Busted Read Free

warn ya.” He walked back toward
his truck, but he couldn’t resist a glimpse over his shoulder. She was shaking
her head and laughing. At him. Damn her. But it still made him smile.
    He got back in his truck, cranked the country tunes, and
made his way down the familiar road, checking on the little red car in his rear-view
mirror constantly. Damn, she was a cute little thing. Probably too innocent for
what he had in mind, but he still looked forward to spending the night with
her. He knew she’d have to go back home, wherever the hell that was, come
morning, but half a dozen hours should be just enough to show her a good time.
He’d pay for it come morning when he had to get up for work, but it’d be worth
it.
    Charlene followed him up the long and winding road to the
main house and waited for him to cut his engine before she climbed out of her
car. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking up at the big, burgundy
ranch house with the wrap-around porch. “Hey, this is the Braxton place. My
mama is real good friends with Ruth Braxton.” She tipped her head back to look
at him. “You wouldn’t be her younger son, would you?”
    So much for anonymity. What did he expect? This was Brant
County, after all. “Yeah, I am.”
    “I knew your brother growin’ up, though he was quite a bit
older than me. But I think you left town before I was even born. You didn’t come
back much, did you?”
    “No, I was pretty busy helpin’ my old man out.”
    “It’s so pretty out here, even at night.” She smiled.
“Listen to that, you can hear the crickets. That’s what I’ve missed about
living out in the country.”
    He knew he shouldn’t ask, but he did. “Where you livin’
now?”
    “Dallas.”
    “Huh, not too far from my old stompin’ grounds.”
    “So you—”
    He grabbed her, pinned her up against his truck, and kissed
her the way he’d wanted to since he saw her pretending not to fixate on his ass
while he leaned over the bar. He had a good imagination, but nothing could have
prepared him for that first kiss.
    She wrapped her legs around his waist, knocked his cowboy
hat to the ground, and threaded her fingers through his hair as her tongue
toyed with his in an erotic dance that had him hard in seconds flat. “Sweet
Jesus, girl,” he muttered. “Where the hell’d you learn to kiss like that?”
    Charlene licked her puffy lips before smirking at him. “Lots
of practice.”
    That shouldn’t piss him off, but it did. “Oh yeah? You got a
boyfriend stowed away up there in Dallas?”
    “Would it matter if I did?”
    Yes. No. It shouldn’t, but suddenly, it did. “I don’t mess
with another man’s woman, darlin’.”
    She slid her legs down until her feet hit the crowd. “I
thought we weren’t gonna talk about… you know… stuff like that. You said you
wanted this to be kind of anonymous. That means you don’t get to ask whether I
have a boyfriend or husband waitin’ on me at home.”
    He grabbed her left hand and held it up so he could see it
under the glare of the porch light. It was bare, but he couldn’t tell if there
was a tan line. “I’ll ask again, you got a man waitin’ on you to come home?”
    “None of your business.” She pulled her hand away and
crossed her arms.
    “Like hell it isn’t. You either tell me right now or we’re
not takin’ this any further. You got me?”
    “Fine.” She walked back toward her car and raised her hand.
“See ya.”
    Damn her. She was really planning on leaving him high and
dry. “Would you just answer the goddamn question?”
    “No, okay? No husband. No boyfriend. No lover. You happy
now?”
    Those few words made him happier than he’d been in a long
time because he knew he couldn’t let her practice with him and go home
to share what she learned with her real man. The thought made him sick. “Yeah,
I’m real fuckin’ happy.” He moved in on her, enjoying the flicker of
uncertainty he saw pass her face. A few well-placed smacks to