Lone Heart: Red Hot Weekend by Delilah Devlin Read Free Book Online Page B

pleasure.
    So she would have a little fun with a sexy cowboy. Didn’t have to lead to anything. She wasn’t in love with him, or he with her. Having sex with Lonny wouldn’t be like it had been with Daniel. Daniel hadn’t had any rules about body hair. She laughed at the thought, then her smile melted slowly away.
    Her husband had been her first serious high school crush. Her first kiss. Her first everything. When he’d made love to her under the stars in the bed of his pickup, it had been after he’d promised her the moon and his heart.
    Now she was all grown up. A mature woman. And women her age had casual sex all the time.
    “Yeah, keep tellin’ yourself that, Charlene Kudrow.”
    Casual would be the last thing Lonny would give her. Hard, intense, mind-blowing…
    Yeah, never casual, but it still didn’t have to mean a thing. And she’d never risk her heart on another cowboy.

Chapter Five
    Lonny combed his fingers through his damp hair and strode toward the sound of music playing softly in the living room, following the trace of floral perfume that drifted in the air. At the doorway, he paused. Candles burned in small hurricane lanterns set on the mantle and the end tables beside the couch, lending the room a golden glow.
    Charli sat on the sofa, dressed in jeans and a soft blouse, her legs curled beneath her and her hands wrapped around a glass of red wine. She wore her hair down and it gleamed in the candlelight. It looked soft, and he couldn’t wait to bury his nose in it to see whether it smelled like fruit again or flowers.
    There were so many things he couldn’t wait to discover about Charli Kudrow, first being what had put the faraway look on her face. She seemed sad, and he wasn’t having it. The last thing he’d allow was for her to have any regrets that he would be the man sharing her bed this night.
    “Evenin’, Miz Kudrow,” he said softly so as not to startle her.
    She wrinkled her nose. “You just tryin’ to get a rise out of me?”
    “Maybe I’m hoping you’ll return the favor.”
    Her lips curved into a sweet, shy smile. Her rosy blush was prettier than anything that could come from a bottle or a brush. He noted the soft strawberry color she’d dabbed on her lips and groaned, because he knew it matched the color of the intimate parts he’d be touching soon, if she didn’t lose her nerve.
    “There’s wine on the sideboard,” she said, gesturing with her glass.
    “A little Dutch courage?” he murmured, but sauntered toward the cabinet and poured a glass for himself before joining her on the couch.
    They sat turned toward each other, but not touching. He took a sip of the fine, dry wine, then set the glass on the table in front of them. “No second thoughts?” he asked, glancing her way.
    “You really want to talk about this?”
    He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs, his head turned toward her. “A woman should have some expectations—about a man’s intentions, about what she wants.”
    “I thought I’d leave that to you.”
    “You trust me that much?”
    “No, but I’m trying to tell you I have no expectations.”
    “No expectations…” He shook his head. “You must not think a lot of me or of yourself.”
    Her features screwed up in a grimace. “Did I insult you again? I was tryin’ to make this easier.”
    Lonny couldn’t say why her need to keep this casual made him angry, but anger wasn’t an emotion he wanted anywhere in this room. “Charli. Stop it. Now.”
    She swallowed another sip. “Sorry. Guess I’m a little nervous.”
    “Of me?”
    “I’m not a player.”
    He grunted. “Like me?”
    “You have experience romancing women.”
    “I do. But you seem to think this doesn’t mean very much to me, you agreeing to be with me.”
    She blew out a long stream of air before locking gazes with him. “Lone Wyatt, I’ve been with exactly two men my whole life—”
    “Three. I assumed you and Drew—”
    “Once,” she said, her voice firm.