Falling Softly: Compass Girls, Book 4 Read Online Free Page A

leftovers in the wilderness. Send help. :-)
    Three beeps pinged off the inside of her vehicle almost immediately.
    Be careful! From Hope.
    Don’t joke! From Sienna.
    Hot, you say? Have fun. Jade, of course.
    Gotta go. Sterling laughed softly to herself as she tucked her phone away. She’d probably pay for that later—with an epic pillow fight, or having to muck out stalls with Jade, or by baking dessert for the other Compass Girls—but she didn’t care at the moment.
    Still amused, she glanced up and caught her sexy stranger staring at her. He hadn’t moved a single muscle. Not even a twitch. As if afraid of spooking her, he waited for her to approach. His carefully constructed docile illusion didn’t fool her for a nanosecond.
    Dangerous though he might be, his raw sensuality drew her. She gazed right back at him, noting the rich chocolate of his eyes and the faint scar decorating the corner of his mouth. Cataloging every detail of his flawless imperfection, she clutched the steering wheel with both hands.
    He seemed sort of familiar and yet unlike anyone she’d ever known. So much more .
    She swore she could read a million thoughts in his stare during the span of a single heartbeat. What the hell?
    And then he smiled.
    It seemed a tiny bit contrived, and not as reassuring as he probably intended. Like a Big Bad Wolf whose grin only showed off his fangs. Yet, it might have been the most gorgeous thing she’d seen in a year. Considering the gems surrounding her day in and day out, that was saying something.
    Her fingers trembled as they opened her door.
    When she slid out of the Jeep, her boots weren’t as steady on the ground as she would have expected….preferred, really.
    It must have been the trip to the hospital throwing her off her game.
    Sterling had halved the distance between them, coming to stand with her feet apart and her thumbs hooked in the pockets of her denim skirt, before either of them spoke. She broke the silence. “Truck crapped out on you, huh?”
    “Yep.” He still didn’t budge. As if that might make her less aware of the fact that he could overpower her in a hurry, if he was so inclined.
    “Waiting for roadside assistance?” She wondered why he was so calm. Most people, even seasoned ranch hands, would be leery about spending the night so far out of touch from town. Without proper supplies, it wouldn’t be very comfortable at best and could be dangerous if the person stranded didn’t have at least moderate survival skills. Already the air grew brisk enough that she resisted the temptation to hug herself.
    “Nah. Don’t have a cell.” He shrugged, the motion only highlighting the ripped shoulders beneath his thin T-shirt and the chiseled sinew of his forearms.
    Who didn’t carry a phone these days? Maybe he couldn’t afford one, if his truck and ripped jeans were anything to guess by.
    “So you’re just going to chill out here and hope for someone to pass by?” She arched a brow at his nonchalance.
    “Seems to be a solid plan so far.” This time his grin seemed genuine. “I didn’t expect my rescue squad to be quite so pretty, though. Lucky me.”
    Bright white teeth flashed from behind his smile. It hit her in the gut, knocking the wind from her as if she’d fallen off one of the ranch horses. Full lips curved upward and his eyes danced with reflected light. She’d only seen eyes so vibrant, with flecks of gold, like that on one other person in her life.
    He could have been the very definition of alive . The something elusive she’d been craving after this afternoon’s bleak reminder of her mortality.
    Life’s irony gripped her, and she laughed. At her acquaintance’s wit and flirting, some. But mostly at the pure exhilaration caused by riding the rollercoaster of her existence. Peaks and valleys. Everyone went through them, clinging desperately to the safety rails and trying not to piss their pants on the plunge down, then enjoying the view when things were looking