Read Online Trouble in Texas by Katie Lane - Free Book Online Page A

you to hold a grudge,” Minnie said as her twinkling
     eyes landed on Elizabeth. “Seems to me you’ve been paid in full for any damages—virgins
     are high commodities here at Miss Hattie’s and don’t you forget it.”
    Beau choked so hard that Sunshine raced over to pat his back while Elizabeth stared
     at Minnie in stunned shock. Did the old woman have dementia or had she just lost her
     ever-loving mind? Elizabeth hadn’t had sex with Branston Cates. But before Elizabeth
     could deny it, Brant latched onto her arm and pulled her back inside the house. He
     paused for a moment to look around the entryway, then chose the first door on the
     right.
    It was the library, the only room in the entire house that Elizabeth wanted to own.
     Or at least she wanted to own thecontents of the room. She would’ve loved to take home the first-edition classics that
     lined the shelves. Unfortunately, she might own the house, but the hens owned everything
     in it. And they refused to part with anything that had belonged exclusively to Miss
     Hattie or her ancestors.
    The door slammed shut, and Elizabeth turned away from the book-filled shelves to look
     at the man who leaned against the door with arms crossed and dark scowl in place.
    “You’ve got exactly five minutes to explain what a virgin was doing in my room last
     night before I call that sheriff back out and have you arrested for sexual assault.”
    “Sexual assault?” She placed a hand on her chest where her heart was thumping out
     of control. “I did not sexually assault you.”
    “Are you saying you weren’t the woman in my arms last night?”
    Her face flamed with heat. “No. I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying that I
     didn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to.”
    “I was drugged, for Christ’s sake!” he snapped as he came away from the door.
    Elizabeth was not used to being yelled at, and she didn’t care for it one bit. She
     wasn’t blameless, but she certainly wasn’t the villain he was making her out to be.
    “I wasn’t responsible for you being drugged, Mr. Cates,” she said. “You have the hens
     to thank for that. In fact, I didn’t even know you were drugged until we almost…”
    “Screwed?”
    The word drained the embarrassment right out of her and replaced it with anger.
    “Watch your mouth, mister.” She pointed a finger at him. “And no, we were not even
     close to that. I merely stumbled into your bed by accident.”
    “So Minnie didn’t send you?” He answered the question for himself. “Of course she
     didn’t send you. She’s not the owner of the henhouse. You are. Which makes me wonder
     if you weren’t doing exactly what Minnie said you were—trying to seduce me into not
     pressing charges.”
    It was hard to think when the kimono had come undone again. The glimpse of hard thigh
     was bad enough, but the teensy weensy peek of dangly flesh had her blushing so much
     she now could empathize with her mother’s hot flashes.
    She turned away and walked over to the bookshelves. “I told you before, Mr. Cates,
     that I’m not the seducing type. The only reason I was there was because I was curious
     as to why Sunshine was so anxious to get upstairs.”
    He moved up behind her, so close his breath ruffled the hair on the back of her neck.
     “So we didn’t have sex?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    There was a pause before he continued. “Then explain how your panties got in my bed,
     Ms. Murphy?”
    She froze, her hand resting on the binding of
War and Peace
. Since there was no way she could talk with this man about what had taken place in
     Miss Hattie’s bed without dying of embarrassment, she stretched the truth a little.
    “I don’t know what panties you’re talking about.”
    Only a fraction of a second slipped by before she was spun around. The kiss he laid
     on her was as hot and steamy as her nightly baths. It had the same effect: her muscles
     turned to jelly and she was ready for