Allister, J. Rose - Displaced Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Online Free

other side.”
    Connor moved toward her, but she held a hand out and stumbled away. “Oh, no. Keep your supernaturally electrified mitts to yourself.”
    “My what?”
    “You heard me.” Leaning on the wet car for support, she slid around the back side while he watched. Sure enough, by the time she made it around to the other side, her head had cleared just a little and she wasn’t as wobbly. She turned her face upward and let the sprinkle of rain mist her cheeks and drive some sense back into her head. To her surprise, it actually started to work.
    “I do feel better now that I got some distance from you,” she said, shooting him a glare. “Interesting coincidence.”
    Remorse clouded his features. “I’m not doin’ anythin’. I swear.”
    “Didn’t your mama teach you not to swear?” She laughed, barely cutting it off when she realized how loopy she still sounded. She might feel better with distance, but she obviously wasn’t cured.
    The pair stared at one another over the roof of the car, neither of them making a move to climb back inside. The rain stopped, and their heavy silence was interrupted by the rubbery-sounding scrape of wipers dragging across the drying windshield.
    Connor leaned in and turned them off. “Are you comin’?”
    She wished. The thought provoked another giggle. “I thought you promised not to leave me here.”
    “Where’d you say you were headed? At this rate, we won’t never get there.”
    “You only asked me to take you as far as nightfall. What’s with that, anyway? What happens at nightfall?”
    “Let’s go,” he said, climbing inside. She wavered a moment, torn between the desire for a clearer head and the need to make sure he didn’t drive off and leave her stranded.
    She dropped back inside the car and yanked the door shut. “By all means. Let’s hurry up and get back on our trip to nowhere.”
    He pulled the car onto the road, expertly navigating the winding turns. Nevertheless, sitting passively in the side seat sent her blood pressure straight through the ceiling. She clenched her teeth hard enough to make her jaw sore, and on the next turn they approached, she gasped and squeezed her eyes shut. She grabbed hold of her seat with both hands and hung on.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, but she just shook her head. “Terra?”
    “Just watch the road, will you?”
    “I am.” He paused. “Are you afraid of the car?”
    “Of course not,” she shot back. Then she softened her tone. “This road might be giving me some hesitation.”
    He muttered a soft curse. “Why didn’t you say so? I’ll slow down.”
    His foot let up on the gas, and she exhaled a sharp breath. Her eyes opened to find his flicking back and forth between her and the road.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    “Want to talk about it?”
    Her hand went to her throat again, pulling on the knot of her scarf. “It’s getting hot in here again.”
    “Yeah.” He flipped on the air.
    “Talk about something else. Take my mind off harrowing mountain terrain.” And the weird dizzy feeling that was slowly overriding her panic. She hardly minded getting rid of the panic, but not by stirring up something that felt even more dangerous.
    He glanced at her. “It’s not me,” he said. “It’s you.”
    “Isn’t that line supposed to work the other way around?”
    “What I mean is, your special chemistry is kickin’ in.”
    She made a face. “My ‘special’ chemistry? Seriously?” She eyed him, trying to guess Connor’s age. He couldn’t be that much older than she was. He was what, twenty-eight at the most? “I did get the womanhood talk when I was in middle school, you know.”
    “Not this talk, I’d wager. You’re a unique kind of woman. But this should have happened to you when you were eighteen.”
    Terra shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t eighteen for very long.” She folded her arms tight across her chest. “Besides, I don’t think this is the sort of conversation I want to have with