In a Cowboy's Arms - Chapter 2 (Harlequin Extras)

At eighteen, all Sandi Drake wanted was out. Out of the little Texas town that suffocated her. Out of her father’s ranch that didn’t appeal to her bookish interests. And out of the influence of the sexy and irresistible Travis Moretti, the one thing she regretted leaving behind.

Twelve years later, her father’s death brings her back to the Broken T ranch. Back to Travis. Back to the sparks and to the fire that she could never deny—and in her heart of hearts could never forget.

Travis hasn’t forgotten either. Not the way she made him laugh, and not the way she hurt him when she left. Now that she’s returned, they have a second chance. But is it a second chance at love, or another opportunity for her to break his heart?

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Catch up on what you've missed by reading the previous chapters:

One

Chapter Two

The sun had barely peeked over the horizon Friday morning when Sandi left the house and marched toward the corral where Travis exercised a horse using a lunge line connected to the animal’s halter. The filly trotted in circles, adjusting her gait to the clicking sound Travis made with his tongue.

Sandi halted several feet away, wanting to soak up the beauty of the moment—a handsome cowboy framed against the backdrop of a Texas sunrise.

Travis had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her during her stay. She refused to be ignored. Sidling up to the corral, she propped a boot on the bottom slat. "How about a tour of the ranch?" No sense wasting words.

His dark gaze latched onto hers. The intensity of his stare shoved the air from her lungs in an audible whoosh, leaving her light–headed. The last time he’d looked at her that way he’d…kissed her.

Returning his attention to the horse, he groused, "I’m busy."

For a moment, she watched man and beast rotate in circles. A quiet sigh of appreciation escaped her mouth. Travis was all lean muscle, and years of working in the sun and wind had stamped crow’s–feet around his eyes and left his skin the color of the longhorns grazing in the pasture. The cowboy was as rugged as the land around him.

"What’s her name?" Sandi called.

"She doesn’t have one yet."

"How old is she?"

"A year next month."

White splotches marred the black hide, and all four legs were white from the knee joint down. "If she were mine, I’d call her Princess." The horse carried her nose high, as if she descended from royalty.

At Travis’s command, the animal slowed to a stop. He led her over to Sandi. "Let her catch your scent first," he cautioned.

Delighted, Sandi stood still as the horse sniffed. When the animal blew in her hair, she giggled. "Yep, she acts like a princess."

"Then Princess is yours."

The quiet pronouncement caught Sandi off guard, as did the solemn expression on Travis’s face. "But—"

Read the rest of Chapter Two of In a Cowboy's Arms here on Harlequin Extras.