Bare Naked: Naked Cowboys, Book 4 by Desiree Holt Read Free Book Online

know that’s not a good excuse. Not any kind of excuse, matter of fact. Just kind of an explanation of how I grew up to be an asshole, I guess.
    “Money certainly talks,” she agreed.
    He heard the bitterness in her voice. “Sounds like you know it firsthand.”
    “You could say that.”
    “Unfortunately,” he went on “when you no longer have it, no one gives a shit about you. I was so angry at my father for losing everything. Leaving me without a pot to piss in.” He chuffed a sound. “And I can tell you, my so-called friends couldn’t run away from me fast enough.”
    “That’s a terrible thing to live through,” she said, concern evident on her face. “So why does Amy Montgomery have it in for you more than someone else might?”
    “Ah, Georgie, that wasn’t one of my finest hours. At all.”
    “Come on. Spill it. Then I’ll tell you my tale of woe.”
    Hating himself as he heard the words come out of his mouth, he told her about being engaged to Amy Stark, cheating on her in a very public place then getting mad because she was upset. And finally going so far as to threaten her when she started seeing Buck Montgomery.
    “I was like a kid whose toy someone had stolen.” He rubbed his face. “I should have had a drink before blurting all of this out.”
    “But you really wouldn’t have hurt her, would you?”
    She was studying his face. Then she leaned over and put her hand on his arm. Just her touch singed his nerves and sent shockwaves through his system.
    Jesus!
    His gut twisted into a hard knot as he waited for what she said next.
    “I hope this comes out right, but I’m really proud of you, Cade.” She smiled. “I know you haven’t had a drink since you came to work here, just like you promised. I see you working out there every day almost from the minute the sun comes up. You don’t go anywhere at night and I can’t imagine lying in bed up in that barn is any too pleasant, but you stick to it.”
    He snorted. “Gives you plenty of time to think, unfortunately. Just like working outside.” He shook his head. “I’ll tell you. If I had met me six months ago I would have hated me. A lot of days now I still do.”
    She tightened her fingers on his wrist. “We all have our demons, Cade. It’s what we do about them that counts.”
    “Are you going to tell me about yours? Fair’s fair, you know.”
    She sighed, but he noticed she kept her hand on his wrist. Tentatively, he covered it with his own, relaxing a fraction when she didn’t move it away.
    “Just like your story is the rich asshole who loses it all and falls down in the gutter, mine’s as much a stereotype.” She wet her lips. “I grew up on the opposite of the tracks from you. Dirt poor with worthless parents. But I found out I had a brain and used it. Took business courses. Accounting. Computer classes. Got a job at the headquarters of Carlton Hotels in Dallas. Then things got really good. And really bad.”
    Cade took a chance and lifted her hand from his wrist, held it in his palms, stroking it lightly. Hoping she’d be too busy talking to jerk it away.
    “I don’t follow.”
    “I subbed for the CEO’s admin one week and Everett Carlton apparently was impressed with my smarts. He began pushing me up the corporate ladder.” She gave a rude laugh. “The high-class bitches who worked there resented the hell out of me, especially those with college degrees. The men climbing up the corporate ladder pretty much ignored me. But you can imagine why they all thought Carlton was being so good to me.”
    “Put out to move up,” he said crudely.
    “They couldn’t have said it any better.” A sad look came over her face. “Everett Carlton was a gentleman. He had a wife he loved and a family he doted on. There was nothing between us. Nothing,” she repeated fiercely.
    “Hey, hey, hey.” He tightened his hold on her hand. “I believe you. Really.”
    She looked at him. “Why? You don’t even know me. I could be