No Ordinary Cowboy (Mills & Boon American Romance) (Rodeo Rebels - Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

porch in the cool dirt cavern Hector had dug for him.
    “Where’s Clementine?” Lucy glanced across the porch and spotted the gray cat lounging on the chair by the door. “Hey, Clementine.” The cat’s tail twitched once. Clementine barely tolerated Blue until the nights grew cold, then she slept with him beneath the porch.
    “How about some fresh water, kids?” Lucy refilled the large water bowl from the spigot connected to the side of the cabin, set it on the bottom porch step then texted her mother that she’d arrived at Hector’s.
    “Hector, it’s Lucy,” she called out as she let herself inside the cabin.
    “Keys are by the door.” The muffled voice came from the hall bathroom.
    “Hope you feel better soon.” She placed a set of keys to her truck on the table then left the cabin. After giving Blue one more pat on the head, she drove off in the Pony Express passenger van. She’d almost made it to the highway when her cell phone rang.
    “Pony Express, Lucy Durango speaking.”
    “Lucy, it’s Bob out at the Saguaro Cactus Lounge.”
    “It’s only eight o’clock and you have a pickup for me?”
    “Not yet but I figure he’ll need a lift by ten.”
    “You’re prebooking a ride?”
    “Yep.”
    “Is he a regular?”
    “Nope.”
    If the cowboy wasn’t a regular, it usually meant the guy was drinking off a heartache. “Who is he?”
    “Tony Bravo.”
    Tony? At least he wasn’t on duty. “Did he say why he’s drinking?”
    Bob chuckled. “Border patrol agents don’t need a reason to drink.”
    “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
    She disconnected the call then turned onto the highway. Tony had never been a big drinker. Even when he and Michael celebrated their twenty-first birthdays, the guys hadn’t gone on a bender because they’d had to rodeo the following day.
    There were only a handful of vehicles parked in the lot when she arrived at the bar. As soon as she entered the tavern, Bob nodded to the stool where Tony sat hunched over a beer glass. He was drinking tap beer—the cheap stuff.
    Lucy passed a pair of cowboys throwing darts and four more playing cards before she slid onto the stool next to Tony. She tapped a fingernail against the bar, keeping time with the George Strait song playing on the jukebox. Tony ignored her. After a minute, she broke the silence. “I’m sorry you didn’t make it to eight last weekend.”
    Keeping his gaze on his beer, he said, “Thought you’d left the rodeo before my ride.”
    “I stayed.” She’d missed watching Tony and her brother tangle with bulls. “Tough draw.”
    “Hardly.” He guzzled the amber liquid in the glass.
    “Just so you know, I’m here on official business,” she said.
    “This is my second—” he counted the glasses on the bar “—third beer.”
    “Bob reserved a seat for you in the van.”
    “I can handle my liquor.”
    Chilled by the air conditioner mounted on the wall next to Tony, she asked, “You want to go somewhere and talk?”
    His dark gaze unnerved Lucy. Did he assume she wanted to talk about the past—more specifically their past?
    Tony fished his wallet from his pocket, left a ten-dollar bill on the bar then nodded to the door. “Lead the way.”
    As soon as they stepped outside, Lucy said, “I haven’t had supper. Let’s head up the road to Vern’s.”
    “Leave the van here.” He threw her his truck keys.
    Lucy hopped behind the wheel of the black Dodge and adjusted the seat and mirrors then drove toward town. The drive-in was crowded with teenagers but she found a parking spot. When she lowered the windows, the smell of greasy hamburgers and fries filled the cab and her stomach growled.
    “That wasn’t very ladylike.” Tony grinned.
    “Sorry.”
    A young girl with an order pad stopped at the truck. “Welcome to Vern’s. What can I get you?”
    “Two cheeseburger baskets with root beers.”
    “Be ready in a few minutes.” The waitress dropped off the order at the service window,