Read Chance For Love (Colorado Blues) for Free Online Page A

she
lifted a hand to her mouth, biting down on the skin. Chance twisted in his
chair as far as his bad hip would allow and reached over to take her hand.
    “You should have said something. You sounded so brave
over the internet when we sorted out the rules of engagement for this
marriage.”
    She lifted huge frightened eyes to him. The green
flecks in the pools of earthy brown reminded him of the colors in the trees at
the base of the mountains in autumn when the leaves changed just as they were
doing now.
    “I needed the money so badly I would have agreed to
anything. Didn’t mean I had to like it though.” She looked at him defiantly,
her chin raised and stubborn. Her Australian drawl seemed more intensified when
she was emotional. He wondered if she knew how easy she was to read, or maybe
it was just that he was becoming attuned to her body.
    “You need to promise me something. I want the truth
between us, even when it hurts.” He ran his calloused thumb across the palm of
her hand, feeling the ridges from hard work. “This deal has to work for both of
us. We went into it for a reason, didn’t we?”
    She nodded her head and used her free hand to wipe the
tears before they fell down her pale cheeks. “It’s not like I won’t have sex
with you, but I just don’t know if we can make it work. I’m not sure we should
even try.”
    “The thing is, I want a wife I can rely on. Not
someone just in name alone. You won’t just be a ranch hand. You will be my
partner in all things including my bed when we both feel you’re ready.”
    She tossed her head, sending the now dry tendrils of
hair from her face. “I still don’t see why you did this. I mean, I know now
that you’re someone special or at least a little bit famous. You could have had
anyone. Why me, really since we’re telling the truth?”
    “Because I’m not who people think I am. I don’t want
to have to keep up the façade any longer.” He squeezed her fingers once more
before letting go of her hand. Chance sat up in the chair, easing the pain in
his hip.
    “Who are you then?” Callie curled her feet up under
her body and watched him, no longer wary of him.
    “I had a fabulous childhood growing up but that
changed when my mother died. My father couldn’t cope and turned to the bottle.”
He vowed never to put his children through the same thing. “It was hard on me
and my brothers. I tried to shield them as much as I could to start with
because I was the eldest. The more our father drank, the harder it got. One day
he took a swing at me and I left. I walked out and left my brothers behind,
something I’m not proud of but I couldn’t stay behind not getting anywhere. I
needed the money the rodeo would give me to set them up with a decent chance of
life since our father was intent on drinking away every dollar he earned.”
    She rested her chin on her hand and watched him.
    The familiar hollowness ached in his gut; a small
reminder of the guilt he’d carried around for years at leaving his brothers
behind. “I didn’t care if he drank himself into an early grave, but I should
have stayed for my brothers. They had nobody to look after them and I’ve never
forgiven myself for that.”
    “Hmm, sounds to me like you never had a choice. What
would have happened if you stayed?”
    “Who knows? Tyson told me later that the old man was
mad fit to bust and it was probably for the best, but that still doesn’t excuse
the fact that I thought of myself first and left them alone.”
    “Did they forgive you?” Her eyes swam with sympathy.
    “Yeah. It’s me who has the problem, not them.”
    “So what’s the problem here then? You still haven’t
answered the question.”
    Chance looked at her wondering if he had gotten more
than he bargain for with Callie. She was like a dog with a bone. “When I ran
away, I had to stand up for myself and I figured the best way to do that was to
reinvent myself, so Chance the cocky bull rider was born. There