Stevie Lee Read Online Free PDF Page A

decided, he didn’t think he could get that, not all of it, not yet.
    “That’s what the sheriff is for, to do nice things.” Stevie pushed herself off the cooler and stepped into the hall. If she smiled any wider, her face was going to bust.
    A moment on the phone took care of Kong Kingman. Gene had his own key, so they didn’t have to wait. Stevie strolled back around the end of the bar and kindly helped Hal to his feet.
    “What did you shay you needed my money for?” he asked, draping his arm over her shoulders and getting it all tangled up in a silky expanse of honey-colored hair.
    “To get out of this dumpy little piece of paradise . . . and maybe go on safari,” she added thoughtfully, rearranging his arm and flicking off the lights before opening the door. “Or maybe I’ll follow in the footsteps of the great Halsey Morgan and island-hop the South Pacific. What do you think?” Teasing gray eyes looked up at him from under thick, dark lashes.
    Hal thought it sounded like a damned good idea, a real bang-up damned good idea—especially if she invited him to go along. Hell, he’d practically invented safari, and, geez, what he didn’t know about the South Pacific—well, hell, he knew it all. And when they got tired of sun-washed beaches and swaying palm trees, maybe she’d like to go to Alaska, or . . . what was the name of that little country where they had all the big mountains? The one where he’d almost frozen to death the time he’d . . .

Three
    She’d drunk him under the table.
    Hal let out with a heavy moan and rolled over in the bed, right into something big and solid and alive.
    “Damn,” he said softly. Somehow he’d gotten lucky the night before, and he didn’t remember a minute of it. Chalking his fortune, or misfortune, up to fate, he tried to slip back into unconsciousness. Maybe with a little more sleep the memories would come back. He and the silky-haired, long-legged goddess must have made magic.
    A low, rumbling, and distinctly nonfeminine groan forced his eyes open to a narrow slit. Then something wet and distinctly nonhuman slicked up the back of his neck and behind his ear. Hal squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the pillow over his head. He wasn’t ready for this—whatever it was.
    His bedmate had other ideas, though. More groans, grunts, and an inordinate amount of shuffling around gave him no choice but to drag the pillow off his head and check things out.
    Too close for comfort, the biggest, softest eyes in the world, one blue and one brown, gazed at him from the other pillow with a fondness Hal knew he didn’t deserve. The tongue slid out again and left a wet trail up his cheek.
    “What’s your name, huh?” Despite the bongo beat in his head, a weak smile touched the corner of his mouth. He reached out to scratch his new friend behind the ear. The husky groaned again in pleasure, tail thumping. Hal ran his fingers through the thick soft fur, following a red collar down to a blue tag. It said “Tiva” on one side and “Stevie Lee Brown. Trail’s End Bar, Grand Lake, Colorado” on the other. The pounding behind his temples picked up in rhythm, and Hal swore softly, rolling over and burying his head back into the pillow. The lady had shown him no mercy last night—and obviously little else.
    Not surprising, her husky seemed like-minded. The dog hopped off the bed and walked over to the door, where she whined and scratched until he finally dragged himself to his feet. With his eyes barely open, Hal shuffled across the cabin, bitching and moaning all the way. He really needed a cup of coffee. He really needed something to eat.
    Damn! His groceries! As if on cue, he stumbled into a box on the kitchen floor, stubbing his toe and giving himself a new pain to worry over.
    Okay, he thought, leaning back on the table and holding his aching head in his hand, so the lady wasn’t all bad. She’d gotten him home, gotten his groceries home, and set him up with a warm girl named