Back In The Saddle

Back In The Saddle
Karen Templeton

A second chance in the saddleAll that widowed veterinarian Zach Talbot wants is to raise his two boys in peace and quiet. Who’d have thought that being roped into helping a woman choose a horse for her son would up-end his whole world? Except exactress and rodeo rider Mallory Keyes isn’t just any woman…Whispering Pines is the ideal temporary haven after the accident that changed Mallory’s life for ever. Falling for the sexy, caring man who found the perfect palomino for her eleven year old wasn’t in her plans. Can she return the favour by helping to heal the vet’s heart?

“You know what I’d really like to do right now?”

“I can’t wait to hear this,” he said, and her eyes twinkled.

“It’s also been a while since a boy kissed me on a porch swing.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking, Mallory.”

“Actually, I do … oh.” She huffed a sigh then said, “And here’s where I should probably get off your lap and pretend like this never happened. If, you know, I could actually do that—”

“Oh, God, no, honey—” Zach grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest. “That did not come out the way I meant it. Because trust me, I’ve been thinking about kissing you, too. For some time, actually.”

Her lips curved. “You don’t say.”

“God’s truth,” he said, and she chuckled, low in her throat. “But … it’s been a while since I’ve kissed a girl, too. On a porch swing or anyplace else. And I—”

“Think far too much, is how you want to finish that sentence,” she murmured, then curved her hands around his jaw and brought their mouths together.

And in that instant, he knew kissing her would never be enough.

* * *

Wed in the West: New Mexico’s the perfect place to finally find true love!

Back in the

Saddle

Karen Templeton

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

KAREN TEMPLETON is a recent inductee into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. A three-time RITA

Award–winning author, she has written more than thirty novels for Mills & Boon. She lives in New Mexico with two hideously spoiled cats. She has raised five sons and lived to tell the tale, and she could not live without dark chocolate, mascara and Netflix.

To Jewel Kats

Who planted the seed.

Thanks, sweetie.

To Kari Lynn Dell

Who answered my horse/ranching/rodeo questions with her usual aplomb, good humor and patience. If I goofed, that’s my fault, not hers.

Contents

Cover (#uff982a92-3b3e-5ee6-bfc0-0c757c67dd37)

Introduction (#ud3a4c782-12c6-5d40-8f8b-73e206487d4e)

Title Page (#uf66f5f9e-d31a-554b-b505-3a2c1574da01)

About the Author (#udb1381b8-17e3-5efd-b5f8-1117f16648ae)

Dedication (#u14e1db4c-ee63-5a90-bd2f-b64a28a88044)

Chapter One (#u0cfe1890-e7e9-523a-9d4c-d10843bcfd8f)

Chapter Two (#u048d89fc-fcc5-5a3b-8fea-fcbbdb7b2017)

Chapter Three (#u185551b7-e555-5c86-954e-9c947eb56658)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_eb9ddff4-bab4-5bb2-84c0-e3c946db453c)

“So I gather you know a fair amount about horses?”

With an actual sigh, the getting-up-there Boston terrier slid down on the exam table in front of Zach Talbot and promptly went to sleep. This might take a while, wake me when she’s done.

She being the auburn-haired Texan female of indeterminate age who’d brought the dog into Zach’s clinic three times in the two weeks since she—and her daughter, she’d mentioned more than once—had moved into the old Hufsteter place a ways out of town. Completely renovated, she’d said. Beautiful house. Reminded her of home.