Luke (Armed and Dangerous Book 2) Read Free

Grow up.
    But coming home again...
    Yeah. Coming home brought back the specter of that quiet, hurting large girl who barely made it out of Arizona alive.
    Truth be told, if Trinity hadn’t been changing jobs, and if Skylar hadn’t e-mailed her to tell her about the rustling troubles at the MacKenna ranch, she never would have come home.
    Since she got here and found out the rustling problem was over, Trinity still hadn’t been able to bring herself to call Skylar or see her. After a combined ICE-DEA operation, Skylar and the Flying M were safe again—but the place didn’t feel safe to return to Trinity in so many ways.
    Trinity knew she needed to force herself to visit her sister, but it felt so horribly much like stepping back in time, like surrendering all the progress she had made in life.
    Trinity sighed. “Skylar’s always been the beautiful one in the family. The thinnest, the smartest—even the best barrel racer.”
    “Being a rodeo queen doesn’t make Skylar MacKenna royalty,” Nevaeh said, looking more serious than Trinity had seen her since she got back to town. “Let me take you downstairs, and we’ll see who gets the royal treatment from every eligible male in the room—and half the ineligible ones, too.”
    Nevaeh slapped Trinity’s ass hard enough to make her jump.
    “Hey.” She rubbed her stinging butt cheek with one hand and glared at Nevaeh over her shoulder. “You’re not acquiring an ass fetish, are you?”
    Shaking her head, Nevaeh scooped up a gold hairclip from the antique vanity table. “Sooner or later, you’ve got to stop comparing yourself to your sister. Now sit.” Nevaeh placed her hands on Trinity’s shoulders and firmly pushed her down onto the bench in front of the vanity mirror. “Look at all you’ve accomplished.”
    Trinity shrugged. “No big deal.”
    Nevaeh narrowed her gaze at Trinity’s reflection. “Graduated with honors from U of A. Hired by Wildgames—only the best software company in the world. Never mind jetting all over Europe and shooting up the corporate ladder. Hell, you practically ran Wildgames’s software development until they got bought out last month—and DropCaps Digital snapped you up with a giant bonus and a month off.”
    She gathered Trinity’s hair into the clip and didn’t even stop for a breath. “And don’t forget the best part. You’re still dating an English god.”
    Trinity knew better than to interrupt Nevaeh on a rant, even to tell her she wasn’t sure about her long-distance relationship with Race Bentham. Her friend barreled along like a boulder rolling downhill when she had a point to make, and she’d freak if Trinity mentioned she might be dumping a handsome, wealthy businessman with a Ferrari and a way-hot British accent.
    “And now you look incredible,” Nevaeh finished as she fluffed the soft cloud of curls left out of the clip. “Like you walked out of Cosmopolitan. ”
    Trinity couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s enthusiastic support. “It’s funny how confident and successful I’ve felt since I left home.” Her smile faded a bit. “Until my airplane landed in Tucson. Now... I don’t know. Time warp. I feel like I’m the old Trinity instead of the new Trinity.”
    “Close your eyes.” Nevaeh held up the hairspray can.
    Trinity obeyed and held her breath as the spray hissed and a wet mist surrounded her. When she heard the can clunk on the dresser, she opened her eyes again and saw Nevaeh’s reflection. She had her arms folded, her blue-green gaze focused on Trinity in the mirror.
    “You know what I see?” Nevaeh asked.
    Trinity gave her friend an impish grin as she waved away the lingering smell of melon-scented hairspray. “A redhead in a too-small red dress with no bra?”
    “Turn.” Nevaeh didn’t even crack a smile as Trinity slid around on the polished bench to face her friend.
    “Don’t tell me.” Trinity scrunched her nose as though she was seriously considering Nevaeh’s