Her Heart-Stealing Cowboys [Hellfire Ranch 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Free Page B

outward cool smile but inside she shuddered and recoiled. She wanted to toss him out into the street like the trash he was.
    Annoyance flickered through his gaze once more.
    “You’ll regret this,” he snarled. He snatched the paper from Deidre’s hand and stalked from the outer office. The door slammed and windows trembled in the wake of his furious departure.
    “What a charmer,” Deidre said.
    “Tell me about it,” Rebecca replied. She rubbed her arms to ward off the lingering effects of his presence.
    “Boss, I don’t know how you manage to look so serene when dealing with those idiots. I would have popped him for brushing up against me.”
    Rebecca ran a hand through the sleek length of her ponytail. “I wanted to poke his damn eyeballs out.”
    “What stopped you?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Training. My father would have a conniption if he saw me being outright rude. He always said a lady behaves in public and rages in private.”
    Deidre’s mouth twisted. “Sounds like a boring way to grow up.”
    Rebecca thought of being seven and at the mercy of an addict bent on scoring cash or drugs. The old memory brought another shiver. She couldn’t say she’d had a boring upbringing. “Eh, you learn to adapt.”
    Her secretary nodded then looked at her watch. “It’s almost one. I’m going to head to the deli for a sandwich. Want anything?”
    As if on cue, Rebecca’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t eaten anything since half a bagel at seven that morning. “Turkey and Swiss on white bread. Toasted. Extra black olives.”
    Deidre smiled. “Why did I even ask?”
    “Because you’re a good employee who never takes anything for granted?”
    “And don’t you forget it.”
    After she left, Rebecca wandered back into her office. She picked up the file her investigator had compiled on Gaughan. On the surface the man shone like a beatific angel. Beneath the sophisticated veneer, however, was a con man of the highest order. All the digging in the world hadn’t produced a shred of evidence against him but she knew he was guilty.
    Her father called it a gut feeling and cautioned her against listening to it. Rebecca called it sixth sense preservation.
    The outer office phone rang. Rebecca hurried around her desk and picked up the receiver.
    “Rebecca Lyons.”
    “Hello, gorgeous.”
    She smiled at the smooth baritone. “Boone! How are you?”
    “Doing well. Pretty good actually. Lots of action around here.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Surely you didn’t call me to tell me about your sexual exploits?”
    “I would but you’d like that too much.”
    Heat blossomed in her cheeks and she looked through the door to the empty outer office. She lowered her voice. “Hush, you big mouth.” Boone knew more of her secrets than anyone else in her life. And he loved to use the more titillating ones to tease her mercilessly.
    His warm chuckle washed over her and she couldn’t help but smile again.
    “Where are you now, or is that hush-hush government information?”
    “I’m in Texas, actually. A tiny little town called Freedom.”
    Rebecca pulled the phone away and stared at it in surprise before bringing the receiver back to her ear. “What are you doing there?”
    “That, I can’t tell you. I think you’d like it down here, though. Beautiful lush hills, lots of cattle and exotic animals, and even more interesting people.”
    “Sounds quaint and picturesque.”
    “I know you like that,” he murmured. “For all your big-city ways, you pine for the country.”
    “As long as I can get my nails done, my hair cut well, and there’s decent shopping, I’m comfortable anywhere.”
    Boone laughed. She heard the rumble of a low voice in the background followed by a higher feminine voice.
    “Who’s that?” she asked.
    “I’m at the sheriff’s office. That’s Sheriff Taggart Cain and his secretary, Doreen.”
    “The sheriff’s office, huh? You in trouble with the law?”
    “Honey, I am the law.”
    She