Free Cowboy Trouble (The McCord Brothers 1.5) by Delores Fossen

see anything. When he did, Rico thought maybe every drop of air had vanished from the planet.
    Because it was Natalie.
    And she was naked. Well, almost. She was wearing just a barely there lace bra and panties. He pinched himself to make sure this wasn’t some sort of hallucination. Or a ghost. If it was, the ghost was wearing Natalie’s perfume.
    “We seem to communicate better when I’m not dressed,” she said, as if that explained everything. It explained nothing, but Rico was so spellbound by the view that he didn’t point out the flaw in her comment.
    “Uh, how did you get in?” All in all, it was a really dumb thing to ask her, especially when he had more important questions on his mind.
    Like Why are you here?
    Or Why are you practically naked?
    And How soon are we having sex?
    That last mental question latched on to what was left of his brain and held on.
    “The door was unlocked. I parked in the back because I wanted to surprise you,” she answered.
    Mission accomplished. He was so surprised, it was a wonder he hadn’t dropped to the floor.
    “I’ve been here since this morning,” Natalie continued. She came closer. What she didn’t do was smile, and he could tell her nerves were there just beneath the surface. He was feeling some nerves, too. And confusion.
    Lots of confusion.
    “I burned the Skinnies,” Natalie added before he could get his mouth working. “I also made sure Marcus knows that it’s a no-go with him.”
    That sounded, well, good, but Rico still didn’t know where this was leading. “Why exactly are you here?”
    She didn’t answer. Not with words anyway. Natalie hooked her arm around him and kissed him. Not a wimpy kiss, either. This was the real deal. French and everything.
    “Things are so good between us when kissing and nudity are involved,” she said.
    Yeah, they were, and Rico hoped he didn’t get booted out of the man club for saying this: “But we can’t stay naked and kiss forever.”
    She looked at him as if she might challenge that and then sighed. “Should I put on some clothes, then?”
    “No.” He probably should have given that some thought, but what the hell—he wouldn’t change his mind even with thought and plenty of talk. He really did like having a half-naked Natalie pressed against him. In fact, the only thing that would have made it better was for him to take off that bra and panties. First, though, he really did need some answers.
    “What about your father?” Rico asked.
    Since Natalie was only a couple of inches from him, he saw her flinch a little. Then she kissed him again, and the flinch, the question and what shred of common sense he had left flew right out the window. When she pulled back this time, Rico was ready to haul her off to bed.
    But no bed. Instead, Natalie held out her hand, putting it right in his face. Since it blocked the view he really wanted—of her and that skimpy underwear—Rico nearly pushed it aside.
    Until he saw the ring on her finger. A ring that he recognized because he’d given it to her the night they’d eloped. Unless she’d managed to buy an identical one.
    “You found it?” he asked.
    Natalie shook her head. “My mother had it all this time, and when I visited her this morning, she told me she’d left it on the counter the night she was here.”
    Now it was Rico’s turn to shake his head. “Why did she have it? Better yet, why did she leave it?”
    “She took it that day when I went home to tell them we’d eloped. Remember, I went alone.”
    Only because Natalie had insisted on that. Rico hadn’t thought it was a good idea for her to do it solo. And he’d been right. Things had gone to hell after that.
    “Anyway, after I told my parents we were married, my dad had a blowup, my mother retreated to her bedroom, and I went out to ride my horse so I could clear my head. I left the engagement and wedding rings on my dresser because I was afraid of losing them. When I got back, my mother had taken the