Cowboy's Bride: A Secret Baby, Ranch Western Romance (Rainbow Canyon Cowboys Book 6)
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Cowboy’s Bride
A Secret Baby, Ranch Western Romance
K.C. Crowne
Copyright © 2020 by K.C. Crowne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Baby for the Mountain Man (Preview)
About the Author
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Rainbow Canyons Cowboy Series (this series) Untamed Cowboy |Taboo Cowboy |Cowboy’s Baby|Her Cowboy Daddies | Southern Charm
Mountain Men of Liberty Series
Baby for the Mountain Man| Junior for the Mountain Man| Knocked Up by the Mountain Man| Baby For Daddy's Friend | Triplets for the Mountain Man | Taboo Mountain Daddy| Mountain Man’s Secret Baby | Mountain Man’s Accidental Surprise
Big Bad Daddies Series
Big Bad Doctor | Big Bad Daddy| Big Bad Taboo Daddy | Big Bad Prince|Big Bad Mountain Man| Big Bad SEAL| Big Bad Boss| Big Bad Sugar Daddy| Big Bad Mountain Brothers
Bearded Brothers Mountain Man Series
Her Mountain Daddy| Beauty and the Beard| Bride and the Beard| Built and Bearded |
Firemen of Manhattan Series
Big Bad Fireman’s Baby| Big Bad Firefighter| Big Bad Fire Daddy|
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Men on a Mission| Christmas with Four Firemen| Dirty Cowboys
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Chapter 1
GERALD
Was that a damn bomb going off? One bang after another echoed around me, and for a brief moment as I opened my eyes, I wondered if the quaint little bed and breakfast where I’d been staying for the last few weeks was under attack.
“Gerald! Come on and get your butt out of bed!” A woman’s voice. And I knew which woman. “Come on, now,” she hollered. “I know you sleep like a damn rock, but you sure as hell aren’t sleepin’ through this!”
Crystal. I swear, for a proprietor of a cozy little place in rural Texas, she was hard as they come. Not that I didn’t kind of like that about her – but when I was trying to get some shut-eye, I wasn’t too fond of it.
“How do you know I ain’t sleepin’?”
“Because you snore loud enough to shake the foundations of this place,” she retorted quickly. “And right now I’m not hearin’ that. Not to mention you’re soundin’ pretty damn lucid flappin’ your jaw in there.” Another quick series of knocks thunked against the thick, antique wooden door. “Come on! We got some matters to discuss, cowboy.”
Part of me wanted to close my eyes and hope she’d get the hint and let me sneak in a little more sleep. But though I hadn’t been there for too long, it’d been more than enough time to know Crystal wasn’t the type to back down when she got an idea in her head.
I just wanted to have a little fun with her first.
“And what about my beauty sleep? How about this – have Adrienne whip me up a big ol’ plate of that French toast she makes so damn well. Maybe whipped cream this time,” I added, smirking into my pillow. “I’m in kind of a spoilin’ myself mood. After that we can talk about whatever’s on your mind, darlin’. Oh, and don’t forget the coffee – black, how I like it.”
If she didn’t want to strap on those boots of hers and kick me right in the family jewels already, me calling her darlin’ would’ve done the job. Silence came from the other side of the door, and I knew I’d gotten her good and steamed, just like I wanted.
“Alright, Gerry.”
I winced. She knew I hated being called that. Well, fair was fair.
“You can have all the French toast and whipped cream and black coffee your little Texas Ranger heart desires. But I can’t promise it’ll be on a plate and not dumped right on top of you in that cozy little bed.”
Couldn’t help but have a chuckle at that. “Fine, fine – you done made your point. Gimme ten seconds.”
“You get five.”
“Drivin’ a hard bargain as always. Just hold your horses.”
“I’m serious,” she said. “We need to talk.”
The tone of her voice helped make her point. I rolled out of bed, plopping my size thirteens onto the soft rug, wondering what on Earth could be going on. My suitcase was still on the floor, and I opened it with my foot. But there was nothing inside.
Shit – been puttin’ off laundry for too long.
I looked around, spotting a towel hanging on the doorknob to the bathroom. With slow, sleepy steps I snatched it off and wrapped it around my waist. Wasn’t exactly looking presentable, but I wasn’t about to get all dressed up just to get dressed down.
With a long stretch of my lean, toned upper body, I stepped toward the door. I pulled it open and there she was. Little detail about Crystal – she was about as sexy as they came. Around five-and-a-half feet and some change, she was all kinds of curvy, her hips wide and shapely and her breasts big enough to test the button strength of whatever flannel top she happened to be wearing that day.
Her body was like something out of a damn dream. And I should know – she’d made more than a few appearances in mine since I’d checked in. She’d been doing more amusing things in those than knocking on my door at the crack of dawn bellowing at me to rise and shine, however.
Her face was something else. Slender with a pert little chin and button nose, bright blue eyes and dimples that gave her a youthful look. Her hair was honey-blonde, tied into a pair of matching ponytails that always made me think about what it’d be like to grab onto them while taking her from behind.
She locked those icy blues on my bare upper body, her plush, red lips forming a small “O” of surprise when I opened the door.
“Like what ya see?” I asked, grinning at her big.
“Oh, come on now,” she scoffed, meeting my gaze and putting that commanding, all-business tone back into her vo
ice. “Go ahead and get over yourself. When a man opens a door wearin’ nothin’ but a towel, you’re gonna notice.”
“And I can see you’re most certainly noticin’.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head in the way she always did when I teased her like that. “Funny stuff as always, cowboy.” She raised her hand, holding up an envelope I hadn’t noticed with all the ogling of my own I’d been doing.
“What ya got there?” I asked.
“This is the thing I got your ass out of bed for.” She flicked her head toward my room. “Move your behind outta the way – we got somethin’ to talk about.”
I shrugged and stepped aside. Crystal strolled in and with incredible efficiency made the bed before tossing the envelope on top of it.
“What is that?” I asked, giving my back another stretch.
“Take a look. Somethin’ tells me you’ll find it familiar.”
I was confused, even more so when I spotted the official seal for the Patterson City Hall on the envelope, the words “Fire Marshall” in neat, typed letters below it. I stepped over and snatched up the envelope, opening it and dumping the contents into my hand. It was an official-looking letter, and I scanned as quickly as I could.
“Egress and ingress,” I read aloud, wrapping my lips around the unfamiliar words.
“It means exit and entrance,” she said. “Latin, if you’re curious.”
Letter in hand, I scratched my stubble, my eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. “OK, this is a little more legalese than I’m prepared to deal with first thing in the mornin’, but this says you’re not up to code or some such?”
“That’s exactly what it says. Apparently, we need fancier, better signed fire escapes for the B&B.”
“OK,” I said. “I know the city’s big on protocol and shit bein’ up to code, but why you gettin’ me out of bed to read this? And while we’re at it, what’s got you so pissy with me?”
“You keep on readin’, cowboy. Might learn a thing or two.”
I shook my head before returning my attention to the letter. A phrase near the bottom caught my eye, and I figured that was what Crystal wanted me to notice.
“Because of numerous guest complaints?” I asked, reading the words aloud. “You got a bunch of people complaining about ingresses or whatever?”
“Numerous guest complaints,” she repeated. “Or, what I’m thinkin’ is numerous complaints from one guest.”
Ah. Now the picture was snapping into focus. I tossed the letter on the bed. “Crissy, I-”
“You know I don’t like it when you call me that.”
I called her that to tease her now and then, but this wasn’t the time. Still, I noticed how much of a turn-on it was when she stood up for herself.
“Crystal, I know you’re not thinkin’ I went to the trouble of gettin’ in touch with the Fire Marshal so I could toss you into some hot water about not satisfyin’ the fire code.”
“And why wouldn’t I think that? You’re a Walker, Gerald.”
“So what if I am? You’re sayin’ that name like we’ve got a reputation for wrong-doin’ or some shit.”
“You don’t have a reputation for wrong-doin’, but you got a reputation for…” she trailed off, her eyes flicking down to my towel. “I’m sorry, but you got anything a little more modest you can put on?”
“Why?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips and fighting the smile taking hold. “Don’t tell me you’re too distracted to hold a proper conversation with me.”
“It just ain’t appropriate.”
I had a feeling about her real motivations, but it wasn’t the time for that kind of messing around. I stepped over to the laundry basket as she went on.
“Your family’s got a good name, sure. But you’ve also built your reputation on bein’ the only game in town when it comes to tourism in the area.”
“So what’re you suggestin’? That I’m here because I’m in cahoots with my family to, what, to take down your little operation?”
“Little operation?” she repeated, offended.
“You know I didn’t mean nothin’ by that. Just sayin’ that this joint’s nice, but it ain’t nearly as big as Rainbow Canyons.”
“But we are competition. And competition’s not somethin’ the Walker clan’s used to.”
“Now, let me make sure I understand what you’re sayin’ – you’re accusin’ me of sabotage so we can take you out as competition.”
She put her hands on her hips, mirroring my previous pose. “Yeah – what’s so insane about that?”
I snatched up the pair of dusty jeans hanging off the rim of the laundry basket. “Well, first thing is that my cousins don’t really view you as competition.”
She arched her eyebrows, letting me know I’d said something she wasn’t happy about. “Is that right? My rinky-dink little B&B just ain’t showin’ up on your radar, huh?”
“Now, I didn’t mean it like that. What I’m sayin’ is that we serve different clientele. Up at Rainbow Canyons, they’ve got loaded tourists lookin’ to drop big cash on a week-long Texas ranch experience, complete with horseback ridin’ and all that. Here, you’re more in the market of people passin’ through, stoppin’ for a night. And sure, you got some tourists lookin’ for somethin’ quaint, but it still ain’t the Rainbow Canyons demographic.”
She said nothing for a long moment, as if considering what I’d said. “Maybe you’re right,” she said. “But we’re only goin’ for those demographics because we just opened – we’re startin’ small. Things go well, we’re gonna be expandin’, maybe even start a ranch of our own.”
I shrugged. “Do it – more power to you.”
“And Rainbow Canyon is just fine and dandy with us takin’ a chunk out of ‘em like that.”
“Well, I ain’t really an active member of the business side of things,” I reminded her. “I got my own business to worry about, after all.”
“Oh yeah, your top-secret security stuff.”
“That’s the one. But anyway, I’ve heard the clan talk about you guys. They view you as competition and all that, but the friendly kind.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
I shrugged. “That’s how it is. Real cowboys don’t get scared of competition – they welcome it. Competition pushes you to be better. I was talkin’ with Chance and I remember his exact words – ‘maybe we’ve gotten a little stagnant over the years. Those girls might end up lightin’ just the fire our asses have been needin’.”
She regarded me with skeptical eyes. “Maybe so,” she said finally. “But you gotta admit it’s strange that you’re stayin’ here instead of your family’s ranch.”
“What, like I’m spyin’ or some such nonsense?”
“I don’t know, maybe!” She threw her hands up.
I threw my jeans over my broad, round shoulder, a soft cloud of dust puffing out from them. “I’m here because I’m in town for a reason. And this place is quiet – perfect for what I’m doin’.”
I wasn’t lying about that. But there was another reason why I was staying at the B&B – and she was standing right in front of me. I wanted Crystal like crazy. But she didn’t need to know about that particular detail.
“Listen, Crystal – I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m here because I like it, not because I’m dabblin’ in industrial espionage or whatever they hell you’re thinkin’.”
She glanced down at my towel again, this time pointedly clearing her throat.
“Fine, fine. Gimme a sec.”
The towel was actually starting to slip, so I grabbed onto the waist. Something about how I grabbed it caused it to slip down. Aw, damn. The words formed in my head before it actually happened. The towel dropped, plopping on the ground around my feet before I had a chance to grab it.
So there I was, standing totally nude in front of her. It was close enough to when I’d woken up that my cock was still half-way stiff from my morning wood. Crystal’s eyes dropped to it, of course, he
r face taking on an uncharacteristic red tint.
“Gerald!” she yelled furiously.
“Calm down now – cover your eyes if you’re so worried about it.” I quickly kicked the towel away before stepping into my jeans and zipping them up, the waist hanging just below the notches of my lean hips. I had to do my best not to chuckle.
Crystal quickly regained her composure. “Totally inappropriate.”
“Now, I didn’t do it on purpose,” I told her, smirking. “You go bargin’ into a man’s room when he’s sleepin’ and that’s the kinda risk you run.”
“Maybe you could sleep in clothes like a normal person.”
“I don’t know if you haven’t noticed yet or what, but I ain’t exactly normal.” I finished with a grin.
Crystal quickly grabbed the letter and envelope and made her way to the door, scoffing. “Well, I don’t know what the hell’s goin’ on, but spy or not, we’re gettin’ shut down until we’re up to code. So pack your bags, cowboy – your stay at our humble B&B’s come to an end.”
She took one more look at my bare upper body before slipping through the open door. Fair being fair, I let my eyes linger on her perfectly shaped ass packed into hip-hugger jeans. Once she was gone, the door shut behind her, I took a seat on the edge of the bed.
I hadn’t been spying, of course, but it was still strange. Was someone trying something funny with Crystal’s business?