Read Online The Cowboy and the Princess by Lori Wilde - Free Book Online Page A

neighbor,” she finished. “We were close. Do you have brothers or sisters?”
    “Four brothers.”
    “Gracious, your poor mother. Five boys.”
    “We did give her hell,” he admitted ruefully.
    “What is your birth order?”
    “Middle child.”
    “Hmm, that offers a bit of explanation.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Perhaps that is the reason why you are a nomad. Growing up, you felt displaced.”
    “Who says I felt displaced?”
    “It is the fate of the middle child. Is it not? To be displaced. What do your brothers do?”
    “Cody, my oldest brother, is thirty-five. He’s a chemical engineer. Works in oil and gas. He’s married and got two boys. Big house, big mortgage, all those things that trap a man.”
    “You are afraid of being trapped.”
    “I’m afraid of talkative hitchhikers.”
    “What about the other brothers?”
    “Colton is second oldest. He’s thirty-three. He’s a rancher, lives in Montana. Leif is twenty-seven, he’s getting married next year. He’s a musician in Austin. My youngest brother, J.D., is twenty-three and a bull rider.”
    “You are all cowboys?”
    “We are.”
    “Did your parents move around a lot when you were children?”
    “Nope. They’ve lived in the same house for thirty-six years.”
    “Where is that?”
    “Llano.”
    “Is that far from here?”
    “About a three-hour drive. You done with the interview?”
    “For now.” She stretched, raised her arms over her head, felt her blouse slip from her waistband and expose a stretch of bare abdomen. She noticed that Brady noticed. “Do you like navel rings?” she asked.
    He coughed, blinked. “What?”
    “Navel rings. I understand they are quite popular. Do you like them?”
    “Um, I dunno. Yeah, I guess. Sure. Why?”
    She placed a hand to her belly. “I think a navel ring would be quite seductive. A small gold hoop, winking in the light. A navel ring says, I am a daring woman .”
    “Are you?” Brady asked. “A daring woman?”
    She tilted her head and gave a coy smile. “I think I’ll get a navel ring. What else do you think I should have pierced?”
    “Uh . . . uh . . .” A disconcerted expression crossed his face. He was so busy staring at her belly that when oncoming headlights rounded the bend ahead, Annie realized he’d had his eyes off the road long enough to drift into the wrong lane.
    She reached over, took hold of the wheel, and guided the truck back to where it belonged. Immediately, he clamped his hands over hers. “I’ve got it.”
    Heart thumping, Annie let go, eased back against her seat. The heat from his palms lingered, seeping through the backs of her hands, drifting into her bloodstream. An indolent flash of something erotic yawned, shook its sleepy head, smacked its lips. “Next time, you should consider keeping your eyes on the road.”
    “Next time, you shouldn’t talk about piercing parts of that awesome body with a man pulling a forty-foot horse trailer behind him. I’ve got a vivid imagination about those places you’re considering piercing.”
    She reached to finger her earlobes. “I was talking about my ears. What were you thinking?”
    He swiped a palm across his forehead. “That a woman like you shouldn’t poke unnecessary holes in herself.”
    “Then I am fortunate that it is not your decision.” She didn’t even know for sure if she was going to get her ears and navel pierced. She just wanted to do something to remind her of her wild Texas adventures in the years ahead. “I suppose I could get a tattoo instead.”
    “No!”
    She startled, splayed a hand to her chest.
    “Absolutely no tattoos,” he said.
    “You have a tattoo,” she pointed out, peering at the galloping horse on his right biceps partially hidden by the short sleeve of his shirt.”
    “That’s how I know you don’t want one. You can’t take it back once you do it.”
    “It is a very lovely tattoo. Why do you regret it?”
    “I didn’t say I regretted it. I said you can’t