Texas Wide Open by KC Klein Read Free Book Online Page A

eyes, then, in a bold move, stepped forward
     and slipped her hand into his front pocket. Her fingers brushed his bare thigh through
     a small hole in the lining, and for a half a second Katie lost her courage . . . and
     stilled.
    His eyes widened. Her heart jumped. But Katie remembered herself, and played it off
     perfectly as she dangled the truck keys in front of his face. “Good, because I wouldn’t
     be caught dead driving that POS,” she said with a laugh and made a run for it before
     he could grab her in a headlock and give her a “noogie.”
    Humid air blew like a furnace through the open windows. The truck was on the brink
     of overheating and turning on the AC would’ve pushed it over the edge, but at least
     the stereo still worked.
    Katie kicked off her muddy boots and rested her bare feet against the dash. She reached
     over and turned down the volume.
    “Hey, that was a good song,” Cole complained.
    “You’ll survive, and no it wasn’t.” One could only take the sorrowful lyrics of sin
     and redemption from Johnny Cash for so long.
    “What happened to the driver gets to control the radio?”
    “I’m a guest, so it’s my call,” she said, with a perfected arch of her brow.
    “Uh, interesting rules,” Cole said. “They seem to change depending on whatever seat
     your butt is occupying.”
    Katie shrugged, effectively ignoring his jab. “Hush, I have a joke.”
    As long as Katie remembered, she’d tried to get Cole to laugh. It had become something
     of a challenge. Every day or so Katie would tell him a joke. As the years passed,
     his humor got more jaded, and Katie spent more time looking up the latest comedians
     than studying for her entrance exams for college.
    He groaned. “You can’t tell a joke.”
    “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. You’re probably the reason why I suffer
     from performance anxiety.”
    “Performance anxiety, huh? And here I thought you liked being the center of attention.”
     Cole didn’t take his eyes off the road, but she caught the faintest hint of a dimple
     that appeared only when he was amused.
    “Do you want to hear my joke, or what?”
    “Yes, please.” But there was nothing polite about the way Cole said it.
    “Okay, so what do men and parking spaces have in common?”
    A heavy sigh. “What?”
    “The good ones are always taken and the free ones are either very small or handicapped.”
     She laughed at her own joke, but then bit her lip and waited.
    A chuckle. “That wasn’t funny.”
    “Nope, you laughed. That counts.”
    “That wasn’t a laugh, more like a cough.” But Cole was smiling as he pulled into an
     open parking space and cut the engine.
    Katie let it go. As far as she was concerned, it counted. She shoved her feet into
     her boots, and hopped out. They walked side by side toward the Sac and Save. Cole
     held the door open for her, and the AC hit with a roar of cold air. Sweat tickled
     and cooled the back of Katie’s neck. Picking up a small basket, she headed toward
     the produce department, but Cole stopped her with a tug on her arm.
    “Nope, other way.”
    Katie huffed. “You need salad.”
    “I need beer and meat, woman,” Cole said in a mock caveman tone, but Katie’s heart
     skipped at his title of address. Maybe. Could it be?
    “Cole? Cole, is that you?” A sugary voice cut the bustling noise of the market like
     a knife would a warm pecan bun.
    Both turned. Katie gawked; Cole smiled.
    “Well helllloooo, Sarah.”
    At his tone, Katie sliced her gaze to Cole. It was as if his voice had taken a dive
     through a vat of honey and come out coated and sweet. His face softened and the fine
     lines around his eyes smoothed as if they’d never been.
    Katie’s gaze swept to the woman standing in front of her. If those boobs were real,
     Katie would eat her boot. And yet, what did it matter? Katie, who’d waited two summers
     to fill out her bra, couldn’t compare to a woman who flaunted her melonlike