Handsome Lawman Page 13

  “So what happens now? You said you needed more time.”

  She shook her head. “Not anymore.”

  He took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “So if I ask you to marry me, is there any chance you’ll say yes?”

  “Um, are you asking me or just asking me if it’s okay to ask me?”

  “Whatever’s the best way to get a yes,” he admitted.

  “Just ask,” she said softly.

  He readily complied. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  He grinned. All right! He was about to kiss her again when he felt obligated to admit, “You know Brutus is part of this deal, and I can’t promise he’s completely house trained yet. I’ve tried, but that dang furball has a mind of his own.”

  She laughed. “I think I can help with that problem.”

  “Oh. Good. Then we can tell everyone we’re getting married for the sake of the dog,” Trent teased.

  “That and because I’m crazy about you.”

  Trent couldn’t remember ever feeling this fantastic. “I’m crazy about you, too. And you’ll see. We really will live happily ever after because you’re the right woman for me, Erin. I’ve never felt this way before, and I know I never will again.”

  “I know. You’re meant for me.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “And I’m meant for Trent.”

  He chuckled. “I like the sound of that. It’s corny, sure, but effective.”

  “And oh, so very true,” she said right before she kissed him.

  Dear Reader,

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  Excerpt: Handsome Cowboy

  She was going to kill her brothers. All three of them. Slowly. In front of the entire town of Honey, Texas.

  How dare they invite Jared Kendrick to Trent’s wedding? No, not only invite him, but also have him in the wedding party. Were they insane? Was this some kind of lame joke?

  Whatever the cause, they were dead men for sure.

  “The wedding was beautiful,” said Amanda Newman, wife of the minister who’d performed the ceremony. “Trent and Erin seem so happy. Now all your brothers are blissfully married. Guess it won’t be long until you follow their example.”

  Leigh barely resisted the urge to gag. As if. She’d rather go swimming with piranha. Here she’d finally married off her last meddlesome brother, and from this point on, she’d be an independent woman.

  No way was she giving up her freedom anytime in this century.

  “I’m too young to get married,” she told Amanda. Standing on her tiptoes, she scanned the wedding reception crowd, looking for her brothers.

  How hard was it to spot three tall men in tuxes? Apparently impossible, since she didn’t see them.

  Maybe the weasels were hiding from her. Yeah. That was a distinct possibility. At least it was if they had the slightest inkling as to what she was thinking at the moment.

  “Oh, now I’m sure this wedding is giving you ideas.” Amanda patted Leigh’s arm and smiled. “I can see you’re studying the decorations, maybe coming up with plans for your own reception.”

  Leigh stared at her, stunned. Amanda was a sweet older woman, but boy, she didn’t have a clue what Leigh was thinking. Not that she could exactly enlighten her. After all, how did you tell the minister’s wife that you were looking for your brothers so you could kill them? Hmmm. Emily Post probably didn’t have any etiquette advice for this particular circumstance.

  Deciding not to go into it, Leigh said, “I’m not interested in getting married. Thanks.”

  Figuring that was settled, she returned to scanning the crowd. Where were those bozos? She finally spotted two of her sisters-in-law, Megan and Emma, over by the buffet table. Wherever they were, their husbands and her brothers, Chase and Nathan, wouldn’t be far behind.

  Bingo. She’d found them.

  She started to head in that direction when Amanda once again put her hand on Leigh’s arm. “Getting married and starting your own family is one of life’s precious gifts,” Amanda said. “As I know your brothers have discovered.”

  Leigh bit back a groan. Would this woman never stop? She didn’t want to get married. She didn’t want to fall in love.

  She only wanted to talk to her ratfink brothers and then maybe kick Jared Kendrick out of here. Was that too much to ask for?

  “No offense, Amanda, ’cause I know you’re happily married,” Leigh said. “But I have no desire to live in a house with a white picket fence.”

  “Do tell. Because I could have sworn that the house you’re renting from Megan has a white picket fence out front,” a deep voice said from behind her.

  Oh, just great. While she’d been looking for her brothers, Jared Kendrick had walked up and was apparently standing directly behind her. Man-o-man, this day just kept getting worse.

  “Hello, Jared,” Amanda said. “I heard you moved back to Honey. You’re turning your parents ranch into a rodeo school, right?” Without waiting for an answer, Amanda continued. “Mary Monroe said she saw you riding that motorcycle of yours around town. And she said you were going quite fast. I told her you probably weren’t, but I don’t think she believed me.”

  Leigh rolled her eyes. Of course, the man had been driving fast This was Jared Kendrick. If there was a rule in Honey, he broke it

  “I might have been going a couple of miles over the speed limit,” Jared admitted. “Tell her I’ll slow down from now on.”

  Unable to stop herself, Leigh snorted. “That will be the day.”

  “Hello to you, too,” Jared said.

  Turning slowly, Leigh braced herself for the wallop she knew she’d feel when she made eye contact with this man. Despite no longer liking him, she was still female. And females of all ages found it difficult to resist Jared. He was tall, over six feet, and had amazingly thick dark brown hair and equally dark eyes. The man was serious eye candy.

  Dang his hide.

  Predictably, as soon as Leigh looked at him, her DNA betrayed her. Her stupid heart raced. Her equally stupid breathing seemed to have grown rapid and shallow.

  This world was one screwy place when the man you disliked more than any other turned you on like crazy.

  Sheesh.

  Taking a deep breath to calm her raging libido, she flashed him a completely insincere smile. “Why, hello, Kendrick. I thought you’d be in jail by now. Did the Parole Board take a liking to you?”

  Jared laughed, the sound deep and rich and way too appealing. “Glad to see you haven’t changed since last summer, Leigh.”

  Amanda frowned and made a tsking sound. “Oh, Jared, were you really in jail? My, my. I thought you were riding with those rodeo people. Of course, you were a trifle wild while growing up here, but I had no idea you’d run into serious trouble.”

  Leigh waited patiently for Jared to correct the older woman and explained he hadn’t been in jail, but he simply shrugged. Oh, for the love of Pete. Was he really going to let this go? The Honey rumor mill would have a field day. Leigh knew that before the night was over, all the good folks of Honey would swear up and down that Jared had been in jail for murder.

  “Maybe my husband could counsel you,” Amanda offered. “He’s very good with things like his.”

  Leigh groaned. “Amanda, Jared wasn’t in jail. I was kidding.”

  Amanda laughed softly, and Leigh rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, good. You two are joking,” Amanda said. ‘I’m happy to hear that. Although I will admit I was surprised to see you in the
wedding party today. I didn’t know you were friends with Trent.”

  “Everyone seemed surprised to see me,” he said. Leigh more so than most. I especially liked the way she screamed when she noticed me standing next to her brothers by the altar. You’ll have to check with your husband, Amanda, but I bet she’s the first bridesmaid to scream like that during a ceremony.”

  “Oh, pulleese. I’m sure a lot of women scream around you,” Leigh said, and then she felt like whacking herself on the side of the head when she realized the interpretation that could be put on her words. From the grin on Jared’s face, he’d taken it as a compliment to his lovemaking prowess.

  Leigh shook her head. “Hey! Don’t go there. I only meant—”

  Jared held up one hand and drawled, “I know exactly what you meant, Leigh, and thanks. Maybe one day you can find out for yourself if it’s true.”

  Keenly aware that Amanda was watching them Leigh said in her sweetest voice, “Kendrick, I’d rather two-step with a rattlesnake. No, wait, it wouldn’t be much different, would it?”

  Amanda frowned and looked from Leigh to Jared then back at Leigh. “What are you talking about dear? Are you teasing Jared again?”

  A sexy grin slowly crossed Jared’s handsome face. “Yeah, Leigh, are you teasing me again?”

  “I’m completely, absolutely sincere,” she said firmly, which only made Jared grin more.

  Typical.

  “Oh.” Amanda looked confused. “I see. Well, I guess we’d better find our seats now. It looks like the toasts are about to start,” Amanda pointed out.

  Leigh glanced around. People were quickly finding their places at the small round tables. With quick goodbye to Amanda, Leigh headed over to the table near the front where she was supposed to sit. Now she’d have to wait until later to talk to her brothers, but at least she’d be away from Jared.

  Boy, he really got to her. Big time. Why in the world had her doofus brothers invited him to be in the wedding party? Had love turned their brains to mush? They hated Jared, and ever since their dating fiasco a few months back, he was the last man she ever wanted to see again.

  So what in the world was he doing here?

  And why in the blazes did he still get to her so much?

  Order your copy of Handsome Cowboy now.

  Excerpt: Handsome Rancher

  As she studied him, standing near the entrance to the city council room, Megan Kendall couldn’t help thinking what a handsome devil Chase Barrett was.

  Everyone in the small town of Honey, Texas, thought so as well. With his drop-dead gorgeous looks and his handsome-devil smile, women fell for him like pine trees knocked down by a powerful tornado.

  Even Megan couldn’t claim to be immune. She and Chase had been good friends for over twenty years, and he still didn’t know she was madly in love with him.

  Yep, he was a handsome devil all right.

  “Picture him naked,” Leigh Barrett whispered to Megan.

  Stunned, Megan turned to stare at Chase’s younger sister. “Excuse me?”

  Thankfully, Leigh nodded toward the front of the room instead of in her brother’s direction. “The mayor. When you’re giving your presentation, if you get nervous, picture him naked.”

  Megan slipped her glasses down her nose and studied Earl Guthrie, the seventy-three-year-old mayor of Honey. When Earl caught her gaze, he gave Megan a benign, vague smile.

  “I don’t think so,” Megan said to Leigh. “I prefer to think of Earl as fully clothed.”

  Leigh giggled. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a hot idea after all. Let me see if I can find someone else for you to think of naked.”

  “That’s not necessary. I’m not nervous.” Megan flipped through her index cards.

  Her argument was flawless, her plan foolproof. She had nothing to be nervous about. Besides, as the head librarian of the Honey Library, she knew every person in the room. This presentation would be a snap.

  But with puppy-like enthusiasm, Leigh had already stood and was looking around. She hadn’t spotted her oldest brother yet, but Megan knew it was only a matter of time before she did.

  “Leigh, I’m fine,” Megan tried, but Leigh finally saw Chase and yelled at him to come over and join them.

  Chase made his way through the crowded room. The city council meetings usually drew a big audience, but Megan was happy to see even more people than usual had turned out to listen to her presentation of fundraiser ideas for new playground equipment.

  When Chase got even with Megan and Leigh, he leaned across Megan to ruffle his sister’s dark hair. Then he dropped into the folding chair next to Megan and winked at her. “Ladies, how are you tonight?”

  Megan tried to keep her expression pleasant, but it wasn’t easy. Ever since she’d moved back to Honey last year, pretending her feelings for Chase were platonic was proving harder and harder. At six-two, with deep black hair and even deeper blue eyes, he made her heart race and her palms sweat.

  “Don’t ruffle my hair, bozo.” Leigh huffed at Megan’s right, smoothing her hair. “I’m in college. I’m too old to have my hair ruffled.”

  To Megan’s left, Chase chuckled. “Squirt, you’re never going to be too old for me to ruffle your hair. When you’re eighty, I’m going to totter up to you and do it.”

  “You and what orderly?” Leigh teased. “And just for the record, I like Nathan and Trent much better than I like you.”

  “Oh, please.” Megan rolled her eyes at that one. Leigh loved all of her brothers, but everyone knew Chase was her favorite. When she was home from college, she always stayed with Chase.

  “I love you, too, squirt,” Chase said, not rising to his sister’s taunt. Instead, he nudged Megan. “You okay?”

  “I told her to imagine the mayor naked if she got nervous, but she doesn’t want to do that,” Leigh supplied.

  “I can see why not,” Chase said. “Earl’s not exactly stud-muffin material.”

  “Oooh, I know what she should do.” Leigh practically bounced in her chair. “Megan, if you get nervous, picture Chase naked.”

  Megan froze and willed herself to stay calm. The absolute last thing she wanted to think about was Chase naked. Okay, maybe she did want to think of him naked, but not right now. Not right before she had to speak in front of a large portion of the entire town.

  “I don’t think so,” Megan muttered, shooting a glare at Leigh.

  The younger woman knew how Megan felt about her brother, and this was simply one more not-so-subtle attempt to get the two of them together. In the past few months, Leigh’s matchmaking maneuvers had grown more extreme.

  “I don’t think I’ll need to picture anyone naked,” Megan stated.

  On her other side, Chase offered, “Well, if you get flustered and it will make things easier for you, you go ahead and think of me naked, Megan. Whatever I can do to help.”

  Megan knew Chase was teasing her, but suddenly she realized how many years she’d wasted waiting for him to take her seriously.

  She’d fallen for him when she’d moved to town at eight. Dreamed about him since she’d turned sixteen. And tried like the dickens to forget him when she’d been away at college and then later working at a library in Dallas for five years.

  But nothing had helped. Not even seriously dating a man in Dallas had helped. In her soul, Megan believed she and Chase were meant to be together.

  If only she could get him to notice her.

  “Hey there, Chase,” a smooth, feline voice fairly purred over their shoulders. “You’re looking yummy. Like an especially luscious dessert, and I positively love dessert.”

  Oh, great. Megan glanced behind her. Janet Defries. Just what she needed tonight.

  Chase smiled at the woman half leaning on his chair. “Hey, Janet. Do you plan on helping Megan with her committee?”

  From the look on Janet’s face, the only thing she planned on helping herself to was Chase, served on a platter.

  She leaned toward Chase, the posi
tion no doubt deliberate since a generous amount of cleavage was exposed. “Are you going to help with this committee, Chase? Because if you are, I might be able to pry free a few hours.”

  Yeah, right. Megan shared a glance with Leigh. They both knew Janet would no more help with the committee than dogs would sing.

  “I’d like to help, but it’s a busy time on the ranch,” Chase said.

  “Shame.” Janet slipped into the chair directly behind him. “I think you and I should figure out a way to spend some quality time together.”

  Her message couldn’t have been clearer if she’d plastered it on a billboard. Megan hated herself for wanting to know, but she couldn’t not look. She turned to see what Chase’s reaction was to the woman’s blatant come-on.

  Mild interest. Megan repressed a sigh. Of course. Janet was exactly the type of woman Chase favored. One with a high-octane body and zero interest in a lasting relationship.

  “Maybe we’ll figure it out one of these days,” Chase said, and Megan felt her temperature climb.

  Okay, so she didn’t have a drawer at home full of D-cups, but Megan knew she could make Chase happy. She could make him believe in love again.

  If the dimwit would give her the chance.

  Janet placed one hand on Chase’s arm and licked her lips. “Well, you hurry up, else I might decide to go after Nathan or Trent instead. You’re not the only handsome fella in your family.”

  Chase chuckled as he faced forward in his chair once again. “I sure am being threatened with my brothers tonight. But I’d like to point out that neither of them stopped by to lend their support, and I’m sitting here like an angel.”

  Leigh snorted. “Angel? You? Give me a break. You could make the devil himself blush, Chase Barrett.”

  Chase’s grin was pure male satisfaction. “I do my best.”

  As Megan knew only too well. She’d watched him beguile a large percentage of the females in this part of Texas. Why couldn’t he throw a little of that wickedness her way? Just once, she’d like to show him how combustible they could be together.