Naked Hunger: Naked Cowboys, Book 8 Read Online Free Page A

told her he’d felt the jolt as well. Holy hell! How would she handle being around a man she constantly wanted to see naked?
    “Well?” Pete asked when they were back in his truck. He’d waited and chatted with one of the hands while Ryan had done the walkthrough with her.
    “It’s everything you say,” she told him. “And everyone I’ve met seems friendly and easy to be with.”
    “As long as their animals get top care,” he added.
    “Which is a hallmark of my practice,” she pointed out. She glanced over at him, curious about something. “This boat of yours people keep mentioning must really be something.”
    “Sure is.” A look of pure joy flashed across his face. “My wife and I have been planning to live on that boat as soon as I retire for a long time. Which,” he told her, “I hope is right now. We both love it here in Saddle wells, but I promised her we could travel, spend time together. Travel down the Gulf to the Caribbean. Do some fishing, some sightseeing, stay at some five-star hotels.”
    “Sounds great. But won’t you miss the animals?”
    “Maybe, maybe not. But I do believe I’m ready for a big change. And a promise is a promise.”
    “I hope I get to meet her,” Sable told him.
    “As a matter of fact, I have orders to invite you for dinner tonight.” He chuckled. “Bring your appetite. Maura puts on a good feed.”
    “I’ll look forward to it.”
    “Then let’s get down to the nitty gritty so we can be on time. She hates it when I’m late.”

Chapter Two
    “How is the house hunting coming?”
    Sable looked up at Georgie Hannigan, who was standing in the open doorway. In the short time she’d known Georgie and Cade, they’d become like old friends to her. It amazed her, because while she’d made friends in the past, she found herself connecting so easily with the Hannigans, as well as with the other people in Saddle Wells. She was blown away by the women, Georgie’s friends, who’d embraced her so readily and completely. Already she felt more as if she belonged than as an outsider.
    “It’s coming.” She sighed. “Sort of.”
    “Can’t find what you want?” Georgie leaned in the doorway. “Nida’s usually pretty good at matching her buyers with properties.”
    Sable had met Nida the day after she and Pete had signed the agreement of sale for the practice. She was the silently acknowledged queen of the Rowan County real estate market. Pete had told her the woman had a reputation for making great matches and finding people the perfect properties.
    Maybe I’m being too picky?
    No , she answered herself. If she planned to be here for a long time, which she did, she wanted a place she could really make into a home. Location was important too. She’d discovered she was the only large-animal vet in Rowan County at the moment, which meant she needed to be somewhat centrally located. On that note, she was thankful that Saddle Wells was actually located in the geographic center, so her only other requirement was being close enough to the clinic.
    She also had to figure out the best place to stable her horse.
    “I should have done all this when I was here the first time,” she confessed to Georgie.
    The woman chuckled. “We talked about that, remember? But you were anxious to get back to West Texas and pack up all your stuff, get back here and dive into the practice. How’s that going, by the way?”
    Sable grinned. “I feel like I’ve been riding a bullet train with Doc. We spend half the day going over business procedures in the office and seeing small animal patients. Then we’re off to the races, hitting as many ranches in the county each day as we can. Man, where does he get his energy?”
    Georgie just shook her head. “We all ask the same thing. You’ll settle into a routine when you have control of the situation.”
    “Meanwhile, I’m spending every spare minute looking at properties either to buy or rent or rent to buy or whatever.”
    “I think you