Texas Twist (Texas Montgomery Mavericks) by Cynthia D’Alba Read Free Book Online Page B

smile. “I’m sure we can keep from strangling each other until then.”
    Cash narrowed his eyes slightly but the fire there was barely banked. “Fine. We’ll make it work.” His gaze dropped to his boots before lifting to meet Paige’s eyes. “I apologize. I seem to lose my temper more than I used to.”
    Paige held out her hand, grateful to see no shaking in her arm. “Accepted.”
    Their hands touched. A zing of newly awakened arousal zapped her. The jolt of energy struck her heart. For a second it quivered, and then its rate took off like a racehorse out of the chute.
    Paige gave his rough hand a quick shake and dropped it. “I’ve got to run. Errands to do. People to see.” She looked at Travis. “We will be fine. I’ve had roommates before. I know how to whip them into shape.”
    Cash grinned and Paige wanted to groan with longing for the man. She left before her lust put words in her mouth.
    Both men watched Paige walk to the elevator.
    “She has a nice walk,” Travis observed.
    Cash slapped his shoulder. “Hey. You’re a new father. You don’t get to notice things like that.”
    Travis threw his arm around his little brother. “I’ll notice things like that until they close the lid on my casket. Now, want to see my kids?”
    “Naw,” Cash said. “I came to see your wife.”
    A couple of hours later, Cash walked into a quiet house. “Paige? You here?”
    No answer, except for a meow.
    “Damn. She has a cat,” he muttered as he hung his jacket on the post of the stair railing.
    Paige Ryan. What a cruel bitch fate was. He’d pretty much counted on never seeing her again. But now? Damned if he wouldn’t see her every day.
    At least for the moment, he had the house to himself. It’d been years since he’d been in the old Fitzgerald’s house. Before his roommate got back might be the best time for a little exploring.
    He remembered the layout from the very few times he’d been here as a child. He walked through the downstairs area and, other than the room he’d slept in, all the rooms were clean, dust-free and fresh-smelling. With every step, the small grey kitten ran ahead of him and waited to grab the leg of his jeans.
    When he found Paige’s room, he allowed himself a minute to breathe in the scent. A little floral perfume. A whole lot of Paige. He leaned against the doorjamb and studied the old-fashioned chenille bedspread covering her made bed. The kitten jumped on it and curled into the pillows.
    Cash sighed. Seemed like he’d known Paige forever. Had watched her grow up. She’d just turned fourteen when he’d joined the pro rodeo circuit and what a beauty she’d been then. Time had only served to mold her figure into curves and dips men loved.
    She’d had a crush on him back when she was sixteen. He’d given her a very chaste happy-birthday kiss and her embarrassed flush had been cute to watch. But he’d enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers too much. She’d been only a teenager. By then, he was a twenty-year-old with too many notches on his bedpost.
    He probably shouldn’t have done it. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop himself from opening her closet door. There, hanging from a nail driven into the door’s wood, was a belt…and a silver rodeo buckle. His belt. His buckle. She’d kept it even after he’d walked out on her.
    A soul-searing bomb detonated in his gut. The breath rushed from his lungs and the band around his chest made it impossible to draw in another.
    He stumbled back and turned away from his find. He didn’t want to remember her eighteenth birthday. Didn’t want to remember what a jackass he’d been. Didn’t want to see the pain in her eyes that night. Didn’t want the memory of her expression every time their paths crossed for the next couple of weeks.
    Walking back to the living room, he looked at the stairs. Yes, with the damage to his leg, they would be a bitch to climb every day. On the other hand, the doctor had advised him to get back to normal.