Thunder Running by Rebecca Crowley Read Free Book Online Page B

He was excited to introduce her as his wife, proud to have won over this unwinnable woman, already imagining his friends’ impressed murmuring that crazy-ass Chance McKinley had managed to hang onto someone so sharp and sexy.
    â€œHey, guys, how you doing?” He shook hands with Brian and Tyler, two farm laborers he knew through Trey, the party’s host. Following the direction of their stares he added, “This is my wife, Tara.”
    â€œVery nice to meet you, ma’am,” Brian said, emphasizing the first word.
    â€œI guess my wedding invitation was lost in the mail.” Tyler arched an inquisitive brow. Brian never took his eyes off Tara.
    â€œIt was a real small ceremony,” she explained, smiling graciously. Chance watched Brian’s gaze wander to her lips, then her breasts, and he released her shoulders to take her by the hand.
    â€œWe’ve got a lot of people for Tara to meet, so I’ll catch y’all later.” He tugged her toward the row of cooler-laden card tables serving as a makeshift bar, stepping up the pace when he heard Brian’s hollered farewell.
    â€œThey seemed nice,” she offered. He pulled a bottle of beer from one of the ice-filled coolers, slammed it against the edge of the table to send the cap flying and drained half of it in one long gulp.
    He lowered the bottle to find her frowning up at him. “Everything okay?”
    Like hell it is. Didn’t you see the way that scumbag was eyeing you up? “Fine. Thirsty?”
    â€œYeah, do you see any—?”
    â€œHey, McKinley, what’s this crap I hear about you getting hitched to—oh, hi there.” Trey Smith stopped short in his approach, pressing his beer can to his lips like it might seal in any further embarrassing outbursts.
    â€œTara, meet Trey Smith, the owner of this godforsaken piece of scrub. Trey, this is Tara.”
    She shook his hand with a warm smile. “Great party, thanks for inviting us.”
    Trey nodded, looking unsure. “My pleasure. And you are—”
    â€œMy wife.”
    â€œWe got married in December,” she added. “I stayed in Kansas City while he was in Afghanistan, then it took us a little while to coordinate for me to come out here.”
    â€œCool,” Trey replied, blatantly unconvinced. “So did I tell you I finally found vintage side moldings for the Impala? I need to hammer a few dings out of them, otherwise they’re perfect.”
    They talked cars for a few minutes until Tara excused herself to get a drink, batting away Chance’s apology as she insisted she didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. He watched her walk back to the card tables stacked with booze, admiring the swing of her hips, her unexpectedly easy manner with his friends, and her needless effort to fancy up her down-home accent. Too bad these hayseeds wouldn’t know Boston from the bayou.
    â€œSo?” He turned to find Trey’s eyes wide and full of irritation. “You’re married?”
    â€œSure am.”
    â€œAnd what, you thought you’d just stroll on in here having mysteriously acquired a wife since I saw you last week without any details?”
    â€œYeah, I guess I did.”
    â€œCome on, you’ve gotta give me something. Who is she? How’d you meet? Why on earth did you decide to marry her?”
    His shoulders stiffened. “Why wouldn’t I? She’s a beautiful girl.”
    â€œShe surely is.” Trey held up a placatory palm. “And I know you like to do things spur of the moment, but—”
    â€œBut you think this is like that time I got drunk and decided to collect up all the traffic cones I could find and hold them hostage until the city paid a ransom for their return.”
    â€œMore like that time you bet Brian fifty dollars you could jump off the roof of Rock’s and land without breaking your leg.”
    â€œWhich I did. Anyway, I was drunk