With This Ring (Denim & Spurs Book 1) by Aliyah Burke Read Free Book Online

Daddy”—then returned her dark stare to his—“so I am truly sorry I am behind. I don’t know if you still—”
    Dustin placed a hand over her mouth, creating a lull in the endless litany streaming from her mouth. “Breathe,” he ordered. He tried to ignore the soft touch of her lips against his palm and how it created waves of lust within him.
    She watched him, her big brown eyes framed by thick curved lashes. Women paid lots of money for their eyes to resemble her natural ones, or so he’d learned from the ones he’d dated. Lord, he wanted to kiss her again. And again.
    Her deep breath moved her entire body. Cute really. She removed his hand and folded her own before her as if she’d approached slowly. Demurely.
    “I can be ready in ten minutes if you still want to go.”
    As if he’d give up on the opportunity to have his date. Studiously avoiding her father’s gaze, Dustin nodded. “I’ll be here.”
    She flashed a smile he would swear could battle back darkness. Then she was gone and he remained with her father.
    “A date then?” her father asked.
    There was no inflection in the man’s tone, but Dustin leaned more toward disappointment than approval were he to hazard his own opinion. “Yes, sir.”
    “Daddy, you get in here and take your pills. Invite Dustin in and stop trying to intimidate him.”
    Trying? There was no need to try. Dustin was properly intimidated. It didn’t matter the man used crutches, he still appeared fully capable of handling him as if Dustin were still in nappies.
    “Reckon you’d best come in then before she thinks I left you out on the porch like an unwanted guest.”
    Because that was such a warm welcome. “Yes, sir.” He trailed her father into the house, closing the door quietly behind him. A totally different feel than when he’d been there before. You weren’t there to take the man’s daughter out. Good point.
    Evan took his medication then hobbled to a chair where he sank with a groan. “You still running about sixty thousand head out there at the Diamond J?”
    Closer to forty thousand, but he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
    “Running it like your daddy did?”
    “No, sir, in some aspects I am, but not in others. We’re getting more into horses, which is why the cattle numbers are lowering.”
    “That’s right, you have all those nice Quarter Horses. Good for you. You seem like you’ve got a decent head on your shoulders.”
    “Thank you.” Honestly, he wasn’t at all sure the statement had been a compliment.
    The rest of their time alone passed in silence. He could hear someone humming in the kitchen as succulent scents wafted around them. Taunting him.
    One second the room had two, the next, three people in it. Finn stood there, hands folded modestly before her. His breath caught in his throat as he stared.
    Clad as she was it was all he could do. Her black skirt had a wide waistband, cross-wrapped layer in the front, asymmetrical, which allowed the high-low effect to show off part of her leg. Her shirt had no sleeves, and the pale purple silk melded beautifully with her skin tone. Her shoes had high heels and matched her shirt in color. Simple. Elegant. Arousing as sin. The reaction she caused wasn’t his fault, really. He was a red-blooded human male. It happened. They got distracted by beautiful things.
    “Ready?” she asked, approaching him after kissing her father.
    “Yes.” Christ, he sounded like a boy on his first date.
    “Bye, Daddy.”
    The man never looked away from him, as if he could read each and every erotic thought Dustin had toward his daughter. “Bye, princess.”
    Yes, he knew the look. Touch and die. Hands off. They were all broadcasted. Samantha walked by him, and he groaned slightly. Her shirt was backless except for a thin crisscross. The skirt highlighted her ass and as he followed her, he knew he would be sporting wood all night.
    “Hope daddy didn’t grill you,” she said as he held the door for her at his