Page 7 of Rescued By the Mountain Man Cowboy
And now he wants me to put a twenty-something stranger inside all that.
A twenty-something stranger with eyes like the ones I just saw.
"She know you're volunteering me for this?"
"Madison told her we had somebody qualified on staff."
"Qualified."
"Luke."
"Fine." I jam my hat back on. "But she's gotta listen. She's gotta do what I tell her, when I tell her. I'm not playing Mary Poppins with somebody who wants to argue with me about whether to keep the curtains drawn."
"She'll listen."
"She doesn't look like the listening type."
"She's scared, Luke. Scared people listen if you give them a reason to trust you."
I grunt.
We go back inside.
Madison's leaned down next to Anna now, one hand on her shoulder, talking low. Anna nods at something. Tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, her fingers are shaking.
Something tugs, low in my chest. I shove it down.
"Anna." Gabe crosses the room. "This is Luke Davis. He runs most of the operations on the ranch for me. Ex-Army. He's gonna stay with you at his cabin until we figure this out."
Her head comes up.
Those eyes find me again, and this time I can't read them as fast. Fear's still there. But there's something else underneath. Something that's been holding itself together by its fingernails for maybe seventy-two hours straight and is deciding whether to let go or dig in.
She decides to dig in. I watch her do it. Watch her shoulders square. Watch her chin come up a quarter inch.
"I can get a hotel."
Madison sighs. "Anna."
"I don't need to impose on a stranger."
"You're not imposing." I cut in before I can stop myself. "You're doing what you're told."
Her eyes snap to mine. Narrow.
Yeah. Not the listening type.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"I didn't ask to be here."
"Neither did I."
Madison makes a noise that might be a laugh or might be a warning. I don't look at her.
Anna stands up. She's small. Maybe five-four in the flats she's wearing. I clear a foot on her easy. She tips her chin up higher to keep my eyes.
