Read Online Her Texan Temptation by Shirley Rogers - Free Book Online Page A

stood and took his dishes to the sink. “I’m no ace mechanic, but I’ll take a look at your truck. If I can’t figure out what’s wrong, Russ can come over and check it out.” Russ was married to his sister, Lynn, and they owned a horse ranch about ten minutes away. “He’s had a lot of odd jobs over the years. I bet he can fix it.” He returned to the table to pick up her dishes, then took them to the sink, Mary Beth’s financial situation on his mind.
    Had she really forgotten to order the feed? It didn’t seem to him that she had that much money, but he wasn’t sure. Hell, if she was short of cash, he’d lend her some. He opened his mouth to make the offer, then shut it again. Maybe he’d better wait for further proof before jumping to conclusions. Besides, they were actually getting along for the moment. And he was beginning to enjoy it.
    “Please don’t go to any trouble,” she insisted. Mary Beth didn’t want Deke to involve anyone else in her problems.
    Deke walked back over to the table and stopped beside her. “Don’t worry about it.” He lifted her face up so he could look into her eyes. “Stop frowning or you’re gonna have worry lines,” he warned, then drew his finger across her forehead. He’d only meant to tease, but the instant his fingers touched her face, his body tightened and the last of his words spilled out in a rough ache.
    Mary Beth’s breath dammed in her lungs as she stared at him. She hadn’t expected him to touch her. An intense sensation of longing flared deep in her stomach.
    You’ve really got to get a grip on your attraction to this man.
    She swallowed hard and tried to smile. “I’ll remember that.”
    Desire stirred inside Deke. Lustful feelings that he had no business entertaining. The last thing he needed was to get involved with Mary Beth. But as sure as he was that it was going to complicate things between them, he had a suspicion that getting involved with her was something he wasn’t going to be able to stop.

Five
    D eke pushed Mary Beth’s pickup truck under the shade of an old pecan tree. Though the vehicle wasn’t a relic, it sure hadn’t seen a showroom in years. Rust had eaten away at the dull silver paint along the front fender and left ugly jagged holes in its wake.
    Even if he got it started, he didn’t like the idea of Mary Beth traveling the roads in this beat-up, unsafe truck. It could break down miles from town on one of the back roads. Stuck out in the middle of nowhere, anything could happen to her.
    As he worked on the truck, checking plugs and cleaning off connections, Mary Beth’s situation nagged at him, darkening his mood. The hay for the horses was gone and her pantry was practically bare. On top of that, the ranch all but screamed for attention. Either she didn’t care about the desperate need of repairs, or she had much greater problems. He suspected the latter.
    If she had any sense, she’d sell the ranch. It was a good piece of land with the potential to be profitable. Why was she holding on to it? Stubborn woman. Yeah, if he’d learned nothing else about her, he’d definitely learned she was stubborn.
    And sexy as hell.
    Oh, yeah. All he could think about was making love to her. All night long. He had erotic memories of the night he’d spent with her. Every single detail was etched in his brain. Being around her today had made him cognizant of his physical awareness of her. How could he not want to make love to her now?
    Well, so what if he did? he argued with himself. It didn’t mean he had a thing for her.
    “Ow!” He jerked his finger back as it connected with a live wire. He’d better keep his mind on the engine before he fried his brain. Not that Mary Beth wasn’t doing a fine job of that as it was.
    It wasn’t long after he checked the headlights and ensured they worked fine that he ruled out the battery. Although old, it appeared to be sufficiently charged. However, come winter, it’d probably have to be