Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 by Patricia Green Read Free Book Online

Pete's house would be a lot better than going to Journey's End and facing her father or Ace.
    "Yes, please."
    He nodded and took her hand. "Let's go."
    The office and house were about half an hour outside of the edge of town, and they drove in silence. Pete opened the car door for her and led the way into his house. Most of the boxes had been cleared away from his living room and a few colorful pillows had been added to the blue and yellow sofa.
    "Sit. I'll bring some food. It won't be much though. I think all I have are hard-boiled eggs and maybe some pickles. That's why I was going to eat in town."
    Jackie sat on the sofa and pulled a pillow into her lap, cuddling it up against her abdomen. She was trying not to look Pete in the eyes as she knew she'd blush furiously if she did. The debacle in the bar had been so embarrassing. "Eggs 'n pickles will be fine. Thank you."
    He turned toward the kitchen without another word.
    After a few minutes, he returned with a plate of deviled eggs and a couple of bottles of water. They ate without talking.
    "I'm sorry about this," Jackie said as Pete wiped his face with a napkin and relaxed back away from the empty plate.
    "You don't need to explain. Your private life is none of my business."
    "It ain't my private life," she said. She needed to explain about Bud. Pete must have all wrong-headed notions about what was between her and the rancher. "Bud is someone I knew from high school. That's all."
    "Yeah. Okay." The tightness around his eyes and mouth clearly said he didn't believe her. "So we have a few hours to kill. You want to watch a movie?"
    Jackie miserably groped for a way to convince him about Bud but she knew the man's familiar attitude and the fact that she hadn't kicked him in the nuts made the whole situation look suspiciously like the lover's quarrel Bud had claimed. "Really. He's nothin ' to me."
    "So you say now." He rose and moved the plate into the kitchen. When he returned, he had a deck of cards.
    She started to try to convince him again. "Please, Pete-"
    He held up a hand to stay her argument. "No more. I don't want details, thanks. Do you know how to play gin rummy?"
    Sighing with resignation, Jackie nodded and they began to play.
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    Pete watched her, her legs curled up under her as she stared hard at the cards in her hand. She lo oked at him and smiled and Pete's unhappiness was complete. She was so beautiful, so full of life. It was no wonder she had a boyfriend in town. Jackie Journey could have any man she chose. Why she'd chosen Bud Ramirez, he didn't know, but you never could tell what a woman was thinking or what attracted two people together.
    He tried to tease out the reasons he was attracted to Jackie so strongly and came up with a laundry list, but none of the items on his list told the deeper story. What did it matter, anyway? She belonged to someone else, a younger man with a heritage she could be comfortable with. He was a rancher and so were her folks. She said she'd gone to school with Bud and that kind of history together was compelling. Pete needed to kill his emotions where Jackie was concerned and move on.
    Even the cards weren't going his way. She won hand after hand, beating him three games in a row rapidly. He began to get suspicious when she quickly took the lead in the fourth game. To his casual observation, it looked like she was shuffling and dealing the cards the same as any other person, but on careful examination, he realized she was cheating. The little minx had marked the cards with a thumbnail and was stacking the deck with careful shuffles, keeping the melds together. Damn, she was good at it too.
    He reached out and took the deck from her hands as she made to shuffle again. "That's about enough of that, young lady."
    Frowning, she tried to take the deck back. He held it away from her. "Enough of what?"
    "You're cheating."
    "I am not!"
    "You are. Don't lie and compound it."
    Her eyes narrowed and, after a moment,