Read Online For Love of a Cowboy by Yvonne Lindsay - For Love of a Cowboy - Free Book Online Page B
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said. How long ago?”
“Right up until you walked in. She took one look at you and hightailed it out of here.”
“No shit?” Obviously she had something to hide from him. “Any idea where she went?”
“Hey, do I look like a babysitter? Mardie,” Reese called to the saloon’s waitress who was bringing a tray of empties back to the bar. “D’you know where the flower child went?”
“Her name is Willow,” Mardie said. “And lay off with the hippie jokes, okay? She’s nice. She took one look at Booth coming in and said she’d have to find somewhere else to get a drink.”
Booth acknowledged Mardie with a nod. He very much doubted that Willow had been headed to the bar at Graff’s Hotel, which only left one other place within easy walking distance. The Wolf Den. Last time he’d gone in there, five years ago, he’d gotten into a fistfight with a guy he’d gone to high school with. They’d both ended up in the local jail overnight while they cooled their heels. He hadn’t been back since and he’d had no desire to do so either. He wasn’t that guy anymore. The whole incident had reeked too strongly of his father’s behavior and had reminded him that the beast hovered too close to the surface for him to ever relax his grasp on his self-control.
The Wolf Den definitely brought out the worst in him and it certainly was no place for a woman like Willow. People like her got gobbled up and spat out by the clientele of places like that. Even though he’d sworn he’d never so much as set foot in there ever again, he knew he had to go and rescue the fool woman—even if it was just from herself. Booth swigged down the last of his beer and threw his money on the bar.
“Thanks,” he said to Reese and jammed his Stetson more firmly on his head before making for the door.
Leaving his truck parked where it was, he’d both talked himself out of and straight back into extracting Willow from the Wolf Den. By the time he drew up outside the bar he was good and angry. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk. She wasn’t his responsibility and he didn’t really care what happened to her, right? Maybe she’d gone back to the little apartment over the store. He could only hope. But his only way of finding out was to go into the Wolf Den in the first place. And then there was the matter of the questions she’d been asking about Uncle Kyle. He needed to find out where she was coming from with that. If she had plans that would upset his family, particularly Aunt Emmie, he was going to put a stop to them. Pure and simple.
That’s all there was to it and there probably was no need to be all fired up like this. Even so, there was something about her that just tugged on his last nerve. Even thinking about approaching her had him all hot under the collar. He didn’t know if it was because of those crazy clothes she wore—and the fact that she so obviously never wore enough underwear—or the blithe way she’d waltzed into Ness’s store and secured not only a job but a roof over her head in the bargain. Her mere existence managed to push his buttons with very little effort whatsoever.
And then there were the times when a thought of her would intrude on his working day. When he’d remember the taste of her and the softness of her lips, not to mention the fire that slender body had stoked when it was tucked up against his. He couldn’t even escape her in sleep—waking aching and surly more than once this past week. Something he’d taken out on his men, which also annoyed the shit out of him. He was better than that—at least he had been up until a certain free spirit had literally wandered into his path.
Yep, he was good and angry. Probably not the best mood to be entering the Wolf Den in, but if she was in there…
He paused. So what if she was in there? She was an adult. If she got into trouble it might make her leave town a whole lot sooner than she’d planned. Booth ceased his pacing, all but determined
“Right up until you walked in. She took one look at you and hightailed it out of here.”
“No shit?” Obviously she had something to hide from him. “Any idea where she went?”
“Hey, do I look like a babysitter? Mardie,” Reese called to the saloon’s waitress who was bringing a tray of empties back to the bar. “D’you know where the flower child went?”
“Her name is Willow,” Mardie said. “And lay off with the hippie jokes, okay? She’s nice. She took one look at Booth coming in and said she’d have to find somewhere else to get a drink.”
Booth acknowledged Mardie with a nod. He very much doubted that Willow had been headed to the bar at Graff’s Hotel, which only left one other place within easy walking distance. The Wolf Den. Last time he’d gone in there, five years ago, he’d gotten into a fistfight with a guy he’d gone to high school with. They’d both ended up in the local jail overnight while they cooled their heels. He hadn’t been back since and he’d had no desire to do so either. He wasn’t that guy anymore. The whole incident had reeked too strongly of his father’s behavior and had reminded him that the beast hovered too close to the surface for him to ever relax his grasp on his self-control.
The Wolf Den definitely brought out the worst in him and it certainly was no place for a woman like Willow. People like her got gobbled up and spat out by the clientele of places like that. Even though he’d sworn he’d never so much as set foot in there ever again, he knew he had to go and rescue the fool woman—even if it was just from herself. Booth swigged down the last of his beer and threw his money on the bar.
“Thanks,” he said to Reese and jammed his Stetson more firmly on his head before making for the door.
Leaving his truck parked where it was, he’d both talked himself out of and straight back into extracting Willow from the Wolf Den. By the time he drew up outside the bar he was good and angry. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk. She wasn’t his responsibility and he didn’t really care what happened to her, right? Maybe she’d gone back to the little apartment over the store. He could only hope. But his only way of finding out was to go into the Wolf Den in the first place. And then there was the matter of the questions she’d been asking about Uncle Kyle. He needed to find out where she was coming from with that. If she had plans that would upset his family, particularly Aunt Emmie, he was going to put a stop to them. Pure and simple.
That’s all there was to it and there probably was no need to be all fired up like this. Even so, there was something about her that just tugged on his last nerve. Even thinking about approaching her had him all hot under the collar. He didn’t know if it was because of those crazy clothes she wore—and the fact that she so obviously never wore enough underwear—or the blithe way she’d waltzed into Ness’s store and secured not only a job but a roof over her head in the bargain. Her mere existence managed to push his buttons with very little effort whatsoever.
And then there were the times when a thought of her would intrude on his working day. When he’d remember the taste of her and the softness of her lips, not to mention the fire that slender body had stoked when it was tucked up against his. He couldn’t even escape her in sleep—waking aching and surly more than once this past week. Something he’d taken out on his men, which also annoyed the shit out of him. He was better than that—at least he had been up until a certain free spirit had literally wandered into his path.
Yep, he was good and angry. Probably not the best mood to be entering the Wolf Den in, but if she was in there…
He paused. So what if she was in there? She was an adult. If she got into trouble it might make her leave town a whole lot sooner than she’d planned. Booth ceased his pacing, all but determined
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