Lost in Tennessee Read Online Free PDF Page A

new and improved tits across his shoulder. “But, Butchy, you know I have expenses. After paying for basics, I’m lucky I have enough left to buy the occasional drink.”
    Butch tilted his chin toward her. “How could you have spent all of the money?” A blur of red flashed across the floor, barreling straight at him. Butch saw the accident before it happened. He spun out of his chair and caught Kate around the waist as her feet slipped out from under her on a puddle of beer.
    “Crap.” Kate clung to Butch’s shoulders as her legs imitated Bambi on ice.
    “Are you okay?” Butch lifted Kate, set her on her feet on dry ground.
    “Excuse me. We were having a conversation,” Angie said, rolling her mascara-lacquered eyes.
    Butch narrowed his gaze on his ex. “Cut it out, Angie. She slipped.”
    “Besides, you weren’t having a conversation,” Trudy said. “You were trying to sucker more money out of Butch.”
    Angie glared at Trudy. “Saving the Northern Pine Snake is important .”
    Butch closed his eyes, knowing when Angie got something stuck in her craw, there would be no end to the nagging until she got her way, but was he ever tired of it. He opened his eyes and gazed down into the blue eyes of the woman who dismantled his tractor. He found strength there. Determination. “Angie, this conversation is over. You have to live within your means. If you need more money, get a job like everyone else.”
    “About damned time.” Trudy bobbed her head, emphasizing each word. “Go find another gravy train and crawl under it.”
    “Trudy,” Butch said without taking his gaze from Kate.
    “If your conversation is over, can you come with me?” Kate looked up at him with a fire burning in her eyes, her little body nearly vibrating with energy.
    He found himself nodding and let her pull him away from the table. He smiled and looked over his shoulder.
    Angie’s mouth hung open, a hand on her cocked hip. “This isn’t the end, Butch McCormick.”
    The threat didn’t faze him. Butch knew Angie would be on his case tomorrow and the next day. But for the first time in a long time, he really didn’t care. Kate had his hand in both of hers, dragging him across the dance floor and into the game room.
    “You gotta see this; you gotta see this; you gotta see this!”

Chapter Two
    A dog barked…somewhere. Kate raised heavy eyelids, drawn by the noise from the bottomless pit where she had sunk. She rolled her aching head, and arms tightened around her. Her eyes snapped wide open. Seconds passed before she made sense of the scene. She and Butch lay on his living room floor, twisted together like two strands of yarn. Her head lay on his shoulder, and his leg trapped her thigh. Hands were everywhere. A blue and white blanket lay at their feet.
    The heart pounding in her chest matched the banging in her head. Flipping through mental images, the crisp pictures of the early evening blurred and then just ended. Kate had no idea how she ended up with Butch on the floor. She still wore her jeans and the scoop neck tank top, but her feet and arms were bare. She would have been cold if not for Butch’s body heat. Kate moved back a judicious few inches, waking Butch. She rubbed her head and pried her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “What the hell happened last night?”
    Butch moved his legs, freeing her, and propped himself on his elbow. “You don’t remember?”
    “Of course I remember.” Kate rolled her eyes, lying her butt off.
    “Uh huh. Tell me your favorite part.”
    “Riding the bull.” Kate remembered pulling him across the bar to the black monster sitting in a quiet corner, just waiting for someone to notice. She sat up high, her thighs spread wide while the room spun. True, it may be the only thing she remembered, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t her favorite.
    The ends of Butch’s mouth curled slowly into an easy smile. “And after that?”
    Kate narrowed her eyes. He knew something she didn’t. A