Read Online Hot Damn by Regina Carlysle - Free Book Online Page B

dog barked. A child laughed. It wasn’t unusual on a Friday night to hear kids playing in their backyards long after dark.
    The tiled patio was the newest addition to her home. Her dad had built it for her last summer and she loved to come out here, usually in the company of her girlfriends. It was, for her, a perfect place to chat the night away.  Tonight it was downright peaceful.
    Nash led her to a comfy sofa she’d upholstered in a red and gold pattern. Nearby a bumblebee droned near the crape myrtle bush outside her kitchen window. They sank down, thigh to thigh, and he wrapped one arm around her. His fingers stroked slowly over her bare shoulder. “This is nice,” she said, relaxing into the caress, leaning her head against him. She propped her bare feet onto the glass topped coffee table.
    “You have cute toes.”
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “Thanks, I think.”
    He laughed. “No, really, they are. I love to see a woman running around her own house looking all comfortable.”
    “If you’re not planning to run off anywhere soon, why don’t you take of those boots? Then we’ll match.”
    “Ah, now you’re talkin’.”
    Scarlet watched him reach down and tug off each boot. Beautiful, she thought. Black ostrich skin with the tops sewn with fancy gray stitching. Nash didn’t stop there and rolled his white socks off his very big feet and stuffed them in the boots. He set them aside and settled back again, smiling at her.
    “Tell me more about this huge family of yours,” she said when he looped his arm around her and drew her close.
    “Not much to tell, I reckon. Mom died young and I never knew my dad. She tried really hard to make a good life and I know she loved me.”
    “How old was she when she died?”
    “Mm. About thirty, I guess. I was ten. Ovarian cancer.”
    “I’m so sorry.”
    “Yeah, me too.” He let out a long breath then took a sip of his wine. “Mom had no family that I ever knew of so I went into the system and turned into a really bad kid. In and out of juvie. Made running away an art form. Big trouble. That was me.”
    Trying to lighten the mood, Scarlet grinned. “I’ve always had a thing for bad boys.”
    Nash chuckled and brushed a kiss over her forehead. “That’s good to know since I’m not sure if I’m completely reformed.”
    “What happened?”
    “Ended up with Buck and Rose Walters down in New Braunfels. Their own sons were grown and gone and I guess they figured why not take in some foster kids.” Nash leaned forward and set his empty glass on a long table she kept in front of the sofa. He turned to her. A quick breeze fluttered his hair. “They’d been taking in rough and rowdy boys for several years when I got there. Buck took me in hand, taught me about life and hard work. I straightened up.”
    “Is that how you got involved with the rodeo?”
    He nodded and settled back again tugging her closer. “Yeah, I guess. I took to the horses mainly. Buck trained some of the finest cutting horses in the state and I showed an aptitude for it. He showed me the ropes.”
    “Cutting horses?”
    “Ranchers depend on cutting horses to move cattle,” he explained. “Exceptionally smart animals. Highly trained, and one of the most valuable assets for the working cowboy.”
    “And Buck taught you all about them.”
    “He was a fine man.”
    Scarlet envisioned Nash, a young, lonely boy, desperately missing his mother and her heart went soft in her chest. Emotion grabbed her, swift, powerful. “You were happy there.”
    His teeth flashed white and strong when he grinned. “Yeah. Mama Rose spoiled us to death with love and good food. We boys had a bunkhouse, close to the main house, and hell, it was rowdy. Remember meeting Shorty today?”
    “Sure.”
    “We bunked there together for six years. Now he travels with me. He was a foster kid, too.”
    “Seems like a nice guy.”
    Nash blew out a breath. “Yeah. Anyway, Buck died recently and his grown sons, at