Home>>read Cowboy Take Me Away free online

Cowboy Take Me Away(64)

By:Lorelei James


It was hard for Carson to sip his double shot of whiskey and not slam it.

Cal and Carolyn hit it off right away. He relaxed a little.

“Well, who we got here?” Casper said, grabbing a chair and flipping it around before he straddled it. “Didja bring dates for all of us? ’Cause if we get to pick, I’m choosing her.” He offered his hand. “Casper McKay.”

Carson batted his brother’s hand away. “This is my girlfriend, Carolyn, so keep your paws off her.”

Casper lifted his in hands in surrender. “No harm in tryin’.”

Charlie slid into the booth next to Cal. “I told you they wouldn’t sell to me. Go up there and buy your own damn beer.”

“Fuckin’ little brat. What good are ya if ya can’t keep the booze flowin’?”

“I drive your drunken ass home, remember?”

“Right. Guess you are good for something.” Casper stood and headed to the bar.

“He is pissin’ me off today,” Charlie said. “Ever since we fought them guys last night, he’s been talkin’ about knockin’ fool heads together.” He snorted. “Big fuckin’ talker. He’s usually passed out in the truck when the real fightin’ starts.”

Carson didn’t want to dissect last night’s dust up, or anything about last night. “Carolyn, this is my youngest brother Charlie. He’s usually more polite than this. Charlie, my girlfriend, Carolyn.”

“Shit. Sorry. Sorry for sayin’ shit.” He rubbed his hand on his jeans before offering it to Carolyn. “Nice to meet you. What’d you say your last name was?”

“It’s West.”

Charlie’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “West? As in…”

“Yeah, that West,” Carson finished.

“Now I know why Dad was bein’ such an ass when we stopped at home to get some money before we came here.” His gaze slid to Carolyn. “No offense.”

Cal rubbed his hands together. “Who wants to play pool?”

“What’s the bet?”

“Same as usual. Buck a game.”

“I’ll play ya,” Carson said. He tugged on a hank of Carolyn’s hair. “You can be my good luck charm.”

Carolyn didn’t say much as they played pool. She seemed more amused than bored.

Cal beat Carson. Then Cal lost to Charlie. Charlie then lost to Casper. Carson challenged Casper and Casper beat him.

Normally Casper would’ve been impossible to sit with after winning. He wasn’t acting the least bit cocky, which threw Carson off. Then Casper offered to teach Carolyn how to play and she surprised them all by accepting.

“So what the fuck did Dad say to you today, Carse?” Cal demanded. “You had two damn doubles.”

Without taking his gaze off his brother and his girlfriend, he said, “Dad threatened my future with the ranch. He didn’t come straight out and say he’d kick me off and cut me out, but he sure as fuck implied it.”

“That’s a crock of shit,” Cal said. “He knows he can’t run the ranch without you. He also knows if he cuts you out we’ll all walk—at least I will.”

“Me too,” Charlie said. “But I ain’t so sure about Casper.”

“He’s too fuckin’ lazy to step up,” Carson said. “And if we all walked? Dad would be forced to hire men, which we know he ain’t gonna do.”

“Only McKays work McKay land,” Charlie mimicked their father’s favorite edict.

“He’d have to sell, which won’t happen because he just bought two new sections in the last year.”

“I knew he was bluffing as soon as he opened his mouth,” Carson said. “Still pissed me off. He just had to speak his piece when Carolyn was in the next room.”

“Did she hear him?”

Carson shook his head. “But she knows something happened.”

“How’d things play out with the Wests today?” Cal asked.

“Worse than with Dad. Eli wouldn’t even eat at the same table as me. Only reason I sat to the table at all is because of Carolyn’s mother.”

“I dunno, Carson. She’s pretty and she seems real sweet, but is she worth the trouble?

Carolyn laughed right then and the sound flowed through him like liquid happiness. He wanted to say, “She’s definitely worth everything I have to go through to make her mine,” but his brothers would rag on him endlessly for such a sappy comment, so he merely said, “Yep.”





Chapter Thirteen


Carolyn


Carolyn waited on the front steps of Carson’s trailer, her leg bouncing as she tried to focus all her restless energy in one place. She probably could’ve gone inside—she knew neither Carson nor Cal locked the door—but waltzing in without an invite would feel like trespassing.