Temptation: Reckless Desires (Blue Moon Saloon Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

saddle along a rail and strode into Dakota’s stall, thankful for this bit of normalcy. Having grown up on a ranch, he could do this job in his sleep. Saddle a couple of horses, clean the stalls. A dead-end job he’d have scoffed at a year ago, but hell, it worked for him now. It earned him a bit of cash and came with the two-room apartment above the stables. Perfect for a not-too-picky wash-up of a cowboy trying to escape the ghosts of his past.
    The job had also come without any questions asked about why a guy in his prime would want an end-of-the-road job at a dusty stable that barely made ends meet, as long as he knew horses. And he knew horses, all right. Horses and bulls.
    “Morning, Dakota,” he murmured, stepping inside the stall.
    The pinto nickered once in greeting, but then her ears went from flopping drowsily to folded back in alarm, and she sidestepped away.
    “Whoa, there,” he tried, keeping his voice low.
    The horse huffed. Her pink nostrils opened wide, testing the air. She pawed at the hay under her feet.
    “Come on, just a little trail ride.” He clipped the lead on to her halter on the third try. God, why was the horse so jittery?
    She pranced around as he led her out and tossed her head restlessly the whole time he saddled her. The mare only really settled down once he’d led her outside and left her tied to a post, ready to ride.
    Damn horse. Maybe she’d had a bad night, too.
    But horse after horse acted the same way, and even Rosalind shook her head at him.
    “What’s with you, boy?”
    Shit. He wished he knew.
    “Whatever it is that’s eating at you, keep it out of the barn. Last thing I need is jittery horses with guests who can barely tell a horse’s head from its ass.” She stepped closer and took his chin in her hand. Turned his head right, then left, the way she studied sick horses and cows. “That girl of yours turn you down?”
    “Girl?” How would Rosalind know about Janna? And Janna hadn’t turned him down. Not yet, anyway.
    She chuckled. “Whatever poor girl who’s been working so hard at cleaning you up.”
    He stepped back, running a hand over his chin. The stubble felt strange, because he usually shaved. Well, over the past couple of weeks, at least, so Janna wouldn’t think he was a complete bum.
    Rosalind smacked him on the shoulder. “Seems like a girl worth keeping, if you ask me.”
    He hadn’t, but that wouldn’t stop Ros.
    “A girl worth trying a little harder for,” she went on, looking at him with that
Son, I expect better from you
look.
    A girl worth dying for,
the voice in his head added with a growl.
    “Um…” he tried. What exactly did a man say to that?
A girl who deserves better than me?
    Ros smacked his other shoulder, hard enough to make him shuffle. “Back to work. Quit upsetting the horses. And tonight…” Her wrinkled face took on a mischievous glow. “Tonight, you get some flowers and bring them to her, and…” She winked, then cleared her throat. “And I’m sure you can figure it out from there.”
    Cole leaned against the barn door, watching Rosalind breeze outside like a whirling dervish honing in on a new target. He wanted to protest because he hadn’t done anything to piss Janna off.
    Haven’t done anything to earn her, either,
a grouchy voice said.
    He considered that. Wondered what to do. Wondered if he trusted himself to do it. His eyes drifted over the pine-dotted hills, then stopped at the crest of the ridge. The pale moon was just starting to slide behind it, setting in the morning light. Wouldn’t be long until the moon would be full, rising and setting opposite the sun.
    Need her,
the voice inside him turned grave.
Need her to survive the Change…
    He fought off a shiver that had no right shaking anyone’s shoulders on a warm Arizona day and headed back into the barn.



Chapter Four

    Janna rubbed her eyes and yawned as she padded down the stairs to the saloon, wishing she’d had the kind of night she’d