Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

tired were not a good combination. “Not what?”
    “Married. You’re not married, are you?” She kept looking forward, and he could tell she was holding her breath, waiting for his answer.
    “Not married, not in a relationship, no ties to any place or any one.” He yawned, then pointed to the old neon sign ahead to the right. “There’s the motel.”
    She snorted. “I’ve lived here all my life. You didn’t think I could get you to the only motel in town?” She pulled into the parking lot. “What’s the room number?”
    “Why, you want to come in for a second round?” The question was out of his mouth before he even thought about how it would sound. The car jerked to a stop in the middle of the parking lot.
    “Fine, you can walk from here to whatever room you’re staying in. I hope its number 15 since it’s all the way to the back.” She glared at him. When he didn’t move, she waved both hands in a scooting motion. “You’ve been delivered. Now get out of my car.”
    He worked hard to keep the grin off his face. As fired up as the girl appeared to be, a grin might just get him run over when he left the vehicle. “Thanks for the lift. I truly appreciate it.”
    When she didn’t say anything, he opened the car door and stepped out. Before he closed it though, he leaned back into the vehicle. “I’ll get the bike out of your lot first thing in the morning. I promise.”
    She nodded, then as she started to pull away, a man approached her side of the car.
    “Mags, what are you doing out this late? Don’t tell me you got lonely and decided to look me up.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes and leaned against the car. “You know, I’ve got tickets for Saturday night’s fight in Spokane. They have some good kids in there now. You want to come along?”
    “As tempting as that sounds, Tom, I’ll have to take a pass. Besides, aren’t you and Darlene still dating? I’m pretty sure she would love to go.” She put the car in gear. “Got to go.”
    The motel night manager walked back and stood outside the office, lighting a cigarette. He nodded as Josh approached. Josh knew he should just let it be, but he was drawn in like watching a car wreck.
    “Maggie Castle dropped you off?” The man’s voice was gravelly like he swallowed a red solo cup full of small rocks. 
    “Yep. You know her?” Josh paused on his way to his room. He didn’t know why he cared about Maggie’s history, but he did.
    “You could say that.” Tom threw his cigarette down and using the ball of his brown cowboy boot, crushed it into the ground. “She’s a looker. She’s always been hot, even when she was cheering for the local high school. I had a thing for her most all of senior year, but those Castles, they don’t pal around with the lower class.”
    Josh leaned against the porch rail. “Oh, I don’t know. She seems pretty friendly.”
    The guy chuckled. “Believe me, I know a lot of men who tried to crack that chick, but she’s ice. Not to mention that she has two brothers who would rather mess you up than welcome you to the family barbeques. I heard her old man thought she was going to land some rich husband and save the farm, but he died before she even thought about marriage.” He shrugged. “Who knows, she may play for the other team.”
    Now that Josh knew for certain wasn’t true, which led him to believe that most of the crap he’d just heard was as false as this guy’s opinion of Maggie’s sexual orientation. But he might pass on some information that could be useful. “So they own a farm?”
    “A farm, winery, the restaurant Maggie manages, and, you’re not going to believe this, a freaking tiger zoo. I heard rumors when the old man was alive that the businesses had hit some hard times, but then the oldest, Mark, came back and started running things.” He shrugged. “I guess Mark wasn’t such a bad guy in school.”
    The phone in the office rang and the manager turned that way.
    “I better