Trouble With a Cowboy Read Online Free Page A

doing in the middle of Oklahoma?"
    "I
had to stop to let Brandy rest. She couldn't stay in the trailer anymore
without a break."
    "And?"
    "I
got a room here. When I came outside this morning to get back on the road
headed for Vegas, I found four of my tires cut."
    Jacie
could hear her father's voice in the background.
    "She's
stuck in Oklahoma."
    "Well
you know what? She needs to figure this out."
    "What
are you saying, father?" She heard her mother say.
    "She
needs money, right?"
    "Yes."
    "We
aren't giving her any."
    "What?"
Jacie said, apprehension and disbelief making her skin prick with goose bumps.
"You can't be serious. Mom? Come on. I'm stuck here. I don't have twelve
hundred dollars to get tires for my rig."
    Her
father must have grabbed the phone because the next thing she heard was his
voice. "I'm sorry honey, but you are twenty-eight years old. It's time you
grow up and figure things out. Don't bother calling your brothers or sisters
because I will call them myself in a few minutes."
    "Dad,
please? You really aren't going to stick me in the middle of bum-fuck Oklahoma
are you?"
    "Yes,
honey, we are. You are a resourceful young lady. I'm sure you'll figure out
something."
    The
phone went dead.
    "They
hung up on me," she whispered, holding the phone away from her face, staring
at it. Her parents were turning their backs on her. Anger and disbelief zipped
through her. She snapped the phone shut with a decisive click and pressed it to
her forehead. "I do not believe
this." There is nothing in this
town. How in the hell am I going to get twelve hundred bucks to get tires?
Plus, they probably have to order the damned things. They might have one or
two, but they sure as hell won't have four. That means at least a few more days
in the motel, meals and feed for Brandy.
    "Maybe
I can work something out with the mechanic," she said, dropping some money
on the table and heading for the door.
    Moments
later, she stood at the big bay doors at the only eighteen-wheeler truck repair
shop in Littleton, Oklahoma.
    "Hello?
Anyone here?" she yelled, waiting a moment for a response.
    "Back
here," someone shouted.
    Following
the sound of the voice, she made her way to the rear of the shop. A pair of
dirty boots, and worn jeans with the cuffs frayed stuck out from under the
frame of a car.
    "I
need some tires."
    Legs
became hips, hips became a chest and the chest became a knowing smirk of the
last person she really wanted to deal with first thing this morning. Oh fuck! Kyle?
    "I
bet you do."
    "Son
of a bitch," she growled.
    "You
know what, honey, I can't help you. You see, I just don't have your size."
    Her
vision narrowed as she stepped closer, slamming her hands on her hips in
irritation. "You don't even know what size I need."
    "Sure
I do. And I bet you need four, right?"
    "You
fucking ass—" He wasn’t even trying to hide what he’d done.
    Another
voice interrupted her words as she heard someone call from the front of the
shop. "Can I get some help up here? I need to ask a question."
    "Why
don't you hang tight there, sweetheart. I'm sure we can work out some kind of
arrangement." Kyle gave her a wink before he walked away.
    Anger
so strong it made her shake, rushed down her body and had her balling her hands
into fists. She would bet her last dollar, she knew what kind of arrangement he
had in mind. It would be a cold day in Hell, before she let the likes of him
touch her.
    She
headed to the front, intent on figuring some way out of this predicament. As
she neared the counter, she saw the man who must have called out. Nice
Wranglers lay taut over his backside and across his lean hips. Black cowboy
boots graced feet set wide apart in his apparently irritated stance. His
fingers tapped a staccato on the counter while he waited. A western
long-sleeved shirt pulled tight over his back muscles and a stark, black
Stetson sat perched on his head.
    "Well,
well, if it isn't Mister Know-It-All from the bar. What can I do for you, sir ?" Kyle