Picking Up Cowboys Read Online Free Page B

of those women who fell over herself with passion.  Besides, all the man wanted to do was buy her out, he wasn’t interested in her as a woman.  She marched into the guest room and slung the sheets into an armchair.  She jammed the soft, flannel fitted sheet over the bottom corner of the bed and threw the loose, matching, top sheet over it.
    Why had her father saddled her with a partner anyway?  Why did the partner have to be so sexy? She closed her eyes as the image of his broad hands manipulating the soap into frothy suds intruded.  He would rub the suds over his broad chest.  She wondered if he had a sparse scattering of hair.  The thought made her shiver.
    She had to stop this.  Gage thought money was the answer to everything; she shouldn’t be having these thoughts.  She had to get away from the sound of the running water; it was causing her to have traitorous thoughts. Throwing a panicked glance at the still closed door across the hall, she arranged the comforter hastily, tossed a pillow on top and clambered down the stairs.
    His overnight bag rested against the far wall.  She should probably take it upstairs before someone, probably her, tripped on it and fell.  She shot another glance upward.  The water was still running.  But she really didn’t owe it to him to be a good host.
    He’d looked so tired though.  Okay, just this once, she would be helpful.  Grasping one of the worn, leather handles she tugged on the bag.  It was heavier than she thought and threw her off balance.  She landed on the rough, wood floor on her right hip.
    Rubbing the spot with one hand, she threw another glance up the staircase.  He hadn’t seen her.  How humiliating it would have been.  She started to push herself to her feet, when she noticed the bag had unsnapped itself and a few of the contents spilled onto the floor.
    Great.  She scooped a pair of jeans, and a dark blue sweater back into the bag.  Grabbing the tightly rolled sheath of papers, she started to put them back in the bag.  The rubber band holding them together caught on the metal clasp and snapped, the papers scattered everywhere.
    Catherine scooped them together and tried to make the edges neat.  She was preparing to roll them back into a coil when some of the letters jumped out at her and formed into words.  Aspen Trails.
    Catherine chewed on her bottom lip in indecision.  She shouldn’t snoop.  But this did concern her if it concerned her ranch.  Tossing one final glance up the stairs, she unrolled the papers and laid them flat on the floor, placing a hand in either corner to keep them from rolling back up.
    Aspen Trails Luxury Resort.  Luxury resort?  She glanced over the rest of the form.  It was a blueprint.  A blueprint for a hotel, tennis courts, and a sauna.  Catherine felt her blood start to pump through her veins with a little more force.  What in the--
    “What do you think you’re doing?”  Gage stood at the bottom of the stairs, accusation shining out of his eyes.  He held a scant white towel over his hips. 
    Catherine slowly rolled the papers back up, pushed herself to her feet, crossed to the large fireplace and threw the blueprints into the flames.
    Gage rushed down the stairs and into the living room, as though he might save the documents.  But it was too late.
     
    * * *
     
    “You are not turning this place into some tourist trap.”  Catherine’s chest heaved with each word and Gage couldn’t help letting his gaze follow the movement.
    “I never intended to.”  He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling superior and smug until he had to make a grab for the slipping towel.  He knotted it more firmly around his waist.
    “Then what were those blueprints?”  Catherine’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
    Gage shrugged.  “They were for a high-quality luxury resort.”
    Catherine nodded her head. “A tourist trap.  Forget it.  It won’t happen in this lifetime.”
    Gage moved into the room, stopping a