Fall to Pieces Read Online Free

the bright July sun to the
dimmer interior. He spotted Sadie and Pete Jenkins, the ranch
foreman, over by one of the stalls. Their conversation was
inaudible over the music, but from the set of Sadie's narrow
shoulders he could tell it was tense.
    He still couldn't get over the change in her.
In the week or so since he'd seen last seen her at his brother's
party, he'd tried to convince himself that he'd been imagining
things. That the reason he'd reacted so strongly to her that first
night at the Last Chance, and later that week at his brother,
Deck's, party, was the sheer contrast between the too tall, too
skinny, awkward girl who'd earned the nickname "Sadie Storkton" to
a woman who was certifiably hot.
    But nope, there she was, her delicately
carved nose and cheekbones shown in profile, her now curvy ass
filling out the top of her low slung jeans and her new (to him)
breasts mounding against the thin cotton of her t-shirt.
    Not lush, by any means, but a nice little
handful that would fit perfectly in his big, broad palm—
    "Dylan!"
    His eyes snapped up at the sound of her
voice, and he hoped to God the dim light hid the fact that he'd
been staring at her boobs. And please Jesus let it hide the effect
those boobs were having on his own body.
    "Hey, Sadie," he said. Shit, had his voice
just cracked? He hoped to hell not, but it was hard to get anything
out, what with the way he felt like he'd taken a sucker punch to
the chest the instant he laid eyes on her face.
    Her eyebrows knit above her big dark eyes and
her mouth was pursed in what looked like irritation.
    "What are you doing here?" she asked as she
approached.
    Dylan forced his eyes away from the tempting
sway of her hips. "Dad said your tractor seized up. He's slammed
this morning so I told him I'd take care of it." He held up his
toolbox for emphasis. Though he didn't share his father's passion
for automobile repair and restoration, he was a capable mechanic
and helping his father at the shop gave him something to fill his
time between working out to prepare him for the intense physical
training he'd face when he went back to Fort Bragg..
    "Oh, I was expecting Frank."
    "I'm more than capable of fixing it," he
said.
    "Of course you are, you've always been great
with your hands." She gave her head a little shake and laughed.
    Come a little closer and I'll show you
just how good, said a voice that came straight from the little
head. Knock it off, he told his inner horndog. This is
Sadie. Sweet, smart, Sadie, who doesn't deserve our bullshit no
matter how hot she's become.
    "Sorry," she continued. "You just caught me
off guard. Things have been a pretty..." She raised her hands and
screwed her face in an expression to convey chaos.
    "How's your dad? When ran into him at Adele's
last week it looked like he was getting around pretty well."
    "Don't tell him that," she said wryly. "His
cardiologist says that his blood pressure is still elevated and he
still needs to take it easy. You can imagine how well he took
that."
    Right. Jim Thornton was what the old timers
called a tough cuss, about as tender as a piece of rawhide. A
gritty cowboy who wouldn't let something like a heart attack keep
him from running his outfit. Dylan would have wondered how he'd
managed to spawn a daughter as sweet and funny as Sadie had he not
known Sadie's mom, Angela. "I imagine he's happy to have you around
though."
    Sadie's smile stiffened around the corners.
"I'd like to think so."
    Dylan's heart pinched a little, but before he
could hone in closer, Pete's rough voice interrupted. "Hay's not
going to mow itself. You gonna git to that tractor you or two gonna
stand around jawing the morning away?"
    Sadie rolled her eyes and motioned Dylan out
the main door and around the back where the hulking piece of
machinery was parked while Pete stomped off toward the
outbuildings, his bowlegged gait attesting to decades spent on
horseback.
    "I see his mood hasn't improved over the
years."
    "If he was a