Read Chasin' Eight: Rough Riders, Book 12 for Free Online Page A

it.
    “I’ll plead total ignorance on what it means to be a bull rider, so I did some research. All the rest of this stuff popped up.” Ava bit back a girly sigh when his beautiful blue gaze connected with hers. “Are you really off the PBR tour because of an injury?”
    Chase held her gaze long enough to make her heart speed up. Just when she thought he wouldn’t answer, he said, “Nope. I’m suspended indefinitely for inappropriate behavior.”
    “What’d you do?” Another one of his intense eye locks. But he didn’t seem inclined to answer this time, so she tossed out, “I’m no stranger to PR nightmares. Regardless if I was the one at fault. If you’re looking for someone to commiserate with? That’d be me.”
    He smiled. And holy fuck was it a smile that unlocked the gates of heaven.
    Or the devil’s door. Which quite frankly, she preferred.
    “Short version? Two weeks ago I was caught in a compromising position with a couple of ladies. I ain’t gonna make excuses, it was what it was, and I’m paying the price. I suddenly found myself with time off while I wait for the PBR to call me back. My folks and brothers live here, but I didn’t want to deal with their pity, so I asked Kane if I could hang out and make plans.”
    “Sounds like you’re reading a page out of the story of my life.” Ava typed her name into the search engine and spun the laptop around. “Have a look.”
    Chase scooted out the chair across from her and sat. His fingers clicked on the keyboard. His eyebrows went up a couple of times. But he didn’t speak for a few minutes.
    She refilled their cups and braced herself when she sensed him staring at her.
    “Your ex was gay?”
    “Yes. It was quite a shock to me.”
    “It wouldn’t have shocked me at all. He looks gay.”
    Ava bristled. “You can’t tell that by looking at him.”
    “Sure I can.” Chase spun the laptop around and enlarged the photo of Ava and Jake at an Emmy Awards after-party. He pointed at Jake’s feet enclosed in white patent leather clogs decorated with brightly colored polka dots. “No straight man ever wears shoes like them.”
    “Shows what you know. Those are high-couture shoes.”
    “Those are highly gay shoes.”
    She wanted to laugh, she really did. It’d been ages since she’d met a man so willing to speak his mind. “Shoes are your gauge for determining sexual preference?”
    “No, the best indicator is sex. How often did you have sex?”
    “I don’t see how that’s relevant,” she snipped.
    Chase leaned closer. “It’s the only thing that’s relevant. Because if he wasn’t dragging you to bed at least twice a day, the man was either a fuckin’ moron or totally gay. Probably both.”
    That was kind of sweet…in a caveman sort of way. “Not everything has to do with sex.”
    “Oh yeah? If that’s true, then this Jake guy wouldn’t have left you to have sex with a dude, would he?”
    Ava’s mouth dropped open.
    “Shit. Sorry. That came out wrong. What I meant—”
    “No. Don’t.” She placed her hand on his arm. “I think you’re the first person who’s been totally honest with me.”
    He relaxed. Smiled again and she bit back another sigh. “So this is what sent you running from California?”
    “I got tired of the paparazzi.” Something kicked from what he’d said about his family. “I got tired of the pity. Of the trade mags making such a big deal out of it. I needed to get away and prove…”
    There was that amazing grin again. “Don’t clam up on me now, Hollywood.”
    Ava laughed at his impromptu nickname for her.
    “And if you’re afraid I’ll judge you? Think again.”
    “You were dead-on with the sex question. One of the reasons I’m here? To find a guy I can get wild with. To prove I’m hot between the sheets. To prove I can keep a man sexually satisfied.”
    “Is that right?” he drawled.
    Her brain slipped into seductress mode as she channeled the femme fatale she’d played on TV for two