Page 14 of Rowdy Hearts

Probably a little bit of all that. But my parents had won over almost every single person in town. There were a few holdouts who thought the Lawrences were too damn uppity, but those people had a stick up their ass. My family did a hell of a lot for this town and for those who lived here.

And they collected people like a beach collected driftwood.

Heading for the guest wing, I began to hear voices, so I was on the right track. Seconds later, as I rounded the corner to the guest wing hall, I stopped short when I nearly ran into Tressy. She let out a little shriek and put her hand on her chest. Without thinking, I put my hands on her shoulders to steady her. Then immediately took them back when I felt the heat of her skin seep into mine. And sink straight into my gut.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?”

The t-shirt she wore was at least two sizes too big for her, falling off her shoulder, and had my face splashed across the front of it, a promotional giveaway from a few seasons ago. I had my arms in the air and a stick over my head, and I looked like a fucking mountain man. She probably hadn’t even recognized me. Which was a good thing. At least tonight I looked somewhat civilized.

And damn, I’d been staring at her bare shoulder.

You’re not a fucking perv. Knock it off.

No, but I was a red-blooded male, and she was a stunningly beautiful woman I wanted to strip naked and fuck against the wall.

Shit.

“Tressy? Everything okay?”

But not with my mom sticking her head out of the doorway down the hall.

Fuck.

Tressy turned her head, her mouth already curving in a smile that made me wish I was wearing pants that didn’t make it perfectly clear I was getting a hard on.

“It’s fine. Rowdy just startled me.”

My mom turned to me with a wry grin. “Yeah, he was a way of doing that.”

I couldn’t let my mom get away with that. “I still don’t think I was born a month early, Mom.”

Mom didn’t even bite on the old joke. “Rowdy, what are you doing here?”

Rolling my eyes, I smiled at Tressy, making sure I poured on the charm. “Ma, you told me to bring the car here.”

Tressy’s smile was a punch to the gut, making me feel a little drunk. What the hell was going on?

Maybe you’re just horny.

Yeah, probably, and it absolutely sucked that she was just passing through. It wasn’t like we’d get the chance to flirt. Or fuck.

Double fuck.

“Rowdy?”

Crap. I’d been staring at her, smiling like an idiot.

Because you are an idiot.

I dragged my gaze away from Tressy, trying not to notice my hands on the t-shirt were positioned directly over her nipples. Yep, not the place I wanted to be looking now, because my mom was staring at me, and her expression said she knew what I was thinking.

“Anyway, so the car’s out front. I left the key-fob on the table downstairs.”

“Thank you. For everything.” Tressy’s soft voice drew my attention back to her like a fly to honey. “I appreciate it.”

When she spoke, I swore my blood heated and fizzed.

“No problem. Didn’t take much to change the tire.”

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