Bound, Branded, & Brazen by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

thing. She loved catching up, but hated fielding the same old questions about where she’d been, why she left the ranch, and what was going on with her and Mason.
    In that her sisters were her lifesavers, especially Jolene, who steered people away with talk of cattle and horses and the exorbitant price of feed. And Lila, who stuffed everyone’s faces with enough food their mouths were too full to talk. Fortunately, Mason had begged off attending the luncheon, claiming he had ranch work to do, so she didn’t have to face him along with the questioning stares of everyone from town.
    According to them, you didn’t leave ranch life. You were born and bred to it, you married into it and you died doing it.
    Why in hell weren’t they badgering Brea with questions? Probably because she knew how to hang out in a corner and resemble a potted plant. No doubt not a single soul even recognized her behind her scraggly hair and boho outfit. If only Valerie could be obscure. As the oldest, she was the best known other than Jolene.
    By the time the crowds had left, Valerie was exhausted. Tension had drilled her shoulders into hard knots. She was glad this day was over, and she wanted nothing more than to hide in her room. Brea and Jolene were in the kitchen with Lila. Valerie stayed in the great room, searching for leftover cups and spoons and the like.
    “Rough day?”
    Her shoulders tensed at Mason’s voice. She turned and managed a smile. “It wasn’t too bad.”
    “Sorry I wasn’t here. Bet you had to field a lot of questions about us.”
    “I managed.”
    Dirt smudged his face and rained off his jeans as he moved into the room, his boots tapping on the wood floor. God he looked good enough to . . . eat.
    It had been a long, long dry spell. The last man she’d been with had been . . . him.
    “You look tense.”
    She lifted her chin and dropped her shoulders. “I’m fine, really.”
    “I used to know you better than you knew yourself. You’re not fine. There are dark circles under your eyes. When was the last time you slept?”
    Years ago . “Don’t worry about me.”
    His lips quirked. “Old habits die hard.”
    He moved in, his fingertips brushing hers. The contact was electric, surprising.
    What they had was in the past. It should be dead, buried, along with any feeling she’d had for him. But the whoa of chemistry was still there, undeniably roaring to the forefront with the simple touch of fingers.
    It wasn’t fair that this was happening.
    His gaze shot to hers and she was lost in the darkness of his eyes. Memories swirled around her. Their first touch, first kiss, and so many moments after that, mingling together like a movie in fast forward. Despite the self-preserving need to run, her feet stayed rooted to the floor, curiosity and need swirling like a tornado inside her, around her.
    “Leave me alone, Mason.” She finally found the strength to take a step back.
    “Is that what you really want?”
    She’d taken his heart and stomped all over it. Why didn’t he hate her? Hadn’t he moved on? Why did he look at her with the same kind of heat he used to, the all-consuming kind that threatened to drop her to her knees?
    She knew she shouldn’t have come, that she wouldn’t be able to handle this. Handle him.
    Shuddering an inhale, she backed up another few steps, breaking the spell. “It’s exactly what I want.”
    The smile never left his face. “I don’t believe you.”
    She skirted around him, unable to meet his knowing look. He’d always known her better than anyone. “Start believing it.”
    But as she walked away on shaky legs, needing to grip the railing as she made her way up the stairs, even she didn’t believe it.
    The evidence was in her pounding heart, her trembling legs, her hard nipples. One look, one touch, and she was turned on, wanting him, needing him just as much now as she always had.
    She might have divorced him and walked away, but she’d never really left him.
    She could talk