The Bridal Path: Sara Read Online Free Page A

craved…respectability.
    “Let’s talk about this,” he said casually, as if he were giving the idea thoughtful consideration in the face of her determination. “Have you considered the possibility that you could lose?”
    Her chin rose a defiant notch. “Not really.”
    “Well, it is a possibility,” he said, figuring if he ought to acknowledge the million-to-one outside chance that she could win, then she’d better at least consider the dead-on certainty that she would lose, not just the bet, but very likely her life. He decided to start small and work up to the big stuff such as breaking her neck.
    “It would be pretty humiliating,” he pointed out.
    “Maybe you’re the one who should be worrying about humiliation,” she shot right back. “Being beat by a woman would ruin what’s left of your reputation with the rodeo set. They’d probably make you give back all those fancy buckles, maybe even take you out of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.”
    “Not likely.” He studied her intently. “So, what’s in it for me, if I win?”
    She didn’t even hesitate. “If you win, and that’s a big
if,
” she said with cocky confidence, “you get to keep the ranch.”
    “By tomorrow I’ll have a signed contract to buy the ranch,” Jake pointed out. “I don’t have to climb on another bull and risk breaking a few more of my bones to keep it.”
    That seemed to throw her. She blinked up at him. “Isn’t owning the ranch free and clear of any claim from me enough?”
    “Like I said, it’s already mine.”
    “I could tie it up in court for years, claim you exerted undue influence on my father,” she argued.
    “Then you’d have to prove he was incompetent to make the decision to sell. Are you prepared to go into court and declare that?”
    That silenced her, at least temporarily. Trent might be an ornery old cuss, but no court in Wyoming would find him loony.
    Jake doubted Sara was ready to give up, though. As he waited for the other shoe to drop, an outrageous idea popped into his head, one that ought to send her scrambling to put an end to this entire scheme. If he’d been terrified she intended to try to seduce the ranch away from him, how would she feel if he upped the ante to include her? Scared spitless, no doubt.
    He regarded her thoughtfully, “Of course, if you cared to up the stakes a little…”
    Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “How?”
    He paused as if to ponder the possibilities, then suggested, “First, I’ll give you a break. We’ll ride broncs, not bulls.”
    “I don’t want any breaks,” she insisted.
    “Believe me, staying on a bucking bronc for eight seconds will be challenging enough for your spirit of adventure,” he said dryly.
    Her gaze was fixed on him as if she already guessed there was a catch. He didn’t disappoint her. He smiled. “And if I win, I get the ranch…and you.”
    She stared at him blankly. “Me?”
    “Marriage,” he explained patiently.
    That ought to scare the bejesus out of her, he thought, even as his own pulse bucked unexpectedly at the prospect. He wasn’t the marrying kind, though it struck him that marriage to a woman like Sara Wilde might not be all bad. She’d certainly be full of surprises, no doubt about that.
    He called a quick halt to that line of thinking and waited for her to gasp with dismay, blister him for even considering such an insulting proposal, maybe turn tail and flee.
    She did none of those things. Instead, after giving the proposal several minutes of thoughtful consideration, she looked him straight in the eye and nodded. “It’s a deal,” she said quietly.
    Then, before he could gather his wits, she turned and walked away, leaving him to wonder just which one of them had gumption and which one was the fool.
    * * *
    Jake was still cursing his impulsiveness when dawn came. Why hadn’t he seen that Sara wanted Three-Stars so badly she would have sold her soul to the devil to keep it? He should have recognized that kind