crash of wood on wood and a resisting, animal cry. Gretchen's head whirled around away from Hunter and she looked over toward the stables. She saw that one of the ranch hands had slammed the door to the stable and was struggling with a particularly ornery looking horse that seemed to have no desire to go where the ranch hand wanted to go. Hunter stiffened and drew back suddenly, peering over concernedly toward the man. The ranch hand saw that he was the object of his boss's interest and waved a reassuring hand in Hunter's direction. Satisfied that there was nothing amiss, Hunter settled, but Gretchen realized the intimacy of the moment between them had been broken.
    For a long, quiet time they both stared silently off into the distance. Gretchen sensed a mild irritation in Hunter at the interruption. It was almost as though his first proper chance to draw close to her had slipped, frustratingly away.
    After a long pause, during which a host of warring thoughts vied for attention inside her, Hunter finally asked her the question she so desperately wished he would not ask her.
    "Can you tell me anything about when you were away?" he said in a steady, even voice.
    Gretchen drew in a sharp breath. Her lips parted and she almost said the first thing that came to mind. She almost uttered the firm refusal which seemed at first to be the most natural response to his question. But then she paused. Her eyes met his, and she saw that there was a burning intensity there, an urgent need to know.
    After a moment Gretchen spoke and she was taken aback by how weak her own voice sounded. Surely this was a moment for her to