Masked Cowboy (Men of the White Sandy) Read Online Free

behind our house and—” She shivered, but the room seemed several degrees warmer to Mary Beth. “You should have seen him.”
    “I think I saw enough today. How old is Jacob?” Honestly, it didn’t really matter. What mattered were those abs and forearms and especially that trail of hair. But she was curious.
    “Twenty-six, I think. Ronny turned twenty-seven last fall, and Jacob was a year behind him.”
    Damn. She had three years on him. But now was not the time for self-pity. Now was the time to pump Robin for all the info she could. “So you don’t think he got into a brawl?”
    “I know Jacob, and he doesn’t drink. He’s one of those Indians who believes the white man’s alcohol is the ruination—” she pulled the ruin part of the word out, like she was calling pigs “—of the tribe. Very righteous.”
    Righteous? A man who nearly pulled off a full monty in the middle of town was righteous ? “Really?”
    “Sure. Helped us get a loan from the tribe so we could buy the café.”
    “Your brother knows about the show?”
    “Of course he knows about the show. Ladies’ hour, he calls it. Trust me, in this town, there’s no way we’d make it if we didn’t get the business Jacob pulls in every night.”
    “So that’s why he does that? He’s helping a friend?”
    “Sure, part of it,” she shrugged, taking another swig. “But…”
    Mary Beth slid off the couch, getting down on Robin’s level. “But…”
    “I think it’s because of the mask. He didn’t do it before. I think he thinks that if everyone’s looking at that rock-hard body, no one will see his messed-up face.”
    “Distraction.” Her mind reeled. Of all the coping mechanisms, that had to be one of the more unique ones she’d ever heard of. It was like he was hiding in plain sight.
    “Absolutely. And you saw all those women.” Robin giggled. “You should have seen yourself gawk at him. He likes you, you know.”
    “Wait, what?”
    “He only undoes the top button, but today, he undid two. He was showing off for you.”
    “Whoa. Whoa .” Mary Beth repeated, finishing her bottle as the image of his black-blue treasure trail ending at the horizontal line of thicker hair floated before her. That was flirting around these parts? “So how well do you, um, know him?”
    Robin smiled dreamily. “He kissed me, really kissed me for my sixteenth birthday. I swear, I would have given it up to him right then and there in the middle of the party. But he just stepped back, tipped his hat and said, ‘Robin,’” her voice dropped into a reasonably good impression, “just like he does every night at the café.”
    She wasn’t going to be jealous. That was an order. “He doesn’t do that in the winter, does he?”
    “Any night it’s over sixty, he’s out there.” As Robin worked through the beer, her accent got a bit thicker, but it was a lovely sound. Completely different from the Midwest drawl Mary Beth was used to.
    Only another three months to watch the show. She couldn’t help but wonder how many buttons he’d undo tomorrow. Was hoping for three being greedy? “Is he married?”
    Robin smirked, her eyes knowing. “You like him too.”
    “Let’s be honest. I like parts of him.” They both giggled. “I don’t know anything about him.”
    “Which is why we’re here,” Robin replied, sweeping her arms out to encompass the entire living room crowded with boxes. “No, he’s not married. He dated this girl from the rez in high school pretty seriously, but she was a lot older than I was, so I didn’t really know her. I think she married someone else and they got off the rez. Maybe they moved to Pierre or something.” She shrugged.
    “That’s it? He had a high school sweetheart, he kissed you when you turned sixteen and he puts on a striptease every night in the summer?”
    “That’s it.” She got a greedy look in her eyes. “It’s almost like he’s uncharted territory just waiting to be discovered. God, I’d