Read Online Never Let You Down: The Connaghers, Book 4 by Joely Sue Burkhart - Free Book Online Page B

only had a small taste of how hard and demanding she could be.
    In the end, that was the rub. Her first kiss with Tyrell had determined exactly what kind of relationship they were going to have, and until that kiss, she hadn’t even known she could find pleasure in hurting him. That such a thing was even possible.
    That long ago kiss with Jeb… What had it told her? That he’d been too damned afraid to make a move until someone else threatened to take her away? That wasn’t fair. Jeb was a lot of things, but not afraid.
    Nope. I’m the one who’s afraid. It’d be my luck to regain the best friend I ever had outside of marriage, only to lose him when he realizes how wide my cruel streak is.

Chapter Seven
    March 1974
    Her stomach twisted into knots, Virginia shot to her feet as soon as she heard Ty’s slow, measured pace down the aisle. She figured the best place to lose him would be the first place she’d found him. In the stable, her true home. So she’d camped out here all night so she wouldn’t miss his predawn arrival. Daddy was willing to let him start work at five a.m., and most days he worked until six p.m., or later, before going to a second or third odd job around town. It’s a wonder he hadn’t killed himself yet.
    He’s doing it all for me. For us. And I had to go and ruin everything.
    It took all her courage to step out of Dancer’s stall and face him.
    “Mornin’, Princess.” He tipped his hat back and smiled, but it wasn’t the same easy grin she’d become accustomed to. Tyrell Connagher was no dummy. She didn’t sleep in the barn and she hadn’t called him last night.
    “I need to talk to you.”
    “Figured as much. You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything at all. Ain’t nothing but death going to change how I feel for you, darlin’, and even then, I’ll be waiting in heaven until you finally show up so I can love you some more.”
    She had to blink the tears away, determined to get the whole ugly truth out before she broke down. “So you say. Wait until you hear it all first.”
    He pulled a small pouch of tobacco out of his shirt pocket. With practiced ease, he took out a paper and rolled a thin cigarette by hand. He didn’t smoke it, but simply held it in his mouth. He’d light it later as he rode out to check the fence line or count calves or whatever else the boss told him to do. “I’m listening.”
    “I made a mistake last night. You know how I said I was going to go to Texas A&M with Sissy Garrett? She’d been nagging me to go because she didn’t want to drive alone that far, and she’s just dying to get to college and out of Crystal Springs as fast as she can. So I agreed to drive her. And there was a party. I didn’t drink or anything. But…” She took a deep breath and said the rest in a rush. “I kissed her brother.”
    “Hmm.” Ty made a noncommittal sound, rolling the cigarette over to the other side of his mouth.
    “Jebadiah Garrett. We’ve been friends forever. I guess he got to thinking that maybe it was too late and all, and he kissed me. That’s it.”
    “He got to thinking it was too late? Or you?”
    She swallowed hard. “Well, he’s my best friend. I guess… Some people thought we were a couple.”
    Ty removed his hat and tucked the cigarette into the band. “I asked if you were promised to anyone.”
    “I wasn’t. I’m not. No one but you. I never dated him. I never even kissed him or anything, not until last night.”
    “And?”
    She searched his face, wondering how he could be so calm about it all. Wasn’t he jealous? If he loved her like he said, wouldn’t he need to rant and rave and beat the shit out of something?
    Or is that just me?
    “How was it?”
    She could feel the dull heat spreading across her chest, the telltale red crawling up her throat toward her face. That’s why she’d worn a sweater and a pretty scarf. Somehow she managed to shrug. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s kissed much at all.”
    “You had