Picking Up Cowboys Read Online Free

high heels horseback riding.
    “Your father left me what was rightfully mine, minus fifty percent.”  Gage’s green eyes were as cold as the Rocky Road ice cream she’d planned to dig out of the deep freeze.
    “Don’t be ridiculous.  How can something you’ve never seen be half yours?  Did my father gamble with you?  Is that what happened?”  It wouldn’t be the first time.  “Well, shame on you for taking advantage of an obviously unwell man.”
    “Unwell?”  Gage snorted.  “You mean drunk.”
    Catherine glared at him, unable to deny it.  “How much do you want?” she gritted between clenched teeth.  Her jaw ached from holding her mouth so tightly closed.
    “How much?”  He threw back his head and laughed and Catherine felt her gaze slip to the sensual length of his throat.  An unfamiliar wooziness struck her legs and she clamped her palm over the counter to keep from falling.  Too much stress.  It was making her dizzy.
    “How much money to buy you out?”  Catherine gazed at him steadily.  She was completely serious.  If she had to take on a full-time job outside of the ranch, she would.  But she would not share this place.  It was hers.
    “I think you misunderstand.”  His voice was as rough as dried leather.  “I intend to buy you out.”

 
    chapter three
     
     
    Catherine couldn’t speak for several minutes.  Was he crazy?  This was her home.
    Gage grabbed the magnetic pad of paper stuck to the fridge with the matching pen, scribbled a figure on it and pressed it into her palm.  “I think you’ll find that offer hard to refuse.” 
    Catherine stared numbly at the slip of paper, considered shoving it down his throat, before curiosity got the better of her and she nudged it open.  She couldn’t prevent the gasp as it slipped past her lips.  It was enough money to do anything she wanted.  She could go see the Taj Mahal, visit Loch Ness, do all the things she’d dreamed of during the years she’d been forced to help her father instead of following her own dreams.
    She actually considered it for a heartbeat.  The money would give her the freedom she’d been seeking for what seemed an eternity.  She could become the Catherine she’d once thought she’d be.  The new Catherine.  But deep in her heart she truly loved the ranch. The land.  It was her father’s legacy to her.  The ranch was all she had left of him.
    She straightened her shoulders and raised her eyes to catch a smug smile on Gage Maddock’s face.  So, he thought she was going to accept his offer.  He didn’t have a clue about what was really important.  She would never give it up.  She must keep her father’s dream and memory alive.  She would never sell it for any amount. 
    Catherine slid the scrap of paper onto the counter and smiled sweetly.  “No, thank you.”
    Gage’s smile faded inch by satisfying inch.  Score one for Catherine.  He had honestly thought she would accept his offer.  How insulting.  Money didn’t buy everything, and it certainly couldn’t buy her.
    He crossed his arms and rested a lean hip against the counter.  “I’ll double it.”
    Unbelievable.  He had enough gall to fill a stadium.  Catherine blocked the amount from her mind.  “The answer is still no.”
    “Greedy.  Just like your father.  Okay, I’ll triple my offer.  That’s more money than you’ll ever need.  You’ll never have to work again.”
    “Nope.  The ranch is not for sell.”  Catherine turned away and pried the lid off the slightly melted ice cream.  She let her hair fall across her face and she grinned, the look on his face after her last denial had been worth giving up one hundred times the amount he offered.
     
    Gage was dumbfounded.  What was the little con artist up to? Did she really think she could get more out of him?  He’d offered her an extraordinary amount of money.  Surely she had to realize the ranch could never be worth that much. He just didn’t