Wrangling the Redhead - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,37
arms. Everything about her looked dejected. Wade had never seen her like that before. She reminded him of Miss Molly. Who the hell was this guy who was capable of sapping the fire right out of her?
“Problems?” he asked cautiously, not sure he wanted to provide a sounding board for whatever personal issues she might have that involved another man. It was one thing to hear about past loves in the abstract, but to hear all the telling details might be more than he could stomach.
Her head snapped up at once. “No,” she said flatly. “Nothing I can’t handle anyway. Did you need me?”
“Grady wanted the two of us to ride over to the Grigsby place today. Grigsby’s got a couple of horses for sale. Word is that he might be planning to sell out.”
A hint of sadness passed across her face. “I remember Otis Grigsby. Gosh, he must be ninety by now. I’m amazed he’s kept that place going as long as he has.”
“Grady seems to think it’s gone downhill a lot the last couple of years, but he says the one thing the old man would never slack off on was caring for his stock.” He studied Lauren’s lackluster expression. “Do you feel like coming, or should I head on over alone?”
“Of course I’ll come,” she said, though without much enthusiasm. “Let me splash some water on my face first. I’ll meet you at the truck. Are you taking a trailer along just in case?”
Wade nodded. “Might as well be prepared. The way I hear it, now that Grigsby has made up his mind to go, he’s in a hurry.”
“Or maybe his son is,” Lauren said. “Otis Junior never did have much patience where his daddy was concerned. I heard he moved to Phoenix years ago. Maybe he’s intent on getting his father down there, so caring for him will be less inconvenient.”
“Maybe so. Grady didn’t say.” Wade’s gaze narrowed when she showed no sign of moving. Finally, because he couldn’t bear to see her looking like this, he dragged out a chair and sat down opposite her. “Okay, what’s going on? And don’t tell me it’s nothing. You look as if you lost your best friend.”
She met his gaze. “Sorry. I’m just having a bad morning.” She shoved her chair back and started to stand.
“Sit,” Wade ordered. “Talk to me.”
A flash of fire lit her eyes for an instant, and he thought he might have stirred her temper back to life, but then she sighed and sat back down.
Though he’d vowed to say nothing about what he’d overheard, he couldn’t help himself. “Lauren, dammit, what does this mood of yours have to do with that phone call you were on a few minutes ago?” he demanded. “Did you have a little lovers’ tiff?”
Bright patches of color darkened her cheeks at that. “You were listening?” she asked, practically quivering with indignation.
“It was hard not to. I came to the door and you were shouting at the top of your lungs.”
“So you just stood there and eavesdropped?”
“No, dammit, I walked away.”
Her gaze narrowed. “You did?”
“What the hell difference does it make whether I did or I didn’t? Unless, of course, this lover is still very much in the picture after all. Was it one of your ex-husbands?”
She started to respond, then snapped her mouth shut, her expression vaguely guilty.
“What?” he prodded. “Who is Jason?”
She hesitated for a full minute before responding. “Someone I knew in California,” she said eventually, then added pointedly, “Not one of the men I married.”
“A lover?” Wade demanded again.
She looked as if she might take offense, but eventually she shook her head. “No. He was a business associate. Nothing more.”
Wade wasn’t buying it. Nobody had that kind of passionate exchange with a business associate, especially a former business associate.
“And that’s all you intend to tell me?”
She nodded. “Believe me, Jason doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”
Wade should have been relieved, but instead he was irritated by her refusal to open up any further. He also found her easy dismissal of the man annoying. Would she dismiss him that cavalierly when their relationship ended? Come to think of it, was her relationship with this Jason even ended? Despite what she claimed, it certainly had sounded as if the two of them had unfinished business. He lost patience with trying to figure it out when it was evident she wasn’t going to give him anything further to go on.
“Fine, whatever,” he snapped, and stood up. “I’ll be waiting in