Cooking For Cowboy (Stampede Sizzlers) Read Online Free Page B

machine would sleep at the foot of her bed, snoring, and whimpering in his sleep while he dreamt about who knew what. She closed the door with a little more force than she’d intended.
    “Face it, Sierra…your love life sucks,” she whispered into the dark room.
    Almost an hour later, Sierra still hadn’t fallen asleep, but Barney snored contentedly at the foot of her bed. She couldn’t hear any noise coming from the living room. Nothing at all, since she’d heard the toilet flush in the bathroom minutes after she’d entered her bedroom and turned on the light.
    Chad was probably sleeping as soundly as Barney. She lay in the dark, wide awake, wondering if Chad snored. God, he looked good in those Wranglers and that black cowboy hat. Deep tan and scuffed but clean cowboy boots that she would guess had seen the business end of a horse. He had to be a genuine cowboy. She felt a sudden need for intimacy with a man, just thinking about the handsome, virile guy stretched out on her living room sofa. And she’d kill for a cup of herbal tea, but she didn’t dare venture out to the kitchen. After another minute, she sat bolt upright in bed.
    Why the hell not? she asked herself.
    This was her home. Why shouldn’t she make herself a damn cup of tea if she wanted it? Chad wasn’t a houseguest she didn’t want to risk waking. He’d never hear a thing anyway.
    Sierra crept out of bed, padded across the carpeted floor, silently opened the door, and tip-toed down the dark hallway toward the kitchen. She shivered in a sleeveless pink silk nightie, and then rubbed her chilled arms. Even the carpeted hallway floor felt cold beneath her bare feet. Basement apartments were wonderful on stifling-hot summer nights, but on a rainy night in late June the house felt cool. She continued toward the end of the hallway illuminated by streetlight streaming through the window. The rain must have stopped.
    She was sorely tempted, but she couldn’t convince herself to peek into the living room to check on Chad. She imagined him stretched out on the sofa, the blanket barely covering his sexy parts, him wearing nothing at all. For some reason, she assumed cowboys slept naked as the day they were born. She smiled as a vision of long legs, muscular thighs, and a well-endowed package popped into her head. Her heartbeat quickened and she felt herself getting moist.
    Herbal tea, she reminded herself. Keep your mind on the purpose of this late-night reconnaissance mission. Sierra rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and strode into the kitchen. Spotting the outline of a man standing beside the counter, Sierra stopped in her tracks. She screamed at a decibel she wasn’t aware she was capable of.
    “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.” Chad spilled beer onto the faded linoleum when he jumped a foot. “What the hell are you doing out of bed?”
    “What am I doing out of bed?” Sierra forced her heart rate to slow as she flicked on the light switch. “What are you doing standing in the kitchen in the dark?”
    Just then Barney bounded into the kitchen, barking up a storm.
    “Quiet,” ordered Sierra. “Some watch dog you are.”
    “I couldn’t sleep,” admitted Chad, chuckling as Barney slunk out of the kitchen, head down and tail between his legs. Chad grabbed a handful of paper towels, wiped up the spilled beer and tossed the mess into the garbage. “I didn’t hear any noise coming from your bedroom so I figured you were dead to the world. You said to help myself to whatever I needed, so I decided to check your fridge for a beer. Don’t tell anyone I drank one of these diet beers with only 67 calories. Desperate times called for desperate measures.”
    “I love that beer, and you’re welcome to one.” Sierra strode across the kitchen floor, grabbed the kettle, and filled it with water.
    “Thank you,” said Chad, tipping back the bottle and finishing the drink. “Could I talk you out of another one? It’s pretty good