He's the One
Page 26
“Once or twice, my sweet ass. You can’t seem to keep yourself out from under hoof. You’re too tall for a bull rider, if you ask me. You need to be small and quick like me. You should have stuck with team roping.”
Watching the two men bicker, Logan sipped his beer and stayed out of the fray. He wasn’t about to enter that debate. Bull riders were crazy.
Sure, Logan had joined the army knowing there’d be times during his career he was going to be up against an enemy who wanted him dead, but to get on the back of a bucking bull knowing you were going to be thrown in the dirt every damn time? Nope. Not for him.
While Jace and Tuck continued to banter—something about which bull Jace drew last time he rode—motion out in the driveway caught Logan’s eye. He turned to watch through the window as a hot as hell woman in a short, black dress reached one long, bare leg out of the car. She stepped from behind the open passenger door, and even doing nothing but standing in the driveway, she was sexy enough to make a man take notice. Her blond hair and resemblance to Becca told him this must be her sister, Emma.
Logan glanced at Tuck and wondered how bad of a friend he was that Tuck’s soon-to-be sister-in-law was giving him a hard-on. Just from his thinking about what the curves that dress accentuated so nicely would feel like beneath his touch.
Imagine if he ever actually got his hands on her?
An older woman and man exited the front doors of the sedan and joined the blonde. They had to be Tuck’s new in-laws. Their presence should have diminished Logan’s amorous fantasies about Emma. It didn’t. It seemed Emma had captured his attention and she wasn’t letting go. He managed to block her parents right out as he wondered what her hair would feel like against his cheek while he ran his tongue down her throat.
“Hey, Tuck. It looks like Emma’s here.” Jace came to stand next to Logan at the window. He let out a slow whistle. “Boy oh boy, is she looking good.”
The tone of Jace’s voice made Logan turn to get a good look at him. The man had a knowing expression on his face that didn’t sit well at all. “You know her?”
“Ohhh, yeahhh.” Jace dragged the two short words out to be obscenely long.
What the hell was that about? Logan’s brows rose. He turned to glance at Tuck.
“Emma was here with Becca the first time she came to Oklahoma for the job interview at OSU. You know, the night she and I met at the rodeo.” Tuck had answered without Logan having to ask, but that sure as hell didn’t explain the rest. Such as why Jace was acting as if he and Emma had done more than just meet that night.
Those were details Logan was more than interested in having. “Yeah, I remember you telling me about the rodeo.”
But not that Jace and Becca’s hot sister from New York had had a little one-night rodeo of their own.
Of course, Jace liked to exaggerate. It didn’t matter if it was about conquering a bull or a woman. Logan had known the man for years through Tuck. Since the two had ridden on the rodeo circuit together before Tuck had enlisted in the army. If nothing else, he knew Jace could throw the shit with the best of them. It was very possible nothing at all had happened between Jace and Emma, except in Jace’s own overactive imagination.
He decided to run with that theory and see how things progressed. It was far better than the alternative—assuming Jace had a prior claim and having to back off. A lot could happen over a short period of time. Look at how one night between Tuck and Becca had changed both of their lives. Logan had an entire weekend and a wedding reception to work with. There’d be sentimental speeches and tears, music, and a fully stocked bar. Everything to put the partygoers—and Emma—in the mood for romance.
Not to mention Logan had Tuck on his side, pulling for him, putting in a good word. At least Tuck had better be on his side. Jace was Tuck’s friend, yes, but Logan was like a brother. Not to mention his boss and a superior officer. If it came right down to it, Logan would pull rank. Hell, he could order Tuck to put in a good word for him with Emma or else.
When it involved leggy blondes with curves like Emma’s, a man had to bend the rules a little sometimes.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
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Compilation copyright © 2013 by Kensington Publishing Corp.
“Batteries Not Required” copyright © 2005 by Linda Lael Miller
“Captivated” copyright © 2005 by Jill Shalvis
“Seducing Tabby” copyright © 2005 by Lucy Monroe
“No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” copyright © 2013 by Kate Angell
“Fish Out of Water” copyright © 2013 by Cat Johnson
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ISBN: 978-0-7582-1095-1
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-8901-8
eISBN-10: 0-7582-8901-4
First Kensington Books Electronic Edition: July 2013