(Calahan Cowboys 08) The Cowboy Soldier's Sons by Tina Leonard Read Free Book Online

She quickly locked the doors, and he acted as if he hadn’t noticed. “I wanted you to know where I came from, Shaman. I knew you’d understand.”
    He pulled away from the small, decrepit pile of wooden misery where Tempest had grown up. “I don’t know that there’s anything to understand. It doesn’t matter to me.”
    “I haven’t been back here since I left,” she said softly. “And I’ve never told anybody I dated about my family.”
    “So this is like a real first date,” Shaman said, trying to unload some of the tension.
    Yet the tension wouldn’t leave her. “I just knew I could tell you, because you’re not some rich guy who’s never worked a day in your life. You haven’t had everything handed to you. I mean, I feel like you could understand.”
    “Oh, I get it. Because I’m a working stiff.” He laughed. “Cupertino, you got a bad-girl fantasy going on? Rich girl meets bad boy?”
    “No,” she said, annoyed. “I just feel like you and I are a lot alike somehow. That maybe we’re from the same place.”
    “It’s okay,” Shaman said. “I get what you’re saying. And I don’t care about your skeletons, beautiful. Now tell me where you want me to take you for our date. A beer is sounding real good to me right now.”
    “I do not have a bad-girl fantasy, or whatever you said,” Tempest said, still inwardly writhing over the skeletons that had popped out unexpectedly from her closet. “I don’t have any fantasy at all concerning you,” she fibbed.
    “We’ll have to work on that. I’ve got plenty of fantasies that have your name on them.”
    She sniffed. “Really?”
    He reached for her hand, kissing her fingers. “Feed me, and maybe I’ll show you.”
    “Turn right at the stoplight. You can get a beer at Shiloh Bill’s.”
    “That’s my girl,” Shaman said, and Tempest decided maybe the night was looking up. As long as she didn’t think about the past, everything was fine.
    * * *
    S HILOH B ILL’S WAS A cozy mom-and-pop shop with lots of plants sprucing up the place, and a piano player in the background. Shaman felt himself slowly starting to relax. The whole incident with the vagrant had really teed him off—he couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted to remove a guy’s head more.
    It was Cupertino. She was driving him mad.
    “What are you going to eat?” she asked, looking at him with big, inquiring eyes. He figured most girls wouldn’t have wanted to go out in a cap and wearing no makeup, but she hadn’t mentioned it. Shaman wondered if she knew how sexy she was, and decided Cupertino was too secure to care, whether she was wearing holey jeans or a ball gown.
    “I’m going to have a salad and veggie quesadillas,” Shaman said. “Maybe some Oreo pie for dessert.”
    “Didn’t you eat today?” she asked, obviously teasing him.
    “Bodyguarding makes me hungry.” He reached for the chips in the center of the small table between them in the booth.
    “Bodyguarding?” she said, one brow arching.
    “Yeah. Do I get extra points for it?”
    She laughed. “I can take care of myself, Shaman. And you just like to eat. It has nothing to do with me.”
    “I wouldn’t count on it.” He sipped his beer, drinking in Cupertino, feeling relaxation stealing over him like a welcoming hug. “So, I have to ask you something.”
    She leaned back. “I can’t promise to answer.”
    “This is an easy question. My curious, naturally suspicious mind thinks Bobby’s right. Bud Taylor left his money to you.”
    She looked at him without blinking. “They teach you puzzle solving in the military, or is it a natural talent?”
    “Both. I’m right, aren’t I?”
    She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have the money.”
    He heard the hedge in her answer. “But you did have it.”
    Her mouth twisted, and he wanted to kiss her soft, sweet lips. “If I did, Phillips, I would have donated it all to charity.”
    “Would you now?” he said, knowing she’d just answered the