The Cowboy Code. Christine Wenger
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tonight. Maybe she just didn’t want to stay by herself in a strange house. He wished Aunt Betty hadn’t gone out of town. She could have kept Maggie company.
“I’m okay,” she said. “But it’s so quiet here. How am I ever going to sleep?”
“I can fix you a place in the barn if you’d like. It can get pretty noisy out there.” He winked.
“Uh…no…” She laughed. “But thanks anyway.”
Maggie looked so very…kissable. The dim hallway light made her golden hair shimmer. He longed to run his hand through her blond locks, to pull her to him….
A laugh from the bunkhouse brought him back to reality. What was he thinking? She was a participant in his program.
“Um…good night, Joe.”
“’Night, Maggie.” He headed down the path, then stopped. “The phone number to the bunkhouse is right by the phone. Call if you need anything—anything at all.”
He gritted his teeth. That sounded like a proposition, and he hadn’t meant that at all.
“I mean…uh…” He couldn’t think.
“I know what you mean, Joe. See you bright and early.”
She smiled, and the door closed.
He caught himself whistling as he walked to the bunkhouse. He hadn’t whistled in ages.
But sleep wouldn’t come. He kept thinking about Maggie, who had a wagonload of trouble she had to deal with. Her heaviest cargo was the smallest kid in Cowboy Quest.
Would he be able to help her?
Tossing and turning, he thought about his growing attraction to Maggie and how he had to resist. It would be unprofessional, and a huge complication.
He had a highly charged program to run, loaded with high-risk juveniles with emotional issues and one interesting woman who was constantly intruding on his thoughts.
How was he going to keep his mind on business?
Chapter Four
Maggie barely slept. She kept having dreams of falling off horses as tall as the Empire State Building.
Four-thirty came way too early. She grabbed the clothes that she’d laid out last night and hurried to the shower.
At five o’clock sharp, she was at the barn, shivering in her designer coat. She could see the cowboys and the kids walking in single file up the hill. Joe led the way, his long strides determined and purposeful. Danny lagged behind the group with Brandon.
She hoped that the two of them didn’t get too close. Danny was a first-class follower. He was the type of kid that others liked to egg on, then sit back and watch him take the fall.
Maybe Cowboy Quest would teach him how to be a leader.
“Morning, Maggie,” Joe said, handing her a mug of steaming coffee.
“Morning.”
He also handed her a flannel shirt. “I brought you this. I figured you’d need it.”
Judging by the size, it was one of his.
“We might need to move up our shopping trip to after breakfast.” Joe said, nodding in Danny’s direction. “It’s cold here until about noon or so. You both need warmer clothes.”
It looked as though Danny was wearing all the contents of his suitcase. The other kids were dressed appropriately. Obviously, they knew more than she.
“I think you’re right.” She hurriedly took off her coat and slipped into Joe’s flannel shirt. It was so soft and comfortable, and she caught the scent of laundry soap and his spicy aftershave. She buttoned it up, rolled up the sleeves and put her coat back on. His shirt hung almost to her knees, but she was much warmer, and grateful.
She looked at the horses milling around the corral. Now when she shivered, it wasn’t from the cold. It was pure fright.
Quint took charge, and they all worked in teams of three to water and feed the horses and muck the stalls. Maggie, Danny and Ronnie were a team. She liked the big cowboy with the shaggy blond hair and the easy smile. While Maggie bit her tongue, Ronnie deftly deflected any negative remarks that Danny made.
By the time they’d fed and watered their allotment of horses, mucked their fair share of stalls and turned out some horses into the corral, the sun was rising over the mountains.
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