Free The Rancher's Lullaby (Glades County Cowboys) by Leigh Duncan

thoughts were in turmoil, his emotions all over the map. Lisa had said they had to keep things professional between them, and he’d respect her choices. For now. But the gig on the Circle P was only a cattle drive, for crying out loud. He stifled a laugh. It wasn’t like they were going on tour together.
    Then again, the roundup wouldn’t last forever. They’d have almost two months to prepare and another week on the trail. The cooling-off period would give him a chance to get to know Lisa better before the next time they made love. Because there would be a next time. That much he knew for certain. As explosively as they’d come together, they couldn’t resist each other forever.

Chapter Four
    Garrett eased his truck to a halt near the kitchen of the ranch house. The big engine purred into silence when he clicked off the ignition. He scanned the yard, relaxing when nothing but darkness filled the barn’s yawning doorway. He was lucky that no one had begun the daily chore of feeding stock and mucking stalls. It wouldn’t be long, though, before the ranch bustled with activity. Even now, one of the cats prowled along at the base of the barn, probably on its way home from an all-night hunt. Birds rustled in the trees by the house. A whip-poor-will called to its mate while the first rays of morning sun slowly brightened the horizon.
    If he intended to make it up the stairs unnoticed, he’d have to hustle. He shook his head. Was it only a week ago that he’d slunk into the house trying to escape attention? Now here he was, doing it again, but for an entirely different reason. His attitude might have done a one-eighty in the last twenty-four hours, but that didn’t mean he wanted anyone to ask where he’d spent the night. Or what he’d done while he was there.
    Warmth spread up his neck at the memory of how Lisa had felt in his arms, how she’d tasted, how he’d reacted to her touch. How much he wanted to do it again. He grabbed his hat from the seat beside him while he ran a hand through his hair.
    Guilt raised its ugly head. Garrett squashed it like a bug. He and Lisa had scratched an itch. Pure and simple. His late wife wouldn’t have expected him to live the rest of his life as a monk any more than he’d have wanted her to join a nunnery if something had happened to him. No, he thought as he swung his feet out of the truck, he had nothing to feel guilty about. The newcomer had made it perfectly clear she wasn’t looking for a relationship. And neither was he. Whether he wanted to see Lisa again or not.
    A rooster crowed from somewhere on the other side of the darkened barn. Seconds later, light spilled from one of the bunkhouse windows. Garrett stood, put his feet in motion. Dew coated the dirt yard. The damp, black earth clung to his boots. He wrenched open the rear door of the big quad cab. Though he didn’t anticipate another late-night rendezvous in town—at least not anytime soon—he added oiling the truck’s hinges to his chore list that never seemed to have an end.
    He’d hefted the case of baby formula from the back seat when the screen door at the back of the house slapped shut. The noise cut through the early morning quiet like a gunshot, and he flinched. So much for any hope of slipping inside unnoticed, he thought when he spotted his mother headed his way.
    “’Mornin’,” he called.
    “Garrett?” Doris picked up speed until coffee sloshed over the sides of the mug she carried. She paused long enough to dash the dregs on the ground before she hurried forward. “Oh, thank goodness!”
    The odd note in her voice set Garrett’s teeth on edge. He dropped the formula back onto the seat. “What’s up? Is something wrong with LJ?” He’d never forgive himself if anything had happened to his son while he was...
    “Where have you been? Ty’s been out for hours, searching for any sign you might have gone off the road and be lying in a ditch somewhere.”
    Garrett’s chest tightened as he