Cowboy Take Me Away Read Free Page A

she knew that without him having to spell it out.
    Chase chuckled and slung an arm around Hope’s shoulders. She tensed slightly, shoulders bunching under his touch, like she’d stopped breathing for a beat, but he didn’t care. Before they’d slept together, they’d touched all the time, buddies but on the verge of flirting every time they hung out. Then after they’d been between the sheets, they’d barely touched again. Well, he was taking charge now and he wasn’t going to pussyfoot around.
    â€œI might just take you up on that kicking-ass offer, you know,” Hope muttered, her body finally relaxing.
    â€œYou have my word,” Chase said, pleased to be talking instead of picturing her naked, because the moment he’d seen her he’d started thinking about their night together. “I don’t care how many years have passed. An enemy of yours is an enemy of mine. You say kill him, he’s dead.”
    As they reached the barn, Chase reluctantly removed his arm, set the kit down, and hitched a boot against the nearby railing. He had a small herd of heifers waiting in the round pen for Hope to look over, and the sooner he got his mind on cows instead of the woman standing beside him, the better.
    â€œSo these are my girls,” he said.
    He recognized the change in her face as she leaned over the railings to look them over. When they’d been studying she’d played hard and studied even harder, which was why his grandfather had always thought she was such a good influence on him. Now, he got the feeling that he was the only one getting time to play—the tiny lines around her eyes told him she was nothing short of exhausted.
    â€œYou’ve got quite the harem of ladies,” she joked.
    â€œBest organic purebred cattle in the state,” Chase told her. “Now I just need to get them pregnant with the New Zealand sperm that cost me a small fortune.”
    â€œAnd that’s why you called in the big guns.”
    Chase laughed with Hope, but what he really needed was for them to stop talking about sperm. And sex. And insemination. His head was already in the gutter without any encouragement.
    â€œI’m guessing you must be pretty good if you managed to get a green card,” Chase said, still leaning on the rails but watching her now instead of the herd.
    â€œI’ve worked my butt off,” she told him. “But yeah, seems that I managed to specialize enough to be of value, and it didn’t take long for me to get approval to move.”
    Chase nodded. He’d never doubted she would succeed at whatever she set her mind to, not for a moment.
    *   *   *
    Hope held up a hand to shield her eyes from the bright sunshine. Keeping it together in front of Chase wasn’t easy, and it was taking every ounce of her energy. Staring into his eyes was like … She clamped her jaw down, teeth grinding. Her problem was that she’d mentally left Chase in her past, and she sure as hell hadn’t been expecting to see him today. Or any other damn day for that matter.
    â€œSo did you ever practice?” she asked, ducking through the railings to get a closer look at the heifers. They’d graduated together after training as veterinarians, but he hadn’t been sure about his exact career plans when they’d parted ways.
    â€œFor a short time,” he said, following her into the yards. “After I graduated I came straight back here and started working alongside our foreman whenever I could, but I also worked with our local vet for a while to get some practical training in. Granddad liked the idea of me having a backup plan career wise in case ranching wasn’t profitable for our land one day, but the truth is all I’ve done since hearing him say that is come up with ways to make sure I can keep the ranching side of our business booming.”
    She cursed as he moved near, wishing he’d