Designed for Love (Texas Nights) by Kelsey Browning Read Free Book Online Page A

hoodie. “How long have you talked about developing this land? And how many builders have you shit-canned over the years?”
    Gigi pointed her chin at the senator’s deuce showing. “Another?”
    “Hell, yes.”
    She hit him with a queen, and he slumped back in disgust. She scooped up the cards and his small pile of chips. “This is the one. I feel it in my bones. He’s done similar work around Tyler and Granbury. Search online for Harbinger Hills and Solemn Sanctuary, and tell me if you don’t agree.”
    The senator switched his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other. “Sound like goddamn cemeteries, you ask me.”
    Ashton made a c’mon motion with her fingers, skimming her cards. Gigi tossed down a two. More? She was sitting at fourteen. No risk, no reward. She brushed the cards again and took an eight. She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them again, her cards and chip had already been swept away.
    Within an hour, Ashton’s chip pile was wiped out, and Napoleon was scratching at her leg. She tried to pawn off the sick feeling in her stomach to the weenies rather than the barren state of her wallet. “I’m taking Napoleon out for a rest stop.”
    Jessup elbowed a small stack of red chips her way. No way in hell. She didn’t know what her parents paid him, but whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. She would never take his money. She pretended she didn’t see what he’d done and said, “Let’s go, Napoleon.”
    “Be careful of the varmints out there,” the senator said.
    Ashton froze.
Varmints
sounded way worse than the possum she’d warned Napoleon about earlier. “What kind of...ah...varmints?”
    “Oh, coons and snakes. But they’ll run. They coyotes, though, they’ll snatch up your little fur ball like he’s one of these here beer weenies. Gulp him down in one bite.”
    Napoleon yelped, and Ashton realized she’d bear-hugged him to her chest. “Maybe we should just go home then.” As far as she knew, there were no coyotes skulking around her apartment. Correction, Roxanne’s apartment. The one Ashton owed late rent on.
    Rather than ante up his next bet, Jessup stood. “I’ll be happy to accompany you.”
    “Thanks.” She was all for standing on her own two feet, but when it came to Napoleon’s well-being, she had no shame.
    She urged Napoleon outside with Jessup close behind. “Don’t get any wild ideas,” she warned her dog. “Believe me, you mix it up with something out there and you won’t win.”
    Of course, he scampered off to sniff a cluster of prickly bushes. “So,” she said to Jessup, “how is everything in Houston?”
    “Are you inquiring about your parents or something else?”
    One side of her mouth quirked up. “I’m pretty sure my parents are the same as ever—the sticks up their rears are permanent. I was asking about you.”
    “Content.”
    “Seriously?” Oops, red wine always loosened her tongue.
    “Why wouldn’t I be?” Jessup’s pocket square was a tiny beacon in the darkness, and Ashton instinctively moved closer to him. “My employment with your parents is not only respectable work, it’s also afforded my family some excellent opportunities.”
    “What about you? When do you get your excellent opportunity?”
    “Perhaps working in the Davenport home for all these years
was
mine.”
    “Look at you, Jessup. You’re a snappy dresser. You’re a hard worker. You’re loyal. Discreet. A great listener. You give amazing advice. Have you ever considered that you’re wasting your talents?” Words tumbled out like circus acrobats, but without the grace and control.
    The silence stretched into the darkness. She expected to see Jessup’s salt-and-pepper eyebrows dipping low, so suspicion swarmed over her when his mouth curved into a smile.
    “What?”
    “You’re actually paying attention to the people around you.” Jessup’s tone was warm, approving. “You care what they’re feeling, what they’re doing. You’re