Texas Fall Read Online Free

burning. Riley was so close behind him, groaning his own release. Riley
supported him, gentled him as he pulled out, laid them flat on the blanket, and
held him close.
    “Jesus, Jack,” he
murmured.
    “You’ve been working out,”
Jack groaned.
    “I love you.”
    “Mmmm… love you…”
    Then nestled in Riley’s
arms, knowing they should get up and go to bed, sleep began to pull him under.
    “No sleeping,” Riley
ordered.
    “Wanna.”
    “Bed.”
    Somehow they made it back
to the house, laughing and giggling like kids, holding hands and creeping into
the quiet house. They had almost made it to the bedroom when one of the twins
made a sound.
    Jack looked at Riley. “Go
to bed. That sounded like Lexie.”
    When he got back to the
bedroom after checking on Lexie, who appeared to be making as much sound in her
sleep as she did awake, Riley was asleep, sprawled on top of the covers in
sleep pants. The man had literally held Jack like he weighed nothing, and Jack
was no lightweight. He made a resolution. Clearly he needed to join Riley in
more workouts.
    Jack nudged Riley over,
wincing at the ache in his ass, then ignoring it.
    “Love you,” he murmured
close to Riley’s ear. Riley turned into him, spooning him as they rolled over.
    “Love you too,” Riley
whispered. “Always.”
     
     

Chapter 3
    Riley settled back in his
desk chair and considered the two files in front of him. Which should he look
at first? The contents represented more possible matches to the shale he was
looking for, but he was only one person.
    “You need to hire a
manager,” Kathy informed him helpfully from her chair opposite.
    “I have managers,” Riley
defended. He did. CH Consulting hired an awful lot of people, so many he had a
department in the tower with Hayes Oil that just dealt with hiring and
personnel. CH itself, though, he liked to think it was just him and Kathy
against the world. The last thing he wanted was someone else in the office.
    “I found someone,” Kathy
interrupted his thoughts.
    “How?” Riley said. Who was
Kathy to think that she could find him a manager, someone he could respect and
would work with him. The instant reaction died when all she did was fold her
hands in her lap and tilt her head in question. “Who? I meant to say who?” he
lied.
    “Tom Hendry. He’s looking
to move away from Santone Corp, and I thought he’d be an ideal fit for us.”
    “Why is he leaving Santone?”
    Kathy leaned forward.
“Between you and me, he’s never going to have room to become more there.
Everyone knows they’re stuck in the old ways and it’s family first with them.
He wants different, and you could get him now when he’s still hungry for
success. Add in the fact he’s been working trying to build an ethical team at Santone,
and you have a ready-made manager.”
    Riley attempted to recall
Tom Hendry. Short and wiry, he had a way of holding himself that was all confidence
and purpose. Riley remembered several occasions at different meetings when Tom
was there and he’d shone in amongst the old, steady oil business families. Hayes
Oil had their issues with Santone Corp. Old Josiah Harrold had gone to fat a
long time back, and his son Josiah Junior, or JJ, as he was called, was just a
complete waste of space. Too much like Jeff for Riley’s liking. The fact that
Tom Hendry had fallen out with Santone gave him currency in Riley’s estimation of
him.
    “I’ll call him,” Riley
said.
    “Actually, boss, he’ll be
here at ten thirty,” Kathy informed him.
    “You, did… you…?” Riley
could argue that this was his company until he was blue in the face.
But, hell, Kathy was good at her job, and she knew the business from a very
different point of view.
    “Here is the package I
thought we could offer him.” She slid another file, this time a blue personnel
file, across the table. “He scraped through college, but his instincts are as
diamond as yours are.”
    Riley took the file but
didn’t open it.