Twin Cowboys for Tamara by Gigi Moore Read Free Book Online Page A

offense.
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    40
    Gigi Moore
    himself, why not go along and play the charade? She thought he was someone else. Of course he had contributed to this misconception with the briefest version of his name he could think of off-the-cuff.
    He figured he would be someone else and they could start off fresh—
    just a man and a woman who found each other attractive.
    He thought it better this way. She wouldn’t have to suffer under the older nurturer memories that would inevitably slip into her mind when she realized his true identity.
    He knew he justified his actions, already prepared for her anger when she figured things out because he knew she would. He couldn’t stay in her company too much longer without letting something slip and give himself away. Granted, they’d known each other a long time ago, but they did share some history. Not to mention they would arrive at the ranch eventually, and once she saw Jax the jig would definitely be up.
    “What are you smiling at?”
    He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. “I just thought of something funny.”
    “Don’t keep it to yourself. I could use a good laugh.”
    “Why?”
    She turned to him, and he felt her grimace before she asked,
    “Why?”
    “Why could you use a good laugh?”
    “Do I need a reason to want to laugh?”
    He shrugged and didn’t know why he wanted to antagonize her except that he enjoyed the glow to her caramel-brown skin when she flushed at his question.
    Jess shifted in his seat as he paused at a stop sign and let a couple of elderly women cross the street in front of him. He followed them all the way to the sidewalk, hoped looking at them could get his mind off of the woman beside him who made the critter in his jeans harder than a rock. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath as if this could help him rein in his lust. It only made things worse, Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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    Twin Cowboys for Tamara
    41
    especially with the vision of Tamara standing at the carousel in hip-hugging, painted-on blue jeans, sky-blue, midriff-exposing, baby doll T-shirt beneath a denim jacket rushing across his mind’s eye. Not to mention the spicy-sweet aroma of her wafting throughout the cab of his truck.
    Christ, he’d missed her! He missed her smell, the laughs they used to share, the sound of her voice, and her crazy sense of humor. He hadn’t known just how much he missed her until this moment. But could he say any of this without giving himself away? He’d really backed himself into a corner when he hadn’t told her the truth.
    It’s not too late.
    Jess gritted his teeth against the angel whispering in his ear, preferring to listen to the devil that told him he hadn’t really lied to Tamara, but had just omitted the truth. He had no intention of hurting her, after all. He just wanted to see where his gambit led them.
    “Why don’t you want to tell me why you were smiling?” Tamara asked.
    Jess opened his eyes and stared through the windshield for a moment, shocked they had covered the twenty-five miles from the airport already. He steered his truck to the next block where he parked in front of Loaded Joe’s or, as the locals called it, Joe’s .
    It proved the perfect social setting-watering hole, a gourmet coffeehouse by day morphing into an energetic cocktail and live entertainment lounge by night. A glance at the digital display on his dashboard clock told him that they arrived right on time to party hard as the morning crowd began shambling out to make room for the evening natives swinging in. A small crowd of twenty- and thirty-somethings already gathered outside on the deck.
    Jess turned off the ignition, disengaged his seatbelt and turned to Tamara. “Truthfully?”
    “Yes, truthfully.”
    “Okay, you asked for it. I tried to be nice and not embarrass you, but since you insist on knowing why I was