“I guess deep down, I knew there was only one woman for me. But at the time you were both off-limits to me and weren’t living here.” I give her another light kiss. “And now you’re living here, and you’re my girlfriend.” Another brush of the lips. “But I’m a greedy bastard. I want more. I want to wake up each morning with you curled around me. I want to go to bed each night knowing you’re mine and that you’ll always be mine.
“I want to spend each day with you as my wife.” I open my palm, revealing the engagement ring. “Violet, will you marry me?”
Woof.
Her eyes widen, and she presses three fingers against her mouth.
But she doesn’t say anything.
Which is never a good thing in a situation like this.
My heart groans.
Woof.
“Not now, Asgard, I’m trying to propose to Violet.” And doing a crappy job at it.
Her eyes fill…also not a good thing.
Have we discussed one day becoming a family? Not at all. I mean, other than when I told her that if she wanted to have more kids, I would be thrilled to help her out there and proud to be their father.
I thought she wanted the same as I did.
Woof.
I pick up the ball and hurl it again. Asgard chases after it. Deacon cheers.
I turn back to Violet.
She lowers her hand and blinks. “Did you just ask me to marry you—or did I imagine that?” Her voice is clogged with emotion, yet at the same time it pours over me like hot fudge and melted raspberry ripple.
“That’s right. I want you to marry me, and I want to officially adopt Deacon…if you’re fine with it. I want to legally be his father.”
She chokes out a sob and throws her arms around me. “Of course I’m fine with you adopting him.” She kisses the nook of my neck. “And of course I want to be your wife.” She kisses my jaw. “There’s nothing I want more than either of those things.”
And then her lips are on my lips.
I open my mouth and let her in. Our tongues glide and dance together. They worship each other, exchange our silent vows. If we were alone, I’d also make love to her.
But that will have to wait until tonight.
I pull slightly away from her, and we look over at Deacon. Both boy and dog are doing fine.
I slide the gold ring on her finger. The diamond sparkles in the sunlight. Perfect. Just like Violet.
“Please tell me you don’t believe in long engagements,” I say. “Because I’m not sure how much longer I can last before the two of you move in with me.” As it is, I miss her every night when she has to slip away after I’ve made love to her.
“I’m fine with a short engagement,” she says. “In fact, the shorter the better. Besides, this is Copper Creek, not LA. We don’t have to book things a year in advance.”
True.
“So how about June?” Because two months is about as long as I can last.
Violet laughs. “You really are impatient to get married, aren’t you?”
“Can you blame me?”
Her bright smile is enough to melt what’s left of the snow on the Bitterroot Mountains.
She presses her lips softly to mine. “Not at all. And yes, June will be perfect.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” I sweep her up in my arms.
Her arms slip around my neck, and she giggles. “What are you doing?”
“Practicing carrying you over the threshold. What does it look like I’m doing? And just wait until tonight…when I practice for our honeymoon.” I lower my mouth to her ear. “And I plan to do lots of practicing before the real deal.” My tone emerges, gritty with lust and smooth like syrup.
“What would you say if I told you I want to save myself for our honeymoon?”
I trace my lips along her jaw. “I’d say I have no idea what that means.” Something tells me I won’t be doing cartwheels once she tells me what she has in mind.
“I want to wait until we’re married before we have sex.”
Yep, no cartwheels in my near future. “Then I’ll have to change your mind. And trust me, future wife, I can be very persuasive.” I nibble her lower lip.
She laughs and kisses me back. “That I don’t doubt. But as you know, I can be very stubborn.”
She’s got that right.
I lean in, my breath brushing against her ear. “What do you say we have our picnic, then go home and begin planning our big day?”
She grins. “I would say that I love that idea.”
And afterward, I’ll convince her to let me make love to her.
One final time.
Before our wedding night.
Because as much as the thought of not making love to her during the next two months gives me hives, I’ll do anything she wants.
All she has to do is ask.
Thank you for reading COWBOY MOST WANTED!
Want to know if Jake and Sophie get their happily ever after…together? Check out ONCE UPON A COWBOY, which releases in November. Signup for my newsletter to find out when it’s available. Or signup for a Bookbub alert.
Cinderella’s fairy godmother just turned hot. And male. Very, very male.
If you love “best friend’s sister” romances, fall in love with Trent Salway in DECIDEDLY OFF LIMITS. The book is currently free.
When your older brother is a Navy SEAL, he tends to be overly protective.
So fooling around with his hot best friend? Not such a bright idea.
Oops.
One-click DECIDEDLY OFF LIMITS now!
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Turn the page for an excerpt from DECIDEDLY OFF LIMITS…
Read on for an excerpt from DECIDEDLY off limits
Kelsey
Quick, name the top ten sounds you never want to hear while in your car—especially when said noise happens on the way to your best friend’s parents’ anniversary party.
Willing my car to cling to life for a few more feet, I pulled over to the curb. Cars, trucks, and SUVs rushed past, racing to get home for the weekend. The moment I made it to the side of the road, my car abandoned its will to live. The once purring engine took its final purr—well, more like a groan—then I was met with a deafening silence.
“Fuck.” Because, really, is there a better word?
I think not.
The car stuck behind me honked. My poor baby didn’t care if Impatient Guy had somewhere more important to go. She wasn’t going anywhere. I might not have known anything about cars, but even I could tell that much.
I checked over my shoulder at the busy lane next to me. I could have escaped via the driver’s side—if I didn’t mind risking my life and becoming roadkill.
Since neither was currently on my daily to-do list, I went with Plan B. I flipped on the hazard lights, stretched my leg over the gearshift, and tried to climb onto the passenger seat. Tall Victorian houses stood sandwiched together along the street. If they were human, they would have been snickering at me.
The hem of my short dress scooted up my thighs, and that sadly neglected part between my legs accidentally brushed against the gearshift. Naturally, it wasn’t too thrilled that this was the only action it would see. Which was a helluva lot more than it had seen for the past 460 days.
But who was counting?
Still awkwardly straddling the gearshift and doing my best not to dry-hump it, I performed a graceful face-plant onto the passenger side. My knee landed on the seat; my face almost smashed into the window. On the bright side the sidewalk was empty of pedestrians. No one had witnessed my moment of humiliation.
I shifted my body and opened the door. With my skirt still hiked up my thighs, I performed a complex move of climbing out while shimmying the hem back into place. The Russian judge would have given me a 2.5, mostly due to lack of technical skills…and well, grace.
But at least this time I didn’t land on my face.
Why I climbed out of my car was anyone’s guess. To scowl at it, maybe. That was about the extent of my mechanical skills.
Since Erin—my best friend—and her husband were already at the party, I called AAA and pleaded for them to send someone. Preferably now.
Apparently, 5:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon was NOT a good time to need AAA. The soonest they could send someone was in four hours.
The sun peeked from behind a cloud, reminding me there was indeed always a bright side. The party wasn’t far from here, and AAA would phone me when the cavalry was on the way.
Now, I just needed to get to the party.
In romance novels, this was the moment when the hero pulled over and offered to help the heroine. In thrillers, this was the moment when the serial killer pulled over and added another notch in his…well, whatever serial killers added a notch to.
A familiar black BMW pulled in front of my car and option B would have been favorable at this point. I inwardly groaned as Trent Salway exited his vehicle.
“Hey Kels, you need help?” Six-foot-plus of dark-haired male hotness in a black business suit walked up to me, and the ache between my legs let out a dreamy sigh. Clearly it hadn’t forgotten how I had been crushing on my best friend’s big brother for as long as I could remember—only for him to see me as nothing more than a little sister. More specifically, his best friend’s little sister.
Trent’s gaze dropped to my lips and the ache between my legs drifted into its own fantasy land. It’s not what you think, my brain pointed out, always the party pooper. Your lip gloss is probably smeared.
Unconsciously, I ran the tip of my tongue along my lower lip. Trent’s sexy green eyes darkened, and his Adam’s apple shot up then slid back down.
His passenger door opened, yanking me out of my lust-filled moment, and a pair of never-ending legs, with shiny red stilettos attached, stepped out. Then in slow motion—or at least it seemed that way in my head—the rest of the body appeared from the car. At the sight of her, my heart clambered out of my chest and crash-landed on the asphalt with a big splat.
Whoever this woman was, she was the opposite of me. Her black dress clung to her slim body and her auburn hair was swept up in an elegant bun. Her makeup was smoky and made her look like a Hollywood starlet. My ex-fiancé used to call me kitten sexy—a nice way of saying I was cute—but I was nothing compared to this woman.
I had to admit, though, as my heart climbed back into my chest, she was perfect for Trent. She was sophistication on a stick.
Sophistication-on-a-stick smiled her perfect red lips at me. “Hi.”
I wished I could say her voice was like claws being dragged down a chalkboard. I wished I could say she didn’t have an Australian accent that would cause every guy within a ten-mile radius to blow his load at the sound of it.
“Kels, this is Holly,” Trent said. “Holly, this is my sister’s best friend, Kelsey.”
Holly offered her manicured hand and I shook it. “It’s nice to meet you.” The voice was so sincere and friendly, it was hard not to instantly like her, even if she was dating the man whose lips I craved.
Decidedly Off Limits now available for free.
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Other Titles in the Copper Creek series
Once Upon a Cowboy
Cinderella’s fairy godmother just turned hot. And male. Very, very male.
Sexy cowboy Jake Daniels has three priorities in his life: his horse ranch that he manages with his brother, his family, and Sophie West. Sophie is the ranch’s horse trainer and his close friend. The one thing he doesn’t have time for is a girlfriend. And he especially doesn’t have time for a relationship with an employee. Mixing business with pleasure never ends well. Been there. Done that. Had it branded on his ass.
Not a problem—until Sophie asks for his help. She’s tired of being single. She’s ready to find her soul mate—or at least a nice man. The issue? She’s socially awkward around guys she’s interested in. The solution? Recruit Jake to be her “fairy godfather” and help her be more confident, especially around the new veterinarian who just moved into town.
Great plan, except Sophie’s no naive Cinderella and Jake realizes if anyone’s going to be her Prince Charming, he wants it to be him. If only he didn’t have to put his heart on the line to win hers.
Once Upon a Cowboy releases November 2018!
Also by Stina Lindenblatt
Romantic Comedy Series
By the Bay
Decidedly Off Limits
Decidedly With Baby
Decidedly With Love
Decidedly With Mistletoe (coming Sept ’18)
Copper Creek
Cowboy Most Wanted
Once Upon a Cowboy (coming Nov ’18)
Non Romantic Comedy series
Pushing Limits
This One Moment
My Song For You
I Need You Tonight
Lost In You
Tell Me When
Let Me Know
Acknowledgments
First, I want to say a big thanks to everyone who has fallen in love with my romantic comedies. Your enthusiasm for the books is heartwarming. This is especially true when it comes to the members of my Facebook reader group (Stina’s Sweethearts). You guys are the best!
A special thanks goes to my cover designer Hang Le. She truly created magic with the cover. And not only is Hang super talented, she’s a saint.
I also want to thank my editor Bev Katz Rosenbaum (BKR Editing), as well as Hope and Jessica from Flat Earth Editing for their copyediting and proofreading expertise. All three individuals helped make this book sparkle. I especially have to thank Jessica for correcting my terminology when it came to the horse gear. I grew up in England until I was eleven years old, and took English riding lessons for several years. Western and English riding use different terms when it comes to equestrian equipment. Fortunately, Jessica is very familiar with Western-style riding. Naturally, I can’t forget Brenda St. John Brown, who shared her own brilliant suggestions and wisdom when it came to this book and beyond. When I get stuck with a plot point, she’s always there to give me suggestions. And hugs and kisses to my wonderful publicist Nina Bocci. I can’t imagine what I would do without her.
Writing can be a lonely occupation if it weren’t for the online author support groups. These are the places writers can go to get answers to their publishing and marketing questions. My favorite group is Hockey With Heart. And the best part of all? Even though I no longer write hockey romances (at least not for now), they haven’t kicked me out yet. LOL
And finally, I would like to thank my family. They put up with so much when it comes to my career. Between the hours I spend writing and marketing and searching through photo stock sites for the perfect sexy image that Facebook won’t reject, it’s amazing they still recognize me. At least I think they still recognize me.
About the Author
Born in Brighton England, Stina Lindenblatt has lived in a number of countries, including England, the U.S, Finland, and Canada. This would explain her mixed up accent. In addition to writing fiction, she loves photography, especially the close-up variety, and currently lives in Calgary, Canada, with her husband, three kids, and their cat.
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Cowboy Most Wanted (Copper Creek Book 1) Page 22