For the Love of a Cowboy (Cowboy Dreamin') Read online

  FOR THE LOVE OF A COWBOY

  Cowboy Dreamin’ 3

  Sandy Sullivan

  Erotic Romance

  Secret Cravings Publishing

  www.secretcravingspublishing.com

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  A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

  Erotic Romance

  For the Love of a Cowboy

  Copyright © 2013 Sandy Sullivan

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-925-9

  First E-book Publication: October 2013

  Cover design by Dawné Dominique

  Edited by Stephanie Balistreri

  Proofread by Ariana Gaynor

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Secret Cravings Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

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  www.secretcravingspublishing.com

  Dedication

  For Kimberly Hill and Mayas Sanders.

  Thanks for being such great fans!

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  *Trouble With a Cowboy, a western, erotic romance:

  Can some slashed tires and an ornery bull bring two hard-headed people together for some fun in the sun and a little more?

  **Forget Me Not, paranormal erotic romance:

  A war is brewing, a war that could destroy an entire vampire race if left unchecked, and Julian Marino has been requested to participate in it. He stops his search for a long time friend to go home and discovers there is more at stake than just his wants.

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  FOR THE LOVE OF A COWBOY

  Cowboy Dreamin’ 3

  Sandy Sullivan

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  The music coming through the bar doors as they swung open, had Paige Tyler tapping her boot clad feet to the beat as she pulled her Harley to the curb. A knowing smile flirted at her lips when she heard low whistles and cat calls from a group of men nearby. No doubt they were liking how the soft leather bustier she wore pushed her breast up in an enticing display. The matching pants that went with it, hugged her ass just right and showed off how long her legs were. The whole outfit–she knew–virtually gave the impression that she could give any man she wanted the vision of a good time.

  Her daddy would kill her if he saw her, but what the hell. This is why she came to Bandera to do her barhopping. No one here knew her, or her father in this small town bar that cater to the local cowboys. She glanced up at the huge neon sign of a boot with a spur hanging off its back.

  Over the past few months, she’d become a regular here at The Dusty Boot. The faded wood exterior reminded her of an old western saloon with a hitching post and everything. They even had sawdust on the floor.

  Her father didn’t know where she went on her little excursions. He thought she spent her evenings reading to the poor little old ladies at the local nursing home, but she always took her car to the storage building where she kept her bike and clothes. After she switched out, she’d put on her helmet and hit the highway.

  Another round of wolf whistles had her turning her head in the direction of a pickup truck as she removed her helmet. Damn, if she had one weakness it was a man in tight Wrangler’s and dusty boots. She blew him a kiss.

  “Oh, honey, come on. I’m sure you got more than that.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “We’ll see, cowboy.” With a toss of her brown curls, she waltzed through the double doors and straight up to the bar. “Hold this back there for me, please.”

  “You be careful, Paige,” Dan said, taking the helmet. “We got a rowdy crowd tonight.”

  “I’m always prepared.”

  “I know, honey, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.” He shook his finger at her, making her laugh. She loved the big, burly guy even though she hadn’t known him long. He reminded her of an ex-marine with his shaved head and multiple tattoos. “Stay outta trouble, you hear me?” He’d taken it upon himself to treat her like a daughter he’d never had.

  She blew him a kiss and a wink that probab
ly drove the man crazy, but he just smiled and shook his head with a mumble of words she couldn’t hear.

  Thanks to all her years of Tae-Kwon-Do, she’d earned her black belt and knew how to take care of herself in any situation. She didn’t use it for anything except defense, but sometimes it took a little persuasion on her part when a man got randy on her.

  A crowd of dancers twirled and whirled around the dance floor in a flash of sequins and denim. She took a chair at the opposite end of the bar from the door. It helped to keep everyone in sight in case things got out of hand.

  “What are ya drinkin’, Paige,” Peyton asked her when she approached her end of the bar.

  “Hey, Peyton. Coke, please.”

  Peyton shook her head and laughed. “You’re the only woman I know who comes to a bar dressed like that and drinks Coke.”

  She smiled. She sure was an enigma to most, pre-school teacher, preacher’s daughter who wore leather, rode a Harley, and hung out in bars on the weekends. “I have to keep my wits about me. I just want to be around the crowd and music. I don’t need the alcohol if I’m ridin’.”

  The woman set the glass down in front of her. Paige lifted it to her lips and took a slow sip from the straw as she turned around to take in the scenery. Several people had already paired off for the night, but there were still a few cowboys hanging around who didn’t seem to be with anyone special. It didn’t bother her. She wasn’t here necessarily to pick anyone up. If it happened, then she’d go with the flow.

  A few cowboys played pool at one of the tables set toward the back of the room while others moved in and out from the dance floor with each switch of the music. Rows and rows of tables with wooden chairs sat all over the place in various configurations depending on who moved the tables around to accommodate their group. Neon signs covered most of the walls. Everything from Bud Light to Captain Morgan lined the panels from the back of the bar to the door.

  A sea of cowboy hats and rhinestones encompassed the crowd, everything from tight Wranglers to sundresses and cowboy boots. The wide variety of dress seemed funny to Paige, but she couldn’t say much as she sat there in her leather.

  Lots of groups laughed as they pushed each other in a joke or two. The ages ranged from early twenties to fifties. There were a few couples who seemed like then been together a long time and others who were hooking up for the night.

  The normal loneliness she felt when she realized she didn’t have a lot of friends, overwhelmed her for a minute. To hell with friends. I don’t need them. The few people she still hung out with a time or two thought of her as Paige Tyler, the preacher’s daughter wearing the paisley dress on Sunday with her Bible in hand, listening to the sermon like the good little girl she was supposed to be. If they saw her dressed in the leather wear she had on tonight, they’d have a frickin’ heart attack.

  A couple of cowboys pushed one guy back. “You’re fuckin’ drunk again, Jacob. Why don’t you go home and sleep it off until next time.”

  “Leave me the fuck alone.”

  “You ain’t worth shit anymore, man.”

  “Just play. I’ve got twenty bucks says I can beat your ass.”

  “I ain’t takin’ your money. You couldn’t shoot pool right now if you tried.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  The man called Jacob got right up in the other guy’s face and spit. Oh shit.

  “You did not just fuckin’ spit in my face, man.”

  “Yeah, I did. What are you gonna do about it?”

  The bigger man pulled back his fist and hit Jacob in the stomach, doubling him over with a groan. The smaller man flew across the bar floor, sliding on his butt until he hit the wall. Paige got to her feet, moving with the crowd toward the fight. If she had to get involved, she would. Even though the one called Jacob deserved to get his ass kicked, she wouldn’t allow the bigger man to beat the shit out of him especially if it got to be two against one. As he shook his head to clear it, two guys picked him up and the third punched him in the stomach.

  Oh hell no.

  “Paige?” the bartender pulled her back by the arm as she surged forward. “Leave them alone.”

  “It’s three against one, Dan. I can’t have that.” She pushed through the crowd. “Hey, asswipe!”

  The bigger guy turned around, squinting as he looked through the crowd. He was huge. His biceps bulged as he clamped his hand into a fist. Blond hair peeked out from beneath a straw cowboy hat. His blue eyes narrowed into slits. “Who said that?”

  “Me, fucktard.”

  The man looked straight at her and laughed a gut rolling belly laugh. “You? Baby, step aside and let the men handle this.”

  That kind of reaction usually pissed her off, but not tonight. Dumbass didn’t know what he had on his plate now that she’d decided to step in between him and drunk he wanted to beat the shit out of. “Not three on one, you aren’t.”

  “And what the hell are you gonna do about it, baby doll?” His gaze slid over her attire as he grinned wide enough she caught a glimpse of the gold teeth in his mouth. “Your leather outfit is hot, I’ll give ya that, but leave this to us men.” He spun around to face his two friends.

  “Bring it on, big man.” She needed the man to make the first swing. It went against her grain to hit someone first. She motioned with her hands to bait him.

  He laughed as he stepped closer. “I don’t hit women.”

  “Come on, goliath. You too much of a pussy?”

  “What did you call me?”

  “Pussy.”

  The laughter from the crowd had the man’s face turning purple. Their amusement died when he took a swing at her. Her first pass of her boot caught the man in the chin, splitting his lip open in a gush of blood. The next kick swiped his feet out from under him, laying him out cold on the floor.

  The other two men dropped the drunk guy on the floor before backing away. “We don’t want no trouble.”

  “You got trouble when you ganged up on one man,” she said stepping in front of the man they’d called Jacob. “You okay?” she asked him without taking her eyes off the other three.

  “I think I’m gonna be sick.” He rolled over and pushed to his feet. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as he rushed for the bathroom, almost losing his footing a couple of time.

  She cringed when she heard him puke in the hallway.

  “I suggest you three take it somewhere else.”

  Dan pushed through the throng and appeared at her side “Yeah. Out you two. I don’t want any more trouble.” He motioned to the man on the floor. “Take your buddy and go.”

  “You ain’t kickin’ her and Jacob out?”

  “She didn’t do nothin’ but stand up to you three bullies. You knew Jacob was messed up as usual, but you took advantage of him anyway.”

  She rolled her eyes as she heard the man heave again. She’d seen him here before, but he’d always been the quiet drunk in the corner. Yeah, she’d noticed him, all six-feet-plus of him, dark hair, built like a man who did a lot of physical labor. He’d never bothered her or anyone else, just drank his beer until he got wasted enough someone who knew him took him home or wherever. She hoped the man didn’t drive like that. There’d been a time or two she’d thought about approaching him for a one night stand, but she’d always changed her mind at the last minute, unsure of whether he might be a mean drunk or just a quiet one.

  He pushed his way back to the edge of the crowd as he wiped the puke from his face. “Thanks.”

  She winced as she glanced at the front of his shirt. “No thanks needed.”

  With his hat in his hand, he nodded to her and headed for the door.

  Oh hell no, he isn’t drivin’ like this. “Where ya goin’, cowboy?” she asked walking up behind him to tap him on the shoulder.

  “Home,” he mumbled as he pushed his hat on his head with one hand while reaching for his keys with the other.

  “You ain’t drivin’.” She snatched the keys from him and spun out of reach. S
he wasn’t a small woman by any means, but the man still had her by several inches.

  “Yeah, I am. I’m fine.” He reached for the keys, but she stuck them in her front jeans pocket.

  “Buddy, you’re so drunk you can’t see straight.”

  He laughed. “I ain’t that drunk. I only see two of you, not three this time.” The laughter burbling from his lips sounded strained, like he hadn’t laughed in a long time.

  “What kind of vehicle do you drive?” she asked, sliding underneath his arm to wrap it around her shoulder. Why the fuck do I get myself into these messes? They walked into the cooler air of the early spring evening.

  “Black Ford truck, why?” he asked, stumbling beside her.

  “’Cause I’m takin’ your ass somewhere so you can sleep off this drunk before you drive and I can’t put your ass on my bike.” She glanced across the street to the small motel. Originally, the thought of getting him home consumed her, but after she thought about it, settling him in a room would be a better idea. “Come on, cowboy, let’s get you settled for the night.”

  “Are you takin’ me home ‘cause I don’t think I’m up to doin’ anything tonight.” He stumbled beside her again and she barely caught him. They almost tumbled into the street in a tangled heap. “I really need to brush my teeth.”

  “I bet you do.” She put her arm around his waist as they walked across the street to try to steady him a bit more. Getting to the motel without laying both of them out flat on the pavement would just make her night.

  “You’re pretty,” he said as he looked at her profile, his puke-ladened breath wafting across her nose.

  She fought the bile in her throat. God, she hated when people got puking drunk. “Thanks.”