Steal Me, Cowboy Read Online Free

her, her could see the steam rising off her, cute nose turned out slightly, head tilted back, jaw clinched like she could be dangerous if she wanted. He couldn’t undo what he did to her, but he could at least try to make it up to her. She’d said she was hungry. He’d make her the best damn meal she’d ever had, and then he’d send her on her way to man she loved.
    From the look on her face when he pulled into his driveway, she was expecting a dive. “This is beautiful,” she whispered.
    “This my house. To your left are the gardens. Our food’s all about fresh, local, we grow everything we can. On the other side of those willows is the backside of the restaurant. “
    “Those look different from the willows back home.”
    “They’re a hybrid, they grow into a screen. Great for privacy.” God he sounded like he was trying to sell her the place. She started toward the willows. “This way, Carolina, the restaurant’s closed on Mondays, but I can make you anything you want in my kitchen.”

 
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    I hated that he was hot and he was trying to be nice to me to make up for being such an ass. He pulled into his driveway like it wasn’t palatial and overlooking a gorgeous lake, it was just home to him. The courtyard between the willows and his home was overflowing with flowers I didn’t recognize, and a bench was in the center looking out over the mountains and the lake.
    His house was made out of stone and stained logs, a cross between French country and rustic. He pushed the front door open and I followed. Dark wooden beams crisscrossed the vaulted ceilings, a beautiful contrast to the cream-colored walls. The view from floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the lake was breathtaking, and when I turned around to tell him so, he was watching me. He looked like I’d caught him peeking at me in the shower and hung his hat on a wooden peg by the door.
    “You look surprised.” He really had to stop with the killer smile.
    “I thought you were kidding about the restaurant. I thought you were a cowboy.”
    His smile faded. Was that a bad thing? In Montana?
    “Must be the hat,” he said, trying to lighten things up again.
    I followed him into the kitchen. He punched something into a laptop on the counter and flipped the screen around for me to see the menu for Beck’s Place. “I can make you anything you want , on or off the menu.”
    I closed the laptop. “I don’t want to be any trouble. Something easy. Eggs, grilled cheese.”
    “You didn’t even look at the menu.” He was still smiling but looked a little wounded. “You’re really going to make me grovel to cook you something decent, aren’t you?”
    “Of course not. I’m easy.”
    “Something tells me there nothing easy about you, Carolina Brown.” He pulled back his silky dark hair in a ponytail, rolled up the sleeves of his well-worn denim shirt and opened the refrigerator. “Can I get you something to drink?”
    “Water’s fine.”
    He filled a pretty thick glass goblet with water and put it in front of me. “So, I’ve met a bunch Carolines and a few Carolyns, don’t think I’ve ever met a Carolina. That a common name where you come from?”
    “Yeah, both states, North and South, are just filled with Carolinas. It’s like Jessica or Heather and not uncommon at all. Now Beck, that’s an unusual name.
    “Beckett was my mother’s maiden name. She’s the only person who calls me that, to everyone else, I’m just Beck.” He slung a kitchen towel over his shoulder. “You a picky girl?”
    “Depends on what we’re talking about,” I shot back.
    “You said you were hungry, no, starved. So?”
    “No, I’m not picky.”
    “Vegetarian?”
    “No.” Hell no, I was so hungry I’d eat his boot leather sautéed if he put it in front of me.
    He nodded and went to work, laying out an uncut loaf of bread that had been sitting on a cooling rack. My God, he bakes? He took some bacon and a small block of