Read Texas Gold for Free Online

of her own. “You know where you can stuff the proposition. There won’t be another meeting.”
    As the gate swung open to allow her to leave, Mallory just kept repeating those words to herself. Lord help her if there was another meeting. She’d just have to make damn sure it never happened on his turf again. The man played dirty. Get him on her turf and she’d tear him up and spit him out.

    Mallory didn’t feel much like tearing anything up the next morning when she awoke to pounding at her door. Well, except maybe the person who was out visiting before seven in the morning.
    The person who had dared to wake her from the most delicious dream she’d had in her entire lifetime.
    She covered her head with the pillow, trying to recapture the feeling of lips on her neck, but whoever was at the door was certainly persistent.
    Ugh!
    She grabbed her white terry cloth robe off the floor and told herself not to start cussing the minute she opened the door. She’d give whoever it was two minutes to explain getting her up early on the first day of her summer, and then she’d make up her mind.
    Unless...
    Her hand collided with the door handle at the same time the thought skittered through her mind.
    Surely, surely it couldn’t be him.
    She couldn’t handle seeing Brenton right now. Not after the dreams she’d spent all night trying to relive. If he showed up now, he’d have her at a complete disadvantage.
    Hellfire and brimstone. If she opened the door and found him on the other side, she was dragging his sorry butt in her living room and stripping his clothes off in less than ten seconds.
    And then she was going to demand, insist, command him to fulfill the promise of that kiss he’d started.  
    Why had she stopped him before his lips touched hers? She could have stopped him after. At least then she wouldn’t have spent all those moments between dreams wondering what a real kiss would have been like.  
    Shoot, the earth had moved when his lips touched her neck. Lips would have rocked her universe.
    And after last night, she’d pretty much decided her universe was in dire need of shaking up.
    Ready to yank Brenton inside, she threw the door open and found herself face to face with her niece, Jen, and Brenton’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Nina.
    Nothing like the fantasy man’s child to stop an overactive imagination.  
    She tried to tell herself this was just as well since she despised Brenton anyway, but her body wasn’t having any part of it.  
    Especially not this early in the morning.
    But fantasy aside, Mallory knew this early morning appearance spelled trouble.
    “So what brings y’all over practically before daylight, and don’t tell me how the sun rose an hour ago. I want a real answer.”
    They had to be plotting some mischief because Jen knew to stay away until at least noon the first day after the season ended, and Nina just plain looked guilty.
    “We just wanted to stop in a say hello.” Jen led the conversation with Nina nodding in the background.
    “Uh-huh.” She decided waiting them out was the best course of action even if it did mean more time away from her dreams. As soon as she shooed these girls out the door, she was headed back to bed.
    “And we need your advice.” This time Nina was the one talking.
    “Actually, we need your help.” Jen chimed in.
    “Your assistance.” Nina added.
    Mallory was done waiting. “Spit it out girls. What’s up?”
    “Well, see, Nina told her dad that she was staying over at the house with me.”
    “Uh-huh.” Mallory watched her niece wrap her shoulder-length blonde hair around her finger in a nervous habit she’d had since practically birth. And Nina kept rocking back and forth from toe to heel on her shoes. This was definitely headed-to-disaster mode.
    “And, well, I kind of said I was staying with her.” Jen continued. “But now it’s too late to go to either place.”
    “And you want me to...”
    “We were wondering if we could call home