Texas Hot by Regina Carlysle

taste. Nice boots, too. Reckon we’ll make a Texan out of you yet.”
    Laughter bubbled up and she shook her head. “I feel I should have yankee stamped directly across my forehead but it’s nice to feel as if I fit in, even if it’s just a bit. I really do love it here.”
    The smile faded from Mitch’s lips as he watched her. “Are you feeling a little homesick? I know you’re close to your family.”
    “Sometimes when the house is quiet I think of home and wonder about everyone. It’s hard not to miss people you’ve loved your entire life but I like it here, too. I’ve come to feel welcome in Texas. It might sound dumb but I can breathe here.” She shook her head. “I’m a city girl but this life, the free and easy way of the people here, touches me. It’s silly.”
    “Not a damn thing silly about it. Maybe it’s just Texas. Maybe you’ve just been looking for something and you’ve finally found it.”
    His words poured over her and the truth of them sank into her heart.
    She loved this brawny Texas man.
    After such a short time with him, it was probably crazy but then running away from home with no clue of her destination was pretty nuts, too. From the beginning Mitch made her feel protected but he made her strong along with it, perhaps strong enough to face what she’d been running from.
                  Tears burned behind her eyes because she knew she had to leave and test that newfound resiliency. Would she come back? Well, that was up to Mitch but Gina knew this regained strength couldn’t be wasted. She had to go back and square things with Anthony. In no uncertain terms, he had to know that intimidation wouldn’t work anymore. She was no longer afraid of him, nor would she allow him to intrude on her happiness. Aside from her current happiness and the basket full of epiphanies she’d gained, there was anger too. She’d allowed her fear to control her as she’d allowed Anthony to control her during their marriage. Now, Gina hoped with everything inside her that she could finish her business in New York, see her family, and then return to make her life in Texas more permanent.
    But did Mitch want that?
    She shared his bed and his life but there had never been declarations of love between them despite the way he looked at her and held her so protectively in the dark of night. Watching him now as he sat quietly sipping his beer, she absorbed the careful cautiousness of the man. He’d been hurt before, not only by his ex but by his often cruel past. Was he ready to take a chance on a woman who was no more than an intimate stranger?
    So many questions without answers.
    Needing space to control her emotions, she excused herself and headed to the ladies room near the back of the honky tonk. Honk tonk. It was crazy to think she was actually in one and loving every minute of it. Did she ever have stories to tell the family back home once she returned! Most likely, her dad would want to load up the car and make a trip down. She could already imagine he and Mitch binge-watching Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns and ruling over a backyard barbecue.
    Her wistful turn of thoughts suddenly faded as an eerie feeling crept over her.
    She glanced to the left then to the right, scanning the crowds. It was fairly normal to garner curious glances since she was, after all, new in town but this was different, somehow ominous. Seeing nothing amiss, she made it to the room marked cowgirls and then back out again after exchanging small talk with some of the ladies whom she’d met over the past few weeks. Surely that weird feeling from earlier was a figment of her imagination but as she re-entered the packed bar, that sensation encroached again on her security. Unconsciously, she brushed her hands over her arms to ward of a chill that had absolutely nothing to do with the temps in the room. It was odd how she could go from feeling strong to succumbing to an attack of nerves in the space of minutes. There