Cowboy of Her Dreams

by Kira Barcelo

  Cowboy of Her Dreams

  By

  Kira Barcelo

  ©2012 by Blushing Books® and Kira Barcelo

  Copyright © 2012 by Blushing Books® and Kira Barcelo

  All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Blushing Books edition published with permission of Author.

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  Barcelo, Kira

  Cowboy of Her Dreams

  Blushing Books edition eBook ISBN: 978-1-60968-857-8

  Cover Design by Stilly Designs

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  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

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  Books by Kira Barcelo

  I DREAM OF AMY

  LARKIN’S COWBOY

  COOKING WITH FIRE

  NIGHT & DAY

  Visit the author on her blog, http://kirabarcelo.blogspot.com

  All names, characters and events featured in this novel are imaginary. They are not inspired by any individual person, incidents or events by any individual person, incidents or events known or unknown to the author. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jenna Price winced when she looked out through the kitchen window, nearly dropping the drinking glass in her hand that she’d been washing.

  That can’t be him, she thought. How could that be him?

  For one thing, the man had just stepped out of a sports car. It was one of those classics, like the ones in the car shows Lindsay Falls had in the church parking lot on the Fourth of July. That in itself was crazy: What had she been expecting, exactly? For him to ride up in the saddle of a horse, John Wayne-style?

  “Hey, Jen!” her younger brother hollered on his descent down the stairs. A strapping fifteen-year-old, Jake sounded like a wild stallion galloping down those steps. “Somebody’s here!”

  “Yeah, I saw him,” she drawled.

  He wasn’t a bad-looking guy. Actually, he was handsome, in that sophisticated-city-male sort of way. She lingered at the window for a moment, watching him stand with his long legs apart, staring at the house with a disapproving frown.

  His jeans looked expensive, as if they’d never seen a speck of country dust. His sunglasses looked expensive. His boots looked expensive, not at all scuffed, unlike most of hers. Everything about him screamed dollar signs.

  That couldn’t be him.

  That wasn’t the way she’d pictured him in her imagination for years.

  Jenna hurried to the door, opening it and stepping out onto the porch. There he was in his fancy clothes, and there she was, wearing her most faded, oldest jeans, the knees of which were pretty threadbare by now. Her green tank top was cool and comfortable on that arid Texas summer day. She’d hastily brushed her hair up in a ponytail, not a bit of makeup on her face. Working on the ranch, she had no reason to get all decked out.

  Suddenly, for whatever reason, she felt self-conscious.

  Seeing her, he smiled and approached the porch.

  “Hello, there!” he called out.

  “Hello, there. This is private property, just so you know,” she announced, all in one note.

  She knew that was rude of her. What’s more, she didn’t care. That property now officially belonged to Stone Farrell. This stranger, moneyed or not, was trespassing on Stone’s ranch. Watching him flinch slightly drew a satisfied smirk from her.

  “I hope so. And that’d be my private property,” he corrected her.

  He removed his glasses, an action that was simple. It shouldn’t have evoked such a response from her, with this little wave of unexpected shivers going through her. A combination of things, hitting her all at once. The gorgeous blue eyes, for one thing, were a surprise. They were steely, combined with a facial expression that had gone from friendly to stern in zero seconds.

  “You’re Stone Farrell?” she asked, her eyebrows arching.

  “I’m Stone Farrell. Why is that such a surprise?”

  “Well—”

  “And just who are you?” Before he could answer, his eyes widened. “You must be Jenna. You’re the one who looks after this place. That’s you, right?”

  Her stomach sank with that announcement. Actually, it was more than that…it was a dismissal. She recognized that uncomfortable feeling inside her as disappointment. A feeling she was acquainted with intimately.

  Pretending it didn’t bother her, she took a breath and forced herself to be businesslike. “Welcome home, Mr. Farrell. Would you like to come in now or have a look around your ranch first?”

  “I’d like to come in first, if you don’t mind. I’m pretty thirsty.” He shrugged, slowly stepping toward the porch steps. “Besides, I don’t need to look around. I was here enough times as a kid. I know every inch of it.”

  “Uh-huh. Suit yourself,” she mumbled, not sure he’d heard her.

  Wow. Nothing, nothing like I thought he’d be.

  In fairness, she hadn’t been anywhere near the Circle F Ranch when he was a boy. For one thing, Stone was about five years her senior. For another, she’d been working there as caretaker for his father, who had passed away. Other Farrell family members—his younger sisters—had been there occasionally, checking up on the place. Jenna liked Robyn and Melanie Farrell, both of whom were down-to-earth women. Apparently, the same couldn’t be said of their city-boy brother.

  So what were you expecting? she asked herself.

  Still, she played the role of the hostess, thoug
h she suddenly felt uncomfortable in the house she’d occupied for five years, along with her brother Jake. All three of them standing in the foyer, with her brother by the stairs, she noticed them nodding hesitantly at each other.

  “You’re Stone?” her brother asked.

  “That’s my name.” Giving him a hint of a smile, he turned to Jenna with a question in his eyes.

  “My brother, Jake,” she told him.

  “Oh, okay.” Pausing, he extended a hand to the approaching teenager. “Nice to meet you, kid.”

  “Nice to meet you, too. You’re not what I thought you’d be.”

  Jenna bit down on her lip to avoid letting out a giggle. Despite herself, she thought Stone looked sort of engaging, just the way he did a double-take at her brother.

  “Why? What did you think I’d be?” he had to ask.

  “I thought—I don’t know. You look like your pictures and all. At least the ones of when you were my age. But you don’t look…like you belong here.”

  “That’s probably because I don’t.”

  She barely had time to register that discouraging remark before Jake went on, displaying the honesty of a teenaged boy, “But you do look familiar. Like I’ve seen you before.”

  “Hey—well, thanks.” That sure made him animated. “Maybe you’ve seen my movies?”

  “You’re in the movies?” Her brother was clearly impressed. “Which ones?”

  “I’ve got water, juice, and soda,” she interrupted them brusquely to ask Stone. “Name your poison.”

  He ignored her. Apparently, he wasn’t thirsty enough to keep from bragging.

  “Oh, man, I’ve been in several. Ever see The Revenge Plan? Gone Too Long?”

  “Nope. Never even heard of them.”

  “Okay, well, those are indies. They’re not quite teenager fare. Sooo how about…Deadline? And Guns, Cars and Whiskey? Ghosts in the Basement?”

  Now he seemed to be speaking Jake’s language. When it came to movies, her kid brother had never met an action flick or scary movie he didn’t like.

  “I loved Deadline!” he admitted with enthusiasm. “Weren’t you the guy who died at the very beginning?”

  “Yeah, that was me! But, hey, I had a whole five minutes before that happened. Most of the critics agreed it was a memorable performance…even if it did only last five minutes.”

  “And Ghosts in the Basement. You were that really mean ghost, right? That was an awesome movie.”

  “Jake, Stone and I need to talk,” she interrupted them again, patting her brother on the arm. “You go on outside and get your chores done.”

  “Chores? I gotta do chores? But there’s a real movie star here.”

  Jenna flashed him a look that let him know she wasn’t going to be swayed on that one. It wouldn’t have been as bad if Jake was the only one trying to persuade her.

  “We have to talk now?” Stone questioned her. “What’s the rush? And what was your favorite part of the ghost movie, Jake?”

  “The rush is I have work to do. This isn’t a movie; this is a real ranch. FYI, your ranch,” she reminded him in a cool tone of voice. “So if you don’t mind, let’s talk in the kitchen. I’ll get you a cold drink.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She guessed that little salute he gave her was meant to be playful. In effect, he was telling her she was taking the whole thing too seriously. That, in itself, made it necessary for her to suppress an impatient sigh.

  And, yes, now that Jake had brought it up, Stone did look familiar. Not just because of the pictures she’d seen of him, either. She liked the movies as well as the next person; she just didn’t always have time for them. Most of her time had been spent in running the cattle ranch for the Farrell family.

  But now she realized Stone had played a cop in a thriller some years ago. That also hadn’t been much of a role. If she recalled correctly, he’d been onscreen many fifteen minutes, tops, if that.

  As she recalled, too, the young cop in the film had commanded her attention then, exactly like the actor who’d played him was doing now. He’d looked pretty hot in a cop uniform, too.

  “So my sisters say you’re a terrific caretaker,” he started the ball rolling after she handed him an ice-cold bottle of Coke from the fridge. “If we do decide to keep the ranch, and I’m leaning toward that now, we’d like you to stay on. Your brother’s welcome, too, naturally—”

  “Whoa. Hold on!” Jenna almost dropped the soda bottle she’d brought out for herself. “What do you mean, if you decide to keep it? I thought this was about you coming here to run it. That’s what your sisters told me.”

  “Well, I would like to run it. If that’s what I decide to do.” Stone paused to seat himself at the table, stretching out his long, denim-clad legs. “I mean, it’s lucrative. And I have time between roles. Plus, I’d have you and the ranch hands to help when I can’t be here.”

  Jenna’s head, which was already spinning from all these new revelations, spun a bit more. It didn’t help that he was distracting her with that California tan of his, his lean but muscular, very male body, and those piercing blue eyes.

  “It sounds like you want to be a part-time cowboy,” she half-teased, trying to hide the disappointment that refused to go away.

  “I play a cowboy better in the movies than I do in person. Except, uh…I haven’t really played one yet. But I’m open to the opportunity.”

  She sighed. “What do you know about being a rancher?”

  “Let me think...hmmm, that’s right. Nothing. Zilch. Nada.”

  Jenna fought with the plastic cap on her soda bottle but refused his offer to help with his hand reached out to take it from her. She took a long sip before saying, “You know this place has been in your family for a long time. Your grandfather was a rancher, too.”

  “I know. I do ride, though. And my dad had me do work around this place, like you probably have your brother doing. That’s a start, right?”

  “I don’t think you understand. This is a commitment.”

  “I do understand, Jenna. But I have other commitments. Like, for one, my girlfriend.”

  Luckily, she was close enough to the kitchen island to grasp the edge of it. After hearing that, her grip tightened ever so slightly. It almost felt like she’d been punched in the chest.

  He had a girlfriend. Stone Farrell already had someone in his life.

  But of course he does! What did you think? How stupid can you be?

  “Your girlfriend. She’s an actress, too?” she asked.

  “As a matter of fact, she is. Ever hear of Ashley Covington?”

  “Can’t say that I have.” Okay, so it was childish of her, yet that admission gave her some pleasure.

  On the other hand, she couldn’t wait to look her up on the computer, probably as soon as she could make it back to her bedroom.

  “Okay, well, she hasn’t been in a lot of movies. Yet. But anyway,” he sighed and went on, “I asked her how she felt about coming here.”

  “And?”

  “And she’s not too thrilled about leaving L.A. She’s a Cali girl, born and raised. And she’s in her twenties, so there’s not a lot out here for her.”

  Ashley Covington. Jenna committed the name to memory. It sounded like one of those made-up names. On the other hand, there were more pressing issues to talk about, none of which had to do with his “Cali Girl” Girlfriend.

  She’d never felt so conflicted in her life. Strange as it was, part of her was jealous of this twenty-something she’d never met, even being in her twenties as well, and all because she claimed as her future husband a man whom Jenna had been infatuated with for a few years now. Then there was that other part of her that thought, She can have this Hollywood phony!

  “So what you’re telling me is you don’t know what you’re doing with this place yet.” She tried to pin him down, and by then she didn’t care if she did sound prickly. “That’s what you’re saying, right? And that means my brother and I are up in the air
, too.”

  He was going to get angry. That was fine; she didn’t care if she got him all riled up. Right then, she was more upset than she cared to admit.

  To her surprise, those blue eyes didn’t flash or narrow at her. Instead, much to her chagrin, Stone regarded her kindly and he kept his voice gentle.

  “I won’t do that to you, Jenna. I’m trying to be honest with you, though.” He set his bottle on the table and leaned forward in his seat. “Look, my sisters told me about you and your brother. How you two have been here a long time. They said you love this place almost as much as my father did. Especially you. ’Course, I have to admit…” Pausing, he chuckled. “I expected to see a guy running this place, not a cute little girl like you.”

  Jenna stiffened. “I’m not a little girl. I’m twenty-four. And I’m good at what I do. I’ve been around ranches all my life. And it really would—never mind.”

  “Oh, no, no. Please go on.” As he waved a hand in the air, Stone rose from his seat and approached the kitchen island. “It really would what?”

  It really would have broken your dad’s heart to see that not one of you—not you, not your sisters—is interested in running this place.

  Saying that would’ve been out of line. Stone’s sisters had always given her free reign at the Circle F Ranch. Criticizing the whole family, however, wouldn’t go over very well.

  Besides, she wasn’t upset with the Farrell sisters. For a second she almost lost her train of thought, with Stone folding his arms on the island and leaning against it, closer to her, his expression cool and much more relaxed than she was feeling right then. It felt as if his gaze was capturing hers, though she occasionally looked down at his inviting mouth and those strong biceps that filled up that short-sleeved shirt.

  “I just think,” she stopped, choosing her words carefully, “well, it’s not my place to say, but…”