Belonging to Bandera Read Free Page B

into trouble.”
    “I never get myself into trouble,” she said sternly. “And if I did, I’d know how to get myself out just fine. All I needed was a ride.”
    “Anyway,” Mike said, “they called me after I was already on my way here to get you. Do you want to use my cell phone to call them?”
    “I’ll call Mom and Dad later.” Chuck she was never going to call again.
    “And Johnny?” Mike asked.
    “His name was Chuck. What’s to talk about?” she demanded. “I think some things don’t require words.”
    “I agree,” Bandera said, his tone way too cheerful. “Red bras in fruit bowls generally illuminate a situation better than linguistic artifice.”
    “Ah,” Holly said.
    “As does a ring left on top of a condom box.”
    Cousin Mike cleared his throat.
    Holly looked at Bandera.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, as if only she could hear. “A lady like you deserves more considerate treatment.”
    Her heart seemed to curl up and die with mortification, yet she appreciated Bandera’s efforts to comfort her. “It’s all right,” she said.
    “No, it’s not. Did you know that the cognitive area of the brain, the part that helps make appropriate decisions, is the last to develop? It may not happen in some brains until twenty-four to twenty-six years of age.”
    She blinked. “Are you making excuses for my ex? Are you saying his cognitive functioning was impaired?”
    She thought she saw color rise up Bandera’s neck.
    “No,” he said, “I’m saying you’ll be older the next time you choose a man, and you’ll know exactly what you want. This was obviously not the right man. And yes, he must have been cognitively impaired, not to mention character-stunted, to make a bad decision like that. I’m sure you couldn’t see any of that, however. I bet he sold himself to you as a regular prince.”
    “He did,” she said sadly. “But he was no prince at all.”
    “Precisely,” Bandera agreed cheerfully. “Now, the difference between you and me is that you agreed to be married. I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. My cognitive functioning will always be too impaired for me to select a wife.”
    “Peachy,” Holly said. “And you’re not too proud to admit it.”
    “No, I’m not. Did you know Confucius said that a gentleman has neither anxiety nor fear? I have both,” he boasted. “When it comes to the idea of matrimony, I am both anxious and fearful. I admire that you were even willing to consider it.”
    “Do you study Confucius often?” Holly asked.
    “I like quotes. They give me a point of reference in my life.”
    She looked at him thoughtfully. “Are you super-intelligent, or just full of hot air?”
    “Hot air,” Cousin Mike and Mason said in unison.
    She leaned back and stared out the window. He probably was full of hot air. More than Chuck, even.
    But Bandera did make her feel better, she admitted. It was the way he kept watching her—until she’d catch him, then he’d look away quickly—that told her he found her attractive. For a woman who’d found a bra thrown atop the bananas in her kitchen, it was some comfort that the cowboy seemed interested.
    Of course, he probably sold every woman the wheelbarrow full of horse manure he was pushing. “Where are we going?”
    “If I remember, there’s a bike shop up in Sweet-briar, just thirty minutes from here. If not, Charley will know where we can take your Hog,” he said to Mike.
    “Thank you,” Holly said. “For going out of your way.”
    “My pleasure,” Bandera replied, his voice deep and sincere. Holly glanced back to the mirror, finding his gaze on her once again, and this time she didn’t turn away. After a heartbeat passed, she quickly broke eye contact and went back to staring at the countryside, unable to acknowledge—or reply to—the masculine promise in his voice.
    The very thought of his pleasure made her skin tingle. Made her glow inside.
    She had to be crazy. She had to be suffering from canceled-wedding