Read Jared: Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 4 for Free Online

want to arrive before Jared and his friend.
    The urge to take a nap was strong. Last night’s hotel had been so bad it made the Hideaway look like the Ritz Carlton. She’d slept like crap and was paying for it now. She didn’t dare lie down though for fear she’d sleep right through the night. Instead, Mandy made notes, returned phone calls, checked if she had enough blank consent forms for all the main characters in town.
    Finally it was just after eight. She flipped the lid of the laptop shut.
    Perfect. She’d be fashionably late. Mandy checked her makeup one last time in the wall mirror and tried not to wonder what this mysterious non-girlfriend of Jared’s looked like. While she was at it, she adjusted the tank top to show just a bit more cleavage.
    After shoving cash and her room key into her pocket, Mandy was good to go. She walked across the hotel’s parking lot toward the bar, cursing the deep, sharp gravel ruining the heels of her shoes with every step.
    Mandy anticipated this bar would probably play a major role when it came time for taping. Drunks in a bar made for great television. She heard the jukebox pumping out a lively country tune before she even opened the door.
    Once inside, she knew she was right about the bar being perfect for the show. It simply oozed small-town atmosphere. Right down to the fact the entire place quieted and every patron inside turned to look at her when she opened the door and stepped inside. She nearly laughed at the locals’ stereotypical reaction to her.
    Jared and none other than the deputy sat at a table just off the dance floor. Jared stood when she entered. A country gentleman. She smiled at that idea and made her way to them.
    “Hey there, darlin’. Wow, you look great. I gotta say, I didn’t think you actually owned a pair of jeans.” Jared glanced down at her approvingly.
    “Of course I do. I’m not always dressed in stuffy business suits.”
    He was looking pretty great himself even though he was now wearing a shirt. She had liked the view that afternoon without it so much better.
    “Good to know.” He grinned at her. “Mandy, this here is my friend, Bobby Barton. Bobby, this is Miss Mandy Morris from Los Angeles.”
    She was sure that Jared had already filled his friend in about exactly who and what she was, but that was fine. She made no pretense about why she was in town.
    Mandy extended her hand. “We’ve already met, sort of. Nice to see you again, Deputy.”
    He shook her hand with a stern nod. “Bobby is fine. I’m off duty tonight, Ms. Morris.”
    She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. It’s Mandy. No business suits, no formal talk. Tonight is for fun only.”
    Jared grinned wider, resting his hand lightly at the small of her back. “That’s good to hear too. What can I get you to drink?”
    Supposing the bartender would be incapable of mixing up a good Cosmopolitan and that them pouring a decent wine was even more questionable, Mandy settled on something safe. “A light beer, please?”
    “You got it, darlin’.” Jared grinned and headed for the bar.
    Mandy had been looking forward to picking the deputy’s brain for a minute or two before the horseman returned. Unfortunately, Jared somehow procured the beer, and two more for himself and Bobby, faster than it took her to get seated and break the ice with the stone-faced lawman. To be fair, she’d bought the jeans to fit a bit tightly. It made settling into one of the three chairs tightly crowded around the tiny cocktail table a tough squeeze.
    When she was seated, if less than comfortably, and Jared had returned all three of them crowded cozily around the table so small her knee kept bumping into Jared’s leg. He didn’t move out of the way, and neither did she. The second time it happened within about a minute, Mandy glanced his way. She found him grinning at her. Jared Gordon was definitely into games.
    Fine. Two could play at this. She hadn’t bumped knees with a guy in awhile. She hadn’t