Read Online All Flash No Cash by Randi Alexander - Free Book Online Page B

burst of panic hit so
fast, it was like a cold shower. She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t fall
for this guy. A man so attached to his ranch that he only left it
on weekends, a guy who would expect her to hunker down in the
middle of nowhere with him and never leave. Never see any more of
the world than she already had.
    Lovingly? Yes, she could easily do
that, too, but would it be fair to him? To let this go on until one
or both of them was so emotionally attached that—
    Pete wrapped his arms around her. “Bedroom.”
He stood, lifting her.
    “No.” She shoved out of his arms, stumbling
backward. “We’re done here.”

Chapter Eight
    Pete jerked back, his chest aching like he’d
been kicked by a mule. CJ was done with him? After she’d brought
him up to her apartment, thrown herself at him, and had some of the
rawest, hottest sex he’d ever had?
    What the hell was wrong with her? “Are you
joking?”
    “No.” She worked her skirt down, then held
the edges of her blouse together, covering her breasts. “This was a
mistake.” Her eyes shifted to the side.
    “A mistake?” He stomped into the kitchen and
used a paper towel to clean up, then hiked up his jeans and put on
his shirt, re-snapping it, but ending up with one extra snap at the
bottom. The woman had been alone, closed up in a dark bar or
perched on a rooftop alone for far too long. She didn’t realize she
risked being alone forever, if she didn’t let someone into her
life.
    He’d tried to be her friend. Fuck, maybe he
should have stayed with that plan. But no other woman had captured
his attention so quickly, so completely. And he’d wanted her like a
man wants his woman. On the dining room table, in her bed, on the
roof, on the top of the bar after Dirty Harry’s closed for the
night.
    She pointed to the drawing, one corner rolled
up, a spot in the middle crinkling from her sweat.
    His cock jerked in his pants. She had been so
fucking hot, they’d both sweated and groaned and—
    “That’s the one I want on the bike. Take it
and go. You can get your paint and start this weekend.” She didn’t
even look at the drawing.
    Pete watched her, standing like a statue, her
eyes never lifting to meet his. This wasn’t what she wanted. Not
the animal menagerie motorcycle art, not the hectic life she was
leading, not the denial of a need for someone in her life. He would
help her see that. And it would either make her open up like a
flower, or would lock him out of her world for good.
    “You don’t know what you want, CJ.”
    Her gaze shot to his, first wide-eyed, then
shuttered with anger. “Don’t kid yourself, Pete. It was good, but
I’m not going to—”
    “No. I mean the drawing.” He’d start there,
work his way to harder issues. “You don’t like this theme. You
never said why you didn’t like the first drawing.” He’d guess that
it was just too personal for a private person like her. “But the
other drawing isn’t about you . It’s about creating a living
memorial for your father.”
    Her mouth dropped open but she didn’t
breathe.
    He’d been right. The first drawing had been
too gut-wrenching for her.
    “No one wants to ride around on a motorcycle
with my dad’s face on…” Her voice choked to a halt.
    She was worried about not selling enough
tickets? Or was that just an excuse? “Whoever wins the bike, I’ll
offer to repaint it for them if they don’t like it. And you can put
that on the advertising.”
    Blinking, CJ looked away. “I don’t know if
that would work.”
    With his offer to repaint, he’d taken away
her only objection to the artwork. Or at least the only objection
she would voice out loud. “Let’s let your patrons decide.”
    She glared at him, a furrow marring her
perfect brow line. “What do you mean? Have them vote on the
design?”
    “Yeah.” He slid the coasters off the corner
and rolled up the drawing. “Right now. We’ll hang these both up on
the wall downstairs and… Unless you