The Curvy Astronomer and the Cowboy (He Wanted Me Pregnant!) Read Free

little better, when I stood up. I was glad I’d done it, even though it meant I was now pretty much broke.
    Back in the station wagon, though, I just felt utterly exhausted. What now?! I had buyers lined up for my shots of the horsehead nebula. I couldn’t get them just anywhere--I needed a really dark spot away from any light pollution. Dr. Barker had had a cabin out of town somewhere that he’d said we could sleep in. Town was too light, and it wasn’t as if I could just drive out there on my own and….
    Unless I did exactly that.
    Unless I just grabbed some supplies and drove up into the mountains, found a place to set up the telescope and slept in the car. I’d done it before...true, that had been in a desert, with some other astronomers, but what choice did I have? The alternative was to give up and hit the road, tell my buyers I had nothing for them and hope I could get another gig before I ran out of money for gas and food. Before I had to sell--
    I looked in my rear view mirror and my hands tightened on the steering wheel. No. I wasn’t going to sell my dad’s telescope. It was the one thing he’d most treasured, right up until he died. No way. If I had to do this whole damn thing on my own...so be it.
    This time, the engine caught first time. I headed straight back to Main Street.
     
    ***
     
    In the general store I stood comparing cans of chili and stew, trying to get the most nutrition per buck with the few dollars I had remaining. I also shelled out for a few blankets. They were scratchy and not very thick, but I hoped that, if I wrapped enough of them around me, I’d be able to get through the night.
    I spotted canned mac n’ cheese on special and grabbed two cans, only to wind up dropping one of the ones I was already holding. I chased after it as I rolled. It came to rest against a familiar-looking cowboy boot.
    A big, tanned hand reached down and picked it up and I followed the can as it rose. I found myself looking into Troy’s clear blue eyes. “Going on an adventure?” he asked.
    I plucked the can from his hand. Suddenly, my face was hot, my breathing fast. “Just stocking up,” I said. I glanced at the shopping cart he was pushing--easily a few hundred dollars worth of food and other groceries.
    Troy frowned at me. “You weren’t heading up, were you? Up into the mountains by yourself?”
    I shrugged in a non-committal way and turned to pay. Only to find a strong hand on my shoulder, turning me back to face him. It’s funny, but...the way I’m built, I’ve never felt small, before. I’m not one of those girls a guy can pick up and twirl around in his arms, you know? But when Troy grabbed my shoulder like that, suddenly I did feel small. He’d be able to pick me up, no problem at all. Grab me and pick me up and twirl me around. Or do whatever else he liked to me.
    I blushed.
    “You weren’t heading up there... were you?” he asked incredulously.
    I looked at my feet and then at the wall behind him--anywhere but his face. “No,” I said. “Of course not. This is just road snacks. To eat as I’m driving along.”
    We both looked down at the can of mac n’ cheese.
    “Emily,” he said--and just him saying my name made my chest tighten--”I’m serious. You can’t head up into the mountains on your own. It’s going to be minus ten tonight. And there are bears.”
    Bears?! I rolled my eyes. Okay, sure, I was from San Francisco, but even I knew that bears hibernated in the winter. “I’ve been looking after myself a long time,” I told him. “I can manage just fine for a few days.” And, pulling free of his hand, I paid for my groceries and headed out.
     
    ***
     
    The station wagon slowed as it neared the peak of the hill. Another thirty feet and I’d be there. Come on. The engine started to labor. Come on!
    I was about two miles out of town, following a road that was so far free of snow. I’d picked the road because it went up, and up was what I wanted...but I hadn’t