Free A Cowboy's Woman by CATHY GILLEN THACKER

in San Francisco?” Someone very rich and successful.
    Bonnie Sue’s eyes turned icy as she pivoted back to Greta. “We’re divorced.”
    Damn . “That I hadn’t heard.” Greta smiled politely.
    Bonnie Sue took a deep breath and turned, putting herself directly between Shane and Greta. “So, Shane,” Bonnie Sue began, her back to Greta, “about dinner...”
    â€œSorry, Bonnie Sue. I already have a date with my wife. Some other time.” Shane wrapped an arm around Bonnie Sue’s waist and practically pushed her to the door.
    Bonnie Sue dug in her heels when she reached the portal. She stepped across the threshhold, then, still standing in the open doorway, turned to face Shane. An even tenser silence ticked out between them. “You call me when you come to your senses, Shane.” Bonnie Sue slipped on a pair of movie-star sunglasses. Head held high, nose in the air, she regally made her way to her car.
    Shane continued staring after her, visibly upset.
    Greta wasn’t feeling too calm herself. It had been bad enough competing with Bonnie Sue in high school. She didn’t want to do it now. Bonnie Sue was probably just visiting, Greta hoped.
    She looked over at Shane, who was busy putting a stack of legal papers in a portable file case. It was easy
to see he didn’t want to talk about whatever it was that had just gone on. “Sorry. I seem to have interrupted something,” Greta murmured when Bonnie Sue had gunned the motor on her Mercedes and driven off.
    â€œNothing that didn’t need interrupting,” Shane muttered.
    Greta promised herself she would not act jealous or inquire as to the purported reason for the haughty Bonnie Sue’s visit. For starters, since Shane wasn’t her real husband, just a pretend one for a week or so, it was none of her business. “So did you finish your closing?” she asked, smiling.
    Shane nodded, looking happy as could be about that, anyway. “Property’s mine, lock, stock and barrel.” He reached out and gave the bandanna holding her hastily assembled ponytail in place a playful tug. “Want me to show you around?”
    She nodded. “Please.” Greta tried not to think what a kid-sister kind of gesture that had been. Or how just being around Bonnie Sue Baxter again had brought back all the uncertainty she’d felt—all the yearning to be part of the popular crowd—when she was in high school. Those days were past. As one day her sham marriage to Shane would be, too. All she had was the present, and that she intended to enjoy.
    Â 
    â€œI KNOW IT’S NOT MUCH to look at now,” Shane said, as he walked her quickly through the rustic, two-story, fieldstone-and-cedar ranch house with the aging roof. The interior was coated with at least twenty years of grime. All the wood floors needed a good scouring and maybe some refinishing after that; the walls needed fresh paper and paint. The appliances in the kitchen were ancient, and the two tiny bathrooms—one up and a half
down—were about as appealing as a gas station rest room.
    And yet, Greta thought, she saw what he did.
    â€œBut it’s big,” Shane continued.
    â€œAnd roomy,” Greta agreed. In fact, once it was fixed up it was the perfect place to raise a family. She turned to Shane with a smile. “It’s going to be great when you get it finished.” He grinned at her enthusiasm. Impulsively Greta tucked her arm in his and looked up at him. Maybe allowing Shane to eventually fill the role of her big brother wouldn’t be so bad. It was better than having him forget all about her again, anyway. “Want to show me the stables, too?” she asked cheerfully.
    â€œSure.” Shane covered her hand with his and brought her arm in close to his body. They stepped-into the shimmering Texas heat and walked across the yard, the back of his arm brushing against hers. Deciding