Page 276 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“I didn’t mean to pry,” he said. “I just figured since you’re going to be around for a few days, we could get to know eachother.”

“Why?” she asked. “I’m leaving at the end of the week. You made it pretty clear that you’re not interested in arelationship.”

This whole conversation was going to hell. He shouldn’t have even tried. Obviously she didn’t want to give out a bunch of information about herself, but he’d forged ahead with questions anyway. What amistake.

As he directed Killer back toward the house, he couldn’t stop thinking about her strange answers. At least she’d only be on the ranch for a week. If she was running or hiding from something, then she wouldn’t be around long enough to cause problems for hisfamily.

Chapter4

Cindy pacedthe length of the bedroom. Dinner had been a total disaster. She couldn’t keep her stories straight and Drew drilled her until she thought she’d break. A part of her wanted to confess every torrid secret, including her real name, but she couldn’t. Shame kept her lipssealed.

Maybe staying here wasn’t the right thing to do. She could wait until everyone was asleep and then sneak out. She’d only been here a day, not long enough to make an impression, so moving on made the mostsense.

She padded to the door and opened it a crack. Laughter carried up from downstairs. When she’d left, Drew, Carol, Hank, Cody, and Abby were sitting in the living room sipping hot cocoa by the fire. She envied them more than she wanted to admit. They were the picture-perfect family, something she’d tried to have back in LA. But she’d failedmiserably.

Amidst the voices, she recognized Drew’s. It had a rough quality that hinted at his bristly personality. She should have been turned off by his near interrogation, but instead she’d admired his ability to see right through the lies. In another life, she would have loved to meet someone like him. A man who didn’t hide his feelings. He said what he meant and he didn’t mincewords.

She closed the door and leaned against it. A flash of anger sparked in her belly. Dammit, why couldn’t this have worked out? How had she ended up in such a mess? The more time she spent away from home, the worse her heart hurt. At some point she’d have to go back. But she wasn’t ready. Not yet. She wasn’t strong enough to face the consequences of heractions.

After retrieving her suitcase from the closet, she packed all of her belongings. She made the bed and perched on the end of it, waiting until silence blanketed thehouse.

Two hours later, she opened the door and peeked out. When nothing stirred, she stepped into the hall. As she passed Madison and Mack’s room, she noted the closed door. She’d have to be particularly careful when she was rolling her luggage past. If she woke them, they might try to convince her to stay out of some sort ofobligation.

She reached the bottom floor without incident. But when she turned to look into the living room, three faces turned. Logan, Kate, and Drew smiled upather.

“Hey there, couldn’t sleep?” Kateasked.

“No.”

“Come and sit with us,” Logan said. “I can fire up some more hotchocolate.”

Cindy glanced at Drew, who watched her with a neutral expression. She wasn’t very good at reading people, so she couldn’t decide if he wanted her to stayornot.

“I just came down to get some water,”shesaid.

“I’ll get it for you,”Logansaid.

He unfolded his long legs and stood up from the sofa. As he disappeared into the kitchen, Cindy clasped her hands together to keep fromfidgeting.

“Drew was telling us you drove in from Miami,”Katesaid.

“Via Virginia,” Drewadded.

“Yes. I’d never been up the East Coast before, so I thought that would be my last opportunity.” At least that waspartiallytrue.

“I think what you did was romantic,” Kate said. “Leaving your life behind to meet someone you only knewonline.”

“I think it’s crazy,”Drewsaid.

“Drew!” Kate narrowed her eyes. “Could you stop being a jerk for two seconds? No wonder you’realone.”

“Come on guys, not in front of our guest,” Logan said as he walked back into the room. He carried two steaming mugs. After handing her one, he gave the other to his wife. “I don’t know what’s gotten into everyone. I think we all have cabin fever this year orsomething.”

“Which is why we’re over here,” Kate said. “We really need to repair the fireplace in myhouse.”

“We should tear the whole house down and start over,”Logansaid.

“It would keep everyone occupied,” Drew said. “Maybe then I could get some peacearoundhere.”