Ride the Rainbow Home Read Online Free Page A

backed into a space on the desert floor.
    "Then aren't we turned the wrong way?"
    "City girl," Jim said, shaking his head. "We'll sit in the bed of the truck. It's a better view."
    Meg was game. "Okay." She opened her door and got out, noting that other pickup trucks and some station wagons also followed the local etiquette. "Do I just climb into the back?"
    "Come on. I'll give you a boost."
    Jim's nearness suddenly made her edgy. "I don't think I'll need a boost," she said quickly. "I'll just sit here on the tailgate and swing in." She did it as she spoke.
    "You looked very natural doing that," Jim complimented. "Maybe there's something of the country left in you after all." He scooted up beside her. "Do you sit in pickup trucks in wherever you're from now?"
    "Walnut Creek, California," she answered, "and no, I can't say I do. Not many management consultants drive pickups."
    "They don't know what they're missing." He smiled, his face close enough to leave Meg breathless.
    "So what do we do now?" she asked, eager to break the spell.
    "Hang around until it gets dark enough for the show to start," Jim answered, turning toward the west, "unless you want to turn this way and see the show nature's giving for free."
    Meg followed his gaze and gasped. "Oh, Jim, it's lovely! I'd forgotten about desert sunsets." The intensity of the color was surprising, the deep copper-reds and soft purples of the earth reflected in the changing kaleidoscope of the sky.
    "Yes, lovely," Jim murmured near her ear. She shivered with delight.
    They sat together, watching the colors fade as the night deepened, the intense shades becoming softer pastels. The quiet moment gave Meg a chance to collect her flitting thoughts. She had enjoyed the easy friendship she'd always shared with "Little Jimmy" McAllister. But she found herself hesitant, uncertain whether she could be as easy and natural with this new Jim. Steady , she reminded herself . He's here, and you're going back to Walnut Creek. Soon.
    Meg was still admiring the sky when a garrulous giggle alerted her to the presence of Kimberly McCray. Instantly the hairs on the back of her neck stiffened.
    " 'Evening, Jim," Kimberly practically purred as Meg turned to face her.
    " 'Evening, Kim," Jim replied flatly as he leaned nearer to Meg.
    "Good evening." Kim looked pointedly at Meg.
    "Perhaps you remember Meg Taylor?" Jim asked. "You might have known her as Peggy."
    "Peggy?" Kim's stare was incredulous. "You're Peggy Taylor?"
    "Hello, Kim. Nice to see you," Meg lied easily.
    "Yes," Kim said, her look belying the honey in her voice. "It's nice to see you, Peggy."
    "Meg," she corrected quickly.
    "Meg," Kim responded, then, with a speculative look at Jim, she asked, "Will you be staying long, Meg?"
    "A while," Meg answered.
    "Well." The simple statement said much. "Do enjoy the show."
    "Thank you," Jim said, sliding his arm possessively around Meg's shoulder. "We will."
    Meg barely contained a snicker as Kim sauntered away. "You certainly wrecked her evening," she said as soon as the sultry blonde was out of earshot.
    "Kim's always on the make," he said, indulging in a catlike stretch, his long body practically filling the bed of the truck. The move took his arm away from her; Meg instantly missed his warmth.
    "Then I gather you're not interested?"
    "In Kim McCray? You know me better than that."
    The intimacy of the thought made Meg tremble. "I'd have thought Kim would be married by now."
    Jim's lip curled in a bored smirk. "She has been. Twice."
    No sooner had he answered than another honeyed voice spoke at his side of the truck. This time it was the freshly divorced Lucretia Sherwood. Gloria Watson was next, then Lorena Gardner. By the time the sky darkened enough for the first Roman candles to appear, Jim had been greeted by six hopeful women, all of them checking out the competition.
    "You could have warned me," Meg whispered as the latest candidate swayed into the deepening twilight.
    "Warned you about