Burn on the Western Slope (Crimson Romance) by Angela Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

Garret that, if his father hadn’t cheated, Chayton would never have been born.
    Garret had never known Chayton’s real mother. Chayton had only been eighteen months old when she left him on their father’s doorstep. She’d left details, nothing specific enough to trace but enough for him to know his Native American roots. She left him a picture of her and enough money to get him started in a life, but no reason why she left.
    Garret had been seven years old. He remembered his own mother, finding the baby on the doorstep, panicking that someone would leave such a sweet bundle outside but thankful she was home at the time. He remembered her reaction when she found a copy of the birth certificate, discovered this child was her husband’s son. She’d taken in and loved Chayton as if he were her own.
    “Yowzer,” Chayton said as he continued to sip his lime water. He was still on the job, and he didn’t drink on the job. “Our new neighbors are hotties.”
    Garret grunted. It only made his duty harder, so to speak.
    The moment he’d seen Reagan walk into the bar, his libido drifted off course with his mind. The moment he looked into her golden brown eyes, he knew he couldn’t be near her without eventually acting on his impulse to kiss her, unless he had a good reason not to. Marriage was a good reason to keep his hands off. He didn’t mess with married women. Being under investigation for a crime should have been a good reason, but damn if he could convince his other body part.
    “I don’t know what your intentions are, but I hope you don’t plan on hurting Reagan,” Chayton said.
    “Now why would I do that?” Garret downed his beer and plunked the bottle on the bar. Chayton had no idea she was involved with a mafia family, and Garret wasn’t about to tell him.
    “Because I know what kind of man you are.”
    “And what kind of man am I?”
    “A man who can’t commit to anything other than his job.”
    “Oh, yeah, speaking of my job … ”
    Chayton hunched his brows together as he waited for Garret to continue.
    “I don’t want them knowing about my job.”
    “And why is that?”
    Garret couldn’t tell Chayton about his investigation, or the fact he was investigating their new neighbor. “Because, I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want them to know about it, and sometimes being a federal agent really sucks.”
    “You think?”
    Garret knew how his brother felt about his vocation. He blamed the entire judicial system for their father’s death.
    Their father had preferred the charm of Tanyon and wanted to raise his sons in a small town. He commuted ninety miles one way to Helena and worked as an investigator with the police department. Sometimes days passed before they saw him, but when he was home they did everything together.
    He was all set to retire and work with the small police department in Tanyon as a patrol officer when he’d been killed. His partners hadn’t been there to back him up, they hadn’t been there when he was shot, and no one had taken responsibility.
    The trial had been a disaster, the verdict a not guilty. The defense attorney even went so far as to blame his dad for the catastrophe that claimed his life.
    So Chayton blamed everyone. The lawyers, the cops, the judges. Chayton lived on the right side of the law but had no respect for it. Not since their dad was killed.
    He’d almost disowned Garret when Garret pursued a career in criminal justice, but Garret couldn’t be swayed. And now, sometimes, he wished he might have been.
    “Your secret is safe with me,” Chayton said. “But I’m warning you right now not to hurt her. Don’t use her. Don’t even think about bedding her. She’s Ray family, that makes her family.”
    “Okay. What about her cousin?”
    Chayton grinned. “I have dibs on her cousin.”

Chapter Four
    “What am I doing?” Reagan paced, clutching Dr. Till, her snow boots clumping against the wood. She halted beside the couch where Naomi