The Cajun Cowboy

by Sandra Hill

  René’s jaw dropped open. He wasn’t sure which surprised him most: that his friends considered Valerie Breaux the answer to their prayers, the woman who’d called him a “crude Cajun asshole” more than once while they were growing up together in Houma, or that Tante Lulu feared this woman might be his soul mate. As if the Ice Princess would let him touch her with a ten-foot pole, let alone his own lesser-sized pole!

  Could life get any worse?

  Yep!

  J.B. had waded out to his hydroplane and was now carrying the “answer to their prayers” over his shoulder. She was squirming wildly but unable to say anything because, of course, the goofballs had duct-taped her mouth shut. That was at least one felony count, plus who knew how many more for the restraints that bound her wrists behind her back and held her ankles together.

  But that wasn’t the worst thing of all . . . or best thing of all, depending on one’s viewpoint. And René was taking in the view with wide-open eyes right now: Valerie Breaux’s bare white behind.

  She was going to kill them all for that indignity alone, after she’d filed every legal charge in the world against them.

  The TV reporter was wearing what could probably be called a Sex and the City version of a power suit, which meant it had a very short skirt. A very short skirt that had ridden up with all her struggles, exposing her thong panties.

  And thus the sun shone bright on Valerie Breaux’s buttocks.

  Very nice buttocks, by the way.

  “Is she moonin’ us?” Tante Lulu wanted to know.

  “I never could figure out why women want to wear those thong thingees,” Maddie mused. “Seems to me they’d be mighty uncomfortable, up in your crack and all.”

  “I like ’em,” J.B. said.

  Maddie probably would have hit her husband if he hadn’t had his hands full of Valerie. Instead, she suggested, “You wear ’em then, honey.” Honey was not said as an endearment.

  René felt like pulling his hair out, one root at a time, over the irrelevance of this chitchat. Meanwhile, Valerie’s tush was waving in the wind.

  Then, J.B. turned slightly and René got a good look at Valerie’s face. Her shoulder-length, wavy black hair hung loose all over the place, but still he was able to see her midnight blue eyes, which flashed angrily. Against the duct tape, she screamed something that sounded pretty much like, “Flngukkk yuuuaauu!” It probably wasn’t a howdy greeting.

  Grabbing a knife out of his toolbox, he walked over and lifted her off J.B.’s shoulder. She was unsteady on her high heels, but he managed to stand her against a tree and cut away the restraints. He saved the duct tape for last.

  Once the tape was off, the first thing she did was shimmy down her skirt. Then she spun around to face him. “René LeDeux! I should’ve known you’d be behind these shenanigans.”

  “Hey, I had nothing to do with this.”

  “Save it for the judge, bozo.”

  THE EDITOR’S DIARY

  Dear Reader,

  Everyone has a few dusty skeletons in their closet. But what happens when your past collides right into your present? Brush off those cobwebs and jump into THE CAJUN COWBOY and MEANT TO BE, our two Warner Forever titles this June.

  Romantic Times declared “humor and Sandra Hill are a winning team” and they couldn’t be more right in her newest book, THE CAJUN COWBOY. So bust out your tissues—you’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry! Louisiana beauty salon owner Charmaine Le Deux isn’t having a great day. She’s got a loan shark on her tail and she just discovered that Raoul Lanier, the man she thought she divorced years ago, is still her husband! The only good news: they’ve inherited a cattle ranch together, giving her the perfect place to lie low. But living with this hunk is anything but easy, especially for a born-again virgin who can’t stop tingling whenever he enters a room. So between the Dixie Mafia on hot pursuit, her belly-dancing great-aunt, and St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes, will Charmaine resist his charms? Or can this Cajun cowboy sweet-talk his way back into his wife’s arms before she unties the knot for good?

  Journeying from the hot Louisiana sun and even hotter southern nights to the beauty and peace of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Mountains, we present Edie Claire. The Road to Romance honored her previous book with their Road to Romance Reviewer’s Choice Award, calling it ”emotionally gripping, suspenseful, and superb” and her latest, MEANT TO BE, is even better. With just a phone call, Meara O’Rourke’s life changes. Her birth mother has died, leaving her half of an historic inn. Unfortunately, the inn also belongs to Fletcher Black. Furious that Meara is intruding into his family home and determined to protect the land that means everything to him, Fletcher doesn’t want her there. But Meara can’t let go of the sadness—and the passion—in his eyes. As lies unravel and stunning new truths come to light, Meara must risk everything to learn about her past and take the most frightening—and exhilarating—step of all: to claim a love that was meant to be.

  To find out more about Warner Forever, these June titles, and the authors, visit us at www.warnerforever.com.

  With warmest wishes,

  Karen Kosztolnyik, Senior Editor

  P.S. Independence Day is right around the corner so declare your freedom by indulging in our two reasons to celebrate—fireworks guaranteed: Pamela Britton pens a witty Regency tale about an earl who must live for a month without any help to earn his inheritance and the woman who offers him love instead in SCANDAL; and Lori Wilde delivers the wickedly funny and steamy story of an FBI agent who’s hot on the trail of an art thief, and the woman who’s following him in CHARMED AND DANGEROUS.