Free Hard To Love by Tina Rose Page A

sister’s life, and now the reason Ella was stuck dealing with Carter Dawson.
    Chapter Eight
    Carter could not get Ella out of his mind. Driving back to his cabin on the lake, he replayed their conversation back in his mind. She acted like she could care less if she ever set eyes on him again. This woman was grating on his nerves. Stop thinking about her then, dumbass! Easier said than done, obviously. It was that dirty mouth of hers, had to be. Or that curvaceous body he loved to run his hands over, or her amazing green eyes he saw every time he closed his. Slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, Carter cursed himself for his asinine behavior. Last night was supposed to get Ella out of his system, not imbed her in his memory. But now all he could think of was how he was going to get to see her again, and when.
    Pulling up to his cabin, Carter saw Gabe digging in his diamond plated tool box on the back of his pick-up truck.
    “Hey man, what’s up?” Carter called, as he climbed down from his seat.
    Gabe turned, holding a black Mossberg .270 rifle in his hands. “Hey bud, look at my new toy. Thought we could go out on the four wheelers and sight this sucker in.”
    “That’s nice, man, let’s go fire it up,” Carter said, smiling at his longtime friend.
    “Glad to see you smiling this morning. Must’ve had a good night, huh?” Gabe grinned.
    “Yeah, I guess you can say that,” Carter answered with a frown.
    “Dude, what is with you? You’re mean as the devil when you don’t get laid, and miserable when you do? What the hell?”
    “Shut up Gabriel. I’m not miserable. I just don’t want to talk about this,” Carter said, stalking off toward his front porch.
    “What? Couldn’t get the flag up the pole? It happens man, don’t beat yourself up about it.”
    “Gabe, I’m warning you, shut the hell up.” Carter warned.
    Knowing he was getting Carter’s goat, Gabe continued poking the bear. “Seriously man, you are getting older. It happens to the best of us.”
    “Gabe, I swear to god if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shoot you with your own damn gun.” Carter growled.
    “Okay, okay. Edgy much?” Gabe snickered. “Well, I don’t know about Ella, but her sister is a damn freak. That girl rode my dick like she was barrel racing at the rodeo.”
    Carter chuckled at his friend and shook his head. “You’re a pig you know that?”
    “What?” Gabe shrugged looking confused.
    After loading the ATV’s down with everything they thought they’d need, they rode out through the middle of the wooded area by Carter’s house, and came to a clearing where they set up a steel gong about one hundred fifty yards away. By the time they shot off a couple of rounds, they decided a beer was in order.
    “Damn, I like this lightening trigger. I think it’s the best trigger of all my guns.” Gabe bragged.
    “Maybe you’ll get that ten point buck you’ve been belly aching about this season.” Carter teased.
    “Maybe. I do think she’ll be my favorite one this season. Maybe the favorite of my whole collection.”
    “Do you ever think maybe you’ll want to settle down with just one girl?” Carter asked seriously.
    “Do you ever think maybe you’ll always want to eat vanilla ice cream?” Gabe hooted. “Hell no I don’t want to settle down with one woman. And I sure as hell don’t want a bunch of hellions running around. Is that what’s going on with you?” he asked in disbelief, disgust written across his face. “Snap out of it man. You have a record deal coming up. The last thing you need is a damn woman hanging around your neck, weighing you down. They don’t call them the old ball and chain for nothing man. You are twenty-seven years old, you have a lifetime to think about settling down.”
    “I don’t know man. I love the nightlife, don’t get me wrong. But I love being at home too.” Carter took a long pull from his beer, looking out at the serene picture in front of him. “The