Her Rugged Rancher Read Online Free

gate safely behind her.
    â€œHow do you water the horses?” he asked curiously.
    â€œIn spite of what I just said about water being scarce, I found a small spring with a small pool not far from here on a ledge of the canyon wall. The horses can access it easily and the pasture fence includes it. I try to check it daily to make sure it hasn’t dried up.”
    â€œYou’re fortunate.”
    Bella knew he was talking about the water supply, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was right in so many ways. After her divorce from Marcus, she’d not been able to see much of a future. Oh, she’d not given up on life by any means, but she’d certainly been bitter and disillusioned. Coming to the J Bar S, and living with her brother, had helped her get past the failure of her marriage. She might not have the family she always wanted, but at least she had a home of her own and a blossoming career as a lawyer.
    â€œBelieve me, Noah. I realize that every day.” She turned toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go have a piece of pie and you can tell me whether I can cook or not.”
    * * *
    A few moments later, Noah followed Bella across a stone patio filled with lawn furniture and equipped with a fire pit. For entertaining her many friends, he thought. Most of them would probably be business people or folks connected to her law practice. He doubted a simple cowboy like him, who spent his days in the saddle, would be sitting under the shade of the pines, sipping summer cocktails.
    They entered a screened-in back porch filled with more furniture and potted plants and then she opened a door that took them directly into a spacious kitchen equipped with stainless-steel appliances and a work island topped with marbled tile.
    â€œSorry for bringing you in the back way,” she said. “But it would’ve have been silly to walk all the way around to the front door.”
    It was silly of him to be in the house in the first place, Noah thought grimly. In fact, he felt like a deer tiptoeing into an open meadow. He was just asking for trouble.
    â€œI’m used to entering back doors, Ms.—uh, Bella.”
    She laughed softly. “Maybe one of these days you’ll tell me about some of those back doors you’ve walked through.”
    Only if he was drunk or had been injected with sodium pentothal, Noah thought.
    â€œThat kind of confession might incriminate me,” he said.
    Her eyes sparkling, she laughed again and Noah felt the pit of his stomach make a silly little flip. Without even trying, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met. And her sultry beauty was only a part of the reason. The richness of her voice, the sensual way her body moved, the pleasure of her laugh and glint in her brown eyes all came together to create a walking, talking bombshell.
    â€œYou need to remember that information shared between a lawyer and his client is private,” she joked, then pointed to a long pine table positioned near a bay window. “Have a seat.”
    He looked at the table and then down at his hands. “I think I’d better wash my hands first.”
    Pink color swept over her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Noah. I haven’t really lost my manners. I just wasn’t thinking. Follow me and I’ll show you where you can wash up.”
    They left the kitchen through a wide opening, then turned down a hallway. When they reached the second door on their right, she paused and pushed it open to reveal an opulent bathroom.
    â€œThere’s soap and towels and whatever else you need. Make yourself at home,” she told him. “When you’re finished you can find me in the kitchen.”
    â€œThanks.”
    She left him and Noah entered the bathroom. At the gray marble sink, he scrubbed his hands and face with soap and hot water, then reluctantly reached for one of the thick, fluffy hand towels draped over a silver rack. If his hands weren’t