Certified Cowboy

Certified Cowboy by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Certified Cowboy by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online
Authors: Rita Herron
come true. That Rex had found her and was trying to scare her.
    That putting a snake in the bed, sneaking inside her room and messing with her things, leaving mysterious presents, torn photos of her and Kenny, one of Kenny’s stuffed animals ripped and shredded, a dead rat, a black rose…they were all things he’d done before.
    Things his warped sense of humor and twisted sense of love found funny. Things he hoped would frighten her back into his arms and make her give him back his son.
    He was sick, demented, a psychopath.
    She would never go back to him or let him near Kenny.
    The mere thought that he’d been in the room made her ill, and a strangled sound gurgled in her throat.
    Johnny closed his hand around her arm to steady her. “It’s okay. It looks like a coral snake and they are poisonous, but this is a milk snake.”
    She was shaking so badly that she swayed, and Johnny pulled her up against him and closed his arms around her. She leaned into him for just a moment and took a deep breath, but his masculine scent made her dizzy in another way, and she pulled away. “How can you tell the difference?”
    He spoke in a calm voice. “The coral snake’s red and yellow colors touch, but the milk snake has red touching black and is harmless.”
    She chanced a look at him and saw that he was watching her with worried eyes. He was such a pillar of strength that she wanted to fall into his arms. But she couldn’t trust him or any other man.
    “They still bite, don’t they?”
    “Snakes strike back as a defensive mechanism.” Johnny moved slowly toward the bed, careful not to make a sudden noise and startle the snake.
    “I don’t care. I don’t want him in my bed.”
    “Don’t worry,” Johnny said. “We’ll take care of that.”
    His voice remained low, his footfalls light until he reached the bed, then he lifted the snake with his hands, carefully holding its mouth away from him, and crossed the room. Shivering, she followed him outside.
    Kenny came running up then, with Cleo trailing him. His eyes widened when he spotted Johnny with the snake. Then his gaze flew to her, and Rachel realized he’d heard her scream and had thought Rex had found them.
    Guilt slammed into her. Her poor little boy. He shouldn’t have to be afraid of his own father. “It’s okay, Kenny. A snake was in the house. You know your mother doesn’t like reptiles.”
    Kenny’s terrified look turned to childlike curiosity, proving he was resilient.
    Johnny knelt to show Kenny the snake. “It’s a milk snake and harmless,” Johnny explained. “But there are other snakes on the ranch that are dangerous, Kenny. Rattlers, cottonmouths, copperheads. You need to be careful when you’re out in the field, or if you’re by the river or creek.” He paused. “The counselors will teach you how to recognize the poisonous ones. Be careful when you pick up a stick or turn over a rock or log.”
    Kenny nodded, soaking in every word Johnny spoke. “Can I pet him?” Kenny asked, wide-eyed.
    “Sure, but you need to run your finger down his body. If you rub against his scales, it’ll hurt him.”
    Rachel clenched her hands as she watched the gentle way Johnny handled the reptile and her son. But the scent of that cologne in her cabin and the fact that she had found the snake in her bed made her chest clench with fear.
    Kenny really liked it on the ranch.
    But if Rex was here, they would have to leave Cleo and the pups and his new friend and idol Johnny behind.

    S USPICIONS REARED THEMSELVES in Johnny’s head, making his temper come alive, but he bit his tongue to keep from voicing them aloud.
    Rachel was definitely lying to him. About her name. About the reason she had been traveling from town to town. Maybe about everything else.
    Something had her spooked, bad, and it wasn’t just that damn snake.
    Which raised suspicion number two. How the hell had it gotten in her bed? Sure, they found snakes in the barn and on the ranch, but so far

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