“Were they from the area?”
I nodded. “One of the ring leaders was a guy I had a run-in with over the way he treated his horses.”
“Ms. Wynona said that sometimes you had to do that—take them against the owner’s will.”
“I want you to understand that me forcing someone to give up animals that are being abused is completely different from someone stealing my cattle.”
“I do understand that” Siren bit her bottom lip. “I have to confess I’ve never ridden a horse.”
“That doesn’t matter to me.”
“Will you teach me?”
I ran my fingers through her hair that was still growing back.
“I don’t want you to coddle me, Smoke. It’ll drive me mad.”
“I don’t think I could stand it if anything ever happened to you.”
“Nor I, you, but we can’t live our lives with the constant worry of it.”
I leaned my head against the seat and closed my eyes. “In sickness and in health, in stubbornness and submission…”
“Submission? If that’s what’s written into your vows, Smoke, I swear I’ll—”
I grasped the back of her neck and kissed her long enough that I felt the muscles in her body go slack. She pulled back and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Do you think we’ve been unfair to Ms. Wynona and Zeke about having our wedding at the ranch? It’s so much extra work.”
“I’ve given them both free rein to hire as much help as they need.”
“If you think Ms. Wynona will admit to needing help, you’re mad.”
I laughed. Once we were home, I had no doubt my sweet Siren would respectfully take charge and ensure Ms. Wynona had all the support she needed.
“I’m so happy Uncle Gene is coming to the wedding. He’s the closest thing I have to family.”
We both agreed not to have anyone stand up with us, although Gene would be walking Siren down the aisle, and I made arrangements for Hammer to marry us.
Neither of us had parents still living, nor siblings, and yet, with all of the agents and operatives we’d worked with, our combined guest list topped one hundred.
“You know everyone from the K19 team has responded that they’ll be at our wedding. As have the Invincibles.”
“I didn’t think of that. Although I’ll hardly be in interview mode on the most important day of my life.”
I kissed her again, harder and deeper than I had a couple of minutes earlier.
“I know them all well, and there isn’t a single person from either firm who will talk about business that day.”
“Not even Rile?”
“Even if he tried, which I doubt he would, Kensington would intervene.”
“I’m so happy they’re together.”
It was protecting Kensington that had brought Siren and I together—the same mission had come close to costing her life. There was a time I wondered if Rile could let go of his past enough to let Kensington into his life, but she hadn’t given him much choice. I smiled at that, so thankful Siren would’ve done the same for us.
If I had tried to walk away, she would’ve followed. Had she been the one to test our love in that way, I may not have been as brave.
Siren wound her arm through mine, and I kissed her forehead.
“Look,” she said, pointing out the window. “I can see the Blazing T!” She sighed and smiled. “I can’t wait to be home.”
In all the times I’d looked down at the same view as I flew back from missions around the world, I’d never felt the peace and contentment I heard in Siren’s voice. Not until today. “I can’t wait to be home either,” I said, for the first time, meaning every word.
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* * *
Keep reading for a sneak peek at
Handled,
a spinoff from the Invincibles series written in
K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes World.
______________
* * *
Following that, is the sneak peek at
Bucked,
the next book in the Invincibles series.
Handled
I took a deep breath, making sure there were no holes in the story I was about to tell. I had to sell it and sell it good because the people I was lying to were trained to recognize even the most minute mistruths.
If I failed to convince any one of them, the house of cards I’d carefully built would come tumbling down.
“You better be fucking sure you can protect me, Cope,” the agent I’d handled since the beginning of both our careers said last night when I told him his arrest was scheduled for this morning.
“You’ve trusted me this far, don’t blow it now by panicking.”
“I’ll be the one locked up in a cell like a goddamn sitting duck.”
“Just keep your mouth shut and let me handle it like I always do. If you don’t, every risk we’ve taken in the last seven years will be for nothing.” I didn’t need to add that if he talked, I’d fucking kill him.
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Handled
Bucked
—Buck—
“How are you holding up?” I whispered in the ear of the woman standing beside me.
“About as well as you are,” she whispered back as we watched the woman I’d fallen hopelessly in love with walk down the aisle toward the man she was marrying instead of me.
My plus-one, Stella, and I had spent a couple of drunken nights drowning in our shared misery since she was equally in love with the groom. I was sure tonight would be no different.
We turned when Ali, the bride, reached Cope, the groom, who stood waiting with the minister who would marry them. It wasn’t the bride who captured my gaze, though. It was Stella. She looked so damn pretty today I almost swallowed my tongue when I picked her up at her apartment.
“Stop that,” she’d said, punching my arm.
“Stop what?”
“Looking at me like I’m really your date.”
I wanted to tell her she really was my date and that she was breathtaking. But I wouldn’t put her on the spot like that. The woman, whose real name I didn’t know—I’d only heard her referred to as either TJ or Stella—had been in love with Sumner Copeland since the day I met her. It didn’t matter that it was unrequited.
Cope had given her the nickname Stella. All the more reason for me not to use it. Maybe today would be the day I stopped. Maybe it would also be the day I told TJ how I really felt about her, and that instead of being her convenient plus-one, I wanted to be the real thing.
I shook my head at my foolishness. Not only would she carry a torch for Cope for-fucking-ever, she was a city girl. Born and raised. I was the exact opposite. I’d grown up on a ranch, shoveling shit, and never able to get the dirt out from under my fingernails.
The thing we had in common, other than being in love with people who weren’t in love with us, was that we’d both traveled the world for our jobs.
She was an award-winning journalist, and up until recently, I had been an agent with the CIA. I’d retired but still worked in the business, just for a private intelligence firm instead.
That was how TJ and I met. I’d been assigned to an op involving asset protection—for Ali. TJ was covering a trial involving Cope, during which Ali’s safety had been compromised.
I glanced at my date again when the minister began the ceremony. Instead of looking at Cope, she was looking at me.
—Stella—
“You clean up good,” I’d said to Buck when he picked me up at my apartment. What I’d almost said instead was that he looked really fucking hot. So hot, I wanted to take his clothes off piece by piece and spend the afternoon exploring his naked body, rather than attending the wedding of the guy I’d spent the last few years secretly in love with.
Was th
at even true? Had I been in love with Cope, or was it just infatuation? Before Ali, his bride, was in his life, I’d had plenty of fantasies in which he was the star. Porn star, if I was honest.
I looked Buck up and down when I saw him doing the same thing to me. The man was every cowboy fantasy I’d ever had, come to life. Add in his scruffy beard and long hair, and he was the exact opposite of Sumner Copeland. No less hot. Actually, more so.
Unfortunately, one of the things Buck and Cope had in common represented the reason my hot cowboy fantasies would never come to life. They were both hopelessly in love with Ali Graham Mancuso, who in about fifteen minutes, would add Copeland to her name.
Why had I agreed to even come to the wedding? Especially with Buck? If I’d said no, I wouldn’t have been forced to watch the man I wished I’d had sex with at least once get married while standing next to the man I wished I could have sex with right now. And by right now, I meant drag him back to that sexy-as-fuck pickup he drove us here in and ride him like the cowboy he was.
I clenched my thighs together when I felt Buck’s hand brush against mine. That’s all it took. One simple touch. Then he made it worse. He leaned over, put his mouth next to my ear, and whispered. It didn’t matter what he said. I couldn’t think straight enough to hear it anyway.
I turned my head before he pulled away. His lips were close enough that I could kiss them, if only I had the balls to do it.
Instead, I turned back in time to see Cope kiss the shit out of Ali when the minister pronounced them man and wife. Shit. I really didn’t need to see that.
“What did you say?” I whispered to Buck.
He leaned into me like he had a minute ago. “I said, you look more beautiful than the bride.”
“Thank you, Buck, but—”
“Way more beautiful.” I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. What the fuck was he doing?
“Excuse me.” I brushed past him even before Cope and Ali had finished the recessional, and hurried off in the direction of the house, hoping no one had noticed me leave on the side aisle.
I raced into the restroom, wishing I could splash cold water on my face, but that would ruin the makeup it took me over an hour to put on, since I never wore it.
Instead, I took several deep breaths. “Buck the fuck up, buttercup,” I said to the mirror, shaking my head at the use of the name of the man who had me so flustered, I made a jackass out of myself by rushing away from the wedding.
I squared my shoulders, took one last look in the mirror, and opened the bathroom door.
Just outside, stood Buck. His arm was raised, and he leaned it against the doorjamb. “Hey, Stella, we need to talk.”
* * *
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Bucked
About the Author
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Also by Heather Slade
BUTLER RANCH
Prequel: Kade’s Worth
Book One: Brodie
Book Two: Maddox
Book Three: Naughton
Book Four: Mercer
Book Five: Kade
Butler Ranch Boxed Set: Books 1-5 with Bonus Book: Ainsley
* * *
LOS CABALLEROS
Coming Soon!
Book One: Gabe
* * *
K19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Book One: Razor
Book Two: Gunner
Book Three: Mistletoe
Book Four: Mantis
K19 Security Solutions Boxed Set: Books 1-4
Book Five: Dutch
Book Six: Striker
Book Seven: Monk
Book Eight: Halo
Coming Soon!
Book Nine: Tackle
* * *
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION 6
Book One: Shiver
Book Two: Wilder
Book Three: Pinch
Book Four: Shadow
Military Intelligence Section 6 Boxed Set: Books 1-4
* * *
THE INVINCIBLES
Book One: Decked
Book Two: Edged
Book Three: Grinded
Book Four: Riled
Book Five: Smoked
Coming Soon!
Book Six: Bucked
* * *
KB WORLDS EVERYDAY HEROES
Book One: Handled
* * *
COCKY HERO CLUB NOVELS
Book One: Undercover Agent
* * *
COWBOYS OF CRESTED BUTTE
Book One: Fall for Me
Book Two: Dance with Me
Book Three: Kiss Me Cowboy
Book Four: Stay with Me
Book Five: Win Me Over
Cowboys of Crested Butte Boxed Set: Books 1-5
Smoked Page 18
