Her Unbridled Cowboy (Harland County Series) Read Free Page B

really doing?” Mr.
Masters asked Jordan, bringing Connor’s attention back to the conversation.
    “She puts on a good front, but
she’s hurting,” his future sister-in-law replied. “That restaurant was her
life.”
    Connor set his teeth and resisted
the urge to rub at the unknown ache residing in his chest.
    “I know. Poor baby.” Mrs. Masters
sighed. “I wish we could do something.”
    Jordan nodded. “Yeah, me too, but I
don’t think she’s going to be here long.”
    “Really?” Her father’s frown
matched his dad’s. “We’d hoped she’d at least stay until after the holidays.”
    Connor had to admit, half of him
wished that, too. The stupid half.
    Scratching the bridge of his nose,
he fought a grin. Cripes. Some days he really was hopeless.
    Until this year, he’d always
regarded Kerri as an adorable little sister. One he enjoyed teasing and
laughingly tolerated. 
    Boy, had that changed drastically
in April. When he’d come out of the stables with Cole and saw the tall,
elegant, curvy woman standing in the driveway next to Jordan, his stomach had gripped tight and his damn heart nearly beat a hole clean through his chest.
    And now, jeez, now his foolish body
suffered the same abuse every time the gorgeous cook was in his presence. Every.
Single. Time. Connor didn’t like it. Not one damn bit.
    Kerri was a city girl.
    A city girl.
    That in itself was a big enough
strike against her, and a hell-of-a-good reason for him to keep his distance.
So then, why did he still entertain thoughts of doing exactly the opposite?
    All three of his former fiancées
were city girls, and he’d long vowed never to get involved with another one
again. Ever.
    Even though Kerri was born in Harland County and spent the first fifteen years of her life in Texas, her time in California had been almost as long and recent. Her west coast residency easily cancelled
any redeeming qualities from the former. Take her jeans, for instance. As a
youngster, she’d lived in them. As an adult? He had yet to see her in a pair.
Did she even own any? Doubtful. All she seemed to wear were fancy dress pants
and heels.
    Yes. The cook was a regular city
girl now, and despite her beauty and its affect on him, Connor wasn’t going to
fall for his father’s well-meaning, if not totally misplaced, matchmaking
attempt.  And he could tell by the apprehension that sometimes flittered
through her gaze that she wasn’t interested or was afraid of him for some
reason, which was unfounded…and unimportant. It didn’t matter what put
that look in her eyes. He wasn’t interested.
    Swallowing down what was left of
his champagne, Connor walked over to the table and set his glass next to Kerri’s.
They needed to talk. And fast. Telling his body and his brain that the pretty
cook was just his little sister and nothing more, Connor felt better able to
seek her out and head this matchmaking off at the pass.
     
    A s soon as the door closed,
Hannah Masters turned to her husband Nate and smiled. “Well now, that was
interesting.”
    “It certainly was, sweetheart,” he
said with a grin.
    “I’ll say,” Alex McCall agreed,
slapping Nate’s back.
    Cole groaned. “You’re not seriously
going to try to set Connor up with Kerri, are you?”
    Hannah watched as Alex turned to
his son, brows raised. “We didn’t do so bad with the two of you, did we?”
    “No,” Jordan replied, hugging Cole
close. “But we’ve always had a thing for each other.”
    “True,” Cole agreed.
    He looked at her daughter with so
much affection it warmed Hannah’s heart.
    “There’s the difference.” Jordan smiled before kissing Cole’s cheek.
    Alex and his wife Leeann exchanged
a look before Hannah turned to her daughter and frowned. “You don’t think Connor
and Kerri are attracted to each other?”
    “Yes, I do,” Jordan replied. “But that’s not the point.”
    Nate stepped close and dropped an
arm around Hannah’s shoulders. “Then what is?” her