by Lauren Wood
“But why today?”
“Because it is time. We have been here almost a week getting everything ready. I told mom that I would do it here at the church, like she always wanted, but after that, I am done living for them Constance. I have to live for me. I know that you won’t get it, but you are happy here with Barry. You are happy in Watertown, right?”
There was a moment of hesitation as the façade fell, but it was back up so quickly that I wasn’t sure if what I thought I saw was real. “You are happy here, right?”
She shook her head, but there was a tear in her eye that she brushed away and tried to laugh off. Everything was not as perfect as she would like me to think, but I couldn’t think of that today. Constance knew that I would always listen, but by the looks of her, she was not quite ready to give it all up just yet.
“You know that you can always come and visit us if you like Constance, with or without Barry.”
I could tell that she was rather surprised by the invitation and how it was given to her, but I wanted her to know that she was always welcome if she had to get away. I wasn’t going to tell her to forgive him if he did wrong. I would be there for my sister, not for the sake of her marriage.
“It is just going to be so strange without you. When you were gone before, I thought I was going to go crazy with no one to talk to.”
“I am only a couple of hours away and you can always call. I write at home most of the time, so I am always ready to talk. I felt the same way when you got married. I thought I was going to lose you or something, but I didn’t.”
Constance was crying freely now and I was doing my best not to. “Please Constance. I don’t need to smear my makeup. It took forever to get it on there.”
Smiling at me and wiping my eyes, she just laughed. “I did it too. I was smeary seconds before I walked down the aisle with Barry. Mom thought I was backing out, but it was really just too much to deal with all at once. How are you feeling about everything right now? Are you okay?”
I told her that I was. For a moment I had been nervous, but now all of that was going away and all I could think about was what I wanted to do next. I was ready to get married, because I knew that Carlos was the one for me. And he had promised me that if I ever forgot why I said yes to him, he would remind me again in a thousand ways. I really hoped a few of those ways ended up in the bedroom. He was very convincing there.
***
“Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?”
I nodded my head and finally squawked out an answer, hoping that it was loud enough to be heard. Carlos was holding his breath and finally let it go with my answer. Did he really for a second think that I would say no?
He didn’t wait for the preacher to give the okay, signifying that we were married in God’s hands. Instead he pulled me to him and made quite a scene in the church. I could hear the gasping from behind me, but I also knew that every woman there wished that her husband had done the same. I was too busy dealing with the lips that could convince me of anything. All he had to do was ask and I was left helpless to not give him what he wanted.
When he pulled away, it was me who was finding it hard to breathe and I panted a little, my mind already going to what was going to be in store for us. I knew that it was going to be perfect. He was perfect and it didn’t matter what was ahead, as long as he was with me. With Carlos, I knew that I could do anything and now it was just official.
Walking back down the aisle hand in hand with the man I love was something that I would never forget. I didn’t see anyone else, nor was I going to remember anyone else. All I was going to remember was those dark brown eyes that twinkled at me and the beginnings of a beard that I missed so much.
“I love you Eve. I never thought I would feel this way, but I can’t think of what it would be like without you with me and I never want to find out.”
“I love you too Carlos. I am not going anywhere, ever again.”
Helping me into our getaway car, I moved to kiss him, grabbing his face and pulling him in. It was the first time that I had done it, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be to be the last. With Carlos, there was no right and wrong, there was only us.
THE END
LAUREN WOOD ROMANCE
SNEAK PEEK!
RODEO RANCHER: SNEAK PEAK
PREVIEWS
A Bad Boy Romance
BLURB:
My darkest desire.
I wanted my muscled horse trainer.
One night with him was all it took.
I was hooked and I needed more.
He gave me more pleasure than I ever thought possible.
Cecelia
Being with him was always a no go. He was a player and I didn’t want to get hurt.
But I wanted him. Really bad.
After one night together, I knew everything that I had wished for was real. This was real.
He was everything that I needed and so much more.
I wanted him to be mine, all mine, but it was impossible to keep a man like Dante. He was a womanizer and I was just another pawn for him to play with.
I felt for my boss and now I had to make her mine.
Cece was every cowboy’s wet dream in town.
I need her in the worst way.
Dante
I tried for years to seduce the boss. Cecelia was what I wanted and every other girl was just a means to an end. But not her. Cece was the end game.
I finally got her into my arms. I knew that I only needed one night to make her mine.
All I had to do was get her screaming out my name, begging for more and I wouldn’t be able to get rid of her.
I am going to have her for life, the girl I waited for all of this time.
She was going to be mine. All mine. Every inch of that sexy body was going to be mine for the taking.
Every damn inch.
Chapter 1
Cecelia
“How is hiring going?”
I shrugged and made a face at my friend. It had been one of those days and the more I thought about the line of people I had to interview most of the day, it would have just made my head hurt more.
“I still haven’t found some regular hands. I am short four at the moment and I wish I could find a couple real quick. I am sick of trying to cover everything with less people than I need. It never used to be this hard to keep people. I guess the work is too hard or something.”
“I don’t know how you do it. I work as a secretary sitting on my butt all day. I get tired just watching you run around here.”
Karen took another drink of her cold coffee and I just shook my head again. I had tried before to get her to work with me on my family’s ranch, but she wasn’t going for it. There were a lot of reasons why not, even though I would pay double what she makes now. Karen just didn’t want to do this kind of work and some days I can honestly say that I don’t blame her. There were days that I didn’t even want to get up, but I loved my job, no matter how difficult it was or how sore my muscles were at the end of the day.
“I think a lot of people are on the same page Karen. You would think that I was suggesting that they eat a rat. I had a guy today that told me there was no way that one person could do everything I wanted. I think I am just going to have to give up on it all. I wish I could find more people like Dante and Carl. If I had a couple more of them, I wouldn’t have to look anymore.”
“How is Dante?”
I sighed and just shrugged a little, not wanting to have this conversation again with her. “The same as always. I don’t know why you bother worrying about him. He is bad news and a heartbreaker.”
“No he isn’t. He is just looking for one thing and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes a girl isn’t looking for a happily ever after, just a good night.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her implication. Dante was handsome, very much so, but he knew it and that was alwa
ys a problem. He had hit on me a couple of times when he first started last year, but I wasn’t biting. I knew all about men like him and though Karen thought she just wanted a good night, it would be painful in the end. She would fall, like a woman always does for that type and then be crushed when he doesn’t change his ways. It’s madness.
“Well, don’t hold back on my account.”
She crinkled her nose. “No, I don’t think I am his type. You are more the kind of girl I see him at the bar with, then me.”
“You never know. But I am not getting into it between you two. He is a good employee and I don’t want it getting complicated. He is a wonder with the horses.”
Karen pouted for a moment and then brightened back up. “If you aren’t going to hook me up, you could at least find out if he has a girlfriend or anything.”
I could have reminded her that he didn’t date, he brought back random women to the hand house all of the time. They were always different, never introduced and never brought to the main house for dinner. It was rather clear to me what Dante was looking for. Instead of arguing, I just went with it though. She didn’t want to hear my real opinion.
“I will see what I can do. I don’t know if he is seeing anyone right now, but next time I see Dante around I will ask him.” I just didn’t want him to think that it was because of me and some interest that I had in him. I would have to be clear that I was asking for Karen.
She thanked me and had this beaming smile on her face. I didn’t get it with Dante. The man was sexy, sure, but how did he get grown women to lose their minds a little bit. It just didn’t make sense and though it was entertaining to see, I didn’t want Karen to go down the same path. She had a tender heart and didn’t need to get it broken because of some pheromone that Dante was letting off. I knew better myself than to get involved with it.
Karen left a little while later, complaining about the lack of air conditioning in the office. My father never liked A/C, so when the house was modernized, he had worried very little about upgrading the heating and cooling. Over the years I had gotten used to it and rather enjoyed the slight breeze on another hot day in Texas.
I sat back in my chair and tried to figure out what I was going to do for next week’s schedule. It was one of those weeks where I was already short, something that was normal at the Barclay’s Horse Ranch, but now there was another rodeo in town and several of the horses were going to have to be transported to the location. That meant I was going to lose Dante on the ranch, which meant chaos. He did a lot when he wasn’t a womanizer and I was going to miss him. I knew I was going to be the one that picked up the slack if I didn’t get in gear and hire someone else immediately.
“Speaking of the devil.”
“Huh?”
“I was just thinking about you. What are you doing this Friday night?”
“Seeing if you had any hires for me to train before I leave for Houston.”
“Not at the moment. You have any friends that I can hire on?”
Dante sat down on the other side of the desk and smiled at me with that boyish look. “What are you looking for?”
“Hands mainly.”
“I know a few people. I will make some calls. Those flyers didn’t work?”
I sighed and blew out a deep breath. “No, they didn’t. I wanted to go to the rodeo next weekend, but I don’t know if I am going to be able to. Hell, I don’t know what I am going to do when you are gone Dante.”
“Aww, are you going to miss me?”
He was up again and walking behind me. He was being patronizing, but I didn’t care. I knew what he was going to do next and usually I would shrug him off, but right now I needed it. Dante was always on and the charm was something that he couldn’t turn off or he just refused to. It was hard to deny what Karen and many others seen in him, but I knew him too well to ever consider him a romantic option.
But his hands were amazing and I was going to allow it. “You have a lot of tension in your neck Cece.”
I agreed but didn’t say anything. It was best just to let him work. Dante had first rubbed my shoulders after a long ride where it was killing me. I had learned then that he had magic fingers, but I also learned quickly that his tongue was too honeyed for me. I had to be careful to not get sucked into his vortex.
“Does that feel good Cece?”
“You know it does Dante.”
He bent down and moved close to my ear. “You should imagine what I could do if you would let me rub on more than just your shoulders.”
His hands were moving down my arms and I felt one of his fingers lightly touch the underside of my left boob. That pulled me from it and I shrugged off the hands that drove me crazy.
“That’s enough. I am feeling better, thank you.”
Dante grinned and leaned on the desk in front of me. “I will wear you down one day Cecelia.”
“Doubt it. You know how I feel about it. But seriously, get that wolf look off your face and tell me who it is that you know that can start immediately. They have to know a little something and be able to learn, that’s it.”
“You had a lot of people in and out of this office today.”
I just gave him a look. “I know.”
“So the bar is that low now?”
“Ever since hiring you Dante.”
He grinned again and I just shook my head. “So?”
“Well I was seeing this chick that worked at Billy’s. She doesn’t like it over there, pay is crap. She knows her stuff, knows the animals, so she would be a good fit.”
“Are you still seeing here?”
“Jealous?”
I returned that grin he always had on his face with one of my own. “Not at all. Don’t let it get in the way of your work and I don’t care. But my friend wanted to know if you were seeing anyone.”
“That curvy blonde with the huge rack?”
Shaking my head, I nodded in agreement. That was Karen in a nutshell, according to a man. It was the first thing that entered the room and the part of her that everyone seemed to remember more than anything else. But it also proved my point about the depravity of the man.
“Yes, that’s the one. But I would rather you just say you are taken.”
His smile faded and he got serious.
“Why did you ask then?”
“I said I would. I don’t go back on my word. So forget Karen. What is this girls’ name you were running around with?”
“Barb.”
“Give me her number and I will give her a call. Or if you want to do it yourself, I am sure she would be happy to reward you for such good news.”
“Well do I get a reward for bringing in some help?”
Dante leaned in like he wanted a kiss, pursing his lips up.
“I will keep writing your pay checks. That is all. Besides, you are the one that is getting run ragged. I figured you would like some help around here. Get your little girlfriend in here, sounds like you owe me.”
“I am yours for the taking Cece.”
I groaned and waited for the name and number. I wasn’t going to tell Karen what he said. It really was for her own good. Dante was a mess. And frankly, I just didn’t like the idea of them two together, at all.
“Get her trained enough so that I can go to Houston next weekend and we will be square.”
His smile finally faltered and I was going to take that as a win.
“You are no fun.”
“Yeah, I know. Dealing with you guys all day doesn’t help. I need a break.”
Dante also gave me another name that might work out and I told him I would call him in the morning. At least the second suggestion wasn’t a woman that he was sleeping with. It didn’t matter to me of course, why should it? But I didn’t want any cat fights on the ranch because he was dating both.
Yeah, Karen dodged a bullet this time. Dante really was a big mess that would cause anyone who cared heartache.
Turning off the light in the office, I went out on the porc
h and watched the moon as I had a hot tea to calm my nerves. Every night I came out here. The familiar sight was something that reminded me of my parents. It was night’s like this, when I was exhausted to no end, that I wondered if I would be able to do this all. They had died almost two years ago and I really thought by now I would have it all together. Sometimes, I wasn’t so sure. Was I really better off than I was when I had to take over? I felt sometimes like I was taking two steps forward and then three steps back.
“Tomorrow will be a better day.” I whispered the reminder before I went back in the old ranch house and up the stairs to my room. The bed was calling to me and I was unable to not hear the call. With any luck, I could get some people in tomorrow and get some training done before next week.
Chapter 2
Cecelia
The week was a long one, but I did manage to hire both of Dante’s suggestions, as well as a couple other stragglers that came through. It was going to be the first time I had left the ranch in months and I hoped more than anything that it would all still be here when I got back. Taking the horses up to Houston was just me and Dante. I wasn’t looking forward to the car ride, but I knew that it would be good to get out for a bit and get away from all of the pressures at home.
I didn’t have to go to the rodeo, but it was a favorite past time of mine. I used to travel to many in the area with my dad and I just wanted to get that feeling back that I had when I went with him. It didn’t matter that I had to drive in with Dante. He was already going and I was really just tagging along. I had a little business to conduct, but more promotional and not really all that needed. What I needed was a break.
“Are you ready to go?”
I had a duffel bag in my hand and I nodded my head that I was. He had already gotten the two horses in the trailer and squared away. We weren’t supposed to leave for another hour, but I think we were both anxious to get out of here. I know that I was.
