Read Borrowed Cowboy (Shadow Maverick Ranch) for Free Online Page B

Tears formed on her lids. She blinked them away. She hadn’t expected this to be so hard.
    Pax took both her hands in his, brought them to his lips, kissed her knuckles. “Sorry for what, sweetheart?”
    His lips lingered, his breath hot against her skin. It killed her, how gentle he kept his touch, as though savoring her. She drew in a deep breath and took her time releasing it.
    “That night.”
    He stiffened and dropped their hands, severing their connection. Popped another cookie. Chewed. Swallowed. His expression closed off, unreadable. “What about it?”
    “I knew you and Patrick were supposed to go camping that weekend. If I hadn’t called…” She choked back the pain that had made a home in her heart for so long.
    He shook his head, eyelids squinting with confusion. “Hold on. Is that what this is about? I thought you were talking about what happened between … Jesus.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, held her tight against his chest. “Please tell me you haven’t been blaming yourself all these years.”
    When she didn’t speak, he pulled back, cursing softly. “Look at me, Reese.”
    The soft demand forced tears from her lids, but she did as he asked.
    “I won’t lie and say I don’t have any regrets about that night, but being with you isn’t one of them.”
    “But, if you’d gone camping—” A weak protest at best, but she’d carried the guilt of it for so long, it’d become a habit, blaming herself.
    “No,” he snapped. “What happened to Pat was an accident. His horse lost his footing and went down, taking Pat with him. Pat’s neck broke on impact. Killed him instantly. It was a tragic accident, Reese, nothing more.”
    He wiped a tear from her cheek and went on. “Do I miss him? Yes. He was my best friend. Do I wish it hadn’t happened? Absolutely. I made myself crazy with what ifs for a lot of years, but nothing changed the end result. Pat’s still gone. I’ve come to terms with the fact that, even if I’d been there, I couldn’t have saved him.”
    His words should’ve freed her. Maybe they would’ve if the image of him storming out that night without a word hadn’t been seared into her memory.
    “I wanted so badly to be there for you. It was hard to know what to do. You were so angry—and then you left. I thought you might blame me.”
    She wasn’t sure how she ended up back in his arms, but there they were, bands of support and strength wrapped around her, making her feel protected. Safe.
    “If anything, you spared me the memory of watching my best friend die. And believe me, the images I’ve made up are bad enough. I don’t blame you, Reese. I’ve never blamed you. I was a jackass back then, I don’t deny it. I treated you like shit, disrespected the gift you gave me that night. I should be on my knees, begging your forgiveness. Not the other way around.”
    His lips brushed against her neck, trailed lower to follow the line of her collarbone through his shirt. He nibbled her shoulder and her body sparked to life once more.
    “By the time my head cleared, you were gone. I thought … well, I’m not sure what I thought. That you were done with me, I suppose.”
    How young and stupid they’d both been. “It appears we both made mistakes then, because I certainly wasn’t done with you. Back then, I mean. Life goes on, though, right?”
    “Do you remember why we met up that night?” he asked.
    How could she forget? “It was my birthday.”
    And the last one she’d celebrated. Since then it had been a day she tried to forget.
    He shifted her until she straddled him, slid his hands down to cup her ass, pulled her forward until she felt his arousal. “You called me, pissed off that your date for the night had stood you up, remember?”
    She shuddered, her panties growing damp, her muscles turning to mush as she toyed with the hair at his nape. “It was humiliating.”
    “For you, maybe. For me, it was an amazing twist of fate. You begged