The Blacker the Berry Read Free

point A to point B, never occurred. Before he hit the freeway, Tamara pulled her iPod from her jacket pocket. She put the earbuds into her ears and closed her eyes, resting her head on the headrest.
    It was a good thing he didn’t want to talk. Right…a good thing. About an hour into the drive, the good thing got old. Real old.
    Taking one hand off the wheel, he gently tapped her on the thigh, startling her so bad her iPod flew out of her hand. Although it was funny, Russell held back his laughter while he waited for her to take the headphones off. “Sorry,” he said halfheartedly when she pulled the white cord, freeing her eardrums. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “As my momma used to say, if I was living right, I wouldn’t be jumping, right?”
    He wasn’t sure if she was right or not. In fact, he wasn’t quite sure he understood what the hell she’d just said. He was just happy she was talking. “Right. So how long are you staying? I saw the bag and…”
    “Oh.” She chuckled. “Just for the weekend. They did tell you I was going to need a ride home, right?”
    “Yes, but I come out every weekend. I didn’t know if it was this Sunday or next.”
    “No, this Sunday.”
    “So, why the big bag?”
    “Despite how it might appear, only a few things in there are clothes. The rest are things for Charlotte.”
    “Baby presents?”
    Tamara cocked a brow. “Look at you all up in my business.”
    “Hey,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m a lawyer. I cross-examine in my sleep.”
    “I guess.”
    When she didn’t volunteer any more information, he prodded, “So…”
    “So what, nosey boy?” she shot back, completely ignoring his curiosity.
    “You’re not going to tell me?” His tone showed the disbelief he felt.
    “Nope.” She shook her head for good measure, smiling all the while. Brat!
    “Why?”
    “Because you want to know.”
    He didn’t think he’d ever met a more contrary woman in his life. Yet instead of her refusal angering him, it amused him. “That’s childish.”
    “I can live with that.”
    “What if I said, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to pull over and drag you out of the car.” Since they both knew the threat was meaningless, it didn’t hold much weight, but he was interested to see what her response would be.
    “I’d say, ‘I hope you ate your Wheaties.’”
    His lips quirked with humor. “Why? Don’t think I can handle you?”
    “No, cowboy, I know you can’t handle me.”
    Talk about waving the red flag before the bull. Russell was sorely tempted to pull the car over for the mere sake of proving her wrong. She might think she was too much for him, but she was wrong. Dead wrong. And he couldn’t wait until he proved it to her. “We’ll see, Ms. Thang. We’ll see.”

Chapter Two

    The three-hour drive to Santa Estella seemed to fly by to Tamara. It had more to do with the company than the lack of traffic. Even though they’d met at the wedding and talked for a very brief time, she really didn’t get a chance to know him.
    If memory served her, he had offered her a job during the reception, but she never took him up on the opportunity. Back then she’d been afraid of screwing up and getting fired and then having to see him at every function she attended at Charlotte and Ty’s. That didn’t end up being the case, though. Not just because she didn’t take him up on his offer, but also because after the wedding she never saw him again.
    Over the course of the last two years, Tamara had visited the Dollar Ranch more times than she could count, but not once, on any of those occasions, had she run into him. She’d heard of him. Ty mentioned him a few times, but that was about it.
    Now, looking at Russell, it appeared as if the man who had once told her that he wasn’t a cowboy cowboy, might have up and changed his mind a bit, if his outfit was anything to go by.
    And damn, did he look good in that outfit. She was willing to bet he looked