Her Sexy Texas Cowboy. Ali Olson

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       4

      RENEE TOOK A shuddering breath and moved away from the door Jeremiah had just closed behind him, flicking the light on as she went. The house was large and had several guest rooms, each a different color. She suspected this was Jessica’s doing—it seemed very much like her sister to tell someone that they were staying in “the blue room,” and then give them a set of towels that matched.

      Renee was in the green room, the mint-colored walls bright and friendly in the light thrown from the bedside lamp. Green vines crisscrossed the white background of the bedspread, and even the white chest of drawers had green accents. It was all so sweet and pretty that she had to smile.

      She opened her suitcase on the floor and grabbed out a pair of pants and some fresh underwear, sliding out of the clothes that were suggestively mussed from her interaction with Jeremiah and putting on the new outfit, trying to flatten her hair as she did so. After a glance in the mirror and a swipe at her smeared makeup, she readied herself to go back downstairs.

      She took one last calming breath, opened the door and made her way to where the rest of the group sat. When she stepped into the kitchen, she found quite the happy scene: Aaron’s arm around the back of Jessica’s chair, her body leaning into his and both of them laughing at something Jeremiah must have just said. He looked a little embarrassed, but was laughing, too. Everyone seemed comfortable and content, almost like a little family. How did she fit in here?

      Her good mood sank a little as she realized that she didn’t. They were all Texas, and she was New York.

      But then Jeremiah looked in her direction and his eyes lit up at the sight of her, and she was able to push those thoughts aside. She didn’t need to belong here. She would have a great week, fulfill a few fantasies, and then go back to New York to her dream job.

      That was better than belonging in this little group, she told herself.

      By the time she’d gone through these thoughts and felt reassured that her life was already everything she could want, really, Jessica had spotted her. She gestured at the full plate and empty seat clearly meant for her. “Come and get some food. I’m sure you haven’t had a decent home-cooked meal since...when was the last time you ate at Mom’s?”

      Renee thought for a second as she sat down. “Almost two weeks ago.”

      “What have you been living on since then?”

      Renee didn’t want to answer, especially with Jeremiah watching her, that perpetual grin on his face, as if he was enjoying the interaction. “This and that,” she answered vaguely.

      Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Sandwiches from the deli down the street and leftover pizza?”

      “Veggie pizza,” Renee added, knowing that it didn’t make it sound any better. “I’m busy. And I don’t know how to cook. This looks amazing,” she said in an attempt to change the subject from her terrible eating habits.

      Jessica smiled, clearly proud of herself. “It’s just an easy chicken recipe. Now get to eating,” she said, pointing at the plate.

      Renee took a bite, reveling in the taste of fresh vegetables and roasted chicken. She really needed to eat real food more often, but after working all day, she was too exhausted to do more than grab something on the way to her apartment or toss old pizza in the microwave. Another thing to push from her mind. This was not the week to examine her faults.

      “What were you laughing about when I came in?” she asked, trying to get the conversation going on another topic.

      Aaron smiled at her. “Jeremiah was telling Jessica about the time he was hitting on our waitress at a diner in Tyler.”

      Renee forced herself to smile, trying to tell herself that it was good to remember that Jeremiah wasn’t a settle-down kind of guy. According to the stories Jessica had told her, in fact, he was more of a hit-on-any-female-with-a-pulse kind of guy.

      And that was very good, because there was no way she’d be falling for him. Fantasy sex only.

      * * *

      “TELL HER WHAT HAPPENED,” Aaron prompted, hitting Jeremiah lightly on the shoulder.

      Jeremiah looked down at his plate, his blood pumping hard. Aaron had brought it up in the first place, and now he had to tell Renee about hitting on other women. Great.

      He wanted to punch Aaron “playfully” on the arm, at least hard enough to leave a bruise, but he didn’t want to raise any eyebrows. There was no way he’d forget Renee’s number one rule and ruin the possibility of an amazing week.

      “It was years ago,” he clarified, hoping Renee understood that he wasn’t that guy anymore.

      Aaron leaned in toward Renee, clearly missing Jeremiah’s discomfort. “We sat down to get some lunch, and Jeremiah just has to hit on the really hot waitress. Because he’s Jeremiah and isn’t afraid to get turned down by anyone.”

      Jeremiah forced himself not to glare at his friend. He had to keep it casual, no matter how much he wanted to kill the guy. If he tries to tell the story about the supermodel, he thought, I’ll tackle him right here at the table.

      Aaron continued the story, completely oblivious. “He must have asked her out or made sexual innuendos one too many times, because, you know those ‘We reserve the right to refuse service’ signs? Yeah, I had to drive home hungry all because Jeremiah thought he might be able to get laid in the walk-in freezer or something.”

      Aaron laughed again at the story. Jeremiah looked over to Renee to see her reaction. She was smiling and nodding, but he didn’t like the look in her eyes. Stupid Aaron.

      After a silence that felt way too long to Jeremiah, Aaron started talking again. “Hey Jeremiah, tell Renee what happened with the—”

      If he says supermodel I’m going to destroy him, Jeremiah thought, holding his fork in a death grip.

      “—generator,” Aaron finished, to Jeremiah’s immense relief.

      That was another embarrassing story, but at least it didn’t make him look like an asshole.

      Jeremiah launched into the story before Aaron could say anything else. “Okay, so my generator was out of gas, right? Luckily, I have a few gas cans sitting around and poured some gas into it. Or at least what I thought was gas...”

      * * *

      RENEE WATCHED JEREMIAH go through the whole story, laughing aloud as he gestured wildly to show exactly how thick the smoke was СКАЧАТЬ