Read Online Big Bad John (Bigger in Texas Series) by R.G. Alexander - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t think John was going to be paying a lot of attention to her nails, but if being friends with Caroline had taught her anything—and it had taught her so much—it was a woman had to treat herself the way she expected to be treated. 
    “Yes, though nothing like the salons in Hollywood, I’m afraid,” she said. “And don’t talk about anything that you don’t want spread across nine counties. Nothing is sacred here. You’re not in Kansas anymore.”
    “I am the queen of gossip, Trudy. I can handle my people and have a little fun while I’m at it.” Caroline laughed. “But speaking of Oz, my dear Dorothy, it’s time to slip on those ruby slippers and remember there’s no place like home. Especially when the Big Bad has been right here waiting for you the whole time.”
    This was really going to happen. With John. What would he do to her? What wouldn’t she let him do? She wanted to race home and wait for him. To go to him and beg him to begin the sweet torture. To finally have him.
    “I think I know where we can get those manicures.” She needed more time to calm her jittery nerves. And he’d waited this long…it wouldn’t do to seem too eager.
    Caroline’s smile was knowing. “I have nothing left to teach you, Grasshopper.”
    If she only knew.
     
    ***
     
    Where the hell was she? He was losing his mind.
    John had stayed away for as long as he could. In addition to his usual chores, he’d done Jefferson’s as well. He’d mucked out the stalls that held the small stable of family horses, overseen Diego and Manly’s cleaning and oiling of the machinery, hell, he’d even mended a hole in the fence that he’d been avoiding because it was so insignificant.
    It was nearly dusk now. She’d told her brother she was going to show Caroline the town, but it wasn’t that big. He wondered—not for the first time today—if she’d changed her mind and gotten on a plane back to California. But it was too late for her to escape without a word. She’d said yes. He would follow her now, make her tell him no to his face.
    Fuck.
    The phone rang and John answered with an unthinking bark of frustration. “What, goddammit?”
    “I’ve been watching you pace the driveway for the last hour, man.” Jefferson sounded concerned, and he knew it wasn’t just about him. “Are you sure about this?”
    John growled and started walking again, this time toward the work truck. “We’re not going down this road, Junior. This isn’t like the last time.”
    “I know. I’m not interfering. Never again, I promise. You are two consenting adults and I have my own fish to fry. I, well I’m thinking about what happens when she leaves. And after her news last night, you have to know she will.”
    “She might already be gone,” John mumbled, hating the damn ache in his chest that came with the words.
    Jefferson laughed. “No such luck, my friend. Sandy from Just Curl Up gave me a call to find out if I knew my sister was back in town with her female lover from Hollywood.” John’s lips twitched. That sounded like Sandy. Jefferson chuckled again. “I told her to give me a heads up when they left and she’s called again so they should be home in five.”
    Relief shuddered through his large frame. She’d stayed. She was coming home. To him. “Get Diego to bring you a pizza for dinner. We’ll be out.”
    Jefferson sighed through the line. “It’s a hardship I’ll suffer through. Especially if it means I’ll be left in Ms. Aaron’s sensual and recently manicured hands.”
    “So you’re not inviting Diego in then?”
    “Hell no.”
    “Smart man.” John paused. “Jefferson? Thanks.”
    “Don’t thank me, Big. Not yet anyway.” Jefferson’s voice still held a note of caution, but John wasn’t listening. The rental car was pulling up the drive, a cloud of dust trailing in its wake.
    “They’re here.” John snapped the cell phone shut and pushed it into his pocket, the keys jingling in his other hand as