To Tame A Texan Read Online Free PDF Page A

with the knife scar down one cheek, laughed. “Looks to be more fun than a goat-ropin’. What you think, brother?”
    â€œA sip of tequila might add to the fun,” Trace said.
    â€œI was just fixin’ to suggest that very thing.” Maverick grinned and went to get a bottle.
    Ace looked at his audience. They were as big-eyed as a bunch of owls, and he felt very ill at ease. “I—I was worried Lynnie might feel self-conscious.”
    â€œI’m a liberated woman,” Lynnie said grimly, “and I’m not worried about appearing ridiculous—but then, I’m more secure mentally than most men.”
    â€œLynnie,” said her big sister, Cayenne, “that was rude.”
    Lynnie shrugged. “You see what an uncouth rascal I’m dealing with here.”
    Ace flushed and shot her a look that said he’d like to push Lynnie out the hotel window, and they were on the third floor. “We’ll need some music.”
    â€œWalk me through the steps first,” Lynnie said.
    He seemed to be sweating a bucketful, although it was February. “Well, first I put my hand on your waist and take your other hand.”
    The red-haired children burst into snickers. “He’s going to hug Aunt Lynnie. Is he gonna kiss her?”
    â€œThat’s enough!” warned their mother. “If you don’t be quiet, you can’t watch.”
    Lynnie hesitated, suddenly aware of how tall and masculine Ace Durango was. Very slowly, she put her hand on his wide shoulder and put her small hand in his big, callused one. She had to look up at him, and it gave her a powerless feeling. Lynnie didn’t like that; she liked being in control. She took a deep breath to still the nervousness that suddenly overcame her, and smelled the scent of masculine shaving lotion on his dark skin. His big hand went to her waist. She couldn’t remember a man ever touching her so intimately. She peered up at him through her spectacles, and he glared down at her.
    â€œNow,” he said, “I will lead off on my left foot and you will step backward at the same time with your right one.”
    â€œNow, why is that?” she demanded. “Why can’t the woman lead?”
    Behind her, she heard the resigned sigh of her big sister, who didn’t understand Lynnie’s obsession with the women’s rights issue.
    â€œLordy, girl . . .” Ace shook his head. “I don’t know why men get to lead; that’s just the way it is; that’s all.”
    â€œI think,” Lynnie returned primly, “that when women get the vote, we will change all that.”
    Ace grimaced. “Are you one of those suffragettes?”
    Lynnie bristled. “As a matter of fact, I am, and what’s wrong with that?”
    â€œLynnie,” said her sister, “we don’t have time for all this debate if Ace is to teach you to dance in the next hour.”
    â€œAnd it’s gonna be the longest hour I ever spent,” Ace muttered as they took their positions again.
    â€œFor me, too,” she snarled into his ear as he pulled her into the dancing position.
    They took a few steps, and one of his big boots trod on her toe.
    â€œLynnie, don’t you know your left foot from your right?” he whispered.
    â€œIf I had a better partner, maybe I would do better,” she whispered back.
    â€œWhat? I’ll have you know, Miss McBride, that half the girls in Texas would be thrilled to have me as an escort tonight.”
    â€œOh, shut up,” Lynnie said “You big, egotistical brute.”
    He hesitated, and she was sure the cowboy didn’t even know what the big word meant. Behind them, the family chatter continued.
    Damn his hide, Lynnie thought. If she didn’t need him in her plan, she wouldn’t be caught dead with Ace. Why, everyone in Texas knew his reputation. “Well, we might as well get right at it,” she snapped.