Hold me cowboy, p.1
Hold Me, Cowboy, page 1
Hold Me, Cowboy
A Montana Born Rodeo Romance
Alissa Callen
Hold Me, Cowboy
Copyright © 2015 Alissa Callen
EPUB Edition
The Tule Publishing Group, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-943963-13-3
Dedication
To Callum, my techno cowboy.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
The 2015 Copper Mountain Rodeo Series
The Past Copper Mountain Rodeo Series
About the Author
Prologue
‡
Kendall Dixon walked into the Marietta fairgrounds and into a world saturated with rodeo color and sound. The creak of saddle leather, the scent of dust and horses and the buzz of excitement were as familiar to her as the strong Montana wind that toyed with her hair.
She lifted a hand to the big curls that fell below her hat brim. This year the Copper Mountain Rodeo was going to be the best ever, even if her blonde hair felt as though it were set in concrete. Izzy must have used half a can of hairspray to give her voluminous curls that would be the envy of any Rodeo Queen.
Kendall lowered her hand, but the action didn’t ease the tight fit of her western shirt. Correction. Izzy’s hot pink western shirt that must have shrunk in the summer sun. Kendall’s shirts were too dull for Izzy’s vision of how Kendall needed to look for this rodeo. A vision that made it difficult to breathe, let alone to sit. If Kendall thought the shirt snug, it was nothing compared to her borrowed jeans that were at least a size too small.
Old Henry Watson gave her a wave from where he stood talking to a group of other ranchers. His lingering glance confirmed she no longer resembled the quiet and conservative Bluebell Falls Ranch girl everyone knew.
Kendall returned his wave and smiled, a wide smile that she prayed contained none of the insecurity that churned in her stomach. She wasn’t yet sure if she could carry off her makeover.
She glanced at her watch and weathered a fresh flurry of nerves. The barrel-racing final would soon start and she was due to meet Brent and her twin brother, Rhett, beside the popcorn stand. They’d grab popcorn like they did every rodeo and watch their childhood friend, Payton, race. It was the working cowgirls’ dream to win the barrel-racing and this year Payton had a good shot.
Kendall increased her pace as much as she could in the too-tight jeans. For once she was glad Rhett was running late. It gave her a few rare minutes alone with Brent. Minutes she hadn’t had last night at the steak dinner and dance on Main Street. A long-legged blonde, with a high wattage smile as brilliant as her hair highlights, had attached herself to Brent’s side. The sight of a stunning woman hanging off Brent’s arm wasn’t new. Kendall bit her bottom lip and tasted cherry lip-gloss.
But this time the blonde was someone who’d attended Montana State University with him. This time he hadn’t just danced one dance and moved on. This time something within Kendall snapped.
Her teenage crush on her brother’s friend hadn’t waned in the years between their senior year and his college graduation last May. It had only intensified and deepened, along with her frustration and desperation he’d never see her as anything but Rhett’s awkward and shy twin sister. Well, this rodeo such an impression would change. She hadn’t let fashionista Izzy loose on her for nothing.
Her steps slowed as the smell of popcorn strengthened and she saw a cowboy, back to her, buying popcorn at the stand. Not just any cowboy. Her cowboy.
In a sea of wranglers and hats, she’d know Brent anywhere. The angle of his dark head. The way his broad shoulders tapered to lean hips. The slightly bowed cast of his legs that gave him a swagger guaranteed to draw cowgirls to him like honey bees to a wildflower. He turned and she glimpsed his handsome face. The high cast of his cheekbones. The blue of his eyes that always reminded her of the Montana skies she loved.
She knew the moment he caught sight of her and registered her new look. His grip on the popcorn tightened and his knuckles glowed white. For an instant she caught a gleam of something raw, dark and unexpected, before his head dipped and his hat brim shaded his eyes.
Pulses racing, she waited while he closed the distance between them. Izzy had instructed her to push her shoulders back and to moisten her lips but it was all she could do to stay where she was and not turn and run. She’d hoped to glimpse shock, admiration and even wonder in his face but whatever emotion she’d seen hadn’t been any of those. If she had to describe it, she would have said it was … pain. She swallowed. She’d taken a risk and she had to see this through no matter how badly it went.
His head lifted and she again had access to his eyes beneath his hat brim. Eyes that were now hooded and guarded.
“Hey, Kendall.”
“Hey.” She forced her breathing to remain even and her voice to sound normal. “Rhett’s running late so he said to save him a spot on the bleachers in case he makes Payton’s final.”
Brent made no effort to hand her the popcorn like he usually did. The line of his jaw firmed.
“Rhett said you stayed over at Izzy’s after the dance?”
Kendall nodded. The weight of her starched curls reminding her just how she looked and the reason she’d stepped outside her comfort zone. She pushed aside all nerves and held his gaze. “I did.”
His eyes briefly dipped to where Izzy had undone the top two buttons of Kendall’s shirt. “Well, next time Izzy lends you clothes perhaps make sure they aren’t out of her little sister’s cupboard.”
“This couldn’t be Britt’s shirt? I’ve seen Izzy wear one like this …” Kendall paused to look over her shoulder and frowned. “But … now you mention it, perhaps Izzy’s didn’t have as much bling across the back?”
Again Brent studied the front of her shirt. “Definitely out of Britt’s wardrobe.”
Kendall shivered as his gaze remained on the acres of cleavage she had to be showing. This was what she wanted. Brent to notice she had curves in all the right places and a heart that beat only for him. But the reality of his intense stare quickened her pulse and left her feeling less confident and even less in control. Unsure and inexperienced, she had no idea what to do next. If she’d been the sassy and confident Izzy, she would have stuck out her chest and tossed her head.
“Kendall, this shirt …” Brent’s unfathomable gaze met hers. “This whole outfit … isn’t you.”
She shrugged. “Maybe and maybe not. I’m not eighteen anymore.”
“I know. Believe me, I …”
A wolf whistle to her left cut off his strained words.
“Looking good, Kendall,” a masculine voice said in an exaggerated drawl.
She glanced over to where Nick Ryan and his brother, Brad, had stopped to give her a slow and thorough once-over. Their grins might be full of the masculine appreciation she craved but their admiration made her skin crawl. Brent was the only cowboy she wanted to look at her like she was the tastiest dish on the dinner menu. She opened her mouth to tell the cowboys to pick their jaws from off the rodeo ground when Brent spoke.
“Yes, she is boys and way out of your league, so keep on walking.”
Kendall stared at Brent. His words were casual, jovial even, but unmistakable steel underpinned his instruction to walk away. Despite his volatile family life, in all the years she’d known him, she’d never seen him lose control. Not when she’d backed his precious truck into the barn. Not when she’d knocked him over while tubing on the frozen lake. Not when he’d lost his younger brother to a ranch accident. But right then, in that moment, it was as though he were spoiling for a fight. His arms might rest loosely by his side but the set angle of his chin left her in no doubt if the Ryans didn’t heed his words, there’d be trouble.
Brad’s eyes narrowed before Nick grabbed his arm and spoke. “No disrespect meant, Kendall. We’re just having some fun.” Nick steered his older brother past them. “Walking away now, Ashton.”
Brent watched them leave, a muscle working in his cheek. He took a long second to look at her but when he did his features had assumed their usual collected expression.
He passed her the popcorn. “We’d better find our seat before we miss Payton ride.”
“Okay.”
She waited for him to turn toward the bleachers but he continued to stare at her. The grooves beside his mouth deepened.
“It might be an idea to fix your shirt before you have more than the Ryan brothers paying you attention.”
What was he talking about? Sure her shirt was too tight, and she had a couple of buttons undone but otherwise all was fine. She glanced down. Heat pooled in her cheeks. Make that three buttons undone and the fourt h straining to break free. No wonder the Ryans had been gawking. She had enough pale flesh on display to stop a homecoming parade.
“That’s a good idea,” she managed in what she hoped passed as coherent words and not an embarrassed squeak.
“Yeah, one of my better ones.” A smile threaded Brent’s voice. “You keep hold of the popcorn. I’ll fix your shirt.”
Then like he’d done countless times before, whether it was adjusting her stirrup leathers, plucking a leaf from her hair or taking her elbow to guide her around a patch of winter ice, he stepped near to help her.
Kendall breathed in his familiar scent of wood mixed with leather and focused on the darkness of his tanned hands so close to her fair skin.
Brent secured the fourth button but when he went to slip through the third button the pink shirt refused to meet. He tugged the two sides together and his fingers brushed the sensitive valley between her breasts. She sucked in a gasp of air and the third button finally slipped into place.
“All done.” Brent stepped away before she could see his face. He waved toward the almost filled bleachers. “After you.”
Throat aching, she automatically turned. There was nothing else she could do. She’d felt the warm graze of his fingertips on her skin down to her soul. Yet he appeared unmoved by the intimacy of the contact between them. The dream was over. She didn’t need any more proof the chemistry between them was one-sided. Brent would never see her as anything but his childhood friend.
She’d watch Payton and then take her tattered pride and retreat home to Bluebell Falls Ranch. She needed to wear her own boring clothes. She needed to feel her hair soft and free against her neck and the weight of a large bag of dark chocolate from Copper Mountain Chocolates on her lap.
Not concentrating on where she was going, she clipped her knee on a low bleacher and stumbled. Brent’s large and warm hand settled into the small of her back to steady her. And stayed.
He guided her to the top bleacher and only then did his hand slip away. As he sat beside her, his thigh brushed hers. Kendall held her breath. This was the third time he’d touched her in almost as many minutes. Had hers and Izzy’s plan worked? Did Brent now see her differently?
Not daring to look his way, she offered him some popcorn. Four mouthfuls later, Brent’s thigh still rested against hers. The barrel-racing had started but instead of focusing on the competitors, Kendall remained acutely aware of a subtle shifting in the relationship between them. Brent’s blue gaze rested on her more than usual and there was a tension in his hard, muscled body she’d never sensed before. Even his voice was different, deeper and more resonant as though the emotions he always kept in check hovered close to the surface.
All too soon it was Payton’s turn to race. Mouth set in a determined line, the Beargrass Hills cowgirl had the crowd cheering her home as she rode the clover-leaf pattern around the three barrels in a super slick time. When Payton was eventually announced as the winner, Kendall whooped until her throat hurt.
Then, wanting to savor Brent’s closeness, she sat still and waited while the bleachers emptied and the crowd dispersed in search of food and drink. From Brent’s jeans pocket his phone rang. He shifted to slip his cell free and the action caused his leg to move away from Kendall’s. Cool air replaced the heat of his touch.
Brent read his phone message out loud. “Rhett’s finally here and wants me to meet him over at the chutes before he rides in the bareback final.”
Kendall nodded. A gust of wind caught in the flags above her and goosebumps rippled over her arms. It wasn’t only the icy breeze that had come straight from the top of Copper Mountain that robbed her of warmth. Whatever bubble she’d been in with Brent while they watched the barrel-racing had burst. Things between them would now return to how they were before. It was only her wishful thinking that the connection they had just shared was the start to something she’d wanted for so long.
Brent returned his phone to his pocket, removed his hat and sat the Stetson beside him. He tunneled his hand through his hair.
Kendall stiffened. She knew such a gesture. Brent kept his feelings close to his chest but whenever he was on edge he’d drag a hand through his hair.
Eyes serious, his gaze slipped over her face as if tracing her features. The breeze again snapped the flag above them, and he brushed a hand over her cheek as if to remove windblown strands of hair. Except there were no strands, it would have taken a twister to pry apart her hairspray-cemented curls.
“Kendall, you’re … perfect the way you are. You don’t need to change what you wear to be noticed. Any cowboy would be lucky to have you on their arm.”
“Would they? Then how come I have to wear a shirt I can barely breathe in to get you to tell me this?”
The corners of his mouth tilted but the intensity of his eyes didn’t dim. “Trust me, that shirt has nothing on the grey T-shirt you wore last month when your garden hose split and soaked you to the skin.”
She searched his face, not daring to hope what his words were saying. “It doesn’t?”
He slowly shook his head. “Or on the little black dress you wore to my surprise birthday dinner in Bozeman three years ago.”
Now her own lips curved. The short and fitted dress had been Izzy’s choice and her first attempt to get him to notice her. All this time she thought their plan had been an epic fail, and she’d never again dressed any differently until today. “You remember?”
“A cowboy doesn’t forget cowgirl boots and a hemline that should have been two inches lower.” He cleared his throat. “Have dinner with me Tuesday?”
She hesitated. She, Brent and Rhett often caught up in the Main Street Diner for dinner. “Just the two of us?”
His eyes darkened before his head lowered to give her an answer that needed no words. His lips slid over hers in a sweet and tender kiss that stole her breath and made her heart free fall.
He pulled slightly away, an unfamiliar vulnerability tensing his mouth. “Yes. Just … us.”
“I’d … like that.”
She thought he was going to kiss her again but instead his thumb smoothed over the curve of her lower lip.
His smile was slow and gorgeous. “Great. I’d like that, too.”
He stood and took his time to settle his hat on his head. Then with a white flash of his broad grin he left to meet Rhett.
She watched until Brent’s black shirt was lost in the milling crowd. Payton called her name and Kendall stood to wave at the excited cowgirl as she climbed the bleachers two at a time to reach her.
Above her the sky seemed extra blue and the sunlight that bathed the fairgrounds, extra bright. It wasn’t only Payton’s dreams that had come true this Copper Mountain Rodeo weekend.
Chapter One
‡
Four years later …
Kendall turned left along Main Street to walk toward Big Z’s Hardware store and broke rule number ten. Never be caught wearing gardening clothes by Carol Bingley.
Her steps faltered. The chill of a fall breeze reminded her she had a rip in her threadbare jeans above the knee. She was sure she also now had one high across the back of her left thigh.
She kept walking, even though she’d pass right by Marietta’s notorious gossip. It would be too much to hope Carol would smile and not stop. Rhett and Ivy hadn’t yet announced their wedding date and Carol would be desperate for any snippet of information.
Kendall pasted a nonplussed expression on her face as Carol altered her course, quickened her pace and headed for her with the accuracy of a radar.
“It’s my lucky day,” Carol said, slightly out of breath and with high color in her round cheeks. “I was only thinking this morning I haven’t seen you for a while.”
“Hi, Carol. Yes, it’s been a while since we last spoke at Paradise Books. Dad and I’ve been busy.”
“I thought so. I did. That’s what I said to Mary Alice. Don’t worry about Kendall, despite everything she’s been through, she’s doing fine. She’s been busy with her father.”
Kendall ground her teeth. That’s not only what Carol would have said to Mary Alice. She could also predict how their next conversation would go.
