Free Denim and Diamonds by Debbie Macomber Page A

Letty.”
    “God forbid.” Lonny’s slurred words were followed by a husky laugh.
    “You needn’t worry, I’m already awake,” Letty said righteously as she stood in the doorway from the dining room into the kitchen. She flipped on the light and took one look at her brother, who was leaning heavily against Chase, one arm draped across his neighbor’s neck, and snapped, “You’re drunk.”
    Lonny stabbed a finger in her direction. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”
    “I’ll get him upstairs for you,” Chase said, half dragging Lonny across the kitchen.
    Lonny’s mood was jovial and he attempted to sing some ditty off-key, the words barely recognizable. Chase shushed him a second time, reminding him that Cricket was asleep even if Letty wasn’t, but his warning went unheeded.
    Letty led the way, trudging up the stairs, arms folded. She threw open Lonny’s bedroom door and turned on the light.
    Once inside, Lonny stumbled and fell across the bed, glaring up at the ceiling. Letty moved into the room and, with some effort, removed his boots.
    Chase got a quilt from the closet and unfolded it across his friend. “He’ll probably sleep for the rest of the night.”
    “I’m sure he will,” Letty said tightly. She left Lonny’s bedroom and hurried down the stairs. She was pacing the kitchen when Chase joined her.
    “What’s the matter with you?” he asked, frowning.
    “How dare you bring my brother home in that condition!” she demanded, turning on him.
    “You wanted me to leave him in town? Drunk?”
    If he’d revealed the slightest amount of guilt or contrition, Letty might have been able to let him go without another word. But he stood in front of her, and all she could see was the imagined woman in that bar. The one he’d danced with…and kissed and—
    Fury surged up inside her, blocking out sanity. All week he’d been baiting her, wanting to hurt her for the pain she’d caused him. Tonight he’d succeeded.
    “I hate you,” she sobbed, lunging at him.
    He grabbed her wrists and held them at her sides. “Letty, what’s gotten into you?”
    She squirmed and twisted in his arms, frantically trying to free herself, but she was trapped.
    “Letty?”
    She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears she didn’t care to explain, her shoulders heaving with emotion.
    “You’re angry because Lonny’s drunk?” he whispered.
    “No,” she cried, struggling again. “You went to that bar. You think I don’t know what you did, but—”
    “
What
are you talking about?”
    “You went to the Roundup to…to pick up some woman!”
    Chase frowned, then shook his head. “Letty, no!”
    “Don’t lie to me…don’t!”
    “Oh, Letty,” he murmured. Then he leaned down to settle his mouth over hers.
    The last thing Letty wanted at that moment was his touch or his kiss. She meant to brace her hands against his chest and use her strength to push him away. Instead, her hands inched upward until she was clasping his shoulders. The anger that had consumed her seconds before was dissolving in a firestorm of desire, bringing to life a part of her that had lain dormant from the moment she’d left Chase Brown’s arms nine years before.

Chapter 5
    Chase kissed her again and again while his hands roved up and down the curve of her spine as though he couldn’t get enough of her.
    His touch began to soothe the pain and disappointment that had come into her life in their long years apart. She was completely vulnerable to him in that moment. She
wanted
him.
    And Chase wanted her.
    “Letty…”
    Whatever he’d intended to say was lost when his mouth covered hers with a hungry groan. Letty’s lips parted in eager response.
    She’d been back in Red Springs for several weeks, but she wasn’t truly home until Chase had taken her in his arms and kissed her. Now that she was with him, a peace settled over her. Whatever lay before her, life or death, she was ready, suffused with the serenity his embrace