Read Online Finding Kate Huntley by Theresa Ragan - Free Book Online Page B

kissed her neck, nibbled on her ear. “Only southern California?”
    She laughed. “The world...you’re the most handsome man in the entire world.”
    “Maybe we should stay in tonight.”
    “It’s tempting,” she said as she bent her head back so that it rested on his shoulder and turned her lips to meet his.
    “But?”
    “But you promised me a dance.”
    “And I never break a promise, sweetheart.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the king-sized bed behind them. “We’re going to dance all right,” he told her. “We’re going to dance all night long.”
    Her laughter filled him from the bottom up. He laid her on the bed and left a trail of kisses across her collarbone. “First dance of the night,” he told her as he straightened, unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to the floor, “is going to be the tango.”
    Her eyes brightened. “Since when do you know how to do the tango?”
    His fingers trailed up and over her arm. Her skin felt as silky as her gown looked. “Baby,” he said, “I invented the tango.”

    Kate shaded her eyes with her hand and gazed across the long stretch of highway. Heat rose in waves off of the pavement. “Here comes another car.”
    Jack stretched his arm toward the highway and cocked his thumb. The approaching Honda slowed, but the driver saw Jack’s battered face and whizzed by. A silver Mercedes followed close behind.
    “Assholes!” Kate said.
    Jack’s arm fell limp to his side as he turned and gave her a look of parental disapproval.
    “Get a life,” she told him.
    He winced. “All those curse words just don’t sound right coming out of your mouth. You’re much too—”
    “Crap.”
    “Now you’re just being—”
    “Shit.”
    “One more time and I’m going to—”
    “Fuck.”
    Jack shook his head, but he didn’t say another word.
    She was tempted to ask him what he was going to do about it, but decided against it. Maybe he would kiss her again. The thought sent an honest to God shiver through her body. They were both tired and achy. The last three days had been seventy-two hours of agony and little sleep. Besides, it was obvious Jack wasn’t accustomed to conflict. He seemed to go to great lengths to avoid it...like now. She, on the other hand, was completely immune to friction of any kind. Hardly a day had gone by in the past ten years that she didn’t haggle for a day’s pay, quibble over the price of stale bread, or ward off a thief who tried to take what wasn’t his. What would it have been like to meet Jack under different circumstances, in a kinder, gentler world where her father still lived and breathed and greeted her with open arms and a wide smile?
    At the sound of another car approaching, Kate abandoned thoughts of better days and hitched her bag high around her shoulder and stepped out into the middle of the road, facing oncoming traffic. She held out a hand like a traffic cop.
    “Get back here,” Jack said. “What are you doing?”
    “I’ve had enough.” They had been walking for endless miles. The extra sandwich in her bag had been devoured hours ago. Her throat was parched; her lips were cracked. They weren’t going to hurt anyone. They just needed a lift, for God’s sake.
    The car sped over the hill and came to a screeching halt in front of Kate. It was a pale blue Volkswagen bug. The driver opened the door, but when he spotted Jack, his expression changed from concern to dread. He slammed his door shut, jerked the car into reverse and gunned it, maneuvering his vehicle around her.
    Kate whipped the gun from her bag and fired at his back tire before the car could get away. There was a loud pop and a whoosh that left a ringing in her ear.
    The car made a zigzag over the two lane highway before it came to a stop. She shoved the gun into her waistband and jogged toward the car. The door shot open. The driver scrambled across the road and took off for the desert.
    “You don’t have to run off,” Kate shouted after