True Blue Cowboy (The Cash Brothers) Read Online Free Page B

to sprint after a desert jackrabbit. The mare’s spirited personality made her his favorite.
    “You behave on the trail, you hear?” Speckles’s ears twitched and he rubbed the animal’s nose. “No showing off in front of Warrior.”
    Speckles and Warrior had a love-hate relationship. Warrior developed a crush on Speckles the day she’d arrived at the ranch, but Speckles acted as if she couldn’t be bothered with the old gelding. Mack checked his watch again. “C’mon, lady. Where are you?”
    “Right here.”
    He spun, opening his mouth to apologize. The words evaporated on his tongue when the blood drained from the woman’s face, leaving her skin as white as Elmer’s school paste. Worried she’d faint, he stepped forward but she hastily retreated. If she toppled over, he hoped she hit her head on the edge of a hay bale and not the concrete floor.
    Eyes wide, she gaped at him. He must remind her of someone—maybe a dead someone. Her lips parted then pressed closed as if her voice, along with her blood, had drained from her body. Since conversation appeared to be at a standstill he studied her, zeroing in on her mouth. When he noticed the faint scar next to her lower lip, his scalp prickled.
    Her brown eyes were the same shape as...and her nose was as straight as... No . She was missing the butterfly eyelashes and long hair. His gaze trailed down her body, stalling on her breasts. Heat spread through his gut.
    It couldn’t be...
    “Hello, Mack.”
    Just Beth? No frickin’ way .
    Of all the places he’d imagined running into the woman who’d snuck off to a motel with him a month ago, the dude ranch had never been one of them. “What are you doing here?”
    She blinked as if in a daze. “I didn’t know you worked at the ranch.”
    No kidding. If she had, she wouldn’t have booked a cabin here. “You’re a tough lady to find.” There. He admitted he’d been looking for her. Now the ball was in her court.
    She waved a hand in front of her face—her nails were short and there was no trace of the bold, red polish. Gone, too, were the dangling earrings and sparkly eye shadow. Beth wore no makeup—except for the pink shine on her lips. The woman standing before him had nothing in common with the sexy siren he’d met at the Number 10 Saloon.
    “You’re busy,” she said. “I’ll come back later.”
    Like hell she would. “Stay.” He wasn’t letting her off the hook that easy. “The horses are already saddled.” He led Speckles from her stall, then took Warrior’s reins and escorted the animals out of the barn. He stopped next to the horse trough and cupped his hands near Warrior’s stirrup. “Put your left foot in here and swing your right leg over the saddle.”
    Beth hesitated then edged closer and grasped the pummel. When she lifted her leg, he moved his hands beneath her shoe and hoisted her—a little too hard. She pitched forward and he grasped her waist, his fingers biting into her flesh to prevent her from sailing over Warrior’s head.
    She rocked back, her rump hitting the saddle hard. Warrior shifted in surprise. Wanting to be certain she’d regained her balance, he tightened his hold on her, but she took exception to his touch and attempted to twist free. She teetered toward the opposite side and Mack reached for her shoulder, but his hand landed on her breast—a mound of soft flesh his fingers were intimately familiar with.
    A jolt of electricity zapped his body, triggering a flashback of their night in the motel. She made eye contact and the heat in her gaze sent a second shockwave through him. She was a live wire.
    Without speaking he hopped on Speckles, took Warrior’s reins and guided the horses to the trailhead. They rode in silence. With each passing minute, Mack’s frustration mounted. He led the horses off the trail toward a shallow water hole.
    “Where are we going?”
    The tremor in Beth’s voice convinced him that the bold, gutsy lady he’d met at the bar had