Read Online Lonesome Cowboy (Honky Tonk Hearts) by Stacy Dawn - Free Book Online Page B

nestled into hers, her little chin immediately rooting around her breast.
    “She’s, uh, hungry.” If possible, her cheeks burned hotter as his gaze went to her chest.
    Marshall’s eyes darkened and the heat raked from her cheeks to more intimate places.
    He cleared his throat and stood. “I-I should be going.”
    Amy didn’t quite know what to do about the muted gravel in his tone, or the way it ignited embers she’d thought long turned to ashes.
    Heart pounding, she simply nodded and followed him to the door. “Thank you,” she remembered to say at the last minute.
    Marshall turned and paused, blue eyes softening. “No problem.”
    He ran a finger over Charlotte’s plump cheek. “We had a good talk.” His gaze rose to meet hers, the grin tipping his lips again. “Few things I needed to work out. She was a good listener.”
    In his eyes, Amy read the war he was battling, the hurt, the questions. He had every right to be mad…or had he? There was still that comment he made about the ring…causing questions of her own she needed answered.
    “Marshall—”
    His warm fingers pressed gently against her lips.
    A quiet, “Shhh,” escaped his. “It’s okay. We will talk, just not right now.”
    His soap-musky scent whirled around her, making her dizzy, and with his fingers still pressed against her lips, she could only nod, and gulp.
    His gaze dipped back down and the pressure in and around her breasts became more than apparent. When his attention returned to hers, his eyes were dark as a moonlit lake.
    Then he did something she didn’t expect, didn’t imagine would ever happen again in her lifetime. He bent, and his lips grazed her forehead, paused, and then pressed a tender kiss to her heated skin.
    Then he was gone.
    Amy stood there in the open doorway, the small, annoyed mewing sounds from her daughter muffled by the thunderous pounding of her heart.
    ****
    With a long-broom in one hand, Marshall flipped a chair over and set it seat down on the table Tulsa Blue had wiped down earlier. The jukebox played low in the background and the aroma of Gus’s special, after-hours brew filled the quiet honky tonk. He pushed the broom along the floor and repeated the closing exercise at the next table.
    “You know, you’ve put a whole new spin on the Lonesome Cowboy moniker tonight.”
    He glanced over his shoulder to find Keira, two mugs in hand, headed his way. “Excuse me?”
    “They used to call you the Lonesome Cowboy because you’ve been working here so long. But you played lonesome on a whole new level tonight.”
    Marshall frowned and accepted the mug of strong, black coffee, not planning to comment on the ridiculous statement. After a short, hot sip, he set the mug down and grabbed up another chair.
    Keira obviously didn’t get the hint as she continued to stare at him expectantly.
    The chair clunked onto the scarred table-top. With quick jerks, he swept out peanut shells and an old receipt from under the table. “Did you have a point?”
    “You wanna talk about her?”
    The concerned brown eyes of his longtime friend were too understanding and compassionate for him to handle at the moment, and he dropped his attention back to his task. “No.”
    “Come on, Marsh. You’ve been sulking about ever since Amy showed up, and then tonight it’s been like you’re on another planet. You actually gave a Margarita to Big Ed for goodness sake.”
    “He liked it, didn’t he?” he grumbled.
    Her shoulder bumped his, and Keira’s throaty laughter trickled out. “Yeah, and thanks for that. I lost five bucks to Dad betting Big Ed would never touch the glass.”
    His lips twitched thinking about how he covered his absent-mindedness by convincing the three-hundred-pound truck driver the women would come crawling over to him if they saw him drinking it.
    Her tone sobered. “That’s the first glimmer of a smile I’ve seen on your face in a week.”
    Marshall stopped and folded his arms over the end of the