Read Do You Take This Rebel? for Free Online

happened to be around, well, that was pure coincidence, the kind of thing that happened in small towns. People bumped into people all the time, exchanged a few words, then went on about their business. It didn’t have to mean a thing.
    Yeah, right. He sneezed as he caught a whiff of thataftershave he’d splashed on at the last minute. He yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket and rubbed at his cheeks, but the scent stayed with him, mocking his avowed intentions about this trip into town.
    He glanced in the rearview mirror of his truck, assured himself that no one was behind him, then slammed on the brakes right there in the middle of the highway. He could quit lying to himself right now, turn around, go back to the ranch and take that nap he’d been craving before his father had shown up. And if he wanted to salvage a lick of pride, that was exactly what he ought to do.
    “Do it,” he muttered. “Be sensible for once in your miserable life.”
    But the lure of seeing Cassie again was too much to ignore. It had been a long time since he’d let temptation get the better of him. Surely he could be forgiven a single lapse.
    With a sigh he took his foot off the brake and kept going, heading straight for trouble.
     
    “Oh, my word, I never thought I’d see all of you back together again,” Stella Partlow said, hands on her ample hips as her gaze circled the table at the back of her diner. “These class reunions always take me right back. Not a one of you has changed a lick.”
    “Not even Lauren?” Cassie asked the woman who had given her her first job as a waitress back in high school. Stella had ignored the gossip and patiently gone about the business of turning Cassie into a responsible employee.
    At Cassie’s question, Stella peered intently at Lauren, then shook her head. “Nope. She was always a beauty. Back then she just didn’t make the most of thelooks God gave her. I’ve always said a good haircut and a few beauty products can turn the plainest woman into something a man can’t resist.”
    “You still selling Avon?” Emma teased.
    “Well, of course I am,” Stella retorted. “But right this second I’m pushing hamburgers. How about five with the works, just the way you used to like ’em?”
    “And fries,” Karen said with a gleam of anticipation in her eyes.
    “And chocolate milk shakes,” Cassie added, all but licking her lips. Nobody anywhere made shakes as thick and rich as Stella’s. Not even Earlene had the knack.
    “Except for me,” Lauren corrected.
    “I imagine you’ll be having a cherry cola, same as always,” Stella said, giving her a wink. “Coming right up. You all try to keep the noise level down back here. I’ve got tourists, and they like a little peace and quiet while they eat.”
    “I’ll bet if you point out that they’re in the presence of a gen-u-ine movie star, they won’t care how much racket we make,” Gina told her.
    Lauren frowned. “Stop it, you guys. Acting’s a job. It’s not who I am. If anybody ought to know that, you should,” she reminded them.
    Cassie thought she detected an edge in her friend’s voice, but Lauren laughed just as hard as the rest of them at the teasing comments that followed. And when they plagued her with questions about her leading men, her responses were as ribald as the discussions they’d had about boys in high school.
    When their drinks came, Cassie raised her glass. “A toast. To the Calamity Janes—may all our troubles be behind us.”
    Just as the others joined in, Cassie’s glance strayed to the window looking onto Main Street. Cole Davis was standing on the sidewalk staring right back at her, his hands jammed in the pockets of his faded denims, his jaw set and an unreadable expression in his eyes.
    “Uh-oh,” Karen murmured. “Looks as if that toast came too late. Trouble is about to come calling.”
    All of the women followed Cole’s progress as he strode to the door and entered the diner.
    Cassie swallowed