Playing for Keeps (Texas Scoundrels) Read Online Free Page B

softened his rough, angular features making him look almost boyishly innocent.  
    She knew better. There wasn’t an innocent bone in Maitland’s deliciously hot body.
    “He’s got this really awesome gym and everything in his basement. Nice, huh?”  
    The word “no” hovered on her lips, but she bit it back and instead took the magazine from Austin. The Making of a Legend . What would a legend want with a thirteen-year-old boy with stars in his eyes? “Do you realize what you’re asking?”
    “Yeah.” He flashed her that smile again. “And I still want to meet him.”
    Griffen could just picture that meeting. Maitland would threaten to have them arrested for trespassing, toss them off his property, probably with the business end of a shotgun. Austin would be crushed.  
    She couldn’t do it. Somehow she had to make him realize this would lead to nothing but heartache for him.  
    “It’s not a good idea. Think about it, Slick. He doesn’t even know about you. Do you know what kind of shock this would be to him? To any man?”
    “But if he knew...” He shrugged.
    If he knew he’d probably tell her to call his lawyer and get in line.  
    “What if you tell him first?” he asked, hopeful.
    “Me?”
    “Yeah. You tell him and then when I see him it won’t be such a shock. He’ll be...” He hesitated, then snapped his fingers. “Forewarned.”
    She couldn’t answer him. Hell, she couldn’t look at him, so she kept her gaze on the imported tiles below, instead of the hope in her son’s eyes.
    He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Please, Mom.”  
    Oh God. “Let me think about it,” she finally said. “I won’t make you any promises, but I will think about it.”
    “Yes.” He kissed her cheek, then wrapped both arms around her, nearly squeezing the life from her. “You could go Saturday when I’m fishing with Jim and Mr. Packard.”
    She headed down the stairs. “I’ll think about it,” she warned, but Austin had already disappeared into his room.  
    “That’s all I’ll be thinking about.” That, and the heartbreak her son would suffer when Maitland told her to get lost.  

Three
     
    AGAINST HER BETTER judgment, on Saturday morning Griffen made the long drive from Hart out to Possum Kingdom, an elite lakeside community far away from the city and in the middle of nowhere. Multi-million dollar homes dotted the landscape, occupied by people who lived a lifestyle that exceeded her Visa limit. While she hadn’t exactly grown up poor, her family was more of the roast beef and potatoes crowd, not Wagyu connoisseurs.  
    By the time she pulled her Jeep Cherokee into the long driveway of the Bluff Creek Point address, her stomach was in knots. As she pulled up alongside a black Cadillac Escalade complete with the vanity plate tchdown parked in the driveway, her case of nerves had tripled. The Mediterranean-style home was lavish and picture perfect, and probably worth more than twelve city blocks in her hometown of Hart, founded by her great, great grandfather.
    She half expected a swarm of Dobermans to come charging after her as she left the Jeep and headed up the flagstone steps to the enormous front door. She had no idea if Maitland was even in town. When a series of phone calls had failed to produce results, she’d promised Austin she’d at least try the Possum Kingdom house. She had to see this through now, even if it meant disappointment for her son when the “legend” wanted nothing to do with him. While she wasn’t exactly keen on the whole idea, her son was willing to take the risk. So, here she was, about to knock on a total stranger’s door and tell him he had a son with her sister more than a decade ago.
    She rang the bell. Her plan was simple. Tell Maitland who she was and why she was there, then leave and never see him again. Austin would be heartbroken, but he’d just have to get over it. She’d return to Hart, sell her business, and send out her resume. With