He sat at the table, his legs stretched out in front of him, his bare feet crossed at the ankles. He nursed a cup of black coffee like it was any morning in any town, USA. She clutched both sides of her robe, pulling them together like a virginal prude.
A battle raged in her mind.
Don’t pull that robe together like you’ve never been with a man before. You’re being ridiculous. He’s seen everything you’ve got.
True, the opposition retorted, but he was pretty drunk that night and seven years have passed since then. And he took your heart and stomped on it with his size-fourteen cowboy boots.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” Cash asked with a lift of an eyebrow.
Paige whipped around to get another mug from the cabinet. After pouring her second cup of the day, she sat down.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” she said, sounding all the world like a school teacher reprimanding a student. “This is my house. Caroline rented it to me on Monday.”
“Travis told me I could stay here for a while.”
“Well, this isn’t going to work at all,” she said in a stiff voice that would have made a nun proud. “You’ll have to make other arrangements.”
He sat his cup on the table and leaned toward her. If he meant to intimidate her, it wasn’t going to work. She held her position and returned his stare with one she hoped conveyed her determination to stay put in this house.
“You’ll have to make other arrangements,” he said. “My brother owns this house and he gave it to me to live in as long as I want.”
Her heart dropped into her gut. The boa-constrictor-like squeeze around her chest pulled tight. Drawing in air was an effort, as was forming coherent sentences in his presence.
“Sorry, cowboy. I’m here to stay. You’re the one who has to go,” she finally managed to squeak out. “You have family you could stay with until you buy yourself somewhere else to live. Use some of that butt load of money you made riding those damn bulls to get your own place instead of trying to steal mine.”
“Steal? Yours?” He gave her a derisive snort. Using his cup, he pointed around the room. “This house doesn’t belong to you. It’s Montgomery property.”
Shoving her chair back with a loud scrape on the hardwood, she stood. “I’m going to get dressed and run some errands. When I get back, I expect you to be gone. And you can rest assured that I’ll be calling Caroline today.” She turned and marched out of the room.
“One of your errands should be finding another place to live,” he shouted at her back. “I’m not leaving. And don’t call Caroline. She had twins early yesterday morning. Don’t bother them today.”
Paige leaned against her closed bedroom door, her hand pressed to her chest, her heart in a runaway gallop. Crap. Surely one phone call to Caroline or Travis would clear this mess up. But that wasn’t going to happen. How could she dump her Cash problem on Caroline with her still in the hospital after delivery…at least she assumed Caroline was still there. Today it seemed like new mothers and babies were punted out the door fairly quickly.
Then Cash’s words registered. Caroline had delivered twins.
She stepped away from the door and began sliding hangers in the closet. She was going baby-clothes shopping.
This ain’t their first rodeo…but there are a lot of other firsts they can experience together.
Thrown
© 2014 Cat Johnson
Studs in Spurs, Book 6
Skeeter Anderson was born to ride bulls. He bypassed college to shoot straight to the top of the elite pro tour, but lately all he can seem to do is hit the dirt.
Unwilling to admit his career might be over at twenty-one, Skeeter brainstorms a bull-riding boot camp with his buddies, which will put him closer to a girl who’s caught his eye—a stock contractor’s daughter called Riley.
Riley Davis lives and breathes bulls. Since her mother’s death, she’s been her father’s business partner as well as the apple of his eye—until a coronary rips him out of her life. Now, at nineteen, she must find a way to hang onto the family business.
When Skeeter hears about Riley’s dad, he drives straight to Mississippi to lend her a hand, his buddies hot on his heels. Suddenly Riley has more help than she can shake a stick at, and an attraction to Skeeter that’s heating up by the minute…
Warning: Contains cowboy yoga, cowboys in love, and a romance that hits so hard and fast, it makes being thrown from a bull look like a friendly game of hopscotch.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Thrown:
“If we do all try to get together, the thing we have to consider is where would we ride?” Chase looked from one guy to another. “We need a stock contractor willing to let us get on some practice bulls.”
“And someplace that either has room for us to camp out there, or a cheap hotel nearby since it seems some of us will be traveling a distance.” Garret staring pointedly at Skeeter made him feel even more guilty they were all changing their plans for this break just to help him.
“You guys don’t have to do—”
“Shut up. We’re doing it.” Aaron cut Skeeter off. “Now let’s think. Who’s in the area who’s got decent bucking bulls and would be willing to let us get on them?”
“Butch Davis’s place is in western Mississippi. That’s pretty central.”
The mention of Butch’s place made Skeeter pay more attention. Riley would be there, which would be no hardship. But so would Butch, and his glare alone could scare the hell out of Skeeter and most of the other guys. He couldn’t even imagine asking the guy for a favor, such as if a bunch of guys could just practice on his prize-winning buckers.
Skeeter decided he better say something before one of these nut cases whipped out a cell phone and called to ask him. “Butch is a big-time contractor. I mean, he’s raised seven out of the last ten bulls of the year. He wouldn’t let us just come there and hop on them.”
“Sure, he will.” Mustang let out a snort. “Maybe he won’t let us get on Renegade. That bull’s worth too much and he can’t risk him getting injured in the practice pen, but some of the younger stock? The green ones he’s hoping to put in competition in a year or two, hell yeah. He probably can’t find enough riders to take ’em out for a spin.”
“Well, you can ask him, Mustang. I’m thinking I’d better not. He caught me just looking in Riley’s direction this weekend and I thought he was gonna pull out a shotgun and run me off.” Aaron shook his head, laughing. “I can’t imagine he’s gonna want us there at his place with her around.”
That Aaron had been looking at Riley was an interesting fact. One that made Skeeter feel something he hadn’t thought about before when it came to her—his competitive side kicking in. He guessed before he’d always assumed they were all in the same boat when it came to Riley. She was cute and also totally off limits, so no one had a shot. But then she’d given him her number, which meant what? Probably nothing. Still, knowing Aaron had his eye on her almost made Skeeter a little jealous. Just what he needed, more emotions flying around in him. As if he wasn’t confused enough about everything going on.
“We could exchange chores for practice time,” Chase suggested.
“Yeah, who wouldn’t be grateful for some extra hands around the place?” Garret turned to look at Aaron. “And if you keep your eyes and your hands to yourself, we should all be good.”
Aaron scowled. “And if you weren’t married to my sister, you would be looking at Riley too.”
“With Butch around?” Garret rolled his eyes. “No, don’t think so. Unlike you, I’ve got a brain in my head and I’d like to keep it there.”
“All right, boys. No bickering like a couple of little girls. Let’s get back on topic. We’ll have to ask, but if he’s game, who’s in?” Mustang looked around the table.
“I could stand to brush up on my
skills, I’m sure.” Garret nodded. “I’m in.”
Slade dipped his head as well. “Hell, I’m in too. I go batty not being able to ride during the time off.”
“Jenna will be okay with you being in Arkansas instead of visiting with her in New York over the break?” Mustang asked his traveling partner.
“She’s flying down to Texas tomorrow. After this visit, I’m hoping there won’t be any more long-distance stuff.”
Mustang’s brows rose as he stared at Slade. “Something you need to tell me?”
Slade snorted out a laugh. “Not here and now there isn’t. No.”
Skeeter and the rest of the guys watched the exchange with interest until Chase broke the silence. “So what do you say, Skeets? If we can arrange it, will you do it?”
“If we can find a place willing to let us ride, Butch’s or wherever, then yeah, I’m in.” What did he have to lose?
If it did all work out, Skeeter figured he could learn a lot by hanging around a man with as much experience with bulls as Butch had. It wouldn’t be any hardship to spend some time around Riley either. Sure, Butch would likely flay any guy who touched his daughter, but that didn’t mean they all couldn’t be friends. A girl as nice and cute as she was who also knew as much about bucking bulls as any man in this business—that was a rare find. How could a guy not appreciate all that?
Mustang brushed his hands together. “It’s settled, then. I’ll give Butch a few days to get settled back home and then I’ll give him a call. See where we stand. You guys all go home and enjoy a few days with the families, but be prepared. If he agrees we’re gonna work hard and long.”
“Bull-riding boot camp. I like it.” Chase grinned.
Mustang cocked a brow. “We’ll see how you feel once it starts.”
Chase laughed. “You don’t scare me. My brother wakes me up at five to run with him every morning when I’m home in Oklahoma. Rain, snow, heat. Don’t matter.”
“Good.” Mustang leveled his gaze at Chase. “You’ll be in charge of arranging the physical training schedule then.”
“All right. Done.” Chase grinned. “Be my pleasure.”
Garret groaned. “Great.”
Aaron laughed. “We’ll work hard, but I also expect to play hard when the work is done, so I’ll be in charge of bringing the cooler full of beer.”
Chase shook his head. “Your sorry ass had better be out of bed every morning with the rest of us.”
“It will be. Don’t you worry.” Aaron turned in his seat and craned his neck one more time. “I’m going to find that waitress. She must think we’re just here to hang out and stuff, but I need to eat.”
Skeeter watched Aaron go in search of food. The rest of the guys kept talking about possible training exercises and other stuff for this boot camp they were planning. All because of him. It was a little overwhelming but nice. He had good friends. Skeeter just hoped he’d get to keep being with them.
He had to get back on this tour.
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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The Long Ride Home
Copyright © 2015 by Kari Lynn Dell
ISBN: 978-1-61922-713-2
Edited by Heidi Moore
Cover by Erin Dameron-Hill
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: February 2015
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