Wound Tight: A Rough Riders/Blacktop Cowboys Crossover
Page 14
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Tripped Out
A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
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Where there’s smoke…
Stirling Gradsky abandoned the corporate rat race for a more laidback lifestyle. So it’s ironic she’s stuck working with a hard-bodied, know-it-all scientist who treats her like a stoner instead of a stone cold business woman capable of running a large scale cannabis operation. Dr. Hot and Tattooed with the big…brain needs to stop sampling their product; he’s under the half-baked idea that he’s the boss.
Dr. Liam Argent’s doctorate isn’t in chemistry, but from the moment he meets his sexy new coworker, there’s enough heat between them to short out all the lights in the grow house. First item on his agenda? Clearing up the sassy, blunt blonde’s hazy notion that she’s in charge.
Sparks fly as their attraction blazes. But can they weed out their differences without getting burned?
Racked and Stacked
Blacktop Cowboys® Book 9
By Lorelei James
Now Available
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Opposites don’t just attract in the West–they sizzle–and Wyoming has never been hotter than in the latest sexy Blacktop Cowboys® novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Hang Tough.
Growing up with three older brothers, Larissa “Riss” Thorpe defines the term tomboy–a moniker that never mattered to her until she crossed paths with sexy cowboy playboy, Ike Palmer. His declaration that he prefers his women soft and feminine is the one benefit to becoming his business partner. Since Riss is obviously not his type, there’s little chance they’ll mix business and pleasure when they’re in close quarters on the road together.
Former cattle broker Ike Palmer was ready for a new chapter in his life when he partnered with Riss, a contrary redhead who lords her mechanical abilities over him at every turn. Ike raised his three younger sisters; he knows a thing or three about how women work. The problem is…Riss is unlike any woman he’s ever met.
With the odds stacked against them, Riss and Ike will have to choose between the stubbornness that keeps them apart and the fiery attraction that could lead to something more…
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Normally Riss wore baggy and stained coveralls, or painter’s pants, paired with an equally baggy hoodie.
But she had cleaned up very well for this wedding. She’d tried to tame her crazy red curls into a ponytail. Leaving her neck exposed accentuated the ivory tone of her skin. She’d used eyeliner that made the green hue of her eyes even more arresting—the color ranging between pale green and peridot, depending on her mood. Her emerald-colored bridesmaid’s dress molded to her, reminding him—and every other male—that she’d been blessed with a truly magnificent body, especially her tits.
“Why are you staring at me?” she demanded. “It’s sure takin’ you a long damn time to come up with an insult.”
“Truce, remember?” Ike allowed his gaze to encompass her face, as if he was truly seeing her for the first time. “You don’t look awkward, Riss. You look really pretty.” Before he could stop himself, he ran the back of his knuckles down her cheek, from her temple to the tip of her chin. “It pains me—”
“To admit that?”
“No. And stop interrupting me. It’s a pain to see that you covered up your freckles.”
She blinked at him. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I like them. They’re just…you.” That sounded like a come-on. He backtracked. “Besides, makeup hides your level of anger so I can’t see your face getting red.”
“Then that means you can’t see me blushing either.”
“Why would you be blushing?”
She blushed even deeper. “Because you said I looked pretty.”
He barely kept his jaw from dropping. This woman could babble about blow jobs in public without batting an eye, but a compliment brought heat to her cheeks? He didn’t know what the hell to even say to that.
“Genuine flattery from Palmer the Charmer is enough to make any woman swoon.”
She did a shimmy-shake with her shoulders—was that supposed to convey a swoon?—sending her enormous breasts swaying, and Ike’s avid gaze tracked every shift of flesh against fabric. “At least you were looking at my face.” Another shimmy-shake sent her breasts bouncing. “Not that you are now. It’s hard to look away from the girls when they’re out of captivity, isn’t it?”
Jesus. “How long do we have to stick around after the newlyweds are allowed to leave for real?”
Surprisingly, she didn’t needle him about the rapid subject change. “I’m not sure. I know Jade’s mom and dad are staying until the last guest leaves. I thought the Mud Lilies would be whoopin’ it up tonight and chase everyone away, but they’ve been on their best behavior.”
“I suspect Jade demanded obedience from them the same as she did from you.”
“Me obedient? Never. My toned-down behavior is strictly voluntary.”
Ike preferred wild Riss. She had a spontaneity he lacked. “Like that’s a shocker.”
“I am shocked that none of the Mud Lilies have stalked you and demanded a dance.”
“Me too. I figured since they were behaving they’d track me down and regale me with stories about the wild bachelorette party you threw,” Ike said.
Riss rolled her eyes. “You really think that Garnet would let anyone else plan a night of debauchery for her only granddaughter? She barely let me host a bridal shower for her.”
“That’s strange, ain’t it?”
“You don’t know the half of it. Garnet’s cronies have called dibs on throwing Jade a killer bachelorette party.”
“They do understand that a bachelorette party is supposed to take place before the wedding, right?”
“Not in the Mud Lilies’ universe. According to Jade, the only way Tobin would agree to let them plan a party was if it took place after the wedding and the honeymoon.”
His eyebrows rose. “Tobin is usually putty for them old gals.”
“Not when he overheard Garnet and Miz Maybelle discussing the ‘ultimate Vegas girls’ weekend,’ which included a trip to a gun range, a skyscraper zipline challenge and an overnight stay at the Desert Dreams Dude Ranch. He forbade them from taking Jade out of Wyoming. Not fun for him to fly to Vegas to bail them all outta jail.”
“Luckily for him the law around here is very familiar with the ladies’ shenanigans,” he said with a laugh.
“And so are the bail bondsmen. I’m pretty sure Tobin believes the Mud Lilies will forget about it and move on to something else.”
“I hope so. I hate Vegas.”
Riss tipped her head back and looked at him. “Seriously? Why?”
“Besides the fact I don’t gamble?”
“Dude. There’s lots to do in Vegas besides gamble.” She studied him. “Isn’t Vegas a stock contractor’s dream? Standing on the podium at the national finals in December? Aren’t the national finals an annual destination for all the folks who put on rodeos across the country? I’d think you’d be jumping at the chance to do a meet and greet there. Especially since Hugh is based not more than four hours away in Cali, right?”
She’d totally busted him. Now he had to backtrack. “Hugh couldn’t get meetings with the event coordinators he’d been in touch with throughout the year. So we opted not to and decided to push harder for meetings next year, after we’ve got a few successful events under our belts.” Ike shifted to face her. “Will you be bummed if you don’t end up in Sin City for a belated bachelorette party?”
“Yes. And no. I mean, most people have that ‘what happens in Vegas’ mind-set only when they’re on the Strip. I prefer to put half-truths into everyday life.” She laughed at his alarmed expression. “You don’t do that?”
“Do what?”
“Mess with people? Strangers mostly, but sometimes even friends?”
“Explain ‘mess with,’ Thorpe.”
“Say you’re
out of town and you’re in a C-store to feed your craving for Funyuns, Reese’s peanut butter cups and Fanta grape soda. You’re in line to check out, and the woman behind you says, ‘Bad breakup?’ So instead of telling her to mind her own business, you complain good-naturedly that you wish, but the truth is your wife is pregnant with twins and she gets ridiculous cravings late at night. That you’re glad not to be buying something super weird like last time, when she craved stewed tomatoes and Three Musketeers and ate them together.”
Ike couldn’t believe how fast Riss had whipped up that story.
She poked him in the chest. “See? Even you’re intrigued about that weird-ass craving. So the Nosy Nelly who began the conversation will either ignore you from that point on, or she’ll start telling you about what she craved during pregnancy.”
“And if I run into Nosy Nelly again?” he prompted.
“You won’t.”
“So you just flat-out lie to people?”
“I prefer to call it creating an altered reality.”
“In other words…you lie.” Ike leaned closer and caught a whiff of Riss’s coconut perfume. How in the hell wasn’t he supposed to imagine oiled-up bodies in tiny bikinis when that damned tropic aroma teased him?
She poked him in the chest again. “Oh, lose the judgmental look. You used to be a salesman—a professional creator of alternate reality, whereas I’m merely an amateur.”
He couldn’t pull off indignant so he laughed. “Have you ever created an altered reality with me?”
“Besides this whole ‘truce’ thing? No. Are we messing with our friends by not telling them about our truce? Absolutely.”
“Is that how you ended up with the big Johnson? Created an altered reality and he bought into it?”
Riss groaned. “I wish. That’s a perfect example of why I should always veer away from using my real name.”
“I don’t want to know how many times you’ve created an alternate reality, do I?”
“Probably not. But you could tell me the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done.” She tugged on his tie. “Bonus points if it’s a dirty sexual scenario.”
“No judgment?”
“None.”
“Coming up with the idea of buying out Renner Jackson and taking over JSC,” he said in a rush, not having the guts to add that it was the worst idea he’d ever followed through on.
“Interesting.” She toyed with the ends of his bolo tie. “Your answer is business related and it hasn’t been about business between us for months.”
He chucked her under the chin until her gaze collided with his. “I wish I had done something spontaneous and cool in my life to wow you with, Riss.”
“It’s not too late.” Her vivid green eyes issued a challenge. “The next time you have a chance to act out or act up…don’t hesitate. Be impulsive.”
“And if I don’t have the balls to follow through with it, then I should lie my ass off to you anyway?”
Riss smirked. “Now you’re getting it, Palmer.”
On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Dan Slater
Asha Hossain
Chris Graham
Fedora Chen
Kasi Alexander
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
Richard Blake
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents
Book Description
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue