Joshua and the Cowgirl by Sherryl Woods Page B

was one of the harsh realities of life on the ranch.
    “We need to get back to the truck,” she said, her sense of duty restored. “If we take the shovels along, we should be able to dig it out of the ditch and get back on the road.”
    Joshua turned her slowly until she was facing him. With the tip of his finger, he tilted her chin until she could no longer avoid his gaze. “Don’t run away from this, Garrett.”
    “I’m not running,” she denied heatedly.
    “You are. You’ve been running ever since I told you last night that I was falling in love with you.”
    “What if I have? Isn’t that what you’re going to do? Aren’t you going to walk away from this eventually and go back to Florida? I’m just trying to save us both a lot of heartache.”
    “But you’re also costing us the time it would take to get to know each other.”
    “For what? So that we can be ripped apart inside a few weeks or months from now when we finally have to admit that we will never belong together.”
    “How can you predict the ending, when we haven’t even begun?”
    “Men like you do not end up with women like me. That’s a fact, Joshua.”
    His jaw clenched. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Men like me? What exactly does that mean?”
    “It means that you live a certain kind of life, back in civilization, as you call it. You’re rich. You can buy anything you want. Well, you can’t buy me. My price tag is way too high.”
    Joshua ignored the rising fury in her voice. His fingers stroked her cheek, the pad of his thumb following the generous curve of her bottom lip. Despite herself, Garrett was mesmerized.
    “I don’t want to buy you, sweetheart,” he said gently. “I just want to love you.”
    “No,” she responded stubbornly, backing away. She had to get away from the feel of his hands on her, away from the warm glint of desire that lit his eyes and lured her like a beacon. “Absolutely not. Not again.”
    “You take everything too seriously,” he told her, stalking her through the snow.
    The sudden spark of devilment in his eyes and the lazy, flat-out amusement in his voice made Garrett very, very nervous. She held out a warning hand. “Joshua!”
    “Hmm?” He stepped closer, reaching for her.
    Garrett ducked under his arm and started to run, floundering through the drifts. “Stay away from me, Joshua Ames!”
    “I can’t,” he said, gaining on her.
    Garrett caught sight of him over her shoulder, turned unexpectedly and tripped him. He fell, sprawling facedown in the snow. She paused long enough to gloat, then took off, laughing at the startled expression on his face.
    “Okay, that does it,” he muttered, trying to keep a smile from ruining the murderous tone of his voice. “When I get my hands on you, Garrett…”
    “
If
you get your hands on me,” she taunted as she rounded the side of the cabin and headed for the road.
    “When,”
he repeated, gaining on her.
    It was a little like being chased by the Abominable Snowman. Clumps of snow clung to his clothes and hair. He’d grabbed handfuls of the stuff, too, and was forming a gigantic snowball that she knew was destined for her. She hit the frozen creekbed running, her laughter trailing behind.
    Suddenly her feet shot out from under her and she tumbled face-first into the snow on the opposite bank. Before she could even roll over, Joshua was on the ground beside her, pulling her into his arms, tumbling with her like playful kids in the season’s first snowfall. The teasing attack took her back in time. Once, just once, she’d crept out of her parents’ crowded, dirty apartment to see the first snowfall. Blanketed in purest white, the world for that brief, fragile moment had indeed been a wonderland, spread out before the eyes of a seven-year-old who’d seen too much of harsh reality. She had lain down on her back and made snow angels, then built a snowman, thrilling to the magical winter world she was creating. She felt the magic