Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 Read Online Free PDF Page B

wh at he was looking for, and wasn't sure he found it but he released her head. She snuggled back against him. "What does miłość mean?"
    "It's not important. No more bad behavior, though. Got it?"
    She squirmed against him and he grimaced , taking her firmly by the waist and putting her next to him on the couch. Jackie's eyes were drawn to the thick bulge in his jeans. She knew what that meant and a trumpet of triumph pealed in her head. Trying to act nonchalant, she got off her sore behind and pulled on her scrubs. If she happened to wiggle her nearly bare rear in his general direction , well, that couldn't be helped, could it?
    "You'd best get on home," Pete told her, his voice low and strained.
    "Okay. I'm sorry about dinner…and everythin ' ."
    "I'm sure it'll go better next time," he told her, rising from the couch. He made a little grimace and a tiny frown remained behind though his face cleared.
    "Next time?"
    Pete cleared his throat. "Yeah, well…we'll see."
    Jackie put a hand on his chest to see how he'd react. She was being an awful flirt, something she was good at with younger guys, but it felt dangerous and titillating with a n older man . "I'd like to have dinner with you, Pete."
    He gently set her away from him and turned toward the kitchen . " Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be another busy day, Miss Journey."
    Apparently, that was it for the night. She gathered u p her purse. "I really am sorry ."
    He nodded, one side of his mouth quirking up in the hint of a smile. "Be good. Drive safely. Don't be late tomorrow!"
    She smiled. "Yes, sir."

 
    Chapter 3
     
     
     
    After apologizing to her daddy back on the ranch, Jackie spent a few minutes talking with a friendly nurse at the main nursing station at the twelve-bed Hudspeth hospital in town. Sonora didn't need a bigger hospital and it was a warm and caring place to go if you had to be hospitalized. Jackie had brought files and x-rays to the hospital as part of her job and stayed a little while to talk to one of Pete’s patient s . Mr. Nesbit was grateful for the company, thanking Jackie profusely before encouraging her to go enjoy her Friday night in town.
    Knowing that she was going to be in Sonora that afternoon, Jackie had brought a little bag of clothes to change into so she wouldn't have to appear at the local tavern in her scrubs. She changed in the hospital restroom before she left and drove the short distance to the popular cantina, Carlos' Carniceria.
    It had been a year since she'd been there, and remembering her twenty-first birthday party, spent drinking beer in the bar , brought a smile to her face. She recalled how her big brother, Ace, had cautioned her about alcohol, but didn't make it sound like she should become a te e totaler either. He was known to knock back a few beers if the mood struck him, too, but he wasn't a person of excess and cautioned her to be in control of herself as well.
    Since then, she'd been out with her college friends at clubs in Austin during the school term, and she'd found she had a taste for bourbon. She intended to have a couple of shots in the bar before ordering her dinner and enjoying some fajitas.
    The tavern was beginning to get busy when she strolled into the dark, cool interior. The local ranchers tended to knock off work a little early on Friday nights and make for the only watering hole in town for a bit of fun and a good meal.
    It was exactly as she remembered it—Sonora was always so reliable that way. The highly polished wooden bar spread out on the left of the big room, with gleaming brass rails picking up the light from the neon beer signs along the walls. The smell of beer was strong, with a tiny, acrid odor of left over cigarette smoke, though smoking in the place had been forbidden for a while.
    Jackie walked by the round wooden tables and lightly padded chairs , and bellied up to the bar a seat away from a middle-aged couple nursing Corona s.
    The bartender, an older man with heavy