by Anna DePalo
“If I take it slow, I shouldn’t have a problem,” she hedged. Sleeping in the same house with Blake—even if it was in different rooms—wasn’t a good idea. He was six feet two inches of male temptation that had proved almost impossible for her to resist in the past. It had taken going all the way back to Seattle for her to realize the effect he’d had on her good sense. What crazy decisions would she make if she stayed here with him?
“And what happens if you have a deer or elk run across the road in front of you?” he persisted, oblivious to her inner battle. “I’ve got news for you, sweetheart. If you hit one of those in that little toy car, you’re going to lose.”
Karly stared at him as she weighed her options. Driving up through the mountains during the day with all the switchbacks and ninety-degree curves had been a challenge. And of course, there had been the last several miles to the ranch, which had become a dirt-and-gravel road pitted with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese. But at night?
She hated to admit it, but her choices were extremely limited. Since she didn’t know another soul in Wyoming, she either had to risk going down the mountain in the dark to find a motel room in Eagle Fork, or stay with Blake.
As she watched the evening shadows begin to overtake the high mountain valley, she decided she had run out of time. There simply wasn’t enough daylight left to make it back to town before it got completely dark.
“I suppose I could spend the night here and then drive back down to Eagle Fork tomorrow to get a room for however long it takes the strike to be resolved,” she said, talking more to herself than to Blake.
“Then it’s settled,” he said, walking to the back of the car. “I’ll carry your luggage inside.”
“I wasn’t expecting to spend more than two nights away from home and only have an overnight case,” she said, using the keyless remote to open the trunk as she walked over to take the small bag from him. “I can bring it inside.”
He shook his head as he lifted it from the trunk. “Grandma Jean would have my hide if she got wind of me letting you carry your luggage yourself.”
“Does she live close by?” Karly had never known what it was like to be close to a grandparent. Three of hers had passed away before she was born and her paternal grandmother had lived so far away, she’d only seen her a handful of times.
“She lives down in Eagle Fork,” he said as he placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her into the house. “There were several of us who lived with her during the winter when we were still in school.”
“Because of all the snow?” she mused as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. If the roads were so difficult to navigate in the summer, she couldn’t imagine trying to get around in a heavy snowfall.
“It was easier to stay down there where we could get to school than have to miss and make up all of the schoolwork when we were finally able to get back to class,” he said, nodding as he stepped back so she could enter a bedroom. When he set her small suitcase on the bed, he hooked his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. “While you get settled, I have to drive over to the main house to see about a few things the owner needs me to take care of.”
“Was that the huge log home I passed just before I got here?” she asked, unzipping the overnight case to remove her flip-flops. She loved wearing heels, but she had been in them all day and her feet were beginning to hurt.
Blake nodded. “The owner had that built a couple of years ago. Right after he bought the ranch.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said, removing the heels to put on the flip-flops. “And it’s perfect for the rugged surroundings.”
He stared at her a moment before he turned and walked out into the hall. “I guess I’d better go on over to the main house. Make yourself at home. I won’t be long.”
As she heard him descend the stairs, she began to realize just how little she knew about the man she had married. In Las Vegas, Blake had literally swept her off her feet and charmed her into a fairy-tale week of romance, lovemaking and a wedding. But as idyllic as their time together had been, they hadn’t talked about their families or jobs, their hopes or their dreams.
“It would have never worked between us,” she murmured as she sat down on the side of the bed.
The realization was not a new one. So Karly had no idea why the words made her feel so sad. This was what she’d chosen—the way it had to be. She wasn’t about to make the same mistakes her mother had made. She wasn’t going to give up everything—her home, her lifestyle, her job—for a man and then resent him for her choices.
No matter how beautiful it was here or how cherished and safe Blake made her feel when he took her in his arms, she couldn’t live on this ranch with him any more than he could live with her in Seattle. And the sooner she accepted that truth, the better off she would be.
Copyright © 2016 by Kathie DeNosky
ISBN: 9781488001970
SECOND CHANCE WITH THE CEO
Copyright © 2016 by Anna DePalo
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