“I hear Mrs. Beeton’s got a surefire way to get the sheriff to release her,” Jesse said.
“Is it true?” Tyler asked, his eyes brimming with laughter. “Was she having a lingerie party and did she really whack the sheriff?”
Dylan shook his head. “Look, we’ll talk later,” he said. “There’s a woman inside who thinks I’ve abandoned her and lied when I told her I loved her.”
Jesse stopped in his tracks. “You actually said the words?”
Dylan grabbed Jesse’s left arm while Tyler grabbed Jesse’s right, pulling the youngest Garahan toward the door. “Yeah,” Dylan ground out. “Let’s finish what we’ve started. It’s time for the Garahans to save the day.” He looked at Tyler and grinned. “Again.”
Tyler nodded. “One of us falls,” he rasped, “and the other two will be right there to pull him back up.”
Faith renewed, determination filling him, Dylan stormed into the jail, ready to tear ass and take names.
Chapter 20
Ronnie dug deep for strength as the sheriff instructed his deputy to fingerprint the criminal—her!
She’d never have believed this could ever happen to her. She never broke the law, always drove within the speed limit, never double-parked or jaywalked.
“Ms. DelVecchio, I need your right hand first.”
She tried to pay attention, but her mind kept returning to that awful moment when Dylan stepped aside and let the sheriff haul her off to jail. How could he? She’d never let Dylan get hauled off to jail without a fight.
“Damn his eyes.”
“Can’t you keep the prisoner in line, Deputy?”
“Yes, sir,” he answered before looking down at Ronnie. “I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from using foul language.”
Ronnie’s simmering temper reached the boiling point. “Bite me.”
The deputy’s eyes widened and his face turned beet red.
Satisfaction took an edge off her anger, but it was short-lived. She heard the scrape of a chair and saw the sheriff rise and walk toward her, but then he stopped in his tracks, stood straighter, and slid his hand to the gun at his hip.
Turning to look in the direction the sheriff had, Ronnie’s hand flew to her breast to keep her heart from pounding out of it. Walking toward her was the man she’d thought had abandoned her to her plight.
As he stepped in from the narrow hallway, his brothers stepped alongside, flanking him. Dark-haired, dark-eyed, and glowering, the middle Garahan brother was enough to set her heart aflutter and bring tears of relief to her eyes—that his brothers were there too just added to the feeling.
“I’m here to demand you release Veronica DelVecchio.”
The sheriff didn’t miss a beat. “That a fact, Garahan?” Looking from one brother to the next, he asked, “You three planning on starting a brawl in my jail?”
Dylan and his brothers looked at one another and then at Mavis, who still held that battered book she’d brought with her. “That won’t be necessary, Sheriff McClure,” she said cheerfully with a nod in Ronnie’s direction. “I’d like to bring your attention to the Town of Pleasure’s Ordinance Number Five.”
Clearing her throat she looked over her shoulder and called out, “If there are any other people who’d like to act as witnesses, now would be the time to come forward and be counted.”
Ronnie couldn’t believe her eyes. Jolene, Emily, Gwen, Natalie, and Jennifer led the way as Lettie and Pam Dawson, and Minnie Harrison walked into the room, followed by every single woman who’d been at the Lucky Star just a short while ago.
“Wait for us!” Shannon and Lenore McKenna bustled into the room. “Sorry we’re late; we came as soon as Jolene called.”
The women of the town were there for her, to support her. Surrounded by her contemporaries, she straightened her shoulders and faced the woman who she knew made it all happen. “Mavis—”
Her friend shook her head at her and Ronnie fell silent.
“Now, Sheriff,” Mavis said, “if you’ll let me continue.”
The lawman vibrated with anger but managed to nod instead of pulling his gun on the Garahan brothers, which was what Ronnie thought he’d been about to do.
“Any resident of Pleasure, man or woman, has the right to invoke this Ordinance and the law has to release the prisoner into their custody.”
“Let me see that,” McClure ground out, reaching for the ledger.
Mavis handed him the book and moved to stand beside Ronnie. She leaned close and whispered, “Don’t say anything until Dylan’s had his say.”
“What?”
Mavis patted her on the arm, put a finger to her lips, and moved away.
Dylan nodded to his brothers and stepped forward. “I hereby invoke the Donovan Marriage Ordinance and ask you to release Veronica DelVecchio into my custody.”
He turned toward Ronnie and rasped, “I promise to love her, cleave to her, and keep her out of jail for the rest of our married lives.”
“Marriage Ordinance?” Her head felt light, her thoughts fuzzy, and her body detached. When all eyes turned toward her, she moistened her parched lips with the tip of her tongue and looked at the man who standing in front of her. “You’re asking me to marry you?”
Dylan nodded.
“And I’ll be free to leave this jail?”
Again, he nodded.
She looked over at the sheriff and asked, “Otherwise I’ll have to stay locked up?”
McClure nodded. “You do the crime… you do the time.”
She swallowed against the lump in her throat and faced Dylan. “I thought you were leaving me to twist in the wind.”
He stood straighter and glared down at her. “Not in this lifetime.”
“Well, you didn’t say anything in my defense and you let the sheriff cuff me and drag me out of the Lucky Star.”
“Mrs. Peterson’s… uh… outfit distracted me. I’m sorry, Ronnie, but there’s just some things a man’s not ready to see.”
Her lips twitched, but she dug deep fighting the urge to smile. “What about the DelVecchio Curse?”
“I’ve already told you it would be pure pleasure if you carried my children. I’m partial to twins.”
“A curse? Hey, Bro,” Jesse said, “are any body parts going to fall off?”
“What curse?” Tyler asked.
“Later,” Dylan ground out. “Can’t you see I’m busy here?” He pulled Ronnie into his arms. “Well?” he asked. “Will you marry me and start on the next generation of Garahans?”
She looked over at Mavis, who had tears in her eyes, and then back at Dylan. “What if the curse is a dud and I can’t have children?”
He lifted her chin with the deft touch of his knuckle. “I need you to marry me, Ronnie,” he rasped. “I love you for your fractiousness and the fact that you would take on the law with the power of your convictions and your stock of lingerie and scented massage oil.”
Ronnie grinned and asked, “Can I ride Wildfire?”
His eyes widened, but instead of answering he covered her mouth with his, lips teasing, tongue tangling. When he ended the kiss, she hugged him tight. “How could an East Coast girl like me resist the awesome power of pure, unadulterated, Texas testosterone?”
“Marry me and come live with me out at the Circle G.”
“Are you sure about this, Ronnie?” Shannon asked.
“Hey,” Jolene called out, “now would be the perfect time to ask him.”
Ronnie shook her head to clear it. “What are you talking about?”
Jolene crossed her arms beneath her breasts and then threw them up in the air and grumbled. “Take Pride in Pleasure Day—the all-male revue…”
Ronnie grinned. Not that she didn’t think Dylan meant what he said, but just to prove a point and test Dylan’s conviction to marry her, she said, “Since you’ve agreed to let me ride Wildfire, I have one more request.”
Dylan’s eyes swirled with a combination of desire and love. Her heart
melted, and for a moment she forgot what she wanted to ask him.
“Ask me anything, darlin’,” he rumbled, pressing his lips to her forehead.
“Will you and your brothers be a part of the Lucky Star’s all-male revue in the Take Pride in Pleasure Celebration and Rodeo?”
He eased back and glared down at her. For a heartbeat she’d thought she’d gone too far, overestimating how much he loved her or how far he’d go to keep her out of jail.
He let go of her, drew in a deep breath, and crossed his arms over his broad chest. If possible, his glare was more intense and just this side of disconcerting.
Hell, she should never have asked. Wasn’t it enough that the man asked her to marry him to keep her out of jail? But no, she had to go one step too far and ask him to parade around on stage with his brothers, shirtless, while women hooted and hollered—
His sigh was loud and long, and for a second, she thought he’d capitulate. Instead, he turned his back on her.
Tears filled her eyes, but she’d be damned if she’d let Dylan Garahan know how badly he’d hurt her. DelVecchios went down fighting!
“Ty, would you and Jesse be willing to help out Jolene and Emily and be a part of their damned all-male revue?”
Tyler started laughing while Jesse started cheering. “Hoowee! I’m gonna call our New York City cousins back and tell them we’re in and they should book their tickets now!”
Before Ronnie’s mind could process the fact that he was asking his brothers to be a part of something she knew he dreaded doing, Tyler spoke up. “Hell, if you and Jesse are willing to strip down in public—”
“There will be no stripping in public, damn it,” Sheriff McClure roared.
Jolene started laughing. “Don’t you worry none, Sheriff,” Jolene drawled. “There will be no stripping—just a lineup of dark-haired, dark-eyed, handsome cowboys dancing on stage in their jeans, chaps, boots, and Stetsons.”
The sheriff glared at her but finally agreed. “SIPs usually lead to FIPs.”
Ronnie tilted her head to one side. “What does SIP and FIP mean?”
Dylan yanked her close and chuckled. “‘Stripping In Public’ and ‘Fornicating In Public.’”
She pushed against his shoulders and he eased up his hold on her. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
He shook his head and drew her back to within kissing range. His lips descended toward hers, but before he could kiss her, Ronnie decided to tempt the man who would be driving her crazy for the rest of their lives. “I know how much you love pecans,” she rasped. “I’ve got this killer praline recipe.” She leaned closer, blew in his ear and then whispered, “I can warm it up on the stovetop and then drizzle it all over you… then I’ll just have to lick it off.”
Dylan’s eyes darkened as he cleared his throat and grabbed her hand. “If you’ll excuse us—”
“Not so fast, Garahan,” the sheriff rumbled, handing the ledger back to Mavis. “You’re not leaving this office until you’re married to the prisoner.”
Mavis turned and smiled as a man in long black robes hurried toward them. “I got here as soon as I could, Mrs. Beeton.”
“Thank you, Judge Gambling.”
Standing in front of the couple, the judge nodded. “Now then, if there’s no one here who’ll object to the marriage of these two fine upstanding citizens—”
“The prisoner was arrested for selling pornographic materials!” a shrill voice called out from behind them.
As one, she and Dylan turned. The president of the Rotary Club stood shoulder to shoulder with president of the Woman’s Club. Before Ronnie could tell the women where to get off, Mavis beat her to it.
“Well now, ladies, since you weren’t invited to our little gathering earlier, I’ll just have to assume, you’re feeling a mite left out.” Mavis turned to Ronnie. “Do you have any more flyers left?”
When Ronnie nodded, the blonde opened her mouth to speak, but Mavis kept talking, “After all, Jolene and Emily know how much Janet and Anne Marie look forward to spending time at the Lucky Star—maybe a couple of your toys will keep them off the streets at night.”
“Well,” Anne Marie shrieked. “I never—”
“That’s not what I heard,” Pam Dawson said.
The noise level of the room soared as the two women tried to argue with Pleasure’s one-woman wrecking crew—Mavis Beeton.
Ignoring the ruckus, the judge continued, “Do you promise to love and honor Veronica from this day forward?”
Dylan pressed his lips to her forehead. “I promise to love, honor, and keep my little filly out of jail for the rest of our married lives.”
Ronnie sputtered, “Filly?”
Dylan cupped her face in his callused hands and rasped. “Fractious, hardheaded, and just plain perfect, you’re my little filly, darlin’.” He dipped his head to press his lips to hers. A soft, sweet kiss filled with promise. He slid his hands along the slope of her shoulders, down to the curve of her waist. The heat of his hands, combined with the strength she knew he held in check convinced her she wouldn’t regret marrying him.
She felt as light as a cloud. Free and unencumbered by the past, she looped her hands around his neck and felt her heart soaring free. She couldn’t wait to call Nonni and share the news.
The judge’s next question brought her back to the present. “And do you promise to love and honor Dylan in return?”
Ronnie smiled up at the man holding her close. She touched her fingertips to his cheek, leaving a streak of black ink. She held her laughter inside of her; she’d tell him about the streak later. “I promise to love, honor, and keep all pornographic materials behind closed doors—ours.”
“I now pronounce you man and wife.”
Dylan slid his hands to her back and splayed them at the base of her spine, holding her against him, as he bent his head and sealed their vows with a gentle kiss, a promise from his heart.
Ronnie laid her head on Dylan’s chest and sighed. “You’re sure you won’t too get tired of being tied down to a rabble-rouser from back East?”
Dylan gathered her close and kissed the breath out of her. When he came up for air, he asked, “What part of ‘I love you’ didn’t you understand, darlin’?”
“Now who’s being fractious?”
He laughed and crushed her to him. “Kiss me back, darlin’.”
She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “With pleasure, darlin’, I surely will.” And she did.
Acknowledgments
To my family… thank you for your continued support and willingness to be used as visual stand-ins for my characters, and to act as a buffer to the real world while I finished this book. I’d be lost without you guys; you ground me and keep me sane. I love you.
Thank you to my wonderful editor, Deb Werksman, for her vision, attention to detail, and amazing ability to push me to dig even deeper, helping me to become a better writer. If my characters don’t always listen to me, at least they listen to you. I’m so grateful to be working with someone who really understands the way my mind and my characters work. Thanks, Deb.
To the whole Sourcebooks team… thank you! You ladies totally rock!
About the Author
C.H. Admirand is an award-winning, multi-published author with novels in mass-market paperback, hardcover, trade paperback, magazine, e-book, and audio book format.
Fate, destiny, and love at first sight will always play a large part in C.H.’s stories because they played a major role in her life. When she saw her husband for the first time, she knew he was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Each and every hero C.H. writes about has a few of Dave’s best qualities: his honesty, his integrity, his compassion for those in need, and his killer broad shoulders. She lives with her husband and their three grown children in the wilds of northern New Jersey.
She loves to hear from readers! Stop by her website at www.chadmirand.com to catch up on the latest news, excerpts, reviews, blog posts, and l
inks to Facebook and Twitter.
Read on for an excerpt from
Coming July 2012
from C.H. Admirand
and Sourcebooks Casablanca
Chapter 1
Jesse Garahan hit the gas and breathed in the hot Texas air. He loved the feel of the wind in his face and engine rumbling beneath him as the hot sun smiled down on him, trying to parboil him to the driver’s seat.
He’d left the ranch in two pairs of very capable hands—his brothers. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he wondered if he could find a wild woman like the one Garth Brooks was singing about on the radio. Hell—he didn’t have time for romance right now, too much to do and not enough time to get it done in. Setting that thought aside, he concentrated on the road ahead of him and coaxing as much speed as possible out of his truck.
Flooring it, tearing ass along the road to town, he grinned. He loved driving and figured he missed his calling having to work at the ranch with his brothers—but Garahans stuck together no matter what, and as long as the ranch still had life left in it, a Garahan would be running it. With enough work for ten men, most days he and his brothers were worn to the bone, but not ready to roll over and give up.
A speck of color off in the distance at the side of the road, had him cutting back on the accelerator. Could be one of the Dawson sisters, Miss Pam had told him she’d been having a bit of trouble with her old pickup. Slowing it down, ready to lend a hand, he sucked in a breath and held it. Steam poured out from under the hood of a car that a very curvy, compact, jean-clad blonde was opening the hood to. When he noticed the rag in her hand, he knew what she was going to do.
“Damn fool woman!” He feathered the gas for more speed, cranked the wheel hard to the left, whipping the car in a perfect 180. Gravel spit out from beneath his tires as he skidded to a halt behind her vehicle.
When she jumped back with a hand to her heart, he threw the truck in park and swung his door open with enough force to move the dead summer air like the early morning breeze coming across the pond at the Circle G. Stomping over to her, he grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her off to the side, out of harm’s way.
Dylan Page 29
