Free Catch Me a Cowboy by Katie Lane Page A

awaiting the buzzer. He smiled as his gaze swept over the sexy-as-hell, sky-high heels that were pulled back against the generous curve of her bottom.
    “Bubba,” she groaned. And his smile got even bigger.
    “I’m glad you’re so happy to see me.” He glanced first at the baby who sat on the mattress watching the pig, and then over at the little boy who cowered in the corner watching him. “’Course, if we’re gonna have any fun, we’ll have to figure out what to do with your rug rats.”
    “Would you stop messing around, Wilkes, and untie me?” she commanded.
    For a moment, Billy considered leaving her right where she was. But then his gaze got snagged by the little boy’s big brown eyes, and he knelt down and picked up the scissors. Although he couldn’t help but throw a little fuel on the fire.
    “You’re probably right. With a sassy woman like you, it would take all night to properly instruct you in the basics of servitude.”
    “Just cut!”
    “See what I mean?” Billy teased as he leaned over her. The scissors were blunt, but fortunately the jump rope was weak. Once she was free, Ms. Dalton’s legs dropped to the floor, and she moaned in pain.
    Billy might not care for the uppity Ms. Dalton, but he wasn’t completely immune to her suffering. Reaching out, he slipped off first one high heel and then the other before he started to massage the feeling back into her feet.
    “God, that hurts,” she mumbled into the piles of blond hair that had fallen over her face.
    “Give it a minute,” he said as he worked.
    Like the rest of her body, her feet weren’t petite. But they weren’t ugly either. They were long and narrow with a high arch and a perfect row of toes that were painted a bright red. Billy had never much cared for red, so he couldn’t explain the sudden desire to bend down and suck the sweet little pinkie toe into his mouth.
    What the hell?
    He dropped the foot like a hot potato. It thumped down to the floor accompanied by a gasp of pain.
    “Gee, thanks,” she grumbled as she rolled to her back and sat up.
    Always observant, he noticed two things: one, the swell of her breasts against the soft material of her shirt—which considering their size didn’t make him all that observant—and two, the blond hair that remained on the floor. His gaze snapped back up to the short cropped hair that stuck out by her temple.
    “Don’t you dare say a word,” she hissed.
    He didn’t even try to bite back the smirk. “I wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am.”
    Her hand lifted to her hair, and her eyes narrowed on the little boy who still stared at Billy as if he were the Big Bad Wolf.
    And maybe the kid wasn’t too far off.
    Billy’s gaze shifted back to Ms. Dalton, who was waggling her hands to get the feeling back into them. It must’ve worked because she stopped after a while to reach out and grab her purse. After digging around in it, she pulled out a half-eaten Snickers bar. But before she even got the wrapper off, the pig let out a squeal and jumped up on the mattress. Startled, the baby started to cry. This in turn caused the little boy to bellow in a deep wail that sent shivers down Billy’s spine. The racket of screaming kids and squealing pig almost had him heading for the door. It was only the enjoyment of watching Ms. Dalton’s panicked eyes that kept him rooted to his spot.
    When she noticed him standing there grinning, she yelled above the noise. “Don’t just stand there, Wilkes! Do something!”
    He shrugged. “I’d love to, ma’am, but I’ve never been much good with kids. In fact, they scare me almost as much as horror movies.”
    Shirlene shot him an exasperated look before she took action. In a flurry of motion, she pinched off a piece of candy and tossed it to the pig, handed the rest of the candy bar to the little boy, and finally scooped up the baby and silenced her with the bottle. When the room was filled with nothing more than smacking noises, Billy didn’t know