BROKEN Read Online Free PDF Page B

me.”
    “Which one?”
    Jessie shrugged and turned towards the door so he wouldn’t catch the sly smile.   “I don’t know.   Hank maybe, or Del.”
    Mitch was off the bed in a heartbeat.   He gripped her arm and whirled her around, his eyes blazing.   “Like hell!   You think I’m going to let you go off alone all day with that man?   You’re mine, Jessie, mine , and I’m going to make damn sure he knows it.”  
    He followed up his claim with a long, hard kiss that left them both panting.   Jessie tipped her head back, a triumphant smile on her lips.   “So you’ll be joining us for breakfast this morning?”
    A slow dawning of understanding wafted its way through Mitch’s mind .   T he little minx had deliberately bated him!   He shook his head, chuckling.   “You’re something else, Jessie Buchanan, you know that?”
    “Yes, I know, and you’d do well to remember that.”   She extracted herself from his arms.   “Now get dressed .  I’ll expect you downstairs in twenty minutes.”   With that, she turned and left the room.
    Mitch stood there for a moment staring at the door.   What had he done?   If he didn’t join them for breakfast, he would worry her even more.   He couldn’t bear the thought of causing Jessie even a moment’s distress, but if he did go down and face all those men , there was a very good chance he’d botch something up and arouse suspicion.  
    Thinking fast, Mitch dashed to the closet and pulled out his duffle bag.   Most of his things had been unpacked , but the one item that could help him get through unscathed was carefully tucked beneath the plastic lining.   He dug out Adam’s journal and thumbed through it, scanning the pages for any mention of the ranch hands , and let out a sigh of relief when he finally found what he was looking for.  
    “Hank is a crotchety old coot,” he read out loud, “but for some reason he and I bonded right away.   He’s a sharp old bird and I respect him a great deal, though you’d never guess it by the way we toss insults back and forth.   Kenny, his sidekick…”

Chapter 3
    “It’s about time you showed your ugly mug,” Hank barked when Mitch walked into the dining room.
    “It’s good to see you too, old man.”   He nodded to the red-haired man next to Hank.   “You still torturing Kenny with tall tales about your days as a Texas Ranger?”
    Hank snorted.   “Tall tales, my ass!   I was the best damn Ranger they ever had.”
    Mitch laughed with the others, grateful for the brief distraction so he could study the other four men sitting around the table and figure out who was who.   Thank God , Adam had a penchant for describing people and places in great detail , otherwise Mitch didn’t think he would have had a chance in hell of pulling this off.   Even more gratifying was the radiant smile Jessie graced him with when she brought him a cup of coffee.  
    Del was sitting at the far end of the table doing his damnedest to avoid making eye contact , but the other men greeted him like an old friend.   He was still making small talk when Jessie ordered him to sit , and it was with a sense of childish glee that Mitch noted she’d saved the seat at the head of the table for him.   After serving his breakfast she settled into the seat next to him, flashing another heart stopping smile his way.
    It wasn’t difficult to figure out why Adam had taken to Hank.   He was obnoxiously loud, his comments often bordering on crude, and most endearing of all, the old man picked at Del mercilessly.   To his credit, Del took it with a grain of salt and didn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings towards him for doing it.  
    I t was through Hank’s badgering of Del and the other men that Mitch was able to distinguish one from the other, al though he’d half guessed anyway based on the descriptions in Adam’s journal.   By the time breakfast was done, he’d lost most of his trepidation and was feeling much more