The Love Ranch (BWWM Romance) Read Free Page A

that it was time for her lunch break. Hastily, she dashed through to the back of the restaurant and sank down onto the stairs, dropping her chin onto her palms and propping her elbows on her knees. She was seriously beginning to question the wisdom of moving to Paradise. Wouldn’t moving to a large city have been better, she wondered. At least then she would have been able to hide among the tons of people.
    “Hey, are you okay?” Christian asked above her.
    Tiana schooled her features before looking up, “I’m perfectly fine, thanks for asking.”
    “I’m sorry I said anything about Jamal’s father. I didn’t realize it was a sore subject,” he said, sinking onto the staircase beside her.
    “Yeah. I’m sorry I bit your head off,” she said with a watery chuckle.
    “I kinda deserved it. I was just thoughtless, really. I’m sorry,” he repeated.
    “Don’t sweat it. You should get back to Lydia,” she said.
    “Yeah,” he agreed readily. But he seemed reluctant to leave.
    He stared at her for a bit, eyes boring into hers so intensely that she could have sworn she felt an actual sparkle of electricity. She licked her lips nervously and his eyes dropped to her lips and fastened onto them, his own parting as his gaze slowly rose to hers once more. Heat, wild and untamed, filled his eyes and Tiana almost gasped aloud as a punch of desire hit her right in the gut. She immediately averted her eyes.
    “I should get going, my break’s almost over,” she said shortly.
    “See you around, Tiana,” he agreed, rising fluidly to his feet, and rewarding her with a smile, complete with slashing dimples. Tiana’s smile caught in her throat; that smile should be outlawed.
    Tiana bit her lip, watching him walk away. He always managed to make her feel... things she did not want to feel. Perhaps Paradise was not the safe haven she had thought it was.
    She would go out of her way to avoid him from now on. Hopefully, she wouldn’t even have to do much; he was a cowboy and he probably worked on one of the several ranches in the area. Hopefully, he would be too busy with harvest time that he would not come into Tiny Tim’s often.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER THREE
    Christian was in a good mood which was not really uncommon for him first thing in the morning. He had gone for his usual morning ride and ended up with a very cheerful disposition as he led his favorite Arabian stallion, Aasifa, back towards the stalls.
    The bright morning sun and fresh air were welcome distractions from his musings as he stroked Aasifa’s pure white mane. She tossed her head, proudly flaunting her exotic origins as she reveled in his touch.
    Christian grinned at her, his cowboy hat riding low on his forehead. Aasifa was the love of his life, he decided. He had gotten her when she was young and while he had such a large spread that housed over two hundred horses, she was still his favorite.
    “Mr. Langfield? Mr. Langfield!” a shrill voice interrupted his musings and Christian barely refrained from rolling his eyes as he recognized the rather distinct voice of his housekeeper, Mrs. Shirley.
    She was a fifty-year-old spinster with the voice of a young girl, the brain of a jellyfish and a heart of gold; she was also a notorious complainer and a veritable shrew when she wanted to be.
    “Mrs. Shirley,” he said courteously, humor sparkling in his eyes.
    “Don’t give me any lip, boy!” she spat as she waddled towards him, bearing her enormous weight on knees that won his admiration for sheer doggedness.
    “Yes ma’am,” he drawled, grinning at her.
    Rose Shirley had originally been his teacher in the first grade at Paradise High and she had religiously singled him out for detention because he had caused more than his fair share of trouble when he was growing up. One time he had convinced Missy Tanner that life was not worth living unless she let him apply some dye to her beautiful blonde hair. Rose Shirley had not been