Trouble With a Cowboy Read online

  TROUBLE WITH A COWBOY

  Sandy Sullivan

  Erotic Romance

  Secret Cravings Publishing

  www.secretcravingspublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Secret Cravings Publishing e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

  Erotic Romance

  Trouble With a Cowboy

  Copyright © 2013 Sandy Sullivan

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-569-5

  First E-book Publication: February 2013

  Cover design by Dawné Dominique

  Edited by Stephanie Balistreri

  Proofread by Rene Flowers

  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

  Secret Cravings Publishing

  www.secretcravingspublishing.com

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to the lover of cowboys. You all know who you are!

  The author acknowledges the trademark status and the following trademark owners mentioned in this work of fiction.…

  The Professional Bull Riders Association

  Target Corp.

  Bellagio (resort and casino)

  Snickers

  Wranglers

  Stetson

  Apple IPod

  The Cravings e-book Club

  The Cravings Paranormal e-book Club

  Have you heard about the newest idea in ebooks, the ebook club? Secret Cravings Publishing has started two ebook clubs and we invite you to become a member of either The Cravings e-book Club or the Cravings Paranormal e-book Club. Join now and get two books absolutely free!

  As a member, you will receive Taming The Cougar* by Sandy Sullivan and Hunting Jaguar** by D. McEntire FREE, just for joining!

  You’ll also receive 4 BRAND-NEW EBOOKS, specially selected by our Editorial Director, every month for a total price of only $9.99 for all 4. This comes out to barely $2.50 per book, much less than the retail price and you’ll be able to enjoy your books even before they hit Amazon or Barnes & Noble. We send your books before they are uploaded to the popular sales sites. One of several privileges of club membership.

  *Taming the Cougar, a western, erotic romance:

  Marla isn't looking for love or anything else from a man. Can Marla put aside her distrust of men for a younger man? Can Chris convince her he's not like other guys?

  *Hunting Jaguar, paranormal erotic romance:

  Rachel Hayes' father set out to prove the existence of the Miloni temple and the Jaguar people. Tumi is a descendant of the Miloni race and is sworn to protect their secret with his life. Will he be forced to uphold his vow at the cost of his heart and Rachel's life?

  As a member of the Cravings Club, you’ll receive 4 books in a variety of genres every month. We will try to match your books to your preferences, however, if you’re a major paranormal fan, I suggest you join the Cravings Paranormal Club. Everything is the same, 4 books every month for $9.99 except that 3 of your 4 books will be paranormal. The remaining book will be of a different genre.

  As a club member, you will also receive:

  our monthly newsletter

  sneak previews of new books

  exclusive interviews with your favorite authors

  special offers not available to the general public

  To join and tell us your favorite genres and heat levels plus which format works best for you, go to the Secret Cravings Publishing website (www.secretcravingspublishing.com) At the bottom of the page you’ll see a button for the club. You can sign up there and share your preferences for genre, format and heat level with us. You will be charged, automatically, through PayPal, only $9.99 every month. Your books will be shipped within 1 day after PayPal payment has cleared. You may cancel at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” button located on the Cravings Club tab at the bottom of our website and keep the FREE BOOKS as our gift.

  We hope our Secret Cravings books will delight you each and every month.

  Best wishes,

  Beth Walker

  TROUBLE WITH A COWBOY

  Sandy Sullivan

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Bum-fuck nowhere, Oklahoma.

  "What'cha drinkin', honey?" The bartender greeted Jacie Hawkins with a flirty smile.

  "Beer, please," she said, sliding some money across to the nice looking, broad shouldered guy behind the counter.

  "Any particular brand you're partial to?"

  "Bud is fine. In a bottle, please."

  "No problem." The man popped the cap and set the beer down in front of her. "You ain't from here."

  She tipped the longneck to her lips, taking a deep draw, before leaning against the bar. "How'd you guess?"

  "I'd have noticed you before, honey."

  She narrowed her eyes on the man. Yes, she wanted to find a gorgeous cowboy to sate her lust, but this guy wasn't the one. "Is that supposed to be an offhanded compliment?"

  The guy tipped his cowboy hat. His grin got bigger while he chewed the toothpick hanging from the edge of his mouth. "Nothing offhanded about it, beautiful."

  "Whatever," she grumbled, rolling her eyes. Men were all the same. They figured a few flowery compliments and any girl would eat out of their palm or from between their legs inside a minute or two. Well not this girl.

  Spinning around on the barstool, she looked over the crowd while dangling the bottle of beer between her fingers. The men outnumbered the women two to one. Every imaginable kind of sparkle or rhinestone could be found on either the back pockets of jeans or spelling something out across an overemphasized chest.

  Her white spaghetti strap tank top with a shear black top over it, black hip hugging jeans, black pointed toe cowboy boots and her championship gold rodeo buckle, completed her attire. The choice of outfit made her a cut above most of the women in this bar. There were a few in the crowd, who looked authentic, but very few.

  Every now and then, Jacie Margaret Hawkins broke down to become the girl beneath the jeans, oversized shirt, baseball cap and tomboy exterior. Tonight would be that night—in a town where she knew no one.

  She hated stopping while she hauled her horse, but the animal needed the break. The excursion from Tennessee to Vegas had taken its toll on her mare. She needed
to give her baby a day or two to stretch her legs.

  Long days of driving were nothing new for her. Truck driving paid the bills. A woman trucker usually caught the attention of others on the road, but no one messed with Jacie. Her don't fuck with me attitude usually kept unwanted advances at bay.

  These women don't have a clue. Most men don't give a damn about a wannabe cowgirl, they want the real thing. She frowned. Until they figure out they can't handle the real thing. Her focus dropped to the planks scattered with sawdust.

  Lean hips and a bull rider belt buckle blocked her view of the multitude of cowboy boots standing nearby. Her gaze crawled up a flat, chiseled abdomen, across sculpted muscles, over a firm jaw to meet sexy brown eyes.

  "What's the frown for, pretty lady?"

  She tipped the bottle to her lips to take a long drink, keeping her eyes on the gorgeous man in front of her.

  Once she'd swallowed, she said, "Contemplation."

  "Huh?"

  Great. Probably barely made his way through high school.

  "I was trying to figure out how many of them," she nodded to the crowd twirling on the dance floor, "are real."

  "Real?"

  "Real cowboys or just wannabes."

  Brown eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled as he hooked his fingers behind his belt buckle and tilted the shiny metal up. "Mine's real, sweet thing."

  "Is it? Where did you win it?"

  "National Finals Rodeo last year. Bull ridin'."

  "Is that right?" She took another sip of her beer.

  "Yeah." The cowboy pulled his shoulders back proudly.

  "You know, that's funny. I rode last year. I sure don't remember you. What did you say your name was?"

  The man frowned as a trickle of sweat appeared over his lip. "Kyle Fredrick."

  "Kyle…" She tipped the bottle to her lips again. "Mmm…nope. I sure don't remember you. You know what else?"

  His eyes narrowed as he shifted from foot to foot. "What."

  "I have an official belt buckle in barrel racing." She tapped the buckle at her waist with her fingernail, and then pointed toward his. "That's about the worst fake I've ever seen. The real one, honey, is gold with World Champion Bull Rider on the bottom and your name engraved just above that." She stood in front of him so they stood toe-to-toe. "That trinket might work on one of those rhinestone babes out there, but it won't work on me. I know the real thing when I see it."

  When the music changed, bathing the bar in silence for a moment, she heard a soft chuckle to her left. Tipping her head, she locked gazes with the guy two stools down. He lifted an eyebrow and tipped his hat as a crooked, half-smile graced his mouth, showing off pearly-white teeth with a dimple in his left cheek. Before she got a good look at the color of his eyes, the cowboy in front of her pulled her attention back to him.

  "You're a bitch."

  "I've been called that before. You'll have to come up with something more original…Kyle."

  With a pissed-off growl, Kyle spun on his heel, disappearing into the crowd farther down the bar. Jacie took her seat again, propping her boot heels on the rung of the chair and tipped the bottle to her lips. Beer slid down her throat in a cool wash of satisfaction.

  Moments later, two-stools down cowboy moved one stool closer when the man next to her headed for the door.

  Elbows balanced on the bar behind her as the bottle dangled from her fingers, she glanced sideways and her gaze met the prettiest baby blues she'd ever seen. One sweep from the top of his black Stetson and dark hair, over his broad chest and down his yummy torso, told her a lot. A working man. Dusty cowboy boots peeked out from the hem of his jeans.

  "Hi," he offered.

  "Hi, yourself."

  "Name's Tucker." He held out his hand.

  She stared at his palm. Calluses. Working hands. Short nails. Clean.

  Grasping his hand in hers, she wasn't prepared for the zing of electricity pricking her skin where they touched.

  "Jacie."

  "Nice to meet you, Jacie."

  "You, too Tucker."

  "Sorry about that guy."

  "Why? Is he a friend of yours?"

  A short snort left his mouth. "Not in this lifetime. I'm only hopin' you don't judge the whole lot by him."

  "Nah." She smiled and lifted the bottle to her lips again, draining the remaining beer. "He's nothing new. I'm used to his type."

  "What type is that?"

  "The lay 'em and leave 'em kind. Once he gets between a woman's thighs, he's gone."

  The chuckle returned. "Probably right on the money."

  "Occasionally, that's not a bad thing, but tonight…not necessarily what I'm looking for."

  He leaned closer as the music started again. The spicy, almost citrusy scent of his cologne and virile male mixed with…cattle, reached her nose. Interesting.

  "Can I buy you another beer?" he asked, his breath rushing over the shell of her ear.

  One shoulder lifted in a shrug. "Sure."

  Signaling for the bartender, he stood to pull some money from his front pocket, bringing his chest into close proximity with her shoulder. The heat radiating off his skin sent shivers skittering across her arm, and she fought the urge to rub the flesh to calm the goose bumps.

  His tanned hand held a bottle out in front of her.

  "Thanks."

  "You're welcome." He sipped from his beer, but when he lowered the bottle his eyes found hers again. "What are you doing in Littleton, Oklahoma?"

  "Hanging out with you."

  "Yeah, right. A babe like you doesn't hang out in small town honky-tonks."

  She flinched at his comment as she dropped her gaze to the front of his shirt. "Just passin' through."

  "I see. Mysterious. Works for me." He set his beer on the bar behind her. "Care to dance?"

  Do I really want those hands on me? Hell yeah!

  "Sure." She set her bottle next to his before they headed for the dance floor.

  The song changed to a slow ballad causing her to cringe. Slow dancing with this gorgeous, rugged cowboy could send her right between the sheets with him in a heartbeat. Good or bad, she wasn't sure he would be the type to easily walk away from. When she turned, she sucked in a ragged breath before she slipped her hands up around his neck. He settled his palms on her hips. Her heartbeat hitched up a notch and her fingertips itched to run along the solid ridges of his pecs—ridges that came from hard work, not a gym.

  Tucker slowly tugged her closer—close enough her breasts brushed against the tantalizing muscles beneath his shirt. The flesh of her nipples pucker tight.

  Okay, it's been way too long since I've had a man hold me.

  "You smell nice," he whispered, his lips next to her ear.

  "It's only a dance, Tucker. Don't get any ideas."

  Wait a minute. Isn't that what I came here for? A little attention from a handsome cowboy and maybe a tumble between the sheets, before I'm stuck in the cab of my truck with nothing for company but my radio and my vibrator. That does sound mighty nice.

  "Just a dance."

  They swayed slowly to the music while the warmth of his hand penetrated the thin material of her shirt, heating the skin like a branding iron.

  "Problem?" he murmured, brushing his nose into her hair.

  She cleared her throat. "No." Goose bumps pricked her skin as his breath flittered across her neck. She fought the urge to tip her head to give him access to the spot below her ear. Wanting to relieve some of the tense feelings he stirred, she asked, "Do you ride?"

  "Some." He stepped back, giving her a little breathing room, but now his stare held hers. Heat zipped straight between her thighs to her now aching clit. The throb of need took her by surprise. Most men didn't stir this powerful desire in her and she wondered why she reacted to this one so strongly.

  Shit!

  "Bulls, horses?"

  "Both, but not often. Mostly horses." His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. The blue of his iris's sparkled in
the lights swirling around the bar. "You?"

  "Horses."

  "Mmm…too bad you don't drive a big rig."

  "Why's that?"

  "I know someone looking to transport a bull to Vegas for the rodeo."

  "Yeah, too bad."

  The music came to an end and she reluctantly stepped out of his embrace.

  "You'll have to excuse me. I need to use the little cowgirl's room."

  "Of course."

  Sweat trickled down her spine. Lord, it's hot in here. She glanced at Tucker one last time, noticing how his gaze slid enticingly down her frame before returning to her face. Okay, maybe it's the heat directed at me from him, but holy hell, I'm likin' it.

  After a quick inhale, she headed for the restroom.

  The door marked women stood partially open. The loud laughter of several females met her ear as she stepped inside. Bright florescent lighting glared and she had to squint to focus until her vision adjusted. Talk around her centered on the cowboys hanging out nearby.

  "That Kyle. He's got one heavy hand," said the blonde standing near the sink.

  "I don't know why you let him hit you. He's an ass," replied the petite brunette next to her.

  "Because he's good in bed," the first one answered.

  Jacie snorted. Yeah, I don't think so. There isn't a man alive who would dare hit me. I'd kill him first.

  Once she completed her business, she made her way out toward the bar to find Tucker in her chair.

  "Um…you've got my seat."

  "Well, someone took mine, so you'll have to sit on my knee."

  She lifted an eyebrow, placed her hand on her hip and shook her head. "I don't think so there slugger."

  "We could always find a table or play a little eight ball. There's one free."