Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates Read Free Book Online Page A

she was being ridiculous about it. Completely overcome by the sense of hyperawareness that often assaulted her when dealing with Jack-related things. And she would picture him pulling up, and her stomach would turn over sharply, her breath catching, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The response was completely involuntary, and it was so strong it made her legs shake.
    Anyone would think she was waiting for a date.
    She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tight just as she heard another engine sound. Her eyes popped back open and she brushed the curtains aside again just in time to see Jack’s truck rumbling up the drive.
    She put her hand on her stomach. “Stop it,” she scolded herself. It did nothing.
    She grabbed a jacket and her bag and jerked open the front door, then walked out onto the front porch as she slung both over her shoulder. She wasn’t going to sit in her living room and wait for him to come to the door. She was not going to encourage her weird bodily reactions.
    She scampered to the truck and flung open the passenger-side door, then braced her foot on the metal running board before climbing into the cab. She slammed the door shut and buckled. “Let’s go.”
    â€œIn a hurry, Katie?”
    â€œI would like to be on time,” she said, battling against her urge to bristle.
    She didn’t want to bristle. She wanted to be sleek. She wanted to have no reaction to him whatsoever. None at all.
    â€œIs it still at the Grange Hall?”
    â€œYes, it is. And I hope you ate, because they still serve store-bought sugar cookies and watered-down punch.”
    â€œAh yes, the official small-town meeting food.”
    â€œI don’t mind the cookies. I don’t even really mind the punch. I just don’t know why people think they go good together.”
    He put the truck in Reverse, then turned around and drove back down the narrow driveway that fed into the wider main driveway that eventually curved onto the highway.
    â€œIt’s one of the great mysteries of our time,” Jack said. “Personally, I think overearnest meetings like this should come with whiskey.”
    â€œI would have no problem with that. But somehow I don’t think the budget allows for alcohol.”
    â€œWell, that’s an oversight. What has to be cut to make room in the budget for alcohol?”
    â€œThere really isn’t much to cut. We kind of pay for our own stuff. In addition to paying dues to be a part of Oregon’s Amateur Riders Association. But you know, support system. Training. And we do get to use the arenas of the fairgrounds a couple times a month at no extra charge.”
    â€œI guess next time I’ll bring my own whiskey,” he said.
    â€œThere won’t really be a next time, though, will there?”
    â€œI suppose that all depends on whether or not I’m creating a monster with this.”
    â€œYou feel pretty passionately about it, don’t you?” She so rarely asked him sincere questions that he seemed stumped by this one. Well, she was, too. She had no idea what she was doing. Why she wanted to know more. Why she wanted to dig deeper.
    â€œI do,” he said finally. “It feels like half the time the odds are stacked pretty high against women.”
    â€œSeeing as it was my mom that screwed everything up, I can’t say that’s been my experience,” Kate said.
    He huffed out a laugh. “I suppose in your life it was different. Not just because of your mom, but because Connor and Eli would kill anyone who hurt you. You’re surrounded by people who love and protect you. There are a lot of people who aren’t. A lot of kids, a lot of women. They’re either abandoned and left to their own devices, or worse, they’re actively hurt by the people who are supposed to love them.”
    Kate immediately felt stupid for her earlier comment. “Did your dad... Did he hurt your