Read Online Burn on the Western Slope (Crimson Romance) by Angela Smith - Free Book Online Page A

poured some into a thermal cup. She smiled her thanks when he handed her one.
    “You’re a planner, aren’t you?”
    “You always have to plan here.” He unwrapped two sandwiches and handed her one. He tore open a bag of chips and set the bag between them to share. “In the summer, you have to plan for bears.”
    “Bears?”
    “You have to be cautious on outings like this, just in case. They’re usually not dangerous, but you don’t want to sneak up on one.”
    “You mentioned you were here visiting. So you don’t live here?”
    “I grew up here.”
    “This is beautiful,” Reagan said as she munched on a chip. “I recognize the site in one of the pictures back at the condo.”
    “Yes, four eight-by-tens hang in the hallway of your condo, depicting each season of this exact area.”
    “Did you take those?”
    “Your uncle and I both did. We hiked every chance we could and never left without our cameras.”
    “So you knew Ray well?”
    He stared into her eyes, unsure what to say. Better to just say nothing. Nothing about how he knew Ray enough to know that he loved her as a daughter. She’d been five the last time he saw her, but she probably wouldn’t remember.
    After listening to Ray cry in his beer many nights over the family he lost, he knew a lot but then again not much. For no reason, or at least reasons Ray never admitted, Reagan’s mother didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Her father wouldn’t allow him within ten feet of his daughter, but he didn’t want to tell her that.
    “I knew him a long time.” Garret reached for a chip.
    “What was he like?”
    “A lot like Chayton.” Garret paused. She knew Chayton as well as she knew Ray. “Rugged, like these mountains. They both harbored restless energy. He and Chayton were kindred spirits. I swear they were more like brothers than Chayton and me. They were practically attached at the hip, but there was a part of Ray he kept private.”
    Ray and Chayton reminded him of the panorama he viewed now. With ice in their veins but beauty in their hearts within a moving river that wasn’t quite frozen. Afraid to open up and share the deepest part of themselves, but willing to die for those in need.
    Hiding, always hiding from their wounds.
    He wasn’t any different.

Chapter Five
    The next evening, Reagan and Naomi went to Air Dog for a Super Bowl party. They’d spent the day exploring the town and meeting more people. So far, everyone she met had known and loved Ray. She still had no idea why her mother didn’t.
    After sledding yesterday, Garret took her to Air Dog for another hot buttered rum drink, where she’d hooked up with Naomi. Chayton had invited them to this party, and she and Garret parted ways. He hadn’t walked her home, hadn’t given her a kiss on the cheek. Hadn’t asked to see her again. Nothing. It was like their outing was just that, an outing. Not a date.
    He’d never said it was a date.
    He acted cavalier about the whole thing. Treating her as he would any female friend he knew forever. It shouldn’t have bothered her. She didn’t need to get involved with anyone. Being friends was the best idea. She barely knew him.
    But it did bother her. Every time she stepped into Ray’s condo, she grew restless. Lonely. This quiet little town made her wish for things. Things like curling up on the rug beside the fire with a mug of hot cocoa and a man.
    A man like Garret.
    Air Dog was decorated to the hilt for the Super Bowl. Lighted footballs hung from the ceiling. Streamers ran across the tops of the wall on all sides. The flat screen TVs behind the bar aired the game. Bowls of popcorn and nuts enticed snackers from every table and a table full of appetizers perched against a back wall. Several people entered, carrying more trays and bowls of food.
    “Ladies.” Chayton sidled up to them on the other side of the bar and winked at Naomi as they plopped themselves on bar stools. He reached above him for two glasses. “Our