Make Me Crazy (Loco, Texas) Read Online Free PDF Page A

enclosed a poem for your enjoyment and was hoping maybe we could meet up for food…”
    Without warning, she spun around and launched herself at Red, grabbing his ear. “You drop that right now, Red Calhoun!”
    Red howled. “Jake, get a hold of this wild cat. I want to read this poem! I’m betting it’s a dandy, coming from Buddy Martin.”
    Lifted up from behind by a hard arm around her waist, she yelled, “You put me down right now!”
    It was futile though; Jake was at least six inches taller and her feet were several inches off the floor.
     “I’ll put you down as soon as you ask real nicely,” he said, his voice softly teasing.
    Rand was aware of his arms settled under her breasts and that his breath was warm against the side of her neck. “Fine, horse’s ass, please put me down.”
    “Now was that so hard? Just relax and I’ll let you go. No sudden movements. I would like to keep all my parts.”
    As he lowered her back to the floor, their bodies pressed so close her shirt rode up into the small of her back. A lightheaded giddiness moved from her toes to her cheeks and it was like someone was poking her with tiny needles everywhere. She turned in his arms and her mouth was just under his full lips. She could see that his green eyes had tiny flecks of yellow at the center and whispered, “Please, let me go.”
    He stared back at her, and she felt his hesitation. In fact, she could have sworn his head dropped a fraction of an inch before Red recited, “Brown eyes color of turned soil, hair so cute in a ponytail, Miranda, oh how I want to kiss, each freckle on your cheeks and lips…” Red’s head came up and he squinted at her. “Do you have freckles on your lips?”
    She lifted her arms to cover her mouth and Jake released her as he answered the question. “No, she doesn’t have any freckle on her lips.”
    Cheeks burning with embarrassment, she stepped away from him and went back to the stove, clearing her throat. “Do you guys want a couple of burritos?”
    “Yeah sure,” Red said, and she turned to look at Jake who was watching her intently like he’d never seen her before.
    “Do you want some, Jake,” she asked, silently pleading that he’d stop staring at her. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was pretty sure she had just wanted Jake to lay a kiss on her. And something about the way he was looking at her made her think he was thinking about the same thing.
    “Yeah sure. Sounds good.” He walked over to the pile of cards and picked another one up.
    She went to the fridge to get the cheese, listening to the two men muttering and mumbling as she finished making the burritos. She pulled several plates out of the cupboard and said, “If y’all could stop going through my personal correspondences, food’s done.”
    The two men dropped the cards, and walked over to sit at the table. When Rand and Jake reached for the plate at the same time, their hands bumped.
    She pulled her hand back like it had been scalded. “Sorry, you go.”
    He shook his head, and protested, “No, you cooked.”
    Red looked between them and reached out to scoop up three burritos. “I don’t know what all this politeness is about, but I’m hungry.”
      “Animal.” Rand snapped.
    Red tried to reply but his mouth was full. Jake laughed and reached out for a couple of burritos. “Maybe you should send him to the barn, Rand.”
    The tension broken, Rand grabbed one of the burritos and ate it in silence, sneaking glances at Jake out of the corner of her eye. He really was a fine specimen of a man, if you were looking for a handsome heart breaker. Which she was not.
    But still, she wondered what it all was about anyway. She remembered getting stuck in the bathroom in high school, trying to avoid Kim and her howler monkey friends, and listening to Patty Baker talk about making it with Paul Grossman in the back of his daddy’s Ford and thinking that it sounded really awful. But if it was so horrible,