Grumpy Cowboy: A Hot Single Dad, Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

by Max Monroe

  Leah chokes on a laugh. “Uh…well…I’m not so sure your daddy would be a fan of all this pink and frilly lace.”

  “Pretty sure you’re right about that one,” I announce, and both of them look over at me, completely unaware of how long I’ve been standing there.

  Leah smirks, and Joey spins around on her feet again.

  “Daddy! What do ya think? Isn’t this the most perfect room ever?”

  I look around the small space of my daughter’s bedroom, my eyes grazing over the girlie pink and feminine lace and the paintings on the wall with cowgirl hats and cowgirl boots, and I can’t find a single reason to disagree.

  “Yep, baby. I’d say this is the most perfect room ever,” I answer and rest one arm on the doorjamb. “Now, are the birthday girls ready to go eat some dinner?”

  “Yes!” Joey cheers and stomps out of the room on her boots.

  The sound of the screen door slamming shut follows mere seconds later.

  “I guess she’s excited about the birthday cake Jenny promised,” Leah comments with a grin.

  “Yeah,” I retort, and when she goes to step through the doorway, I surprise her by wrapping my arms around her waist and pressing my lips to hers for a deep kiss.

  And I don’t pull away until I hear a familiar little moan escape her throat.

  “What was that for?” she asks, staring up at me with unfocused eyes.

  “It was a little taste of what’s to come.”

  Both of her eyebrows shoot up. “What’s to come? As in, tonight?”

  I wink at her. “Darlin’, once we eat dinner and have some fuckin’ cake, me and you are gonna spend the rest of the night alone.”

  Leah tilts her head to the side. “Alone? As in, just the two of us?”

  “Joey will be having a sleepover at her grandparents’ house tonight.”

  “Which means, we’re going to have our own sleepover?”

  I lean down and press another kiss to her lips. “Yeah, but I don’t plan on either of us doing much sleepin’.”

  “Well, hot damn,” she comments with a big ole smile. “This birthday is off to a really good start.”

  Oh, you have no fucking idea the things I have in store for you, darlin’.

  Ten minutes later, I pull my truck up to the lodge, and Joey gets skeptical.

  “Daddy, why are we at the lodge? I thought we were eating dinner at Granny’s house?”

  Shit. I didn’t anticipate this one.

  Quickly, I rack my brain to find a reasonable answer.

  “Uh… Because your granny forgot to get your birthday cake out of the lodge kitchen fridge and asked me to pick it up on the way to their house.”

  “Oh,” she says.

  “So, we’ll just wait in here?” Leah asks, and I shake my head.

  “No, you two are gonna need to come inside and help me carry a few things.”

  “What things?” Joey contests. “I thought you said it was just a cake.”

  Fucking hell, my kid is too smart for her own good.

  “Just get out of the truck and listen to your daddy,” I retort, and my daughter huffs out a sigh.

  Leah grins over at me and, thankfully, follows my lead, opening the passenger door to get out. Which then encourages my strong-willed daughter to do the same.

  My heart starts racing in my chest as we close the distance to the lodge entrance doors, and I have to force a calming inhale and exhale of oxygen into my lungs.

  Fuck. Here’s to hoping Leah likes surprise parties…

  Hand to the door, I take another deep breath, and then I open it up, making sure Leah and Joey walk inside before me.

  Immediately, the lights turn on and everyone jumps to their feet, shouting, “Surprise!” and “Happy birthday, Joey and Leah!”

  “A surprise party! For me!” Joey squeals at the tops of her lungs and rushes over to my mama to wrap her arms around her granny.

  Leah just stands there, her eyes wide and unblinking as she looks around the room filled with people and decorations.

  When she hasn’t blinked at all in at least thirty seconds, I start to worry that she’s freaked the fuck out.

  Or mad.

  Or upset.

  But when she finally turns to look at me, a moist sheen of emotion illuminating her pretty navy eyes with anything but melancholy, I remember that, sometimes, a woman cries because she’s happy.

  “Did you do all this?” she asks, her voice shaking around her words.

  “I just wanted to make sure you had a good birthday.”

  “Am I seeing things, or is that my brother and Carla and Taylor over there?”

  “I might’ve asked them to come down and celebrate with you.”

  “Rhett,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. “This is… I don’t know… Oh my goodness…” She pauses and then steps forward to wrap her arms tightly around my neck and pull me into a firm hug. “Thank you,” she whispers into my ear and presses a soft kiss to my cheek. “This is…well, it’s the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

  For a second, my breath gets all tangled up in my lungs, but eventually, I just wrap my arms around her waist and squeeze her sweet body back.

  “Happy birthday, Leah,” I say, grinning down at her. “Now, let’s go enjoy this party, shall we?”

  “Yes, please.”

  As we head into the lodge and start chatting with everyone in attendance, I can’t deny that her reaction was far more than I could’ve ever imagined.

  It was priceless. And it makes me want to do more shit like this for her.

  Fucking hell, I’m starting to think I’d do just about anything to see that kind of happiness in her eyes.

  July 16th, Friday

  Leah

  “So, that’s the grumpy cowboy,” Carla says over her glass of wine, and Taylor nudges me with her shoulder while a big goofy grin sits prominently on her face. Both of them have their eyes fixated on Rhett, who currently stands on the other side of the room, chatting with Tex and another man I don’t recognize.

  This is the first moment since Rhett caught me by absolute surprise with a birthday party that I’ve had a chance to chat with my friends. And the fact that he flew them out here and they dropped everything to be here makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

  “That’s him,” I answer. “Rhett Jameson. The grumpy cowboy.”

  “He doesn’t look all that grumpy now,” Taylor comments, her eyes still looking across the room. “I mean, he threw you a freaking surprise birthday party.”

  God, I still can’t believe he did this. To be honest, I felt like bursting into tears over how sweet and thoughtful it was. No one has ever done something like this for me.

  “For real, Tay,” Carla agrees and meets my eyes with a pointed stare. “Though, the last we heard from you, he was a dick and you guys didn’t get along. Something’s not adding up.”

  I shrug. And take a sip of my wine.

  “Did you seriously just shrug at us? No explanation. No updates. Just a freaking shrug? We’ve been demon-texting you for an age with no answer—and before you say you had no service, consider that we’re standing right next to you now—and you’re going to try to hold out on us?” Carla scoffs. “You better fess up, girlfriend. Right quick.” She eyes me with a look that says, If you don’t give us an update, I’ll resort to violence.

  “Fine. Relax. No need to get bitchy.” I hold up one hand in the air on a laugh. “So, I guess you could say things have changed since I last talked to you guys. Which, by the way, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’re glad to be here too, but let’s focus on the important shit,” Carla declares. “What is going on with you and that cowboy? And why in the hell have you not updated us on any of this insanity?”

  “My questions exactly,” Taylor agrees, tossing her long red hair over her shoulder. “We texted you like one million times.”

  “Which is why I’m curren
tly super pissed at you,” Carla states and pokes me in the shoulder with her index finger. “The last time you even tried to contact us was back in freaking June. It’s July, by the way. And from what I heard from Sam on the flight over here, your ass was even in Salt Lake around the Fourth.”

  Whoops. “Sorry about that.” I cringe. “In my defense, when I was in Salt Lake, it was because Rhett’s dad had a heart attack. So, my mind was pretty focused on that.”

  “Well, I totally forgive, but only if you spill the freaking beans.”

  “Same,” Carla agrees with Taylor. “You’ll officially be forgiven if you tell us what in the hell is going on with you and that hot-as-hell man. I mean, I didn’t even know men like him still existed. It’s practically criminal they’re hiding them all the way out here. He makes the men in Salt Lake look like the MySpace of the dating pool.”

  “Wait…does that mean he’s the Instagram?” I furrow my brow. “Or the TikTok of dating?”

  “Well, I know he’s definitely not the Facebook or Twitter,” Taylor comments on a laugh. “Otherwise, I’d just feel sad and angry when I look at him. Which I don’t. I only feel incredibly jealous that one of my best friends is possibly getting to ride that stallion.”

  “For real,” Carla snorts, but then she fixes her gaze on me. “Please, for the love of everything, fulfill our dreams. Tell me you’ve done the nasty with that fine-as-hell man.”

  “Well…” I pause. “Not to disappoint, but it hasn’t gone that far yet.”

  Which, honestly, should actually be considered a crime. I’m a walking, talking, living, and breathing ball of horny these days because of it.

  “Hasn’t gone that far?” Taylor inquires with narrowed eyes. “But it’s, like, gone places, though, right?”

  I nod. “I can confirm that things have happened.”

  “What kinds of things?” Carla queries.

  “None of your business kinds of things.”

  “So, what, are you guys like together?”

  Are we together? Hell’s bells. I don’t really know what we are.

  I mean, we don’t hate each other.

  We definitely like and care about each other.

  And we’re obviously insanely attracted to each other.

  Not to mention, we spend pretty much all of our time together, a very small fraction of which is dedicated to the reason I came here in the first place—rehabilitating his knee.

  “Honestly? I don’t know,” I answer and shrug both shoulders. “I don’t really have a label for it.”

  Dating? My boyfriend? I’m confused on why those terms don’t feel right, but at the same time, would make sense.

  We’ve been through a lot together, and putting a label on whatever it is that’s happening between us almost makes me feel like I’m downplaying it.

  I mean, this is about way more than just him and me. His daughter has become astoundingly important to me as well.

  “I guess we’re just kind of letting whatever happens, happen.” I shrug, and both Carla and Taylor look at me like I’ve got a wart the size of Brazil on my forehead.

  “What?” I question.

  Carla grins. “You’re totally falling for him.”

  “For sure,” Taylor adds. “I knew this was going to be some enemies-to-lovers kind of shit. I freaking knew it.”

  “Stop trying to make everything a romance novel, Tay.” I roll my eyes on an amused chortle.

  Carla opens her mouth to add something that is most likely useless and/or inappropriate, but thankfully, a cute young lady by the name of Joey steps into our circle and tugs on my shirt.

  “You ready to cut the cake with me, Leah?”

  “You betcha.” I grin down at her before looking up at my two best friends. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to excuse myself from the interrogation,” I say and wink at them. “And head on over to the cake table with Joey.”

  “You guys gonna come over and sing to us?”

  “Will we get in really bad trouble with your daddy if we don’t?” Carla asks inappropriately through a smile, and I do my best not to make it obvious when I send a sharp elbow right into the center of her ribs.

  Joey’s eyebrows rise up and down as she cluelessly surmises, “I don’t know ’bout gettin’ in trouble, but it’d for sure be rude.”

  I snort a little too loudly for my public threshold of embarrassing acts’ sake and nod. Taylor agrees too. “Very rude, indeed. Don’t worry, honey, Carla and I wouldn’t miss it.”

  And I take Joey’s outstretched hand and head on over to the cake table that was set up for the best damn birthday party I’ve ever experienced in my whole life.

  I step out of the women’s bathroom in the lodge, and a squeal jumps from my lungs when two strong arms wrap around my waist.

  “What the heck?”

  “It’s time to go, darlin’.” Rhett is right behind me, and his voice is hot in my ear. “I can’t wait any longer to get you alone.”

  “But we haven’t—” I start to refute, but when he pushes his front against my back and I feel his arousal on my ass, I stop midsentence.

  “My parents already left with Joe.”

  “You don’t think I should try to say goodbye to everyone else? I’ve barely even talked to my brother.”

  He turns me around and puts two hands on my shoulders. “Darlin’, it’s past midnight, most of the guests have already left. And your brother and friends are currently boozed out of their minds and outside with Tiny and the rest of the ranch hands, doing god knows what. No one is even going to notice that we left, and trust me, if they did, they’d understand why. You’re so fuckin’ gorgeous tonight I can hardly stand it.”

  My breath catches in my throat, and my stomach tightens with arousal.

  “And I’ve already put Rodney in charge of making sure all three of ’em get back to their cabins safely tonight.”

  Well, shit. Sounds like he’s got it all covered. The party has pretty much come to an end.

  “So, I guess we can go, then, huh?” I say with a secret smile.

  He presses a kiss to my lips. “Fuck yes, we can.”

  “Are we going to my cabin or your place?”

  “Darlin’, I want you in my fuckin’ bed.”

  He holds out his hand for me, and I take it without question.

  Because…yes, freaking, please!

  Rhett

  The drive from the lodge to my house feels like it takes an eternity, mostly because I was ready to dip out more than three hours ago.

  Not that it wasn’t a good party, because it was, but hell, I need to be alone with this woman. In my bed. With her naked and riding my cock. And absolutely zero interruptions.

  Thank fuck, it’s finally happening, I think to myself when I pull my truck to a stop in my driveway. Immediately, I cut the engine and turn to face her.

  “Did you have a good time tonight, darlin’?”

  “I had the best time.” She smiles back at me. “Thank you for making this one of the best birthdays ever.”

  “You’re welcome,” I say softly, reaching out to brush some of her hair out of her face. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, but also, I’m even gladder your birthday isn’t over yet.”

  “It’s already after midnight.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t give a shit. Our celebration is just beginning, and if I have to to get you on board, I’ll set all the clocks in the house back twenty-four hours.”

  With that, I hop out of the truck and round the hood, laughing at the way her mouth gapes like a fish through the windshield. Once I get Leah’s door open, I don’t wait for her to step out. Patience long gone, I grab her by the waist and toss her over my shoulder.

  “Rhett!” she shouts. “Your leg! And you don’t even have your brace on!”

  “My leg is fuckin’ fine. It’s a different appendage entirely that needs your help.”

  “Oh my God! This is the exact opposite of what you should be doing right now!” She slaps me
on the back, and giggles follow. “You’re nuts!”

  “Well, I’d say that’s a given, considering how long you’ve been drivin’ me fuckin’ crazy.”

  Across the gravel and up the steps of my porch, I don’t put her down until we’re inside the house and in close proximity to my bedroom.

  Once she’s on her feet, I push her gently up against the wall of the hallway and press my mouth to hers. “I want you,” I whisper against her lips. “I fuckin’ need to feel you. Taste you. Fuckin’ slide inside you.”

  She moans. “I want that too.”

  Fuck. How can one woman make me feel this insane with desire? With absolute need?

  I don’t bother trying to figure it out.

  Instead, I guide us into my bedroom, kissing and mingling our excited breathing the whole time. She tastes like birthday cake and sex and sin and all the tempting things she’s been driving me wild with the past few weeks.

  She tastes like everything I’ve ever wanted and didn’t even know I needed.

  But fuck, I need her. The intensity is raw and palpable and so acute it’s primal.

  It’s like I don’t even have a choice—like I can’t go on without knowing what it feels like to be inside her.

  She clutches at the material of my shirt, and I yank it over my head without delay. Her dress is next and then her bra, and between each panting breath and each erratic crash of our lips, another item of clothing is removed. I don’t stop until the only thing left between us is her silky, lace panties.

  When she goes to tug them down, I push her hands away.

  “You’re not taking those off until you’re dripping with need for my cock.”

  She whimpers, and I lean down to suck one full breast into my mouth, teasing the hard nipple with the tip of my tongue.

  Her hands are in my hair and her chest heaves up and down with needy breaths, and I don’t think my cock has ever been harder in my life.

  “Rhett, please,” she begs, but I just move my mouth to her other breast. I’m going to tease us both until satisfaction is the only tool left for survival.