Night Driving Read Online Free

would happen to him once she was gone? Probably turn into a hermit and holler at kids for walking across his lawn.
    Tara smiled sweetly and gently bumped Boone with a playful hip as she walked past him on her way to the house for another load of boxes. It was her way of telling him everything was going to be okay, but she wasn’t prepared for the blast of pure heat that shot through her at the contact or the low, throaty masculine sound of alarm that he made in response.
    Quickly she sprinted off, her heart bounding erratically. She was in such a rush that she ran headlong into one of the movers. Reflexively, the guy wrapped an arm around her waist.
    “Slow down there, sweetcheeks.” The man possessed a chest like a brick wall, a Tom Selleck mustache and a red bandana wrapped around his bald dome. “Is there a fire someone didn’t tell me about?”
    “We’re on a tight time schedule,” she said. “Have to get a move on.”
    “Let me just check my magic watch.” He pretended to consult an imaginary wristwatch.
    “What?”
    “It’s telling me that you don’t have any panties on.”
    “Yes I do,” she blurted, then belatedly realized it was some stupid pickup line. Duh, how could she be so gullible?
    His grin widened and he made a big show of shaking his imaginary wristwatch and holding it up to his ear. “Damn, it must be ten minutes fast.”
    Ha-ha. She got it. He was suggesting that in ten minutes he’d have her panties off.
    “Dude.” Tara fake chuckled, rolled her eyes and pushed back against his embrace. She was about to tell him he needed a course in how and where to pick up women, but she never got a chance.
    Boone was there, clamping a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Let go of her,” he said in a voice as ruthless as the sound of a .45 Magnum round being chambered.
    Instantly, Bandana Head released her, stepped back and raised his palms in a gesture of surrender. “Chill, man. Just a little harmless flirting. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
    “Get out!” Boone commanded and pointed toward the door, his expression deadly.
    “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean anything by it. I didn’t know she was your woman. I swear.”
    “She’s not my woman, but that still doesn’t give you the right to manhandle her.” Boone’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Boone was big, but the bald guy was bigger and Boone had a bum knee.
    The guy puffed out his chest. “She ran into me.”
    “Look, look.” Tara winnowed her way between the two men. To Boone she said, “I did run into him. It was my fault.” Then to the bald guy she said, “Dude, cheesiest pickup line ever and borderline offensive.”
    “Borderline!” Boone snorted.
    “Okay, it was offensive, but I’m sure...” She waved a hand. “What’s your name?”
    “Rodney.”
    “That Rodney meant nothing by it.”
    “Didn’t mean a thing.” Rodney raked a lascivious glance over her body and Tara regretted her snug-fitting T-shirt. She’d worn it for Boone’s sake, knowing that it clung to her curves. She never thought twice about being too provocative for the moving men.
    “Out.” Boone pointed toward the door. He plucked his wallet from his back pocket, peeled off two one-hundred-dollar bills and a fifty and thrust them at the man.
    “Hey, the deal was for five hundred dollars.”
    “That was before you insulted Miss Duvall. You’ve only done half the job, that’s all I’m paying for.”
    Rodney looked like he was going to protest, but then he shrugged. “Suit yourself. You’re gonna have fun loading up that van with your gimp leg.” He turned, hollered to his partner who was in the back room packing up Tara’s home office, “C’mon, Joe, we’re outta here.”
    “Wow,” Tara said to Boone as the front door slammed behind Rodney and Joe. “That’s one of the best jobs of shooting yourself in the foot that I’ve seen in a long time.”
    “What? I was supposed to stand by and just let him grope you?”
    “He