LITMIR.BIZ

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      Troy Pendleton doesn’t know how he got roped into tracking Senada “Sin” Calhoun all the way to a two-bit Texas saloon. But he’s got orders from him his family not to come back to Tennessee without her, or the truth about why she left. The sultry bar manager tries to send Troy packing, but the desire in her eyes has him staying put. Sin’s every bit as tempting as her name suggests--it’s a good thing Troy’s not stupid enough to fall in love…

      Sin’s not interested in confiding in Troy about why she fled to her hometown. She learned a long time ago not to count on any man, and she’s not going to start with the youngest and most overbearing of the Pendleton brothers. Yet denied other sensual pleasures, she’s soon indulging in a passion-filled night with the too-rugged, too-masculine Troy. When morning comes, will she be able to trust him with her secrets—and her heart?

      Previously published.

      To Eric, for motivation and inspiration

      Special acknowledgments to

       Donna Beard and Karen Britton for sharing

       technical knowledge and personal experience

      Prologue

      “I wish someone would go after her,” Lisa Pendleton said, exasperation tugging at her features as she toyed with her food. “Someone who could reason with her.”

      Troy Pendleton took another bite of chicken and watched his brother Brick nearly choke on his iced tea. This was the first family meal his sister, brothers and their assorted spouses and children had shared since Lisa gave birth to triplets.

      “Reason?” Brick repeated to his wife. “When has anyone been able to reason with Senada Calhoun?”

      Lisa scowled at him. “You just never understood her.”

      “Me and the rest of the human—” Brick muttered, then broke off and sighed. He drummed his fingers on the table. “Maybe Jarod—”

      Jarod Pendleton shook his head. “I used my vacation for my honeymoon.” He grinned and wrapped his arm around his new wife, Augusta.

      Troy rolled his eyes at the lovesick couple and reached for another roll.

      “One of Garth’s mares just foaled,” Jarod pointed out gently, eliminating another brother. “And Daniel’s busiest season is starting now.”

      “That leaves…”

      A long silence followed Lisa’s statement. Troy paused while buttering his roll and looked up to find everyone staring at him. Worst of all, Lisa was looking at him as if he were the last great hope. Realization dawned. He immediately shook his head. “No way.”

      “I’m worried about her,” Lisa said in earnest. “One day she was my business partner and friend, the next, she sold her share of the partnership and left for some bar in Texas.”

      “Maybe she needed a change.” Lord knew, Troy felt like he needed one. His restlessness was eating him from the inside out.

      “Something is wrong. I can feel it. I’d go after her if I could, but with the babies…” She lifted her hands helplessly.

      Troy was tempted to offer to keep the kids in lieu of going after Senada Calhoun. His only obstacle was that he couldn’t breastfeed. “You need someone who can reason with her. I sure as hell can’t.”

      “I need someone who can find out what’s wrong with her first,” Lisa corrected.

      Troy’s interest in the elaborate home-cooked meal waned. He dropped the uneaten roll to his plate. “Senada and I don’t get along.” What man could get along with a woman whose nickname was Sin, a woman who seemed to take the greatest pleasure in tormenting a man with her blow-off-the-roof sensuality? A woman who, he was convinced, was a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

      Lisa placed her hand on his arm. “Show a little compassion, Troy. I know you’ve got some in there somewhere.”

      Troy held his breath for a long moment. A glimmer of concern flickered to life inside him. Even for Senada, this behavior was unusual. What if there was something seriously wrong? What if she needed help? He snorted at the thought of Senada accepting help from him. Age-old self-protective instincts rushed to the surface, and he shook his head. “Give it up. There’s nothing you can say that will make me go tearing after Senada Calhoun. Nothing.”

      When Lisa continued to look at him with that please-help-me expression on her face, Troy lifted his hands in exasperation. “I’d have to be certifiably crazy to go after her.”

      Contents

      Prologue

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Epilogue

      Chapter One

      He was certifiable all right, Troy thought as he eyed the desert landscape with distaste. Someone should have tossed him into the loony bin and thrown away the key. Slamming his rental car door shut, he walked toward Padre’s Saloon.

      In the back of his mind, he hoped this little mercy mission would earn him enough respect from his brothers to give him more control over the family farm. Thus far, they’d wanted his brawn, not his brains, and the growing need to leave his own mark was making him restless.

      Even so, he still wasn’t quite sure how he’d allowed himself to get talked into this. All Troy knew was that he was there to get some answers, and he would do what it took to get them. He’d also been instructed to persuade Senada Calhoun to return to Chattanooga. That, he thought as he stepped into the busy watering hole, could get a little tricky.

      Peanut shells littered the scarred wooden floor. Cowboy paraphernalia decorated the walls. His stomach growled at the scent of hamburgers and beer. Past the haze of cigarette smoke and what seemed like a herd of male bodies, he immediately spotted Senada.

      Troy watched her give instructions to a waitress, then turn her attention to the customers, moving from one table to another. Her hair swung in a long black silky mantle past her shoulders, her eyes flashed with a hint of the fire in her personality, and her smile, well, her smile could tempt Saint Peter.

      She probably thought the black jeans and frilly white shirt she wore covered enough to discourage male attention. Perhaps on another woman they would, but Senada’s black jeans cupped and molded her hips the way a man would want to cup and mold her with his hands. Her blouse had a ribbon that held the white material against her tanned skin.

      Troy bet every man in the place was rubbing his fingers together with an itch to tug that ribbon loose. In his own gut, he felt a visceral tension grab and clench.

      Shaking his head, he put the first sensation down to temporary insanity and the second…to indigestion. He moved toward her, and by the time he got within talking distance, her back was facing him. He hesitated a second, feeling as if he were preparing to walk straight into a fire.

      He shook off the ridiculous thought. “Any chance a guy from Tennessee can get a beer around here?”

      Senada whirled around, her dark brown eyes

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