One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(3)

“Kin to Leah, then?” Rhett asked.

Kinsey took a step forward, and he got a whiff of expensive perfume. With those velvety eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips that didn’t ask but demanded a man to kiss her, she might have been considered downright sexy in some men’s eyes. Not Rhett’s. He’d seen her kind at rodeos—their eyes always scanning for a cowboy looking for a good time.

“So you’ve met Leah?” Kinsey asked in a low, husky voice.

“There’s lots of us Brennans over on River Bend.” Honey smiled. “Would you like to come to Sunday dinner and meet all of us?”

Her dark hair floated down to her shoulders in big waves that begged a man to run his fingers through it. Eyes the color of a Texas summer sun floated behind black lashes and perfectly arched eyebrows. She wore a cute little sundress that hugged her curves, but both women made Rhett feel like they were studying a prize bull at an auction. In another place, like a rodeo, where they’d fit right in with the buckle bunnies, he might have been interested, but not in Burnt Boot.

“Well?” Honey asked.

“Not this week,” Rhett said. “But thanks for the invitation.”

Sawyer pointed at the clock above the register. “Ten minutes and we’ll have to close, ladies. Y’all might want to get what you need so we can ring it up.”

Kinsey ignored him and looked at Rhett. “Are you here for a visit? We heard that you were coming to help Gladys and Sawyer, but no one could tell us how long you’re staying.”

Rhett propped a hip on the checkout counter. “I’m here for good or until Sawyer kicks me off Fiddle Creek.”

Sawyer fixed his stare on the clock.

Honey’s eyes kept running up and down Rhett’s body from boots to ponytail. “It’s hot enough to make a woman want to go skinny-dippin’ in the Red River. You want to join me to cool off?”

Kinsey laid two candy bars and a couple cans of soda pop on the counter. “Don’t give us the old stink eye, Sawyer. I know it’s closing time and we won’t be but a minute. We came in for an afternoon treat. Charge these to River Bend.” Kinsey winked at Rhett. “FYI, darlin’, River Bend is the Brennan ranch. I’ll see you tonight, cowboy. You could be nice and save me a dance.”

“I’ll be the one behind the bar drawin’ beer and makin’ margaritas. Don’t reckon I’ll have time for dancin’,” he said.

“I’ll be the one wantin’ a pitcher of those margaritas,” Honey said. “If you asked real nice, I might let you take me home on that cycle out there, Rhett O’Donnell.”

“How do you know that’s my cycle?” he asked.

A throaty chuckle caused Rhett to shift his attention from Honey to Kinsey. Kinsey had a hand on a hip, a pose that should have made him drool and follow her around like a little hound dog puppy. “Everybody in town knew you were arriving today. But we didn’t know you’d be so delicious. I’ve never ridden on a cycle with horns on the handlebar. It’s a nice cowboy touch.”

“I’ll be driving my truck tonight, and I’ll be going home all by myself when the bar closes,” Rhett drawled.

“Oh, Kinsey, he’s going to play hard to get. I do like a good chase,” Honey said.

Kinsey slung a hip against her cousin. “I’ll bet you a hundred dollars I can outrun you and get a ride on that cycle first.”

“I’m standing right here, and I’ll bet you both a hundred dollars that neither of you are going to ride on my cycle,” Rhett said.

Honey reached up and touched the soul patch. “I do like a little facial hair, and that is so sexy. The Sadie Hawkins Festival is only two weeks away. If you’re going to outrun me, darlin’, you’d best start walkin’ outside in your bare feet.”

“Why would I do that?” Rhett asked.

“Because you’ll want to toughen up those feet so that you can run faster through the grass and stickers when we are chasin’ you…unless of course, you want to just sit down and let me catch you in the first two minutes of the race.”

“And do the ladies run barefoot too?” he asked.

“Oh, yes,” Kinsey said. “And we’re already getting our feet ready for the race.”

Kinsey picked up the brown paper bag with the soda pop and candy bars and motioned for Honey to follow her. They almost made it to the door when it opened wide and a redheaded woman with emerald-green eyes was right in front of them. Kinsey’s nose curled and Honey rolled her eyes at the sight of the lady coming into the store.

Betsy moved from her place under the air-conditioning vent to stand so close to Kinsey that their shoulders almost touched. Kinsey moved away from her and held her nose.

“Are you another Brennan?” Rhett asked.

“Bite your tongue, cowboy. I’m a Gallagher. Don’t you know you’re in cowboy country? We ride horses and four-wheelers, not motorcycles. That’s not cowboy, even if you do glue horns on the front of it,” the woman answered.

Kinsey rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and sighed.

“What scorpion crawled up your prissy ass this morning, Kinsey Brennan?” Betsy asked.

“You smell like shit and don’t look much better, Betsy Gallagher,” Kinsey growled.