Cowboy Love on Hold [Love: The Cowboy Way 1] Read Online Free Page B

team bugged me more than her betrayal. That’s when I knew it was over.”
    Questions she had no business asking sprang to mind, but Brandon’s next words made her forget all about them. “So what about you? What’s the real deal on why you haven’t married Wade yet?”
    It was her turn to look away, but she felt the weight of his stare and knew she had to come up with something. The truth seemed as good an answer as any. “I don’t know. I love him, I really do, but there just always seems to be something holding me back.” Kimber smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear, conscious of the way Brandon leaned closer to listen to her. “I…I can’t really explain it.”
    “Sometimes it makes sense to listen to your gut.”
    Kimber turned to Brandon, determined to make sure he wasn’t reading anything into her answer. “I adore Wade, and I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without him.”
    “So are you still teaching?”
    “I haven’t done that in a very long time. When Wade took over the ranch, he needed all the help he could get.”
    “And how do you feel about that—I mean, giving up something you wanted to do since you were fifteen years old?”
    His words caught her off guard. Brandon knew her so well, maybe even better than Wade, but he had no right to question her decisions. “I told you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Wade.”
    “He’s a very lucky man.”
    Kimber smiled and thought of Wade, out in the dark somewhere right now, helping out a neighbor. “I’m the lucky one.”
    Brandon seemed to weigh her words, his gaze roaming over her face, landing finally on her mouth. His eyelids narrowed, and she couldn’t see what he was looking at in the dark interior of the truck, but she could feel his stare. She tried to hold still, afraid to move a muscle unless she betrayed how desperately she wanted him to close the gap between them and kiss her. When she could hold her breath no longer, she parted her lips and sucked in a ragged gasp of air. Brandon groaned and slid closer, his gaze fixed on her mouth.
    “N…no,” Kimber whispered, barely able to force the word out.
    Brandon blinked and backed away from her, as if her voice had broken some kind of spell, and jumped from the pickup without saying another word. He slammed the door and took a few steps away before he turned and waved goodbye.
    Kimber put her foot on the gas and tore away from the property, unsure just what she was running from but feeling as if she should. She turned the radio on full blast, filling the vehicle with sound and singing along tunelessly to songs she didn’t recognize. By the time she got to Wade, he was waiting at the end of the dirt track leading to the barn.
    He opened the door and staggered backwards as a wall of noise hit him. Kimber laughed and reached for the radio, turning it off. “Sorry.”
    Wade climbed into the truck. “You okay? You usually only do that kind of thing when you’re freaked out about something.”
    “No, I’m fine. I am confused, though. Why were you so sure Brandon never got married?”
    Wade turned away. “He’s not the type. Trust me on that.”
    “Well, you’re wrong. He was married.”
    Wade grinned, giving her the look he always got when he thought he was being funny. “To a woman?”
    “Yes…to a woman. What the hell do you mean by that?” His smile faded, and his dark brows bunched together over his steely gray eyes. If Kimber didn’t know better, she could swear he was pissed off at the news. “Wade. I asked you what you were getting at.”
    “Nothing…I didn’t mean anything.”
    Kimber let it go—for now. But once they got home, Wade was going to damn well tell her what he’d meant.

Chapter 4

    Brandon closed the door on the last of the guests and leaned against it, exhausted. Yesterday’s funeral had gone to plan, and he’d given his mother a fitting send off. He smiled, mocking himself for wishing that she’d been there to see the