Fencing You In Read Online Free Page B

hope that everything would work out.
    For some reason her thoughts turned to Gage and she sighed. Truth be told, she wanted to go out with him, but she was afraid. Afraid she might fall for him and that he would up and leave and move on to the next woman who interested him.
    She frowned as she thought about Harvey. This morning she’d agreed to go out with him for a drink tomorrow night because he seemed so non-threatening and she needed a no-pressure night out. Maybe she shouldn’t have agreed to it. She didn’t want to encourage his advances. Yeah, she’d probably been too rash.
    But then again, maybe she was over-analyzing it all. Just show up and enjoy the company, she thought.
    As she slipped her hands into her back pockets, she wandered toward Jenny’s room to read her a bedtime story, too tired to worry about men anymore.
     

Chapter 4
     
    It was early Saturday evening by the time Gage finished working on the current well he was drilling and headed home. He’d been up before the sun rose and the well had been a real bitch.
    He was tired as hell, but the thought of going into town and possibly seeing Tess at the bar gave him a sense of renewed energy. Sometimes she worked Saturday nights, but there was no telling for sure.
    That she refused to go out with him was puzzling. It was clear by the way she responded to him and the way she would blush that she was attracted to him. But she still said no. The fact that her husband had died only a few years ago might have been the reason. She had made it clear how much she loved him and maybe she was having a hard time dating someone again.
    Tess was special. There was something about her that drew him to her. She wasn’t like other women. She was smart, funny, and she was easy to talk with, even if she did keep putting him off. He found himself wanting to talk to her about real things and not superficial date chatter.
    Being consistently rejected by someone who was clearly interested in him was something he wasn’t used to. Guess he’d just have to work a little harder to win her over.
    His thoughts turned to earlier today. He’d been in town this morning to get a part for his old work truck at the auto parts store when he thought he’d caught a glimpse of someone he hadn’t expected to see for a very long time.
    Harvey Norton… The man Gage had thought he’d recognized had gone to prison three years ago for embezzling from Gage’s business along with being found guilty of other counts of defrauding various individuals.
    Was Harvey already out?
    Gage was usually a good judge of character, but Harvey had pulled one over on him and just about every other person they knew.
    Harvey had been something of a ladies’ man before being locked away. He’d always had a friendly good ol’ boy way about him and people had found him easy to talk to. Gage guessed that was what had made him such a good thief.
    By the time he reached his home, Gage had blocked Harvey Norton out of his thoughts. The bastard wasn’t worth thinking about.
    Instead, he fixed his thoughts on Tess and figuring her out. There had to be a way to get her to say yes to going out with him.
    In his bedroom, he stripped out of his dirty clothing then walked into the master bath and stepped into the shower, washing away the dirt and grime of the day as he thought about the things Tess had said to him—that he was a cowboy with a girl in every town.
    That was the last thing he happened to be. He wasn’t a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy despite the reputation he appeared to have. He didn’t jump into bed with just anyone, although he’d enjoyed his share of sexual relationships. But since his breakup with Valerie all those years ago he kept his distance from anything permanent. He hadn’t wanted to go down that path again…or at least he hadn’t…until Tess.
    He tilted his face to the spray. He wasn’t sure why, but women he dated tended to get attached to him in spite of his efforts to