Free Redneck Romeo: A Red Hot Valentine Story by Randi Alexander

Chapter One
    “Perfect.” Genevieve Riley stepped back from the screen
door. Trapped in the O’Bannon ranch house kitchen by three huge black dogs that
barked at her from the porch. She’d snuck onto the ranch on a service road and
parked around the side of the house. The darn dogs must have heard her truck.
Or the squeaky screen door.
    This was her reward for doing the right thing?
    She glanced around the big room. It had been updated since
the last time she was here. Was that ten years ago? No, eleven. Stainless steel
appliances and dark granite countertops had replaced the all-white kitchen she
remembered. She hadn’t been anywhere but in this room, but she knew there was a
door somewhere on the other side of the house. If she could find it, sneak out,
and reach her truck before the hounds alerted anyone...
    A whistle cut through the air. “Crap.” Too late to make her
escape, she’d been caught.
    A man in a tan cowboy hat, dark T-shirt, jeans, and boots
walked toward the house from the direction of the barn, his long legs closed
the distance fast. Was it him? A bubble of panic swelled inside her.
    She glanced out the side window at her little pickup truck
heating in the warm February sun. So close. She’d planned to get in and
out in seconds and be gone before anyone knew she’d been here. Especially him.
    Eleven years ago, she hadn’t left under the best
circumstances, but she’d been only fifteen, and had no choice.
    When he was still a few yards from the house, the cowboy
whistled again. The dogs stopped their ruckus and turned toward him. “Down.” He
pointed to the grass beside the porch steps. The dogs raced to the spot and sat
at attention.
    He braced one foot on the bottom step and looked at her
through the screen door. “Can I help you, ma’am?” His Texas drawl rolled low
and sexy.
    With the sun casting his face in shadow beneath his hat
brim, she couldn’t tell if it was Nick or not.
    She gestured toward the small box on the kitchen counter
next to her. “I just wanted to drop off something for you.” She inched open the
screen door, ready to make her getaway.
    The dogs growled. The cowboy took the steps two at a time
and stopped directly in front of her before she could step over the threshold.
“Hang on a minute.” Without touching her, he herded her back inside, followed
her in, and let the screen door shut. Taking off his hat, he hung it on a peg
next to the door.
    Oh God, it was him. Nick O’Bannon. His deep green eyes had
stayed exactly the same, but now his face had become the face of a man. Tan,
with strong cheekbones, a square jaw, and firm, sensual lips, he was
outrageously handsome.
    His body had matured, as well. His wide chest and big arms
filled out his shirt, and he’d gotten so tall. When he was fifteen, his short,
straight hair had been wild and red. It had turned a gorgeous dark auburn. His
brow lifted. “Ma’am?”
    He didn’t recognize her.
    She hadn’t expected him to, really, but it would have been
nice if he had. They’d spent every possible moment together that summer. Had
she changed so much since then? Her fingers threaded through the long strands
of her strawberry blonde hair as it rested on her breast.
    His eyes followed the movement. When she’d been fifteen, her
hair had been shorter and almost white-blonde from spending her days in the
sun. Skinny, tall, and just starting to bloom, she couldn’t blame him for not
seeing that girl in the woman she was now.
    He crossed his arms over his chest and his eyes narrowed.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here.”
    He must think she’d rummaged through his house and stolen
something. Would she have to submit to a strip search? The image of his hands
on her skin sent a lovely shiver along her spine.
    Genevieve laced her fingers behind her back. “Um…” Great
start . She’d practiced a speech, in case she couldn’t just drop off the box
and run. She struggled to remember the first line.