Read Online Texas Bossa Nova (Texas Montgomery Mavericks Book 5) by Cynthia D’Alba - Free Book Online Page A

stairs and into the kitchen. When she looked over her shoulder, Darren was putting his hat on to leave.
    “Parker’s knows I’m coming for a delivery? I don’t want to hang around there all night. The ladies are awaitin’ my arrival at Leo’s.”
    Magda chuckled. “I bet they are. Don’t worry. Everything will be boxed and waiting for you to pick up.”
    “Good deal.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. She slapped the back of his head, which brought out a loud guffaw. “That was a wussy slap.” He hotfooted it to the back door. “But I’m not going to give you another shot.”
    She smiled. “The weather is getting nasty. Started sleeting just now.”
    “I’m not worried. My truck can plow through anything.”
    He left with a loud bang of the door. Through the window, she could see him hunched over in the wind. He pulled his hat lower to protect his face. But his bright red truck was fairly close to the back porch, so he was in it and gone before she finished rinsing the dishes.
    Reno came in to the kitchen. “I heard some sleet hitting the roof. I’m going to head down to the barn and check on everything for the night.”
    “Need any help?”
    “Nope. Not this time. I’ll be back shortly.”
    As she dried the clean dinner plates, she watched Reno walk toward the large barn, his heavy coat flapping in the wind, his cowboy hat pulled low on his head. The ice, which had been pinging pleasantly on the glass, changed to large shards that clanked when they hit. The sound made her shiver even though the house wasn’t the least bit cold.
    She was just finishing up in the kitchen when the back door slammed open, allowing a rush of icy air in. Reno stepped through, his arms full of chopped logs.
    “Let me give you a hand,” Magda said, hurrying to close the door behind him.
    “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to set these by the fireplace in case the floor furnace has trouble keeping up. Then I’ll head back out and load some wood in the firewood box. We’ve been taking advantage of the nice weather to do field work and have let our winter preparations get behind.”
    She held out her arms. “Let me have the logs. I’ll take them in the other room.” When she could see the objection rising on his lips, she added, “I’ve got sleeves on so my arms are protected. Now give them to me and go.”
    Reno nodded, transferred the wood to her and left.
    Sometimes Reno was sure Magda Hobbs would be the death of him. He stepped on the bottom step from the back porch, his mind on the woman who’d dominated his thoughts for almost a year instead of the freezing rain, and slipped on a small ice patch.
    “Damn it,” he muttered. “Most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. Pretending like there was nothing going on between us last summer. Acting like I haven’t seen her sweet ass naked as the day she was born.” He opened the door to the firewood box. “Great. Just freakin’ great.”
    There was one stick of wood left from last winter. Otherwise, the box built into the house to hold wood for the fireplace was a gaping hole. And the area to hold the surplus fuel for the wood box had two tiny sticks for tinder and one log. Yeah, that wouldn’t hold them if they needed a fire.
    They’d put the major pile of wood behind the barn, bringing up loads as needed. For a minute, he thought about saying screw it and heading back inside. These cold temps might last through the night, but come morning, the sun would likely warm everything back to normal.
    Still , the other side of his brain said, you know eventually you’ll need wood for a fire. And this will keep you from grabbing Magda and hauling her off to your bedroom.
    “Damn it.” He tromped back to the kitchen to get his truck keys.
    “That didn’t take long,” Magda said.
    “That’s because I didn’t do anything,” he groused. “Gotta haul some wood up from the storage area.”
    “I’ll give you a hand.” She grabbed her heavy leather jacket off the