her toes, she kissed him, then brushed her fingers through his hair. “I feel bad.”
“For loving me?”
She made a face at him. “Poor Brent got his heart broken, and I got mine healed. I know you haven’t asked me to stay or anything, but I do love you, Stephen, and I’m not going anywhere. Well, away from this house because it totally freaks me out, but not away from this town. Not away from you. Unless...” She swallowed hard. “Unless you’d rather have someone a little less prone to drama—”
He stopped her words with a kiss that heated too hot too fast and made him a little unsteady on his feet. Holding on to her for balance, he rested his forehead against hers. “I have a suggestion. Let’s get me checked out at the hospital, get your brother checked into a hotel, get Clary and Scooter settled at home, and I’ll leave absolutely no doubt in your mind how much I want you in my life. Sound like a deal?”
Her smile came slowly and sent heat straight through his body, making him rethink the order of his suggestions. “Sounds like the best deal ever.” She took his hand, draped his arm over her shoulder and looped her free arm around his waist, encouraging him to lean on her as they started toward the door. “Tell me, Stephen. Do your stories have happy endings?”
His fingers tightened fractionally on her shoulder. “This one does, Mace.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Cowboy with a Cause by Carla Cassidy.
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Chapter 1
Adam Benson sat in his pickup truck parked at the curb and stared at the two-story house out his passenger-side window. It was a nice place, painted pale beige with rust-colored trim. A large tree in the front yard sported all the colors of autumn, with bright red and orange leaves beginning to group at the base.
The Room for Rent sign had been in the front window for a couple of months, and for the past few weeks each time Adam drove by the place, he’d considered the possibility of checking it out.
Shoving a hand into the pocket of his lightweight black jacket, he found the two small plastic chips inside and rubbed them together as he considered his next move.
There was no question that he was in transition. With two months of sobriety behind him and a ranch that no longer felt like his home, he knew it was time to make some significant changes in his life.
With a new decisiveness, he opened the truck door and got out. Great location, he told himself as he looked down Main Street. This house was one of the last on the block that hadn’t been sold and torn down to make room for commercial property. From here he could easily walk the main drag of the small town of Grady Gulch.
He turned back to look at the house. The place had belonged to Olive Brooks for as long as he could remember. The older woman had been a fixture in town, working at the post office and involved in every charity event. Then about a year ago she’d become ill with cancer and her only daughter had come to town from someplace back east to nurse her. Olive had passed away and her daughter had remained in the house.
It was a little strange. Nobody around town that Adam had spoken to seemed to have seen Melanie Brooks since her mother’s death, although he’d heard a few unpleasant rumors about her.
He jingled his sobriety chips once again. He knew personally about gossip and ugly rumors. In the past year he and his family had experienced enough of both to last a lifetime.
He finally sighed, irritated with his own hesitation. “Doesn’t hurt to check it out,” he muttered under his breath as he headed toward the front porch.
Next door to the house the pizza place was in full lunch swing, the scents of robust sauce and spicy sausage filling