Read Online Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates - Free Book Online

It was the undercurrent beneath the challenge, the one making his heart beat faster, making his stomach feel tight, that was giving him issues.
    She leaned in slightly and without even thinking, he took a step back, breaking her hold on his chin. Breaking whatever the hell thread had wound its way around them.
    â€œI’m going to get you that soda,” he said, knowing his tone sounded way harsher than he intended. “Go hang out with your friends. I’ll meet you over there.”
    He expected her to argue, but she didn’t. She just nodded and moved around him cautiously, her dark eyes glued to his for a moment before she averted them and made her way to her group.
    He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
    Well, that was fucking weird.
    â€œMonaghan,” Ace, said sidling over to his end of the bar. “Can I get you something?”
    â€œTwo Cokes,” Jack said, resting his forearms on the bar.
    Ace laughed and pushed his flannel shirtsleeves up. “Sure. You want me to start a tab for that?”
    â€œI’ll pay now,” Jack growled.
    Ace grabbed two glasses and filled them with the nozzle beneath the bartop. “So... Kate Garrett?”
    â€œWhat about her?” Jack asked, feeling irreversibly irritated by the other man now. Because he could feel himself being led somewhere, and he didn’t like it.
    â€œYou and her are...”
    â€œWhat? No. Fuck no.”
    â€œIt looked like something to me. So I wondered.”
    â€œIt was nothing,” Jack said, ignoring the rush of heat in his blood that made him wonder if it was more than nothing. “Just messing with her.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m saying,” Ace said, smiling broadly. “Anyway...why not?”
    Anger surged through Jack’s veins. “For one because I like my balls where they’re at. And if I ever touched Katie, Connor and Eli would remove them. And then Liss would sew them onto the top of a winter hat as a festive decoration. Additionally? She’s a kid.”
    â€œShe’s not a kid,” Ace said, his eyes fixed across the room. “And I’m not the only one who realizes that.”
    Jack turned and looked and saw Kate nearly backed up against the wall by some asshole cowboy who had his hat tipped back and his jeans so tight his thighs were probably screaming for mercy. He was leaning in, holding her hostage.
    Because he was an asshole. And never mind that Jack’d had her cornered only a few minutes ago. It was totally different. No matter what Ace thought, he wasn’t trying to get into her pants.
    But that guy was.
    â€œExcuse me,” Jack said, grabbing the sodas and moving away from the bar.
    He stalked across the room, his eyes on Kate and the cowboy. And then he stopped, the two frosty glasses sweaty in his hands. He had no clue what the hell he was doing. About to bust in on Kate flirting with some guy... Chad something, if Jack remembered right. Your standard frat bro with spurs.
    Not the kind of guy he would recommend she talk to. But she could if she wanted to, and he had no say in it.
    She was right. He wasn’t her older brother.
    A fact he was very aware of right then.
    So instead he paused at an empty table for two and set the drinks down, flicking an occasional glance over to Kate. But he didn’t sit. Not until he got a read on the situation.
    She looked over the guy’s shoulder and locked eyes with him, just for a moment, and then her expression turned defiant. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, batting her eyelashes in a near-cartoonish manner.
    Then she arched her back, thrusting her breasts outward, and Jack about choked on his Coke. She was... Well, she was being pretty obvious but Jack wasn’t sure she knew what the hell game she was playing.
    She isn’t a kid.
    No, she wasn’t, but she flirted like a fifteen-year-old who’d only ever seen it done in bad teen movies.