Burn for Cowboy (Stampede Sizzlers) by Jenna Howard Read Free Book Online

relax in the presence of Adam Payne.
    Women loved Adam. Mike was secure enough to admit that the hockey player was fucking gorgeous. He had all his teeth, his face unscarred from fights on the ice. As if the hockey gods couldn’t find it in them to break up the beauty of his face. It was because of Adam that women had been going to more hockey games in Seattle, Washington where he played. It wasn’t Adam’s pretty boy face that made Meri tense and nervous. The man was doing that. Mike was ready for his client to piss off and stop upsetting Meri.
    “How about that?” Adam sipped his coffee. “What are the odds?”
    Beneath his fingers, Meri’s twitched as if she wanted to resume the slow back and forth motion on her thigh. “Pretty good actually,” Mike said. “I’m a sports agent. She’s a coach.” But what were the odds that her ex-boyfriend was Adam freakin’ Payne who was attending the Stampede at the same time? It would be like him running into Erica at a hockey game. Pretty fucking slim.
    The irony gods were laughing their asses off. To borrow Chance’s favorite phrase: what dickheads.
    Adam pulled a ringing cell phone out of his pocket. He glanced at the call display then he stood. “Look I gotta go. Good seeing you, Mike. Meri.” 
    Mike lifted her hand up and kissed her fingers.
    “How do you know Adam?” Her voice was faint, her eyes haunted.
    He reached out to draw a gentle line under her right eye. “He’s a client. How do you know him?”
    She blinked, her attention on the plate. “From home.”
    He waited for more. You didn’t call a passing acquaintance Meri-girl. She slipped her hand free and massaged her thigh again.
    He wanted to wake up to her every day. He wanted her in his bed every night. He wanted her stuff scattered on his dresser and her presence touching everything in his home. He didn’t want his home anymore. He wanted their home. And that freaked her right out.
    It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that he wasn’t the one who owned her heart. He wanted to. The same way her body was his, he wanted her heart.
    He gambled on decisions all the time: was an athlete and an endorsement a good match? Would management say yes to an increase in wages for one of his clients? Was this athlete capable of winning something big?
    He was about to take a huge gamble this moment. “You dated him, didn’t you?” She jerked in surprise. Her face went even whiter.
    “For awhile,” she answered softly.
    Mike watched her hand sliding back and forth on her thigh. “Meri?”
    “Do you mind if I skip the rodeo? I’m not feeling that good.”
    He reached out to touch her cheek and froze when she jerked away. They both froze. Not once since their first date had she ever pulled away from him. He nodded, hurt spreading through him. She excused herself and bolted from him.
    His thumb ran over his finger and he stared at the empty chair. What the fuck had just happened?
    He wanted to hunt down Adam Payne and find out what he had done to her. Meri-girl .
    He was a smart guy. He knew exactly how Meri knew Adam.
    Suddenly he didn’t want to go to the rodeo either. Mike called for the check, scribbled the room number on it then followed her.
     
     

Chapter Five
    Adam. Adam Payne.
    She folded an arm over her stomach as she stared blankly at the elevator doors. Last night seemed far away with the arrival of Adam Payne. Swallowing, she reached out and hit the button again.
    A hand settled on her back. She jerked at the touch and spun to see Mike standing there. Her heart was beating fast and loud. Could he hear it? The doors finally slid open and they stepped in. Mike slipped the key card into the slot and hit their floor. Adam was here. He knew Adam.
    “Are you okay?”
    She nodded, easing away from his touch. A soft curse came from him and she wanted to move close to him. When her hand lowered, he caught it before she could erase away the phantom pain.
    “Let’s try that again,” he