Hell, Yeah by Carolyn Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

Travis. He didn’t mean any harm by the kiss. I’ve never known him to do something so irrational.”
    “Had he been drinking?”
    “Not Travis. He’s a one-drink-a-night man. Never seen him drunk and I’ve known him my whole life.”
    Sally brought the tea tray to the living room and set it on the coffee table. “Sugar and cream?” she asked Travis.
    “Two of sugar and barely white,” Travis said.
    Sally fixed it and handed it to Cathy. “Would you please take this over there while I fix Angel’s?”
    It was filled to the brim so Cathy had to walk slowly. Travis’s fingertips brushed hers when she handed it to him. She thought she had things under control, but his touch was as hot as the contents of the cup.
    Stop it right now, she argued with herself. It ain’t happening. I won’t let it. I’m not trusting a man again after Brad Alton, not even Travis. We are going to be neighbors. He’ll be in the Honky Tonk buying a beer and there will be times when his fingers touch mine. This has got to stop.
    She got a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach and got angry because she couldn’t make it disappear.
    “Thank you very much,” Travis said. She was one gorgeous woman and she’d be living right next door. But it was only for two months. Nothing could happen in that short length of time.
    “You are welcome.” Cathy started back to the loveseat but Angel and Sally were side by side talking about medicinal qualities of green tea.
    “Grab a cup of coffee and sit here. Kickoff in thirty seconds. Do you like football?” Travis patted the end of the loveseat.
    “I put five on the Cowboys to win by four touchdowns.”
    “You are my kind of woman,” Travis said.
    She sat down.
    Sally handed Cathy a cup of strong black coffee. “I’ll see your five and put five on the other team to whip the Cowboys by two touchdowns.”
    “You are speakin’ treason,” Cathy said.
    “Oh, I’m a Cowboys fan but I’ve done my homework. They’re goin’ to get their plow cleaned today because they’ve gotten cocky.”
    “Everyone and everything in Texas is cocky. Why should they be any different?” Travis said.
    “Be careful. You are in a room with a bunch of Texans,” Cathy said.
    “Not really. Leroy and Jezzy are both from Oklahoma. Angel and I are from Arkansas. Merle might be the only natural Texan here and she knows she’s cocky.” He locked gazes with Cathy and what fired up between them was hotter than the embers in the fireplace.
    “And you’re saying you’re not cocky, with that belt buckle the size of a dinner plate?”
    He grinned and touched the buckle. “It does make a statement, doesn’t it? At least I didn’t buy it at a pawn shop. I earned it. Made a little extra money doing some rodeo work when I was in college. Love ranch life. Momma has a horse ranch and raises some cattle on the side. I was more at home in the barn than anyplace else.”
    “And now?” Cathy asked.
    “Now I’m too busy to rodeo and do much ranchin’, but I miss it. Love the sound and the dirt of the rodeo and the people who go to them. And the peace in a hay barn sometimes calls my name. Ever been to a big rodeo?”
    She shook her head.
    “Well, someday you’ll have to go.”
    “Back to the Cowboys. They’ve gotten cocky and it’s going to cost them, I’m afraid,” Angel said.
    Travis grabbed his heart with his free hand. “Oh, no! Was it something in the peas that poisoned you?”
    Cathy chanced a sidling look at him. He was funny as well as handsome and he liked the Cowboys, so he wasn’t a total washout. Maybe they could be friends and neighbors. As long as she kept him out of her apartment. He was so damned handsome that having him that close to a bed would be far too much temptation for a lily white angel straight from heaven.
    And Cathy O’Dell was not a lily white angel and she’d never had a halo, not even a severely crooked one.

Chapter 3
    Cathy put a quarter in the jukebox and Ronnie Milsap was