Picture Perfect Cowboy

by Tiffany Reisz

  Jason “Still” Waters’ life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words “World Champion Bull-Rider” after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody...until he meets Simone. She's the kinky girl of his dreams...and his conservative family's worst nightmare.

  * * *

  Picture Perfect Cowboy is a western romance from USA Today bestseller Tiffany Reisz, set in her award-winning Original Sinners series. This category-length novel is the perfect jumping-on point for new readers!

  * * *

  “Blazingly erotic.” — Publishers Weekly

  Praise for the Works of Tiffany Reisz

  “Daring, sophisticated, and literary… Exactly what good erotica should be.” — Kitty Thomas on The Siren

  "Kinky, well-written, hot as hell." — Little Red Reading Hood on The Red: An Erotic Fantasy

  “Impossible to stop reading.” — Heroes & Heartbreakers on The Bourbon Thief

  “Stunning… Transcends genres and will leave readers absolutely breathless.” — RT Book Reviews on the Original Sinners series

  “I worship at the altar of Tiffany Reisz!” — New York Times bestselling author Lorelei James

  Contents

  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

  Bonus Short Story: Flogging 101 with Professor S

  About the Author

  More Books by Tiffany Reisz

  Author’s Note

  A heavily abridged version of PICTURE PERFECT COWBOY was previously published in the limited-edition EXPOSED anthology as the novella “The Watermark” (now out of print).

  One

  The list of things Jason would rather be doing that day was as long as his arm. In no particular order he’d rather be:

  Mucking out the stalls.

  Mowing the lawn.

  Re-shingling the roof.

  Repainting the barn.

  Cleaning the gutters.

  Having his head examined.

  Any of those would be a lot easier than what he was doing now.

  How in the hell had he let Luke talk him into this? Stripping down bare-ass naked for a calendar shoot? And for a literary charity? Did that make any damn sense? What books and naked men had to do with each other he didn’t know and probably never would. But he’d told Luke he’d do it so here he was, doing it.

  “Luke, if this goes viral,” Jason muttered to himself, “you’re a dead man.”

  Jason could only hope and pray his mother didn’t find out about this. He was number one on her shit list already for moving halfway across the country. If she found out her baby boy was baring all for the whole world to see, she’d fly all the way from Montana to Kentucky just to tell him he’d broken her heart and shamed the family name. And his father would drive there for the pleasure of dragging him behind the nearest woodshed. Didn’t matter he was twenty-nine years old. Dad would tan his hide worse than the time he put a garter snake in his sister’s underwear drawer when he was seven.

  And he’d probably deserve it.

  The drive to the Bourbon County Public Library only took about half an hour but Jason managed to stretch it out to thirty-five by laying off the gas. He didn’t want to get there early. He didn’t want to be late either. What he wanted was to get it over with as soon as possible, and then pretend this whole stupid thing had never happened.

  Until the calendars came out, of course, and everyone and their grandmother knew what his ass looked like.

  Jason tried not to think about that part as he pulled into the library parking lot. He parked, turned off his truck, grabbed his hat off the seat, and got out, trying hard not to slam the door behind him. He mostly succeeded. His truck, a red Ford older than he was, needed a little extra elbow grease to get the door to latch. Least that’s what excuse he gave himself for hitting the door a little harder than necessary.

  He was supposed to ask for a gal named Simone. Apparently, she was the photographer they’d hoodwinked into flying all the way down to Kentucky to take his picture. Luke also told him to “be nice,” which Jason had taken as a personal slight. When had Luke ever known Jason Waters to be rude to a woman? Not her fault he didn’t want to do this, he told Luke. Luke’s fault, maybe.

  Maybe definitely.

  Jason took the library’s front steps two at a time. With one hand he opened the glass door and with the other he removed his hat. The librarian at the front desk smiled at him in greeting. He gave her a smile back that he hoped didn’t look as fake as it felt. If he’d been on his way to the firing squad, he might have smiled the same way.

  He mentally added standing in front of a firing squad to his list of things he’d rather be doing that day.

  Unfortunately, Luke hadn’t told him where to go once he got to the library, which meant he had to ask. He walked up to the desk and started to make a fool of himself by asking where he was supposed to go to get naked pictures of himself taken when he heard a woman’s soft voice behind him.

  “Are you Jason Waters?”

  He turned and came face to face with a woman who had to be this New York photographer Luke told him about.

  For starters, the girl had pink hair. All pink. Cotton candy pink and curling around her smiling face. She also had tattoos on both arms and a ring in her nose. If she was a local, he was Garth Brooks.

  “I am, ma’am. Are you Miss Levine?”

  “Simone, please,” she said. “And I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been ma’amed in my life.”

  She grinned at him, and even with all the crazy colored hair and the ring in her nose, Jason had to admit to himself she was a pretty lady. Bright smiling eyes. Good full lips. And in her tight jeans and white t-shirt that rode high enough he could see three or four inches of soft pale belly, he could tell she had a really nice figure. Not that he wanted to notice any of that if he was taking his clothes off for her. There was a time and place for enjoying a woman’s curves, and naked in front of a camera for a charity calendar was not the time or the place.

  “Habit,” he said. “If you don’t like it, I’ll try not to do it again. But if I slip, I apologize.”

  “It’s all right,” she said, smiling even wider. He must have amused her though he had no idea how or why. “I kind of like it. Are you ready? I have the room all set up.”

  Jason took a deep breath and gestured with his hat for her to lead the way.

  “We really appreciate you agreeing to be in the calendar,” she said as they walked past stacks of books and up the stairs to the second floor. “Can I call you Jason or do you prefer Mr. Waters?”

  “Call me whatever you like,” he said.

  “Luke Bradley was supposed to be our Mister November,” she said. “But he’s having some kind of surgery, right?”

  Jason nodded. Luke had gotten thrown from a bull last month and slipped a disc in his back that needed correcting. He was in a Montana hospital right now, flirting with the nurses. Ah, could have been worse. Jason and Luke had both been pallbearers for fellow cowboys.

  “It’s nice of you to step in for him,” she said. “He said you’re prettier than he is anyway.”

  Jason laughed softly. “Tha
t’s not saying much.”

  “He did tell me he’s got more scar tissue than regular tissue on his body these days,” Simone said. “What’s that called? An occupational hazard?”

  “You don’t ride bulls if you want to stay pretty,” Jason said.

  “That why you quit?” she asked as they reached a set of dark wood double doors.

  Jason shrugged. “Quit for a lot of reasons. Wanting to meet my grandkids was only one of them.”

  “Well, I read online you were the world champion two years in a row. Nothing wrong with going out on top.”

  Jason didn’t say anything to that. He just opened the door for her.

  “Not much of a talker, I see,” Simone said as she stepped inside the room and waved her hand at two leather chairs sitting by a window.

  “Not much to say,” Jason said.

  “Well, I’ll do most of the talking,” she said. “You want to sit?”

  “After you.”

  She eyed him with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “You are the real deal, aren’t you?” she asked as she sat down in the nearest chair. He sat in the one opposite her, his dark brown cowboy hat on his knee. “Ma’am? Opening the door for me? Waiting for me to sit before you’ll sit?”

  Jason only smiled. If his parents had taught him anything worthwhile it was humility. And to keep his damn mouth shut if he didn’t have anything to say.

  “I was hoping we could talk a few minutes before we started the shoot,” she said. “I know it’s not easy taking your clothes off in front of a stranger. Especially when that stranger’s holding a camera. I thought maybe we ought to get comfortable with each other first.”

  “Whatever you like.”

  “First, let me ask…do you really want to do this?” she asked.

  “I said I would.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  She sat back in the big chair and pulled her legs in and crossed them.

  “I said I’d do it,” Jason said. “And I do want to keep my word.”

  “I hope Luke Bradley didn’t force you into this,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Luke couldn’t force me into a pie-eating contest when I’m dying for pie. We’re old friends,” Jason said. “That’s why I’m hard on him. He’s a good man. If he thinks this is a cause worth his time, then it’s worth mine.”

  Simone was still staring at him like he was some kind of alien. Maybe he was to a gal from New York with pink hair and a nose ring.

  “These calendars raise a ton of money and awareness for their causes,” she said. “You can’t find a much better cause than literacy. It’s very nice of you to agree to this even if you aren’t in love with the idea.”

  “What gave it away?” he asked.

  “You’re about to destroy the brim of your hat,” she said. “I hope that’s crushable velvet you’ve been crushing for the past five minutes.”

  Jason looked down at his hat brim. She was right. He’d twisted it so hard it would have torn had it been made of any material other than crushable velvet. He laughed at himself and groaned quietly.

  “Never done this sort of thing before,” he said. “That’s all.”

  “Getting naked for a stranger and getting photographed is a big deal,” she said. “It’s not for everyone. And I can already tell you’re kind of uncomfortable with it, which makes me uncomfortable. I like willing partners. Not people gritting their teeth the whole time.”

  “I’m here to do the job,” he said. “I don’t have to love it.”

  “This isn’t a job, Jason. You’re not getting paid.”

  “Still, I said I’d do it. I’ll do it.”

  She looked at him without saying anything. Then she smiled again. He’d never expected a New Yorker to smile so much. He’d always heard they were tough cookies up there. Simone didn’t seem like a tough cookie, though. More like bubblegum.

  “Let me show you some of the pictures I’ve taken for previous calendars so you know what you’re getting into. They’re not X-rated, I promise. Pretty tame.”

  She picked up a leather binder from a bag next to the chair and flipped through some pages.

  “You, uh, take a lot of pictures of naked men?” he asked.

  “I have,” she said. “I’ve done a couple different naked charity calendar shoots. You kind of have to have very special people skills for that job. And I’ve done a few boudoir shoots with women. And I do some fetish photography myself. I know what I’m doing. Usually.”

  “Interesting line of work you’re in,” he said.

  “That’s pretty rich coming from a professional bull rider.”

  “Retired professional bull rider,” he said.

  “Still.”

  “Can’t argue,” he said.

  “Have you ever done any modeling before?” she asked.

  “Not modeling,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it that. But you have to get your picture taken a lot when you’re on the rodeo circuit. Interviews and that sort of thing. And, you know, some other stuff.”

  “Other stuff? Like what?” she asked.

  Jason didn’t like to talk about these things, but he didn’t like being rude to a woman, either. And maybe she needed to know this stuff for her job.

  “I did a thing,” he said.

  “A thing? What kind of thing?”

  “You know Levi’s?” he asked.

  “Levi’s the jeans? Yeah, I’ve heard of them,” she said. He could tell she was trying not to laugh.

  “They had these new style jeans with extra rivets. You know, for rough wear? They thought a bull rider was the right guy to show them off.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Jason, you were a Levi’s jeans model?”

  “I guess you could say that,” he said. “The ads were in some magazines.”

  “In magazines? Which magazines?”

  “Oh, I dunno. A few of them. Time, I think. Maxim. Details. Um…Men’s Health. People. Is that what you mean by modeling experience?”

  “I would say having a Levi’s ad in Time, Maxim, People, Details and Men’s Health counts as modeling experience, yeah. Anything else? Cover of Vogue, maybe? Calvin Klein underwear model? Victoria’s Secret Angel?”

  “Ah…Ford commercial,” he said. Simone was, for some reason, rubbing her forehead. “I really liked their new F-150s so I agreed to do a few TV spots for them. I doubt you got ‘em in New York, though.”

  “Levi’s and Ford trucks. Those are major ad campaigns, Jason,” she said. “Like…the most major.”

  He only shrugged. “Paid the bills.”

  She took a long deep breath. “Well,” she said, “guess you’re old hat at this then. Makes my job easier.”

  “Nah. Levi’s and Ford wanted me to keep my clothes on. This is brand new to me. Just talk to me like I’m dumb as a box of rocks.”

  “All right," she said. “I can do that. Well…” She flipped through her portfolio to a different section and showed him a picture. “I was thinking of posing you like this,” she said. He liked how professional she sounded. This wasn’t some kind of joke or come-on to her. Just a job. Just a job like the jeans thing and the Ford commercials. “This is my friend Griffin. He was in a calendar a couple years ago.”

  She showed him the photograph of a tall, muscular guy with a tan, black armband tattoos, and a big grin on his face holding up a book called The Red.

  “He an athlete?” Jason asked. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. He didn’t go around eyeballing naked men that often. Though Simone was right. You could see his side, hip, and thigh but that was about it. Pretty tame stuff.

  “Trust fund baby,” Simone said. “But he does a ton of charity work. And he coaches a well-known roller derby team in New York. The theme of the calendar that year was Notable New Yorkers, and they were raising money for a new library in Queens.”

  Jason narrowed his eyes at the photograph. “Am I supposed to smile like that?” Jason wasn’t much of a smiler, not wh
en he was naked with a camera pointed at him.

  “Griffin wasn’t supposed to smile like that. He was supposed to be reading and looking serious. But his boyfriend made a joke off-camera, and I caught him mid-laugh. It was the best shot in the set so we ran it.”

  “All right,” Jason said. “That’s not too bad. Mom might let me come home for Christmas after all.”

  “Conservative family?” Simone asked.

  “You could say that.”

  “And you’re doing it anyway?”

  “I guess I am.”

  “You sure about it?”

  Was he sure? He’d told himself the only reason he’d agreed to take Luke’s place in the calendar was because Luke had asked him. But maybe there was a little part of him that wanted to take a risk, to put a little distance between the person everyone thought he was and the real Jason Waters, whoever the hell that was.

  “Sure as I’ll ever be,” he said.

  She gave him that searching look, but didn’t question him anymore. She flipped through her album and showed him a few more photos going in the calendar. A basketball player with the ball in one hand blocking the view of his business while in his other hand he held a copy of The Basketball Diaries. A famous quarterback had his helmet across his lap while he read Friday Night Lights.

  “Thoughts?” she asked. “Any pose look better to you than the others?”

  “The first one’s fine. Just get me from the left, not the right. I got some scars.”

  “Not a problem. I’ll get your good side,” she said. “You have any questions?”

  He shook his head.

  “Nothing?” she said.

  “Can we get this over with?” he asked.