Bad News Cowboy Read Online Free Page A

cards, which was really what she wanted.
    Sadie led the charge into the dining room, holding her now-traditional orange-and-black candy bowl in front of her, a wide grin on her face. Eli was a step behind her looking slightly abashed. Probably because his fiancée was breaking sacred football laws by bringing the colors of an opposing team onto hallowed ground.
    But she did so every week. And every week, Connor made a show of not eating the candy in the bowl. Eli didn’t eat it either but didn’t make a big deal out of it. While Jack ate half of it without giving a crap what anyone thought. Which summed them all up, really.
    Kate always ate the candy, too. If only because she didn’t see the point in politicizing sugar.
    â€œFish and chips!” Sadie exclaimed. “That makes a nice change from pizza. And pie!”
    â€œThe feast is indeed bountiful tonight,” Liss said, eyeing the pie. “We have Kate to thank for that.”
    â€œExcuse me,” Jack said. “I brought the pie. I will have you all know that Katie has a lemon meringue pie hidden back in her cabin. And she did not bring it to share with you.”
    Kate lifted her hand to smack Jack on the shoulder, and he caught her wrist. Her heart hit the back of her breastbone so hard she was afraid it might have exploded on contact. His hand was so big his fingers wrapped all the way around her arm, holding her tight, a rash of heat breaking out from that point of contact outward.
    Her eyes clashed with his, and the sharp remark she’d been about to spit out evaporated on her lips.
    She tugged her wrist out of his hold, fighting the urge to rub away the impression of his touch with her other hand. “I didn’t bring it because I don’t want to share my pie with you,” she said, looking at Jack.
    â€œSelfish pie hoarder,” he said, grinning at her in that easy manner of his.
    And her annoyance tripled. Because him grabbing her wrist was a whole event for her body. And he was completely unaffected. That touch had been like grabbing ahold of an electric fence. On her end. Obviously, it hadn’t been the same for him.
    Why would it be? It shouldn’t be that way for you.
    Yeah, no shit.
    â€œI am not.” And she cursed her hot cheeks and her lack of snappy remark.
    â€œI might have to side with Jack on this one,” Liss said, her tone apologetic. “Or maybe I’m just on the side of pie.”
    â€œTraitor,” Kate mumbled.
    â€œThough, on the subject of pies,” Jack said, turning his focus to Sadie, “we were trying to figure out if there was something that could be done to help bolster Alison’s business.”
    â€œHmm.” Sadie piled food on her plate and sat down, Eli taking a seat beside her. “I’ll have to scheme on that for a while.”
    â€œYou have to watch her. She’s a champion schemer,” Eli said.
    â€œThe championest.” Sadie smiled broadly.
    â€œScheme away,” Jack said.
    â€œYou don’t have to tell her to scheme,” Eli said. “She can’t stop scheming. This is how I ended up with an annual Fourth of July barbecue on my property.”
    â€œI’m delightful.” Sadie nodded, the expression on her face comically serious.
    â€œShe is,” Eli agreed.
    â€œAre we going to play cards?” Kate asked.
    â€œSo impatient to lose all of your money,” Jack said.
    This was a little more normal. A more typical level of Jack harassing her.
    â€œTo me,” Sadie said, her grin turning feral. Sadie, it turned out, was a very good poker player for all her wide-blue-eyed protestations to the contrary when she first joined their weekly games.
    Kate opted to stay silent, continuing on that way while the cards were dealt. And she was dealt a very good hand. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her expression steady. Sadie was cocky. Jack was cockier. And she was going to take their money.
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