One Hot Summer Read Online Free

black ball cap. “Afternoon, ma’am.”
    â€œUm, hi.”
    â€œWind took our cooler clean off my tailgate.” His light blue eyes sparkled with mischief. She kept her gaze on them rather than give in to temptation to check out his ripped, smooth chest or thoroughly soaked red board shorts. He had to be at least five years younger than she and exactly the type of guy she’d pledged to her friends that she’d steer clear of while in Texas. He probably had a Skoal ring outline on his back pocket, like she’d seen so many times in Dulcet already.
    Her girlfriends might have made her pledge a suits, not boots motto before she’d left L.A., but a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone. With an arch of her back, she pressed her lips into the beginning of a smile. “You can’t let that happen. Without a cooler, what’re you going to store your beer in?”
    His broad smile in response revealed two deep dimples and a mouth of gleaming white teeth. “Exactly. Looks like you and I understand each other.”
    His friend crowded near him, holding the cooler and bumping the blue-eyed charmer’s shoulder as he angled into Remedy’s line of sight. “You’re new to Ravel County.”
    This one was cute enough, too, with shaggy blond hair showing beneath a straw cowboy hat that made him seem more surfer than cowboy. He was as young as his friend and radiated a manic, yet harmless, puppy dog energy. She beamed at him. “That obvious?”
    Blue Eyes rubbed his chin and squinted at her. “I bet you work at Briscoe Ranch.”
    â€œLucky guess.”
    He waved it off. “Naw. Not really. More’n half the people here call Ty Briscoe their employer.”
    â€œYou boys do, too?” A flutter of anxiety had her holding her breath. She’d kept her distance from Briscoe Ranch employee get-togethers because she was in management. It was one thing to have an occasional drink with her employees and quite another to let her hair down around them. And blatant flirting? That would be all kinds of wrong.
    â€œNo, ma’am,” they said in chorus.
    â€œGood answer.” She ran her fingers through her hair and let her gaze dip below Blue Eyes’ face. Mm-mmm-mm.
    â€œNow it’s settled,” the shaggy blond said, his attention straying to her legs. “You’ve got to come have a beer with us. The rest of the guys probably have the party all set up by now.”
    Tempting. But she’d set off on her creek adventure to find peace and quiet, not play the part of the Daisy Duke–wearing prize for a bunch of country boys, even if they were lookers. She patted the rock. “I’m good right here, but thanks anyway.”
    Blue Eyes sloshed toward her, the shimmer in his gaze now a slow burn. “No way. You’re new in town and we couldn’t call ourselves gentlemen if we didn’t introduce you around, help you get acquainted with Ravel County’s finest.”
    She tipped her ear toward her shoulder and gave them a sidelong glance full of flirty interest. “You mean, you two aren’t Ravel County’s finest?”
    They chuckled and puffed their chests out. Considering that she didn’t plan to take the flirtation a hair past this harmless exchange, that comment had been a bit overboard, but she couldn’t help herself. These boys were good-looking and sweet and, well, it’d been a while since she’d been objectified quite so deliciously.
    Before she knew what was happening, Blue Eyes grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the creek. She squealed at the cold water licking at the tattered hems of her shorts and gaped up at him, not so much mad as surprised. “Really?”
    â€œGall dang it, I’m sorry to accidentally get you all wet like that,” he said without the slightest bit of remorse. “Now you’ve got no choice but to let me make it up to you with a beer