Cowboy Up: A Contemporary Romance (The Cherry Series Book 1)

by Luna Starr

  He turned his entire body to face me. Then he put his beer down and took my glass of wine, setting it down on the coffee table. He held both of my hands and looked me square in the eyes.

  “I don’t know where life has taken you, Summer. I don’t know if you have someone. I don’t know if you’re happy. I don’t know anything. And so, this probably isn’t fair to do, but I promised myself that if I ever got the chance to see you again, I would say what I needed to.”

  He paused for a few seconds as he stared at me, as if searching for the right words. He tightened his grip on my hands and I folded my fingers over his. He was so warm, so big and so handsome. He was everything I could have ever wanted in a man and I was desperately in love with him. I always had been.

  “I love you,” he whispered. “I’ve loved you from the moment you stepped out of that old truck. And I loved you even more with every day that passed. I should have told you and, goddamn, I wish I had but I was afraid.”

  “It’s okay,” I started but he shook his head.

  “No, it’s not okay. I should have been man enough to admit this to you over a year ago but I was too proud and too stupid really. I kept trying to convince myself that you were just like all the others.” He laughed at that thought. “But you aren’t. I love you, Summer and I’ve never stopped.” He looked at me and took my face between his hands. “I’m only going to ask you this once and if you don’t feel the same way for me, I promise I won’t ever bother you with it again. I’ll let you walk out of here and go back to your life in California and I’ll do my best to move on without you.” He inhaled deeply, his eyes burning into mine. “Do you love me, Summer?”

  I gazed into those blue eyes of his and felt my heart soaring. “Yes.” And I meant it with every vibrating fiber in my body. I hadn’t admitted it when I’d left and I’d done my best to forget about him but it had been useless. “I’ve always loved you too.”

  His grin was radiant and tears began to bleed freely from my eyes as I smiled up at him, both of us laughing.

  “I know you have a whole other life in California,” he started in that sexy, deep voice of his. “But if you are amenable to it, I want you to come back here, come back home. We could build a life together, a good life. You know I would support you in all of your dreams and now I’ll be able to financially make them happen too.” He paused as he watched me. “Please tell me you’ll consider it?”

  “I already have,” I answered as more tears plummeted from my eyes. “And I knew that once I came back here, there was no way I could leave again.”

  For the first time in a long time, I was sure of a decision I was making. Yes, my life in California was great and yes, my career had really taken off. But I wasn’t happy. How could I have been when every day and night my heart was pining for this man? I’d thought that chasing my dream was everything but what I’d failed to realize was that my dream was sitting right in front of me.

  “I love you, Tom,” I whispered as he gathered me in his arms and held me tightly.

  “Welcome home, my love. Welcome home.”

  The End

  Thank you for reading Cowboy Up and I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, don’t forget to join my mailing list at https://www.lunastarrbooks.com/mailing-list to get two FREE SEXY STORIES unavailable anywhere else!

  ~~~~~

  And for your reading pleasure, please continue on to my bonus gift to you—my scorching hot novel, SINNER IN ME. Enjoy!

  SINNER IN ME

  by

  Luna Starr

  Sinner In Me

  Copyright © 2017 by Luna Starr

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.

  Please note that this work is intended for adults over the age of 18 and all characters are represented as 18 or over.

  Kindle Edition

  Sinner In Me

  Chapter One

  Jessica

  I made the decision to live a life as close to the Bible as I could at a very young age. I was fourteen when it dawned on me that a life of discipline, faith, and chastity was right for me and so my parents had enrolled me in St. Hilda’s Catholic School. I’d just celebrated my eighteenth birthday and I was still on the same path, and still happy with my life choice, only now I was set to graduate from St. Hilda’s. Once I graduated, I was planning on attending Mary Magdalene’s Academy, a private Catholic university not far from where I lived, in rural Vergennes, Vermont.

  The only problem with my chosen path of chastity was that I’d developed a feminine figure very early on and boys seemed to have noticed it too. By the age of seventeen, I was a 32D cup with an hourglass figure, meaning I had a big butt and roomy hips. Such a figure on a young girl like myself was a burden I wasn’t prepared to take on. And I’m not talking about back pain. I’m talking about the way boys and men reacted to me. From the time I started having to wear a bra, I noticed the married men in my neighborhood staring at me with strange smiles on their faces as I walked to school. They weren’t the types of smiles that you would normally see as acts of general pleasantries, but they were lecherous smiles that also came with long, drawn-out stares. They were the types of stares that I associated with predators at the zoo, like lions, tigers, and bears—the types of stares you saw from creatures who wanted to… eat you.

  It was weird but once I realized the opposite sex seemed to notice me wherever I went, my vow to wait to have sex until I was married before the Lord was something that started to become more difficult. Every night, I woke up and my panties would be soaking wet. I didn’t remember most of my dreams so I didn’t understand why my body was leaking. Occasionally, one of the dreams would fight through the cavernous reaches of my brain and bubble to the top. For instance, I remember one where this boy named Tommy, who I knew from my biology class, was giving me a back rub. In the dream, he slowly moved his hand down my white uniform shirt. Then he cupped my breast, trying to arouse my nipple with his thumb as he lightly circled my aureola, softly flicking my erect nipple. I wanted to fight off his advances, but the skin around my nipple was so soft, so tender, and so sensitive to the smallest touch, that it was very difficult to maintain my self control. I remember moaning as Tommy rubbed my hard nipple and plied the flesh of my tit and then I woke up, feeling my pussy suddenly spasming in a way that it had never done before. I was panting and I felt so, so good.

  But whatever had happened to my body while I was dreaming bothered me. And it bothered me so much that I didn’t look at Tommy the same way afterward, even though it wasn’t his fault my subconscious was dreaming about him. Not that it really mattered to me because I refused to talk to him. I refused to ever make eye contact with his beautiful, sharp brown eyes again. The temptation was maddening.

  But the good book helped me to not act on my impulses. It helped to remind me that I had taken a vow of chastity and that I wanted to give my virginity to the man I would someday marry. Even though I’d made up my mind to be pure, I continued to experience the dreams and I continued to wake up with my panties soaked and my pussy swollen. I felt guilty about the filthy things that my subconscious drummed up, but then there came the incident that put my dreams to shame, the incident that tempted me to break my oath.

  Chapter Two

  Jessica

  One night, during my senior year in high school, I was invited to a party at Tommy’s house. I was never really into partying. I knew many of my peers would go to these get-togethers to drink, make out, or have sex, all things that didn’t interest me. But, despite my hesitation, I decided to go because my best friend Gloria didn’t want to go by herself.

  Gloria was half Indian and half white. She
was exotically gorgeous. She had these beautifully shaped thick eyebrows, that hung over her large, almond-shaped eyes. She had long, voluminous, bouncy black hair and a wicked fashion sense. She was on the track team, so she also had a set of stunning legs, but unlike me, she has smallish breasts. And unlike me, she didn’t have a forgettable face.

  As far as Gloria and I went, we were always viewed as part of the “good girls” at St. Hilda’s. The good girls were a select few who were obsessively focused on their future and who didn’t let boys get in the way of their ambitions. The good girls were the ones who didn’t put out and, therefore, didn’t get invited anywhere.

  But little did everyone know that Gloria had a little rebellious streak in her, even if she was still a virgin at the time. The worst thing she’d ever done was get her pussy rubbed by her boyfriend, Max, whom she’d known since the fourth grade. They’d recently broken up and she was a free girl for the first time in her post-adolescent life. And that was the chief reason she wanted to go to Tommy’s party. Well, that and she was pretty excited that Chrissy Shein had invited Gloria personally, saying that I could come too if I wanted. I was still pretty floored that we’d even been invited. Chrissy, with her long platinum hair and her expensive clothing, was the most popular girl in school. And she also put out. A lot.

  “Look, I know Chrissy has a reputation,” Gloria started as we walked down the hall toward our next class. “But Terrence told me the party will be pretty chill. Everyone’s going.”

  “Will there be drugs and alcohol?” I asked, my tone concerned, even though I already knew the answer.

  “I don’t know about drugs, but there definitely will be booze,” Gloria answered. Then she nudged me in the ribs with her elbow. “But stop being such a prude, Jessie! Just go and be cool for once in your life. No one will force you to do anything you don’t want to!”

  “Fine, but neither of us is going to drink alcohol, take drugs, have sex, or leave each other’s sight,” I said, sticking out my hand at Gloria to shake on it. “Deal?”

  “Deal,” Gloria said, shaking my hand enthusiastically. “And we’ll show up maybe an hour or so after the party has started, just to make our entrance.” She took a breath. “At least that’s what it said to do in Cosmo.”

  ***

  That night, I decided to wear something a little more daring than usual. To a girl like Chrissy, it would have been considered too conservative, but for me, it bordered on daring. My black dress was tight, figure wrapping and cut slightly above my knees. It wasn’t too short; in fact, if some stick-figured girl had worn it, it would have looked like she was wearing a trash bag. But because I actually had some hips, a butt and a well-endowed set of breasts, it somehow looked sexy.

  Gloria picked me up in her dad’s Benz that night. Her father was a successful ear, nose, and throat doctor and would reward Gloria for her outstanding grades by letting her drive the family’s candy-apple-red S-Class on the weekends. As soon as I sat down in the passenger seat, Gloria exaggeratedly belted out, “Daaaaamn girl!”

  “What?” I asked, carefully putting on my seatbelt.

  “Do you want to get laid tonight or something?”

  “Of course not,” I said, frowning as I took a quick glance at my dress. “What? Is this too much or something?”

  “Every guy at this party is going to ask you for your number. You know that, right?”

  I gave Gloria a worried look. “Maybe I shouldn’t go.” The truth was that there would be lots of people at this party who were from other schools and that information made me nervous. I’d known most of the students from my class since grade school, which made them seem… safe.

  “No... we’ll have fun,” Gloria insisted. “I promise I won’t stray too far from you,” she finished, lightly patting me on the lap.

  “I can’t help it, you know?” I asked as I sighed.

  “Can’t help what?”

  “It’s not like I can hide these boobs or this booty,” I answered with a sigh as I glanced down and found my cleavage looking back up at me. “I can’t help it.”

  “It’s a gift, Jess. I don’t know why you don’t realize it. You’ve been given a gift. Do you understand the power you have?” Gloria stated emphatically. “You could basically have any guy you want with that body.”

  “No, I can’t start thinking like that,” I said, shaking my head as I repeated the same sentiment to myself. “Thinking like that is what’s going to lead to trouble,” I insisted and reminded myself of the importance of sticking to one’s life goals.

  Gloria didn’t say anything more but continued to drive a few miles over the speed limit on the boulevard. Her father wouldn’t have approved. “You know Steve, right?” she asked, as she turned to face me.

  “The wrestler from Juniper High School?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “He’s going to be at the party tonight.”

  “And?”

  “Terri says he has like the largest dick ever.”

  I covered my mouth in shock. “Oh my God. Why would you tell me that?”

  “Oh Jess, shut up!” Gloria said as she frowned at me. “Stop pretending to be so innocent! I know you aren’t! I mean, I’ve seen the way you look at Tommy in physics class! You practically want to suck his cock right there!”

  “What?” I nearly shrieked, coloring instantly at the mention of Tommy because I immediately remembered all the dreams I’d had about him. And, really, the last thing I wanted to think about was sucking his dick. “No, I don’t!”

  “Jess, it’s okay. You’re human. If you didn’t want to suck a guy’s cock by now, then you would be in desperate need of some major therapy. Well, that, or you’d be a lesbian.” She was quiet for a second or two before she turned to face me. “Are you a lesbian?”

  “Oh my God, Gloria!” I yelled at her.

  “That’s what I thought,” Gloria said with a laugh. “So, if you don’t want people to think you’re a lesbo, start acting like you like dick.”

  I sulked in the passenger seat as I wondered how much of a prude I really was. As a virgin, I guess it made sense that I was a prude but now it seemed like my prudishness was getting in the way of my having a good time. Yes, Tommy was undeniably hot, and of course, Gloria was right, there were times that I thought about sucking his penis, but I never was outspoken about my feelings toward him or any other boy. I kept my mouth shut because I thought that was the best way to curb my unwholesome thoughts and feelings.

  We arrived at Tommy’s house and the party was already in full swing, with cars lining both sides of the street. It took us a good three minutes to hike up the incredibly long, private driveway which was lined with white roses. Behind them were maple trees. When we reached the house, which was really more of a palatial estate, I couldn’t help my gasp. The thing looked like the White House with its white façade and numerous columns.

  There were teenagers hanging out front on the manicured lawn, some of them smoking. I didn’t recognize any of them. Aside from the teenagers, there were also a bunch of red cups already strewn about the lawn and I wasn’t sure but there might have been a pair of panties on one of the bushes. I could hear the sound of music thumping from inside or maybe from the back yard. The neighbors must have had soundproof walls and windows, because the party was raging undisturbed. Of course, the neighbors were also a good acre away on either side, given how huge the grounds of this house were. Gloria gave me a cheeky smile as we walked up the walkway to the front double doors. I shook my head, giving her a look of disapproval as my nerves started raging full-bore.

  “Come on, Jess,” Gloria said, as she reached her right hand out to me. I hesitantly grabbed it and followed her up to the house. She rang the doorbell and then we waited.

  “Hey guys, come on in,” Chrissy greeted us as we walked into the packed house. Chrissy was wearing a tight, yellow miniskirt with a short, white cotton tee that exposed her midriff. I hated to admit it, but her legs were super long, and beautifully sha
ped. I could see why Chrissy, and her precocious blue eyes, were in such high demand from all the boys at school and elsewhere. Even though I too had a body, I wasn’t popular. Chrissy was.

  Jason, who was Chrissy’s boyfriend, came up behind her and started pecking at her neck. This guy was a stud too and he was from a different school, which made him even more of a mystery. He was really tan, which helped further define and outline his toned arms, and he looked awesome in a pair of tight, weathered jeans. Jason happened to be the star wide receiver at Quinn High so everyone knew who he was. Chrissy squirmed as soon as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “I have some margaritas ready. You girls want one?” she asked.

  I gave Gloria a quick, discouraging look and shook my head. Gloria gave me a playful punch on my shoulder and turned to Chrissy and said, “Sure, lead the way.”

  As we walked through the house with its twenty-foot ceilings, exotic Asian rugs and dark wooden floors, I realized that Tommy came from major money. All of the oversized furniture looked expensive and I was fairly sure that the oil paintings on every wall were original. I couldn’t help but gulp with worry as I noticed the various cups and bottles place precariously on tables, and mantels, looking like they were ready to spill over onto the gorgeous floors or the equally exotic rugs.

  When we reached the kitchen, I realized Gloria was right: every guy at the party was checking me out with intense, predatory stares. I felt a strange sensation—one of severe vulnerability but, at the same time, I also felt a bizarre, awkward confidence. Somewhere, deep inside of me, I liked the fact that the guys weren’t looking at Gloria, nor even at Chrissy; instead, all eyes were lasered on me. As soon as the feelings of confidence bubbled up inside of me, I immediately forced them back down again. Pride was not something I wanted to encourage within myself. It was far better to be humble. I instantly regretted my outfit. I lowered my eyes to the ground as I followed the girls, purposely avoiding any and all eye contact.