Only a Cowboy Will Do--Includes a Bonus Novella

by A. J. Pine

  Tonight simply had to go off without a hitch, and what better way to start than by exploring a new city with a man who meant more to her than she possibly could have imagined less than two weeks ago.

  “If we do the food truck thing, does that mean we can walk and eat? I’ve never been to any sizable city other than Houston. I’d love to see some of Sacramento before we head to the park.”

  “Deal,” he said as they quickly found the garage and headed in. Once parked, Colt texted his sister. “Okay. Food trucks in ten minutes. Willow can hang with us for a bit before having to set up for sound check. And then it’s showtime. It only goes until nine, and Willow and her band need to get right back on the road for another gig, so I should have you back to the ranch by midnight or soon after.”

  She raised her brows. “In case I turn back into a pumpkin or something?”

  “Or in case you want to spend the night. I have an early morning, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a thing or two to do before our heads hit the pillow.” He turned off the car and undid his seat belt so he could turn to face her. “Not sure if you can tell, but that was one hell of a long ride, and I’m sort of dying to kiss you.”

  Jenna unfastened her own seat belt and scooted as close to the left edge of her seat as she could without sitting on the center console. “Not sure if you can tell, but I’m sort of dying to do the same.”

  He slid his seat back as far as it would go, which wasn’t much from where it initially was. But he’d made just enough room between himself and the steering wheel.

  “Come here,” he said, patting his thigh, and Jenna willingly complied, scooting over the console and onto his lap so her back was flush against the driver’s-side window.

  He ran a rough palm up her bare thigh, and she sucked in a breath.

  “Colt…Darlin’…” she said.

  “Jenna? Darlin’,” he said in response, then teased her by sliding a finger underneath the folded cuff of her shorts until it brushed the spot where her underwear met the crease of her thigh.

  This time she gasped and squirmed on his lap.

  “We can’t,” she said. “We need to meet Willow. We’re going to be late.”

  With his free hand, he slid his fingers into her hair and urged her head toward his. Then he kissed her, hard and deep, which was nothing at all like the greeting she’d received in the dining hall.

  “I know,” he said. “Just want to make sure you know what’s in store for you when we get back to my place tonight.”

  He rubbed his thumb once over her center and slid his terrible teasing fingers back into view.

  Jenna whimpered.

  “Colt Morgan,” she said. “There is nothing, and I mean nothing cute about a man who teases a woman like that.”

  Sexy as hell and making her want more, more, more? Sure. But not cute.

  “Willow’s never on time,” he said, his voice a low rumble she felt in the pit of her stomach.

  She nodded, and this time he unbuttoned the top of her shorts and slid them, with her panties and Jenna’s help, down to her knees.

  “For the record,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to be cute.”

  Twenty minutes later they were speed walking out of the garage and onto the bright and busy sidewalks of downtown Sacramento, which wasn’t easy when your legs felt like Jell-O. And Jenna Owens’s legs were barely holding her upright after her few minutes on Colt’s lap.

  Even that, which he’d done for her plenty of times before, felt different. Better somehow, which was saying a lot since they’d been cramped in the driver’s seat of his car.

  She wanted to take in the sights as they made their way toward the park, but all she could do was stare at the man next to her, at the square line of his jaw and the golden stubble she hoped, come winter, turned into a golden beard. Or would he be clean-shaven for Sam and Delaney’s wedding? Either way, she was picturing him there, decked out in a fancy suit, bearded or not—and for the first time, she pictured herself there with him.

  She could picture a small office where she would maybe, possibly, write if she ever got past this block. There were her hens, still. Of course. And Lucy ruling the roost. But she thought bigger now than simply the status quo. She wanted and deserved more, and she wished it could be with the man by her side.

  Maybe her future was back home. Or maybe it wasn’t. All she knew was that she’d wished on forty-one silly little candles, and now here she was. With Colt. And everything was different.

  This was real.

  They were real. Which was why she knew he wouldn’t bolt when she told him her truth—just like she hadn’t run when he’d told her his.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Big bro!”

  Colt heard his sister before he saw her. But then there she was, like a desert mirage. For him, family was better than water or cool air.

  She stood on the sidewalk in front of a shawarma truck waving with both hands. She was unassuming in her Rolling Stones T-shirt—the one with the big red lips—jeans, a pair of Chuck Taylor tennis shoes, and her warm brown hair in loose waves on her shoulders. She looked like anyone else walking the city streets—until she got on stage and it was clear she was something bigger and bolder than anyone could have imagined.

  Colt picked up his pace, as did she. She was remarkably fast for her petite stature, her legs significantly shorter than his. When they met, she threw her arms around him in a warm hug, and his throat tightened.

  He knew it had only been a couple of weeks since he’d seen her, but every time they met, he was reminded of the years they lost.

  “Willow Morgan,” he said, when they separated. “This is—”

  “Jenna!” Willow exclaimed, then hugged the other woman even tighter than she’d hugged him. “I’m so thrilled to officially meet you! When you reached out and asked for my cookie recipe—which I never share—I was skeptical at first.”

  “What convinced you?” Colt asked, eyes narrowed.

  Willow shrugged. “She told me what happened to the batch I made and how you shared the very last cookie with her.” She shook her head. “You are as generous as they come, big bro. But not with coveted baked goods. I realized Jenna must be pretty special for you to do that—and for her to want to right such a wrong. Seeing you together now…I’m pretty sure I made the right choice.” She raised her brows and gave them each a look. “You’re both toast, aren’t you? Come on. Let’s eat. I’m always famished before a show. Do you like shawarma, Jenna? Because this truck is my favorite.”

  She spun and headed back toward the food truck, and Jenna stared at him, her cheeks flushed.

  “She gets a little amped before a show,” Colt said with a laugh. “It’s the adrenaline. It’s like she has to be on even if she’s not performing. You know? After a set, though, she’s as chill as can be.”

  Jenna grinned and they watched as people did double takes, not sure if they were recognizing the up-and-coming artist or mistaking her for someone else.

  Finally, a young girl and her mom approached and asked for an autograph, to which Willow warmly obliged.

  “See?” he said. “I don’t know how she does it. I like the quiet. I like my privacy. I like my small circle of people I have to interact with, and that’s that.”

  “She’s fearless,” Jenna said as she watched the interaction between Willow and the little girl who was clearly starstruck. Willow dropped to a squat to take a picture with her, then hugged her before straightening to her full height, which was only five foot four.

  “Maybe,” Colt said. “Or maybe she just channels her fears better than the rest of us.”

  “Sorry about that,” Willow said after her admirers went on their way. “It doesn’t happen much, but it’s kind of cool that it does, right?” She beamed.

  “Hell yeah, it’s kind of cool,” Jenna said. “You do not need to apologize for being a badass superstar.”

  Willow hooked her arm in Jenna’s and glanced at her brother. “I like her,�
� she said.

  Before he could comment, the two women strode ahead, arm in arm, as they got in line for the shawarma truck. The conversation between them never ceased as Colt stood behind them and listened to Jenna brag about her nephews and even mention her vacation list while Willow halfheartedly complained about sleeping on the tour bus. Colt knew she actually loved it.

  The same held true as they moved from shawarma to the taco truck, where Jenna opted for fish tacos.

  “It’s on my list,” she insisted. “Eating food from a country I’ve never been to. I’ve never been anywhere but here, actually.”

  “You better not let Luis know you tried out the competition,” Colt warned. “He considers himself taco royalty. Also, you do realize the proprietors of said food truck are Sacramento hipsters, so it’s not quite the authentic experience you’re making it out to be.”

  Jenna laughed as she bit into her second of three tacos. “My lips are sealed as far as Luis is concerned,” she said. “But holy wow these are good.” She held up a finger indicating she wasn’t done, so he waited for her to swallow. “And I’m changing that item on the list because—well—it’s my list and I can. I want to travel. I want to see the world beyond my home. I’m not settling for just the food, even though I love a good meal. I want more,” she said.

  There was a sureness and a finality to her words that made Colt wonder—that made him hope—the more had something to do with him as well.

  “Then you should have more,” he told her.

  I want to give you more.

  Jenna stared at him for a long moment before Willow whisked her away again.

  They walked up and down the streets near the park, but he wasn’t sure any of them were paying one bit of attention to the city, especially the two women, who’d been in constant conversation about everything from their shared love of ice cream to Jenna’s admission of having attended the last Lilith Fair tour and Willow’s lamentation that she was barely out of diapers by then let alone old enough to go. Colt had all but lost his date to his sister and his sister to his date, and he couldn’t remember the last time anything had made him smile so much.

  He’d spent years focusing on work, on convincing himself he was content with the status quo. But meeting Jenna Owens made him realize what he’d been missing. He thought agreeing to this fling would be the first step to getting out of his own way. Emma hurting him might have been the catalyst, but Colt was the one who put up his walls, who thought safety and contentment were a substitute for happiness.

  Well, he’d done it. He’d let Jenna past the barrier. Only instead of letting their arrangement be practice for the real thing, he’d let her straight into his heart.

  “That’s it,” Willow said as they stopped conveniently right outside a frozen yogurt storefront. “I’m in love with her, big bro. Don’t mess this up.”

  Colt laughed, and his long-dormant heart felt like it grew to twice its size in a matter of minutes.

  Also, it wasn’t fair that Willow got to throw those words around so easily and that Jenna didn’t run for the hills when his sister said them. Women were like that—able to become fast friends and think nothing of it. But admit to a woman that you were falling for her after barely two weeks—a woman who made it clear that she was hesitant to date in the first place—and he was likely to spook her all the way back to Los Olivos.

  But Jenna had said it. She wanted more. Maybe she was no longer spooked.

  “What do you think, Texas? Willow’s pretty stubborn about getting what she wants, and if we’re being honest, I’m a little afraid to argue with her,” he said.

  Jenna blushed, and he hoped that part of it was for his roundabout admission that he wouldn’t mind at all if his sister got her way with this one.

  She crumpled the papers that once held her tacos and dropped them in the trash bin behind her. “I think…” she started. “That we need to top this meal off with some froyo.”

  “Definitely,” Willow said. And once again she and Jenna were arm in arm, heading into the store, while Colt stood by and watched the two women he cared about most in the world light up each other’s night like they lit up his whole damned life.

  “I am in love with that woman,” he said to no one in particular.

  To hell with spooking her. She was heading home in two days, and he wasn’t going to let her go without telling her that she was worth a whole lot more than the six-hour drive between his home and hers.

  He’d put his heart on hold for five years after Emma pulled the rug out from under him. But Jenna was different. He knew without a doubt that she couldn’t do the same.

  He watched the two women go back and forth between the self-serve machines, smiling and laughing as they piled their frozen treats with topping after topping, and he found himself standing there laughing too.

  All he’d ever wanted was the family he’d lost, to make up for the years that he’d drifted from house to house without ever truly having a home, a place where you knew that once you walked through that door, you were loved and safe. He wanted what he’d lost with Jenna.

  Colt pushed through the door and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket as Jenna and Willow added chocolate syrup to their mile-high sundaes as the finishing touch.

  The teen girl behind the counter grinned when she saw him.

  “Welcome to Frosties,” she said. “Our flavor of the day is chocolate hazelnut.”

  “None for me, thanks,” he said. “I’m just here to treat these two sugar addicts to desserts they’re probably going to regret in an hour a two.”

  Willow gasped dramatically. “Never,” she said. “Just means I’ll have more energy to burn on stage. By the time my set’s over, I’ll be ready for seconds!”

  Jenna shrugged. “I’ve never met a dessert I regretted, and I’m sure as hell not starting tonight.”

  Colt narrowed his eyes at the dish in her hands. “Are those—gummy worms?”

  Jenna raised a brow. “When you said you wouldn’t judge my list, I took that to mean you wouldn’t judge my choices. Period.”

  Willow dipped her finger into her own dish and swiped it onto the tip of his nose. “You heard the woman,” she said. “No judging.”

  Colt rolled his eyes and grabbed a napkin to clean himself off, but he knew better than to retaliate, verbally or otherwise. He was outnumbered.

  He held his hands up in defeat and then handed his debit card to the girl behind the counter.

  “Can you add three bottles of water, too?” he asked. Despite the sun being on its way down, it was still a scorcher out there, and they were going to need it.

  They made it back to the park in time for Willow to get to her sound check and for Colt and Jenna to grab a spot right up front before the show began.

  Soon the rest of the crowd started filing in, and Colt couldn’t help but be impressed at the turnout.

  “She’s something, isn’t she?” Jenna asked as she watched him watch everyone else who was there to see his kid sister.

  “Every time I see her perform, it’s a bigger venue with an even bigger crowd. Did Eli tell you she’s opening for Ash at his next show? That’ll be her biggest crowd yet.”

  Jenna’s brows furrowed. “Why would Dr. Murphy…” But then her eyes widened with recognition, and she grabbed Colt’s arm. “Shut the front door. Ashton Murphy is Eli Murphy’s brother?”

  Colt laughed. “And Boone Murphy too. He owns the Meadow Valley auto body shop. I don’t think you’ve met him yet. They grew up on their family’s ranch but kind of went their separate ways after high school.”

  She shook her head. “That’s great. But can we get back to your sister opening for one of country music’s most scandalous stars? Hasn’t he been arrested for trashing hotel rooms and bar brawls and stuff like that? Like…multiple times? How have I been here two weeks and not heard a word of this?”

  Colt shrugged. “Everyone in Meadow Valley’s known him since he was a kid. Guess he’s not such a big
deal at home—especially with all the stuff you just described. The town’s pretty quiet about him in general, but I figured Eli at least might have said something.”

  She shook her head. “Eli doesn’t say much at all, actually. Only what needs saying.”

  Colt sighed. “No. I guess he doesn’t. Not sure if that was always his way or if it’s because of losing Tess. It’s been a couple of years now since it happened, but you can’t put a cutoff date on grief.”

  “He’s so young,” Jenna said. “I hope he finds someone to make him happy someday. When the time is right.” Then she raised her brows. “Still can’t get over him having a famous brother, though. Where I come from, small towns are all about gossip. You’d think in almost two weeks that I would have heard something from someone.”

  He hooked a finger inside one of the belt loops of her shorts and tugged her close. “We’re not without our share of gossip, but from what I can tell, when it comes to Ash Murphy, the town’s either pretty damned protective of him—” He hesitated. “Or ashamed. Not really sure. All I know is he hasn’t been home in years. Guess Eli doesn’t really talk about him either.”

  Jenna’s smile fell. “I feel like I’m only just figuring Meadow Valley out, and now I have to leave.”

  Colt dipped his head closer to hers. “You don’t have to do anything, Jenna. Not if you don’t want to.”

  He kissed her before she could question his indirect invitation for her to stay.

  “Good evening, Sacramento!” Willow’s voice boomed over the mic.

  The crowd cheered while Colt and Jenna continued to kiss. There’d be no way they could discuss what he’d just said now, not until the concert was over, so he decided to simply enjoy the night with the amazing woman in his arms.

  As predicted, Willow and her band ended her set of originals with her own rendition of “To Make You Feel My Love.” He stood behind Jenna, his arms wrapped around her midsection as they swayed slowly from side to side, her back pressed to his chest.