Read In Bed with the Wrangler for Free Online

soup on the stove.”
    “Soup sounds great.” It was nearly nine, and Amber hadn’t eaten anything since their light snack on the plane around 5:00 a.m. Any kind of food sounded terrific to her right now.
    They left the border collies asleep on the deck and filed through the living room, down a hallway to the kitchen on the south side of the house.
    “Have you talked to your parents?” asked Royce as he set a pair of blue-glazed, stoneware bowls out on the breakfast bar.
    The counters were granite, the cabinets dark cherry. There were stainless steel appliances with cheery, yellow walls and ceiling reflecting off the polished beams and natural wood floor. A trio of spotlights was suspended above the bar, complementing the glow of the pot lights around the perimeter of the ceiling.
    “I texted them both before I got on the plane.”
    “Nothing since then?” He set a basket of grainy buns on the breakfast bar, and she slipped onto one of the high, padded, hunter-green leather chairs.
    She shook her head. “I don’t know how this GPS and triangulating-the-cell-towers thing works.”
    Royce’s brows went up, and he paused in his work.
    “Crime dramas,” she explained. “I don’t know how much of all that is fiction. My dad, and Hargrove for sure, will pull out all the stops.”
    Royce held out his hand. “Let me see your phone.”
    She pulled back on the stool and dug the little phone out of the pocket of her blue jeans.
    He slid it open and pressed the on button.
    “Are you sure—”
    “I won’t leave it on long.” He peered at the tiny screen. “Nope. No GPS function.” He shut it off and tossed it back to her. “Though they could, theoretically, triangulate while you’re talking, but you’re probably safe to text.”
    “Really?” That was good news. She’d like to send another message to her mother. And Katie deserved an explanation.
    He set out two small plates and spoons while she tucked the phone back into her pocket. She’d have to think about how to phrase her explanation.
    Royce ladled the steaming soup into the bowls and set them back on the bar, taking the stool at the end.
    “Thanks,” she breathed, inhaling the delectable aroma.
    Royce lifted his spoon. “So, how long have you known?”
    She followed suit, dipping into the rich broth. “Known what?”
    “That you didn’t love him?”
     
    Royce knew his question was blunt to the point of rudeness, but if he was going to make a play for Amber, he needed to know the lay of the land. He knew he’d be atemporary, rebound fling, which was not even remotely a problem for him. In fact, he’d gone into the situation planning to be her temporary, rebound fling. She wasn’t going to stay the whole month. She probably wouldn’t even last a week. But he was up for it, however long it lasted.
    Last night, he’d known Amber was beautiful. Today, he’d learned she was positively fascinating. She was intelligent, poised and personable, and she could actually speak Chinese. Her reaction to the puppies was cute and endearing. While her fiancé’s and family’s ability to intimidate her made him curious.
    Why would such an accomplished woman give a rat’s hind end what anybody thought of her decisions?
    She stirred her spoon thoughtfully through the bowl of soup. “It’s not so much…” she began.
    He waited.
    She looked up. “It’s not that I knew I didn’t love him. It’s more that I didn’t know that I did. You know?”
    Royce hadn’t the slightest idea what she meant, and he shook his head.
    “It seems to me,” she said, cocking her head sideways, teeth raking momentarily over her full bottom lip, “if you’re going to say ‘till death do us part’ you’d better be damn sure.”
    Royce couldn’t disagree with that. His parents obviously hadn’t been damn sure. At least his mother wasn’t. His father, on the other hand, had to have been devastated by her betrayal.
    Amber was right to break it off. She had absolutely no