Read Do You Take This Rebel? for Free Online Page A

hard and prayed that she wouldn’t make a complete fool of herself. It was just a chance meeting with an old flame. Nothing more. Nothing to cause this churning in the pit of her stomach. There was no reason for her heart to slam against her ribs or her pulse to ricochet wildly. Jake was safely at home with her mother, so there was no reason for this little lick of fear that was sliding up the back of her throat.
    Get a grip, she told herself mentally as she lifted her gaze to meet his. Those unflinching blue eyes were just as devastating as ever. Her stomach flipped over. Her heart pounded. Her pulse ricocheted. Reason apparently had nothing to do with anything where Cole was concerned, not even after ten long years.
    Tension swirled as she felt four gazes pinned on her, waiting to see what she would do. She drew in a deep breath and reminded herself she was a grown-up woman—a mother, in fact. She could handle a simple little exchange with a man, even if he did happen to be the father of the child she’d kept from him…even if she’d spent years nurturing her hatred of him.
    “Cole,” she acknowledged with a slight nod.
    “Cassie.”
    His voice was as low and sexy as she’d remembered, his face more mature, his lips in that same straight linethat had always dared her to try to coax a smile from him. His blue eyes were as cold as a wintry sky, though why they were eluded her. He was the one who’d walked out on her. If anyone had a right to be fuming mad, it was she. He ought to be on his knees apologizing, which was about as likely as the sun starting to rise in the west.
    When it looked as if the conversation had run into a dead end before getting off the ground, Karen, ever the peacemaker, jumped in.
    “How’s Frank?” she asked, as if the tension weren’t already thick enough without bringing up Cole’s father.
    “Same as ever. Cantankerous,” he said, bestowing the smile on her that he’d refused Cassie.
    “Still grumbling about getting you married off?” Karen teased. Cassie poked an elbow sharply in her ribs.
    “The topic does come up now and again,” Cole said, amusement tilting the corners of his mouth.
    “Your father always gets his way in the end,” Gina chimed in. “I don’t see why you don’t just get it over with. The way I hear it from my folks, every female in ten counties is after you.”
    Cole grinned at her, a full-fledged smile, capable of breaking hearts. “Including you? How about it, Gina? Are you available?”
    Cassie scowled as she waited for her friend’s reply.
    “If you’d asked a week ago, I’d have turned you down flat,” Gina said. “Now, who knows?”
    The flip remark drew stares from the others. Something wasn’t right with Gina, either. Cassie had sensed it from the moment they’d sat down, but there hadn’t been time to get into it. Whatever it was, it had to beserious for her to even joke about a willingness to leave her beloved New York and stay in Wyoming.
    Cassie couldn’t give the matter any more thought just then, though, because she glanced up and spotted Jake and his grandmother coming across the street. After their talk yesterday, Cassie had thought there was no way her mother would bring the boy into town, but she’d clearly underestimated Jake’s powers of persuasion. He’d been pestering them for ice cream ever since Cassie had reneged on her promise of it the day before.
    A sense of dread filled her as she watched their progress. She did not want Cole meeting her son—not today, not ever—though that was likely to be tricky if she decided she was back home to stay. After the awkwardness of the past few minutes, she was beginning to see that staying in Winding River might not be feasible. She couldn’t live with the kind of panic that had streaked through her when she’d seen Jake unwittingly heading straight toward his daddy.
    “You guys, I have to run,” she said, dropping some money on the table and slipping out of the booth. “I