The Reluctant Rancher~Badlands (Contemporary Western Romantic Suspense) Read Free

better.
    He picked up speed when he cleared the city limits. The whine of the high-performance engine always gave him a thrill. And today he needed a thrill. He hoped that no Texas Highway Patrolmen were in the area because he was suffering from the need for speed. He put the car through its paces, smoothly going through the gears as he shifted from brake to clutch. He opened it up on the flat highway and pressed his foot on the accelerator. One hundred ten miles per hour and climbing. Up ahead he saw a horse trailer being towed by a pickup truck. No other traffic. No problem . He pressed harder on the gas and swerved around the truck and trailer. He felt a sense of euphoria well up in his chest as he left the other vehicle in his wake.
    He slowed and veered through the fancy gate his father had erected at the entrance to the Kincaid estate. He drove to the end of the road and killed the engine in front of the pretentious southern-style mansion his father built as a monument to himself. The sooner he could get rid of this place and move back to Dallas, the sooner he could pick up the threads of his life. He got out of the car and slammed the door. But he had to hang in here and keep his dad’s business enterprise going. It wasn’t fair when Eldon had spent his entire life building this empire to give to his only son, even though the only son had an entirely different plan.
    He had taken a couple of steps up the broad granite stairs when the pick-up truck towing the horse trailer he had passed on the highway pulled up to the house. He turned back to the house when he heard the truck door slam.
    “You jackass!”
    He turned to see the local veterinarian advancing on him. In fact, she was stomping mad. “Are you speaking to me?”
    “You moro n!”
    “And good morning to you, too, Jenna. I would ask what blew up your skirt, except or course, you don’t own any.”
    “Of course I own skirts and dresses, you jackass. I do go to church every Sunday, unlike some total heathens who never set foot inside a house of God.”
    E.J. lifted one side of his mouth in a smirk. He patted himself on the chest. “Ah. You must be referring to me.” He raised his eyebrows and stood smiling down at her. “I assure you that I attended church with my mother every Sunday for as long as she was able, but it was a civilized church with an organist and choir that actually stayed on tune.”
    Jenna crossed her arms over her chest and snorted. “Probably one of those fancy- smancy places I see on television.”
    “Yes, I do believe the services were televised.”
    She snorted again, as though the idea of televised church services was the work of the devil.
    “And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today?”
    “I was on my way here to start inoculating your herd when you tried to run me off the highway.”
    “He gazed down at her quizzically. “Inoculate the herd? And what do they need inoculating against? Measles?” He chuckled a little at his own joke, but she was having none of it.
    She rolled her eyes and made for the truck. “Where is Leon, your foreman? I need to talk to someone with brain matter between his ears.”
    E.J. shrugged as she slammed the door and drove off toward the barns and out-buildings.
    One more reason he needed to get back to civilization. Where women were women, and looked like women and smelled like women and talked like women. He cast one last glance at the pick-up truck that was obscured by a cloud of dust. Silly female . He turned and climbed the stairs and entered the mansion that he supposed would one day be his.
    ~*~
    Celeste Pigeon strolled out of the doctor’s clinic, walked to her car and climbed inside. She had witnessed the scene when E.J. Kincaid tossed a hundred-dollar bill at Loretta, the doctor’s receptionist and departed.
    Celeste had a little stir of lust when the tall, handsome man first emerged from the examination room. He’s such a babe. And rich as all get-out.
    H is daddy was