Bad In Boots: Colt's Choice by Patrice Michelle Read Free Book Online Page B

from Elise was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And he had suffered for it. The past few days he walked around constantly half-aroused; his body jumping to full arousal at the smell of her seductive, floral perfume, the sound of her slightest laugh, especially the throaty one he would hear when she spoke to Mace—the same voice that was torturing him down the hall, even now, as she and Mace talked about the online advertising and promotion aspects of the Lonestar. It grated on his nerves that his happy-go-lucky brother got all of her attention. It didn’t matter to him that the website she worked on fell under Mace’s PR purview.
    There went that sexy laugh again. His chest contracted in anger and something else he didn’t care to examine too closely. That did it. Colt stood up and walked over to the spare office down the hall. He began moving boxes full of rodeo overflow stuff from the office to his truck. After his third trip past Mace’s door, he looked up to see Mace leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, watching him approach with a box in his hands.
    “Whatcha doin’, bro?” He grinned at Colt.
    “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m cleaning out this office so Elise can have her own office and you can get some work done,” Colt replied, his tone clipped.
    “Oh, I don’t know, Colt. I think I’m just fine.” He turned his head quickly back to Elise. “How about you, darlin’? You feel like you aren’t getting any work done over there?”
    Elise didn’t even look up from the keyboard; her brow was furrowed in concentration as her fingers flew across the keys. She flipped her hand saying, “Sure, no problem, I’m fine,” before she returned her fingers back to the keyboard.
    Mace turned triumphant eyes back to Colt. “See, we’re fine. You’re going to throw your back out for nothing.”
    “That’s why you’re going to get your lazy butt out here and help me.” Colt said with a meaningful look in his eyes.
    Mace raised his hands. “Fine, I get the picture,” he said grudgingly as he moved to retrieve a box from the back office.
    “You can take Cade’s computer and Elise can take yours since she needs a more powerful PC to do the website stuff,” Colt commented as Mace loaded the last box onto Colt’s truck.
    His little brother turned to him, a knowing grin on his face. “Hey, if you want her, go after her.”
    Colt met Mace’s curious gaze. He knew Mace saw the emptying of the other office for what it really was. A sinking feeling made his stomach fist into a knot. “It’s not that simple, Mace.”
    Mace slammed the door on the back of the truck closed and met his gaze, “Yes, it is.”
    “She’s upper class. Enough said.”
    Understanding dawned on Mace’s face. “Colt, Elise is not Mom.” Then, he shrugged his shoulders. “And hell, even if she is, who said you have to marry her. There’s nothing that says you shouldn’t have a little fun in life, big brother.”
    When Colt didn’t answer, Mace continued, as he rounded to get in the passenger side of the truck, “Hey, she’s a desirable woman and if you don’t take a shot at what’s right before your eyes, there’ll be plenty of men lining up at her door who will.” He flashed Colt his best playboy smile before he hopped into the truck. “Including me.”
    Colt felt as if someone had just kicked him in the gut. The very thought of another man, even his own brother, touching Elise, drove him fuckin’ nuts. He got into the truck and slammed his door harder than necessary. He didn’t say a word to Mace as he drove toward the storage shed.

* * * * *
    Colt looked up as he heard Mace walk down the hall. Earlier, he had seen Elise pass by his door to go outside, but she had come back in and was now in the bathroom. Colt stood up and stretched. It was the end of the day. Time to go home. He was glad it was the end of the week. He walked over and leaned in the doorway as he watched Mace standing patiently near