Free Cowboy Rush (Dalton Boys Book 5) by Em Petrova Page B

crossed his face. If it weren’t so upsetting that he was drunk over his mother’s illness, she might have laughed. He looked like Hank Jr. when the boy had fallen off his pony the other day. The whole family had laughed at the moment, especially when the boy had gotten up and taken a big bow, complete with an arm flourish.
    Ryan didn’t answer Kade, but he didn’t seem to require one. She led him to the bunkhouse. There he wandered down the length of the room. He touched her plaid shirt hanging on her bedpost.
    She stopped dead as he pulled it free and brought it to his nose. Heart convulsing, mind spinning, she watched him inhale deeply. Then he abruptly crumpled onto her bunk and started snoring.
    * * * * *
    Someone was inside Kade’s head with a pickaxe. Boom boom boom. Hammer hammer drum. Nausea bubbled up his throat and he rolled to the side, breathing hard to control the urge to vomit.
    A quiet step made him crack an eye and he glimpsed an angel standing a few feet away. Curves silhouetted by the sun. Piercing sun, actually.
    He closed his eyes but even that felt too painful, as if he could have closed them more softly.
    Swallowing the bile in his throat, he tried to gather his wits. What had happened to him? Kicked by a horse. Punched by his brother.
    Another step made him open his eyes again. The angel was still there. Golden light beaded along her torso as she lowered the hem of her T-shirt. Ripe breasts seemed the perfect pillows to support a throbbing head.
    He groaned and reached out.
    “Dalton.” She hurried to his side, and as soon as he caught her scent, his mind snapped into place.
    Ryan. And he was in the bunkhouse.
    Hell, what happened? If they’d slept together and he’d been in an alcoholic haze, he’d never forgive himself. At her nearness, his cock hardened painfully. He reached for her again and his hand met warm thigh.
    She wasn’t wearing jeans. His eyes popped open all the way. Standing in nothing but panties and a T-shirt, hair loose around her shoulders, she was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen.
    “My head,” he moaned when he tried to move.
    She gave a short laugh. “No wonder. You drank a lot last night. I saw your parents pull in a few minutes ago.”
    All cylinders weren’t firing, especially with a sexy, sweet woman at hand. He flexed his fingers around her thigh. Hard muscle was covered in pure silk. His dick couldn’t get harder. God, he hoped he was wearing clothes.
    He looked down at himself. He was. But maybe that wasn’t a good thing, after all. He tried to pull her down, but she resisted.
    “Here, drink this.” She replaced the thigh in his hand with a cool bottle. With some trouble, he leaned on one elbow and brought the cold glass to his lips. The first sip of beer shocked him.
    She laughed again, and he felt the bunk sag as she sat on it with him. “Beer’s good for a hangover, my dad always said.”
    “Well, he must be insane.” The liquid tasted like cat piss in his cottony mouth. He wrinkled his nose.
    “No, not insane. He was a smart man with a lot of experience. He died last year.”
    Kade focused on her. She was so close and looked so small next to him. But so far away. He couldn’t bring himself to touch her, even to offer comfort for the pain he heard in her voice. Lowering the bottle, he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    She nodded, and the whole bed jiggled. He closed his eyes with a grunt of pure pain. “Sorry, I shouldn’t jostle you around.” She didn’t get up, though. He chanced shifting his leg, bringing it against the warmth of her hip.
    “What happened last night?” he whispered, though his voice carried in his head for several long seconds.
    “Nothing. You drank. I kept you company. You were going to ride, and I wouldn’t let you. I brought you here.”
    “And…? This is your bunk, right?”
    “Yes, but you passed out. I slept in the other bunk.”
    “Oh Christ, I hope I didn’t puke in your bed.”
    At that, she