Cowgirl Up

by Marteeka Karland

  www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

  Copyright © 2011 by Marteeka Karland

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including but not limited to: printing, photocopying, faxing, recording, electronic transmission, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from the authors or holders of the copyright.

  This book is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations and historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), businesses, events or locales is either used fictitiously or coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.

  Published by

  Beautiful Trouble Publishing, LLC

  PO Box 61

  Colfax, NC 27235

  www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

  Cover Art: Marteeka Karland http://www.marteekakarland.com/

  Editor: Cindy Davis, http://www.fiction-doctor.com/

  Proofreader: Novellette Whyte

  http://authorgurunovellette.blogspot.com/

  Proofreader #2: Legacy Editing

  http://legacyediting.com/

  Formatter: Jim & Zetta, http://www.jimandzetta.com/

  E-book Conversion: Jim & Zetta, http://www.jimandzetta.com/

  ISBN: (ebook) 978-1-61788-245-6; (print) 978-1-61788-249-4

  NOTE ABOUT EBOOKS

  eBooks are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving away eBooks is a copyright infringement. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author or Beautiful Trouble Publishing.

  CAVEAT

  This work of erotica contains adult language and sexually explicit scenes, which are smoking hot. This book is intended only for adults, as it is defined by the laws of the country in which the purchase is made. Keep this book out of the hands of under-aged readers.

  Chapter One

  Julie Ann stared at the vast expanse of pasture land in her valley. The land here in Colorado had been bought by her father and passed down to her and her brother. He’d worked hard and the land and house had been the first anyone in his family had owned. There was more than a small sense of pride in the place.

  She reflected on her happy childhood as she attached the trailer loaded with hay to the big four by four. Just as she hooked up the taillights for travel, she heard the noise of an approaching vehicle. Julie Ann groaned. She’d bet that load of hay she knew who the visitor was. Sure enough, the white Escalade stopped a few feet from her beat up, but sturdy, Ford.

  He slid from the vehicle and swaggered to her, placing one foot on the trailer rail and leaning over to rest his arms on his bent knee. “Mornin’, Julie Ann.” His smile was just a bit too wolfish to her. He looked like he’d been let into the henhouse after a good long winter fast.

  “What do you want, James? I’ve got chores to finish.” It wasn’t a lie. There were plenty of things she needed to do, if not as much as there were before she’d sold nearly everything to make the interest payment on the loans six months ago.

  “Just came to make sure everything was alright. And to remind you the interest payment is due along with a ten percent principle payment.”

  Julie Ann scowled. “I’ve still got two days, James. You’ll get your money.” She had no idea how, but she wasn’t about to show weakness in front of James. If the man smelled blood in the water, he’d come down on her hard and fast.

  He pushed up the brim of his Stetson and managed to look genuinely concerned. Julie Ann doubted it would be a good idea to clue him in on how ridiculous he looked in the thing. “You know, my offer of marriage still stands. You can marry me and I’ll pay off the ranch as my wedding gift to you. I’ll also square Brady’s other, less savory loans.”

  Julie Ann tried to hide her scowl, but she doubted she pulled it off, especially when James’s jaw twitched in his own attempt to hide a smile. “I told you already. I won’t sell myself to keep this ranch. Besides, I seriously doubt you could handle me.” She gave him her most contemptuous sneer. He actually took a step backward under the force of her gaze. “As I said, you’ll have your money in two days and not a second sooner. Now leave, before I call the cops.”

  James managed a semblance of a smile. “Well, let me know if you need anything. I’ll be in touch.”

  James was a handsome enough man, but every time she looked at him, a cold shiver ran the length of her spine. The man gave her the creeps.

  “I’m sure you will,” Julie Ann muttered under her breath.

  Could this day get any worse? She’d been to half a dozen banks in Colorado Springs and even Denver in the past week. No one was willing to lend her the kind of money needed to pay off James. Now, there were two days left to find a miracle and it wasn’t looking hopeful. She was in danger of losing it all.

  She’d sold every horse, pig, chicken, and field mouse she could and still she was in danger of foreclosure. The only thing she had left was about a third of the cattle. Her father had always been proud to be a cattle rancher. He’d loved the hard work. Julie Ann enjoyed it too. The ranch had always given her a sense of freedom nothing else ever had. Because of that, she’d been loath to sell the herd until she absolutely had to and only when she could get top dollar for them. She’d been lucky enough to sell everything else to family friends who would gladly sell most of it back to her should she manage to pull a rabbit out of her hat.

  Even though Brady was really brilliant, she wished her brother hadn’t been such a moronic ass of a man. Brady had squandered every dime in his trust fund and had gone through enough of hers that the remainder was of little consequence compared to the tremendous debts. He’d also managed to get into her savings and gone halfway through it before she discovered what he was doing. Even the bank seemed hard pressed to tell her how it had happened. Hell, they weren't convinced she hadn't been a party to it, and that hurt almost as much as her own brother betraying her. Brady had always been highly intelligent and computer savvy. It was just a shame he hadn’t used his talents to help himself rather than ripping her off. Now, it was too late. He’d also mortgaged the ranch heavily, all to feed his gambling addiction and that, she might never forgive him for.

  As usual, Julie Ann was left to clean up the mess. This time, however, she wasn’t certain she could pull it off. As one of the best graphic designers in the country, she made good money, but nothing like the amount needed to bail them out. She was sure she had yet to uncover the full extent of Brady’s debauchery, but all she cared about at the moment was tallying up the loans against the ranch. So far, she figured he was in for well over two million. And that was on the land only. That didn’t count the houses or equipment. Hell, she was lucky he hadn’t borrowed against the livestock.

  With a heavy heart, Julie Ann caressed the rail of the front porch. This was their home. How could he have done this?

  James happened to own the bank that held most of the loans Brady had taken out. The wily banker had been trying to get his hands on their land for years without success, even to the point of courting Julie Ann before he realized it was a losing battle.

  She deserved to lose the ranch. Julie Ann couldn’t even keep her mind on the things around her, let alone run the whole thing by herself. She’d hired three field hands to take care of the hay and mend the fences to keep the cattle from wandering off to neighboring spreads. The men had done fabulous work, but mostly kept to themselves, only coming to her on payday or if they needed her okay to buy material that wasn’t readily avai
lable. To the best of her knowledge, all three men were honest to a fault, and very hard working. Julie Ann hadn’t been fooled, though. They weren’t some random ranch hands sent by her father’s friend, Jonas. These men were wealthy in their own right, but unknown in Westcliff, Colorado or the surrounding areas. They were powerful men. Men who had no need of her money or the hard labor they seemed to dive into with gusto. She just wasn’t certain exactly what they wanted at this point, and that concerned her.

  “Miss Julie Ann?”

  She jumped and swung around. Christ! “I’m so sorry, Wyatt,” she stammered, “I was off in a dream world. You startled me.”

  The brawny cowboy grinned briefly, the small smile lighting up his weathered but handsome face that was partially concealed by the Stetson. Funny how the same style hat looked so goofy on James, yet only added to the rugged good looks of this man. “Not a problem. We were getting ready to head home for the evening and wanted to see if you needed us to pick up anything in town for you before we came out tomorrow.”

  Julie Ann couldn’t help the smile. Wyatt was thoughtful like that. Once a week, he would offer, usually on Thursday so she’d have supplies for the weekend. Why couldn’t she find a man like Wyatt for herself?

  “Thanks,” she said, meaning it. “I’m ashamed to admit I made a list for you. I really didn’t want to go back into The Springs before Saturday, and I do need a few small items that won’t be able to wait.”

  Wyatt nodded in the general direction of James’s departing truck. “He giving you trouble?” It was said innocently enough, almost like small talk, but something in Wyatt’s eyes told her differently.

  “No. He’s just reminding me I have business with him Saturday.” She tried to sound as nonchalant as he had, but she wasn’t sure she’d pulled it off.

  “The loan your brother took out on the place.” It didn’t really surprise Julie Ann that he knew. It wasn’t a secret, after all. But it still irked her that the hired help knew her personal business.

  Wyatt put his hands up in a defensive gesture. Her expression must have been more transparent than she’d thought. “I’ve not been nosing around in your business, I swear. James has been bragging to his inner circle how he is finally getting this place. He seems to think he’s getting you too, though I had my doubts about that from the moment I met you. You’re too classy a lady for the likes of him.”

  Julie Ann started to reply, but his words wrapped themselves around her heart and squeezed. All her life, she’d been called “tomboy, she-male, frigid, even bitch, or domme.” Never “classy.” Until that moment, Julie Ann had never realized how much those names had hurt.

  “I appreciate you saying that,” she managed. Julie Ann wasn’t the emotional type, taking what life dealt without fussing about it and playing her hand as best she could. She didn’t expect gratitude or sympathy, and never had.

  “I don’t say things I don’t mean.” His piercing blue eyes met hers and seemed to bore straight through her soul. In that moment, she felt more vulnerable than she ever had in her entire life.

  With slow, deliberate movements, Wyatt approached her. He had several inches in height on her and she had to tilt her head to meet his gaze. For the first time, she was struck by how really large the man was. Broad shoulders blocked out the setting sun and seemed to strain the mud-streaked t-shirt he wore. Faded jeans hugged his lean hips and muscled thighs like a jealous lover, accenting his masculine beauty. She didn’t dare linger on those jeans for fear of embarrassing herself. He had a body honed in hard labor, not the gym. A man’s body. It had been a while since she’d had the attentions of a man. Letting Wyatt know that, would be as bad as letting James know it. Worse, she had the feeling Wyatt would act on that knowledge where James would be afraid she’d do something really nasty to his privates, which she would.

  For several moments, they simply stared each other down. Her breath caught. Julie Ann could no more look away from him than she could walk away from the ranch without a fight. She wanted to lean against him, to rely on his strength, but knew better. One lesson she’d learned the hard way was that the only man a girl could count on was her daddy. Wyatt and his buddies might be an invaluable asset to her on the ranch, but she knew better than to hope any of them was her Prince Charming in a Stetson, charging to her rescue on his white steed. He was a man—a very strong, handsome man, but nothing else. She was his boss. He her ranch hand, nothing more.

  Unfortunately, the sexual attraction between them seemed to fairly crackle with life whenever they were close. She wanted him. Wanted him like she’d never wanted any other man and she was pretty sure he wanted her right back.

  “The list?” he prompted her gently when she continued to meet his stare.

  Immediately, heat suffused her face. Good Lord, she was pathetic! Shaking herself out of the pool of self-pity she was wallowing in, Julie Ann gave herself a mental slap. She’d been through hard times before. It was time to cowgirl up and do this, just as she’d always done. If she could find a buyer for the remainder of the cattle, she could make the necessary payment to hold off James for another six months. Then she’d have some breathing room to figure out what to do next. Given enough time, she could save the place.

  “Oh, right. I’ll be right back.” Before he could say another word—or give her one of those small smiles so filled with male amusement—she fled into the house to get her supply list and compose herself.

  Chapter Two

  Wyatt knew the trouble Julie Ann was in. They all did. He and his buddies, John, Dominic, and Matthew had been informed by her father’s best friend Jonas that she needed workers to help out. Jonas originally approached the four of them for a recommendation as they had their own ranch and many workers they were more than willing to loan out.

  When Jonas had told them of her brother accessing the trust funds and the huge mortgage he’d taken out on the land, Wyatt “volunteered” all four of them to help out. As far as he knew, the bank’s lawyers were still trying to work out how Brady had hacked their system. However it had happened, they wouldn't return the money until they knew what happened and it left Julie Ann in a bad position.

  He and his friends enjoyed the time they spent together working on her ranch. It reminded them where they'd come from and how they'd gotten where they were today. None of them needed the money she was paying them and Wyatt put back every cent into an account in her name.

  He’d heard of Julie Ann's fiery spirit, actually seen her in action a time or two when the occasional drunken cowboy tried to manhandle her at the local bar. There was something about the spunky, dark-skinned beauty that took his breath. The thought of anyone else aiding her just didn’t sit well with him— mainly because a couple of his own men had been said drunken cowboys. The little spitfire was the equivalent of Westcliff, Colorado’s most eligible bachelorette. He and his partners, being newcomers, none of them had built a reputation in Westcliff, but in Wild Creak, Texas they’d been a force to be reckoned with. They’d purposefully kept their business in Westcliff and Colorado Springs on the down low, not wanting to scare off the local ranchers before they’d made sound business relationships.

  He and his buddies had helped her fix up the place. Watched the last few weeks as Julie Ann had sold two thirds of the cattle, to either Jonas or one of Jonas’s friends. Not once had he seen her crack. The only sign that any of the selling of animals or equipment bothered her was the clenching and unclenching of her fists at her sides. There was a strength she possessed that went to the bone. Steel ran in her veins, giving her the ability to do what needed to be done to hang on to her family’s legacy with both hands. She wasn’t giving up without a fight, and neither was he. This woman called to him on more than a physical level, though Lord knew that particular pull was strong. Something deep inside him made him want to scoop her up and hold her to him so nothing could harm her. He also knew she’d never allow it and that, as much as anything, was a huge aphrodisiac.

  “Just a fe
w things,” she said, handing him a slip of paper. “I’ve already called Joe and he should have everything ready for you. Payment is taken care of, but if there are any problems, just call.”

  Wyatt nodded in acknowledgement. “Are there any perishable items? I’d planned on being out here at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Joe won’t be open when we pass through.”

  Julie Ann bit her lower lip, a nervous tell. “A couple of things. Just pick up the rest of it. I can live without milk and butter until after I take care of business Saturday.” She smiled. “I really appreciate all the extra trouble you guys go to for me. You’ve been a lifesaver.”

  Wyatt couldn’t help the silly grin that sprang to his lips at her words. “No trouble at all, Miss Julie Ann. Glad to help.” Wyatt sized her up. She actually looked vulnerable. It was a new look for her and one he was certain she wouldn’t appreciate him admiring. “Is everything okay?” He knew she wouldn’t open up to him, but still, he had to ask.

  Immediately, she stiffened, any vulnerability gone in an instant. “Of course,” she smiled, or tried to. The lines of worry and strain seemed more etched into her face the closer she got to the deadline with the bank. Wyatt couldn’t blame her. She was on the verge of losing not only her home but her heritage.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” As Wyatt turned to leave, that fleeting vulnerability was burned forever in his mind. “If you need anything, you know how to get hold of me, right?” He always asked that question before he left for the day.

  She blinked. “I…yeah.” Wyatt almost smiled. The woman was in desperate need of some emotional pampering. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She smiled as she shrugged. “I’ve been looking after myself for a long time.” Her response was typical, but almost hesitant this time. Wyatt wasn’t a man to take advantage of a woman, but Julie Ann needed a man. No. Not just any man. Him. She needed him and he was damned determined to make her see it.