Read Online Texas Thunder by Kimberly Raye - Free Book Online Page A

front porch when Brett had arrived to pick her up.
    Hell, he’d nearly gotten his ass shot off with a sawed-off bootleg special, but Callie had faced James Harlin with a stern look that said she knew what she was doing, and she was doing it whether he liked it or not.
    Brett had felt something he’d never felt for any girl at that particular moment—admiration. The feeling had chipped away at his smooth Southern charm and turned him into an awkward, overly excited ball of testosterone. He’d wanted her so bad.
    He still did.
    The notion struck and he shoved it to the furthest part of his mind. Maybe so, but he wasn’t acting on it. That was the difference between the boy he’d been and the man he was now—he wasn’t a slave to his basic impulses.
    Control. That’s what it was all about and he had it in spades.
    But back then … He’d been desperate that night. Awkward. Overly excited. And so he’d pushed her out of his car and sped away. That first date had turned into their last and he hadn’t talked to her since.
    He’d meant to. But she’d been too torn up over her parents and he’d been at a loss as to what to say. Hell, he hadn’t trusted himself to say anything to her after spouting off like Old Faithful before he’d even gotten his pants off. He’d been embarrassed. Scared. Stupid.
    A kid, he reminded himself.
    But he was a full-grown man now, and he wasn’t losing his head where she was concerned. No ripping off her clothes and burying his face in her breasts. No plundering her mouth with his.
    Not ever again.
    But there was nothing wrong with being nice. Friendly. He owed her that much. That’s why he’d stopped in the first place. To be cordial. Decent.
    Drawing a deep breath, he met her steady gaze. “What else can I do for you?”

 
    CHAPTER 8
    Take a flying leap.
    That’s what Callie wanted to say. What she’d been waiting ten years to tell him.
    Sure it wasn’t the ideal scenario. No killer job or killer heels, but she wasn’t going to get caught up in the details. It wasn’t as if Brett Sawyer waltzed back into her life every other day. This might be her only chance to blast him and tell him what she really thought of him.
    That he was a no-good, unreliable lowlife who’d ruined everything. He’d dumped her and taken the most important thing from her—her parents.
    But the truth was, she didn’t really want to blast him anymore. And not because she was too tired or because she didn’t look her best or because she was coming off one of the worst days of her life. But because, in all honesty, he just didn’t deserve it.
    Yes, he was no-good and unreliable and a lowlife. And he’d most definitely ruined a lot of things—namely her self-esteem. At least back then. But he hadn’t taken her parents from her.
    Ten years had taught her that sometimes bad things just happened. To some more than others.
    She’d blamed him at first because he’d been an easy target. She’d been mad and hurt and he’d been such a jerk that night. He’d been the reason she’d had to call her parents in the first place.
    Still, he hadn’t been the one who’d crashed into them.
    He stared at her expectantly. “Are there more boxes?”
    â€œNo, I just…” Her voice faded and she caught her lip, trying to say something—anything—so she didn’t appear a total idiot. His gaze dropped and she could practically feel it slide over the fullness of her bottom lip. “That is, I thought you might want to take a tour of the house.”
    His mouth crooked at the corner and she saw a hint of the teasing grin that she remembered so well. “You trying to sell me some real estate?”
    â€œHardly.” She had the sudden image of that grin up close and personal a split-second before his mouth pressed against hers and her stomach