Secret Confessions: Down & Dusty — Casey Read Online Free PDF Page A

wrapped it around himself like a toga and hurried after his clothing.
    Casey slammed the door shut behind him, put the chain on the lock and then sunk down right where she was and cried. Joel was right—where he was concerned, she was well and truly insane.
    ***
    For the next few days Casey threw herself into helping Lucky with the extra patrons that came in hordes for the Milpinyani Springs Rodeo weekend. The constant demand for meals meant she rarely left the kitchen and that suited her just fine. She was busy from before sun-up to sun-down, yet although her mind and body were exhausted by the time she finally climbed into bed, her thoughts always, without fail, drifted to Joel.
    Every time she closed her eyes, she saw them rolling on the floor like animals, starving for each other and then the expression on his face when she sank down onto him. Oh Lord! Her inner muscles contracted at the recollection and her heart ached for what could be between them if he’d only grow the hell up. But his games on that first night proved pretty much everything was still a joke for him and, although she now realised things would never work between herself and Samuel, she wasn’t going to settle for what Joel could offer.
    Sure, as he so arrogantly showed her, he could make her toes curl and her body sing by barely even touching her, but she wanted that and a whole lot more. She wanted love, passion, truth, friendship, a couple of kids, a house of their own and sex that made her crazy. Was that too much to ask?
    As she rose out of bed on Monday morning, her phone beeped with an incoming message and she rolled her eyes, not needing to see the caller ID to know who’d sent it. She’d lost count of the number of messages Joel had sent over the last few days, begging her to give him another chance. After the first few, she’d deleted every single one without reading them. He’d also left messages with Lucky at the bar, but fortunately she’d refused to grant him entrance to the kitchen when they were so busy. She’d screwed each of those tiny pieces of paper up and turfed them in the rubbish before she was tempted to read them. History proved that where Joel was concerned she, or rather her libido, couldn’t be trusted.
    Besides, she could guess what his messages would say. Something along the lines of: Meet me at midnight in the garage and I’ll show you again why I’m the one for you. Despite herself, her spine tingled at that thought. She snatched up her phone and glanced down to press delete when she saw the word TYRES in capital letters on the screen.
    Dammit, in all the craziness of her first night and the extra busyness at the pub on rodeo weekend, she’d almost forgotten he had the Cruiser across the road waiting for delivery of the right tyres. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit!
    Aggravated, she swiped her finger across the screen and read the whole message. Your TYRES have arrived. I’ll fit them to the beast this morning and you can come collect after ten. And baby, I really wish you’d agree to another chat. I promise to keep my hands to myself but there’s a few things I need to say. Your eternal sex slave, Joel.
    ‘Eternal sex slave?’ She spluttered, the anger rising up inside her again. Was he even capable of any emotion besides horny?
    Without replying she stormed into the shower, drenched herself in ice-cold water, dressed and then headed downstairs to start the breakfast cooking.
    ‘Morning, Lucky,’ she said as she entered the bar area. ‘We survived the weekend.’
    Lucky nodded and smiled. ‘Yep, another rodeo over and done with. I don’t know whether I’m happy or sad that it’s over so quick.’
    ‘As much as I’ve enjoyed working with you again, I’m glad it’s finished,’ Casey confessed, leaning against the bar. ‘Oh and Lucky, I was wondering if you could do me a quick favour sometime this morning?’
    Lucky raised one eyebrow. ‘What’s that?’
    ‘Can you go collect my car from