Cowboy Crazy(7)

“Nope. Seven.” He shot her a look. Visions of her lush, round ass danced in his mind, and it was getting harder for him to set the thoughts aside. It’d been a mighty long time since he’d had his hands on a woman—and never a woman like Charlotte. She was prettier than a sunny day after a week of storms. Maybe it was his female-deprived brain talking, but his body said she was sexy as hell. “My parents, Ted and Maggie, married forty-five years. I’m the oldest. Then there’s Cash, Beck, Witt, and Kade.”

She gaped at him. “There’s only one family in the area?”

“Well, if you go on up the road another ten minutes or so you’ll cross paths with the Guthries. You should be relieved one of them didn’t find you along the road.”

She shrank against the seat a little. He went on to distract her from worry she wore on her pretty face.

“Yeah, and the nearest town has one blinker light and a corner market where you can buy feed and gas as well as a few things you can’t grow yourself. You picked the wrong place to break down.”

“I guess so.” She sat primly, maybe a little stiffly. Her jeans were dark blue and as new as they came, contouring to her slender legs and ass like…

He shouldn’t dwell on that too much. He was helping a lady out and taking advantage of her wasn’t on the agenda.

But her toenails were pink.

He released a slow, quiet sigh and tried to keep her talking. That moment she’d come out with the F bomb had caught him off guard. Until that moment, he didn’t know he liked a dirty mouth on a woman. He hadn’t been around that many to know. Also, he hadn’t laughed like that since Cash had duct-taped the toilet seat shut and the most impatient among them, Witt, had needed to go.

“You can roll your window down if you’re hot. Sorry I don’t have air conditioning in this old jalopy.” Of course, he wouldn’t mind if the curly-haired temptress got hot enough to strip off an item of clothing or two.

He patted the dash, trying to soften the blow to his old truck. The old girl seen him through a number of years, but it seemed Charlotte hadn’t been so lucky. A transmission probably cost more than her whole car was worth.

“Thanks.” She took hold of the handle. “I’ve never actually ridden in a vehicle without electric windows.”

“Welcome to backwoods Texas.”

She smiled, light brown curls mussed by the wind. The cut was short, and the soft locks ended just below her jaw, highlighting her delicate bone structure. But she was curved in all the right places, and she had the vocabulary of a truck driver. He didn’t want to take his eyes off her.

“You really don’t know where you’re going?” he asked.

“No.”

“You running?”

She shifted her gaze away. “Just seeking something new.”

“Ah, a gypsy.”

Taken by surprise, she laughed. The sound was full and throaty—he wanted to listen to it all night. Lord have mercy, he was in trouble. A gorgeous damsel in distress in his truck, and with pink toenails?

“I wouldn’t say gypsy. Do you really think the trouble is my transmission?”

“Tell me, did you put the vehicle in park and it wouldn’t move again?”

“Yes.”

“Kade had that happen in one of the old farm trucks once.”

“Were you able to fix it?”

“Yeah. For a lot of money. But maybe I can get some parts from the junkyard and have you on the road again soon.” Something about the way she worried her lower lip with her teeth told him money was tight.

“Will your parents mind an uninvited visitor?”

At that, he chuckled. “Nah. People like us don’t socialize often, so when we do, watch out. Momma will ply you with enough home cooking that you’ll be in a food coma, and Pa will tell you about everything from the price of cattle to how deep the well is.”

“Sounds different.”

“Different from…? Where are you from?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Fair enough.” He pointed out a break in the fence where a post had fallen. “Looks like I’ll be fixing that tomorrow.”

“This is your fence?” She sat up straighter.

“Yep. Cattle and a big spread.” Part of it would be his as soon as he found a wife. From the corner of his eye, he studied Charlotte. It seemed mighty odd that his brothers had left yesterday for the city and a “wife hunt,” and Hank had chosen to stay home. Now a gorgeous little woman broken down practically in front of their house.

Nah, he was just reading into things.

She was captivating though. The way the hair fell across her forehead invited his hands. And her tank top molded perfectly to trim waist and small, perky breasts…