His exhale washed over her. “God, I love you,” he said, lowering his face, brushing her tears away with his lips, moving across her cheek until his mouth finally covered hers in a kiss that never tasted so good. So right. So perfect. Full of hope and love and heat, so much heat her knees buckled and her whole body trembled for the man who wore many uniforms, many hats, and all of them part of the cowboy she loved with all of her Yankee heart.
Epilogue
Another year, another Christmas party, but this year, this party was very special. Leeann McCall smiled and basked in the warmth engulfing her heart. This year had seen the weddings of both of her sons. Cole and Connor had married the loves of their lives. She stood in the corner of her gathering room festively decorated in reds and greens while she watched the crowd. Her boys danced with their wives. Kade and Brandi were out there, too, but barely moved, just held onto each other. So sweet.
Doctor Turner was there and some of the other Guardsmen. So nice to have them home safe and sound. And Shayla was in the corner with her cute little girl, and her younger sister who’d just arrived in Harland County earlier this week. A quiet beauty with brown hair and blue eyes.
“What are you thinking, sweetheart?” Alex asked, stepping behind her and pulling her back against his chest. “About our boys?”
She nodded, wrapping her arms around his. “It was a good year.”
“Indeed it was. A very good year.”
“Two marriages and one engagement,” she said.
Her husband bent to glance at her from the side, dark eyes alight with joy. “Engagement? Kade asked Brandi?”
“Yep.” She nodded with a smile. “Last night, I believe.” She motioned to the couple holding each other on the dance floor.
“Then it’s time to bring out the champagne,” her husband said.
“Already ahead of you there, my friend.” Nate and his wife appeared with four glasses of bubbly. After handing them out, her friend’s husband lifted his drink in a toast. “To Kade and Brandi.”
“Yes, may they be as happy together as our children,” Hannah added, to which they clinked and drank. “But don’t expect a quick wedding. Kerri said Brandi wants Kade to concentrate on his therapy.”
“Smart woman.” Leeann nodded, tears blurring her vision. It did her heart good to know his aunt and uncle would have been so pleased with Brandi. “I bet Hal and Sarah are smiling down.”
Her friend wiped her face as she nodded.
“And Kade’s father, Raylan, too,” Nate said, and her husband agreed.
“Now, there’s only one left.” Alex tipped his glass toward the blue-eyed cowboy wearing a black Stetson with mistletoe fringe and a blonde under each arm. “And something tells me he’s going to be the toughest one of all.”
“Oh boy,” Cole said, arm around his smiling wife as they approached. “I know that look.”
Jordan arched a brow. “You aren’t seriously going to try to take on Kevin?”
“Who’s taking on my cousin?” Kade asked, stopping by with his arm around a beaming Brandi.
“Never mind him. Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”
Leeann pulled them both in for a hug, then Hannah joined in, and soon everyone had a glass of champagne in their hands and were toasting the happy couple.
“Hey, where’s my glass?” Kevin appeared without his entourage. “I’d like to toast my cousin and his better half, too.”
Brandi lifted on tiptoe and kissed the cowboy’s cheek. “Thank you, that’s sweet.”
“Well, I’m just a sweet kind of guy, darlin’.”
“Yeah, sweet on himself,” Shalya said, her cute baby girl in her arms, dressed in green velvet like her pretty mom. “We didn’t mean to interrupt. Just wanted to congratulate you two.” The redhead hugged the couple then stepped back.
Kevin grunted. “You’re just jealous because you’re not.”
“Not what? Sweet?” The redhead smirked. “Oh, I can be plenty sweet, cowboy. I just choose not to be toward you.”
One eyebrow raised, the younger Dalton leaned closer to the woman and sent her his trademark winning grin. “You were plenty sweet to me when we shared that strawberry at the pub.”
She’d heard about that. Apparently, Kerri’s stuffed strawberries were a big hit.
“I wasn’t being sweet, you idiot,” Shayla said. “I was eating the strawberry.”
Leeann exchanged a glance with Hannah and held back a grin. Oh, they just found their contender. And if the sparks shooting between the cowboy and redhead were anything to go by, this coming year was going to be very interesting.
As if unable to resist, the little girl reached for the fringe on Kevin’s hat. He backed up, smile still on his face as he captured the little girl’s hand.
“No no, sweetheart. Mistletoe is not good for you.”
“Neither are Casanova cowboys,” the redhead muttered.
Once again, Leeann had to fight to hold back a grin.
“Oh no, don’t call him that.” Cole grimaced. “That’ll go to his head.”
“Too late.” Kevin winked, brushing his lips across the little girl’s hand.
Shayla stepped back, removing her daughter from the cowboy’s grasp as she turned to face Leeann. “I’m going to go sit with my sister. Thank you for inviting us.” Her gaze bounced to Brandi and Kade. “Congratulations, again.”
And, hugging her daughter close, Harland County’s newest resident made her way to her quiet sibling still sitting in the window seat. There was a bit of a haunted expression on the pretty girl’s face. Leeann couldn’t help but wonder what put it there, and why it sometimes crossed Shayla’s face, too.
“It’s so great to see you both happy,” Jordan was saying to the engaged couple. “If there’s anything you two want for an engagement gift, please let me know.”
“Actually, I have a question for you, Jordan,” Kade said, arm still draped around Brandi as he glanced at the other couple.
“Me?” Her daughter-in-law blinked, slipping her arm around Cole. “What?”
Kade smiled. “Ever think of becoming sheriff?”
The immediate area stilled in silence as the question hung in the air.
Kevin laughed. “Did you feel that?”
Her son glanced at his wife then frowned at his friend. “What?”
Oh, boy. Devilment danced behind those killer blue eyes.
“The crime rate just dropped across the lower half of this state.”
Leeann smiled and could feel her husband’s chuckle against her back. There weren’t many that would mess with her son’s brave wife.
“Well, while you all ponder the Jordan for President, I mean Jordan for Sheriff thing, I’m going to go exercise my mistletoe rights.”
And with a tip of his hat, Casanova Dalton sauntered off, turning many pretty heads on his way to the food table. Within seconds, the two blondes appeared out of nowhere to take up residence at his side again. That boy led too wild a life. It was high time he settled down.
Her gaze traveled across the room to the pretty redhead smiling into her sweet baby girl’s face. The cowboy liked pairs. She had a sneaky suspicion she knew just the two to bring him to his knees.
***
Fallen Soldier Table
The table is small, set for one- symbolizing the frailty of one soldier alone against his enemies.
The table cloth is white- symbolizing the purity of the soldier's intentions to respond to their country's call to arms.
The single red rose symbolizes remembrance. It is displayed in a vase, reminding us of the families and loved ones of our comrades in arms who keep their memories alive, lest we forget.
The red ribbon tied prominently on the vase is a reminder of the blood they shed protecting the liberty so loved by our country.
A slice of lemon sits on the bread plate to remind us of the bitterness of their fate.
The plate is covered in salt- symbolic of their family’s tears.
; The glass is inverted, for they cannot toast with us tonight.
The chair is empty, for they can sit with us no longer.
In remembrance of all the fallen soldiers.
♥
Shayla fled to Harland County, Texas with her baby girl and college student sister,
hoping to stay a step ahead of their deadbeat dad.
Tired of running, she wanted to settle down into a normal life. A safe life.
A solid, forever life.
Too bad her body insisted on responding to the local heartthrob,
the drop-dead gorgeous Casanova cowboy.
♥
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For a preview of
Her Forever Cowboy
Available Spring 2014
Chapter One – Her Forever Cowboy
Come to the pub, they said.
It’ll be fun, they said.
“Fun my ass,” Kevin Dalton grumbled, none too happy his friends failed to mention the sexy, redheaded she-devil would be at the Texas Republic with her killer lips and elbow to match.
Swallowing a few choice words, and they were juicy, he slumped further into the booth at the restaurant/bar owned by the Masters sisters. Or would that be McCall sisters? After all, Jordan and Kerri had married the McCall brothers this past year.
“What’s with the face,” his best friend Cole McCall asked from across the table, brown gaze twinkling with undisguised joy. “Forget to wear your cup?”
Bastard. Make that ex-best friend.
“Very funny.” He didn’t laugh, but he did groan as his friend’s brother decided to settle into the booth with him.
“Nah, he probably forgot to put on his big-boy underwear. Ain’t that right, Dalton?” A lop-sided grin accompanied Connor McCall’s jab to the ribs. “Quit being such a girl.”
“Up yours, Moose.” He didn’t bother with the finger. A guy that big required a verbal reprimand if there was any hope of it sinking into the giant’s thick skull.
“Come on, guys. Give my cousin a break,” Kade Dalton said, sitting next to Cole, gray eyes full of compassion and…ah shit, mirth. “You know Kevin doesn’t have his Man Card yet.”
“Bite me,” he replied, tone sounding more aggravated than he actually felt. No, he was thrilled to see his cousin so upbeat and positive.
God, for a while there, Kade had been just the opposite. His older cousin had needed an intervention to seek professional help regarding issues from a recent deployment with the Texas National Guard. It was truly great to see the guy happy. Of course, Kevin knew the transformation wasn’t all attributed to therapy. Hell no, most of the credit went to his cousin’s angel of a fiancé, Brandi Wyne. Too damn bad the beautiful designer from the north didn’t have a sister.
Or two.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Connor nodded. “He needs to earn it. Maybe once he takes off the girlie pants.”
Kevin forced his lips to curve into a smile, and even managed a chuckle. “You’re just jealous cause I’m better looking.”
The cowboy’s head jerked back with his smirk. “Yeah, right.”
“Actually, guys,” his buddy spoke up, lifting his beer. “We have to give ‘ole blue eyes credit for those triplets I told you about from our Japan trip last year.”
Oh, yeah. The Nakamura sisters. Satisfaction spread warmth throughout his body and a matching smile across his lips. Triplets. Japanese triplets. Two items he’d crossed off his bucket list.
Kade nodded. “True.”
“Yeah, I have to admit, that was very ambitious. Don’t know how you managed that one, Kevin.” Connor shook his head, small smile tugging a dimple to life.
“Nearly killed me,” he admitted. Truth be told, he’d pulled a muscle in his groin. But hot damn, it had been so worth it. “Cowboys everywhere were relying on me to deliver. So I did.”
“Three times?” Connor raised a brow.
“Yes.” He nodded. “I made damn sure each girl was satisfied before I crawled back to my room and passed out.” With an icepack on his abused…muscle.
Laughter filled their booth and lightened the mood.
Kade lifted his beer and smiled. “To Kevin. Looks like he did earn that Man Card, after all.”
The three laughing bastards clinked mugs, but he didn’t care. Hell no. Because he had the memory and the satisfaction of knowing he’d actually pleased the amorous sisters. A genuine smile crossed his lips and he sat a little taller. Yeah, he’d represented real well.
“So, what seems to be the trouble with this one?” Cole nodded toward the line dancers tearing up the floor.
Trouble? He frowned. “With what one?”
“You know exactly which one.”
Yeah, he knew. They were referring to spitfire with long auburn waves, bouncing down her back as she kicked up her booted heels alongside Brandi. He’d come to blows with the beauty a few times. Sure, he’d felt a connection, a damn strong connection, but he’d also felt her wrath. No thank you. Plenty of willing females out there. He did not need nor want to coax.
He took a pull on his beer, then nodded to the dancers. “Let’s just say I know better than to bark at a dead tree.”
Dark brows rose as his buddy turned to face the crowd. “She doesn’t look all that dead to me. In fact, I’d say she looks quite…energetic.”
She’d tasted even better.
Damn her.
“You’ve been avoiding her like the plague,” his friend stated.
His head jerked back. “I have not. Jeez, you’re such an exaggerator, McCall.”
“Bull.” Cole laughed. “You’ve avoided her here. Around town. My mom’s Christmas party. Seriously, Kevin. What gives?”
A grinning Connor leaned close. “He’s got an aversion to her elbow.”
Kevin readily agreed with a nod. “Can you blame me? An elbow to the groin is not exactly a wonderful first meet.”
He still couldn’t believe she’d poled him. Poled him. And for no reason.
He’d been innocently walking toward Cole’s wife Jordan, her sister Kerri and Brandi. The women were sitting at a picnic table eating ice cream at The Creamery, along with a redhead who was holding the cutest little baby girl he’d ever seen, when wham! The spitfire had elbowed his favorite body part and dropped him like a sack of cement.
“Sure left an impression, though.” Cole snickered.
“Hell, yeah,” he said. “The fellas about-face when that woman’s around. They cower and run for safety.”
“You didn’t seem all that put out when you two were strawberry sharing a few weeks back.”
“Damn, man.” Connor nodded, dimple still glaring. “I thought the pub was going to catch fire.”
Kade scratched the bridge of his nose, a small smile tugging his lips. “Yeah, cuz. You were kind of burning the place up.”
The place?
Hell, he’d been ready to self combust. Burst into flames. Explode. One touch, one taste, and bam…his hunger for the prickly beauty intensified full throttle. What the hell? He’d pulled her close, and with their bodies lined up in perfect symmetry, which only intensified the damn heat, he’d proceeded to share the dessert and one hell of a memorable kiss. Delicious. Succulent. And it had nothing to do with the fruit. Absolutely nothing.
No. Sweet, juicy…hot, it was all her.
All Shayla Ryan.
***
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***
Harland County Series
Book One: Her Fated Cowboy
L.A. cop Jordan Masters Ryan has a problem. Her normal method of meeting a crisis head-on and taking it down won’t work. Not this time. Not when fate is her adversary. Having kept her from the man she thought she’d always marry, the same fickle fate took away the man she eventually did. Thrown back into the path of her first love, she finds hers is not the onl
y heart fate has damaged.
Widower and software CEO, Cole McCall fills his days with computer codes and his free time working the family’s cattle ranch. Blaming himself for his wife’s death, he’s become hard and bitter. When his visiting former neighbor sets out to delete the firewall around his heart, he discovers there’s no protection against the Jordan virus. Though she understands his pain and reawakens his soul, will it be enough for Cole to overcome his past and embrace their fated hearts?
***
Book Two: Her Unbridled Cowboy
Homeless and unemployed thanks to an earthquake, divorced California chef Kerri Masters agrees to head back to her hometown to help plan her sister’s Texas wedding. It must be her weakened state that has her eyeing the neighbor she used to follow around as a child. Her tastes tend towards gentlemen in suits, cultured, and neatly groomed— not a dimple-glaring, giant of a cowboy. He’s big and virile, and makes her want things the inadequacies brought out during her divorce keep her from carrying out.
Connor McCall’s brotherly feelings for the pesky former neighbor disappear when the grown up version steps on his ranch in her fancy clothes and shiny heels. Too bad she’s a city girl, because he has no use for them. Three times he tried to marry one, and three times the engagements failed. He’s not looking for number four no matter how much his body is all for jumping back in the saddle and showing the sexy chef just how it feels to be loved by a cowboy.
Turns out the earthquake was nothing compared to the passionate, force of nature of an unbridled cowboy, and Kerri learns far more about herself, and Connor, than she ever expected. But when events put his trust in her on the line, will he choose his heart or his pride?
***
Harland County Series
Her Uniform Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 3) Page 28