Cowboy Player: Cowboy Cocktail, Book 3 Read Free

around her like a quiet, malevolent animal that sucked all the breath from her lungs.
    When her mother passed away, Melody had been living in San Diego with her long-term boyfriend. When she told him she had to move back to her tiny hometown in the Central Valley to help support her sister and take care of her mother’s affairs, Scott used the move as an excuse to finally end their relationship.
    They’d had their problems. But Melody hadn’t anticipated the finality of the breakup. So swift and clean. It was as if their eight years as a couple had never existed.
    With a grimace, Melody swallowed down the last of her gin and tonic. One of the bartenders whisked her glass away and asked if she wanted another. Even though she did, Melody shook her head.
    Something touched her bare arm. A warm fingertip grazed her skin from elbow to wrist. She looked up.
    “Lost in thought again?” Clark leaned close and kissed her cheek, just as he had hundreds of times before. One of the Silver Spur’s waitresses put a beer down in front of him and flashed a sexy grin. He smiled at the woman briefly and turned his attention back to Melody.
    She shook her head. “It must be hard to be you.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Women. The endless parade of women fighting for your attention.”
    “Oh, it’s not so bad.” Clark took a sip of beer.
    “Where are all your brothers? They usually help carry the burden.”
    “I’m on my own tonight,” he said. “But let’s talk about you, not me. Why so blue, Mel? Baby sister all grown up?”
    They turned to look at the crowd in front of the stage. Harmony had found herself a cowboy admirer. The lucky fellow was holding her close and nuzzling her neck as he led her around the dance floor.
    Was Melody sad that Harmony was growing up? No, not exactly. Nostalgic, more like—for a version of herself she wasn’t sure ever existed. Had she ever been that young and optimistic? Had she ever let herself be that free?
    “I’m proud of her,” Melody said at last. “It’s been hard. Seeing our mom get sick like that. Lots of kids would’ve dropped out. But she finished school with a 3.8. This is her first night out in a long, long time.”
    “A smarty-pants, just like you.”
    “Smarter than me,” said Melody. “She learned something useful. Solid paycheck, helping others, all that good stuff.”
    “You’re a brilliant teacher, from what I’ve heard.”
    “Diagramming sentences isn’t exactly going to save us from the zombie apocalypse, now is it?”
    “If there’s a zombie apocalypse, nothing will save us, Mel. The only thing left to do is get drunk and screw.” He held up his beer mug and winked at her. An honest-to-goodness wink.
    Melody shook her head. “You can’t help yourself, can you, MacKinnon? You’re a hopeless flirt.”
    “Flirting? Thought I was just drinking beer and being myself.” He looked down at the empty coaster in front of her. “What about you? What are you having? Gin and tonic, right?”
    He remembered her favorite drink. Melody smiled. “No, I’m good. I’m on sister watch tonight. She really wants to cut loose. Someone’s gotta hold her hair back when the vomit flies. Which it inevitably will.” She waved her hand at him. “You should go have a good time. Get yourself a nice piece. Enjoy your Saturday night.”
    Only Clark could make a shrug look so sexy. “But I’m already enjoying my Saturday night.”
    Something about the way he said those words made Melody’s skin tingle.
    As an experiment, she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her arms on the bar. For a nanosecond, Clark’s dark eyes darted to her cleavage before resting on his beer. A sudden, electric thrill shimmied down her spine. Her body clenched with pleasure, knowing she could still get the attention of a man as insanely hot as Clark MacKinnon.
    But then…guilt.
    That’s Clark. Don’t flirt with Clark.
    The band started playing something loud and rowdy. Clark