Tease Me, Cowboy (Montana Born Rodeo Book 1)

by Rachael Johns

  Tease Me, Cowboy

  A Montana Born Rodeo Novella

  Rachael Johns

  Tease Me, Cowboy

  Copyright © 2014 Rachael Johns

  Kindle Edition

  The Tule Publishing Group, LLC

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

  ISBN: 978-1-940296-78-4

  Dedication

  For Jane Porter—a truly inspirational woman and writer, thanks for inviting me to be part of Montana Born Books. And to Alissa, Megan and Melissa, who were such fun and so easy to work with on the 76th Copper Mountain Rodeo novellas. Love you all!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Dear Reader

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  The Copper Mountain Rodeo Series

  About the Author

  Readers Letter

  When Jane Porter emailed and asked if I’d like to write a rodeo story for Montana Born Books, I was so excited. I read the first rodeo series (75th Copper Mountain Rodeo) last year when it first came out and fell in love with small-town Marietta. Since then I’ve devoured as many of the novellas set in Marietta as I can, many written by authors I’ve admired for years. So it’s a privilege to find my own home in Marietta and bring you my first Montana Born story—TEASE ME, COWBOY.

  As with most stories, the seeds of this one have been germinating in my mind for a while now, waiting for the perfect moment. It mostly started with a conversation on Twitter where one author said she would like to tell her younger self to enjoy herself more and experiment with more men. As I’m a sucker for first-love stories, I thought about giving my heroine this regret also. And thus, Selah Davis, the “good” daughter of the church minister in Marietta, was born.

  I had such fun writing this novella (in which Selah and her first-love cowboy, Levi Monroe, return to Marietta for the rodeo, and Selah’s best friends dare her to proposition him), and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it just as much! Do let me know what you think on Twitter or Facebook.

  Happy reading,

  Rach!

  Chapter One

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  As much as Selah Davis loved her life in Seattle, she got an all-over buzz every time she came home to Old Town Marietta. No one could say it was the cocktail of dirt, dung and dust that perpetually lingered in the air, but there was just something about the place.

  And, although this would be a fleeting visit—four days in town to cover the 76th Annual Copper Mountain Rodeo for the magazine she wrote for—there were certain things Selah would make the time for. A visit to her folks—obligatory and, thankfully, already ticked off the list. A burger at the Main St. Diner—they were like none other in the whole of the United States—and a drink at Grey’s Saloon with her gal pals.

  That was the one bad thing about moving away. Although she came back for engagements, weddings, babies and the like, not always in that order, mind you, she missed having her best friends around on a day-to-day basis. The friends she’d made in Seattle were mostly through the magazine, and yes, they did hang out outside of work, but if she were honest, they were really only acquaintances. Not people she’d share her deepest, darkest and occasionally dirty secrets with. Not friends with whom she could belly laugh or ugly cry, like Sage, Chelsea and Jenny.

  It had been over eight months since she’d last seen them, which was why Selah was like a child counting down to Santa as she hung at the bar in Grey’s Saloon waiting for her friends to arrive.

  “Hey, long time no see.”

  Selah smiled at Reese Kendrick, one of the bartenders at Grey’s and an old acquaintance. “Hi, Reese. How you doing?”

  “You know…same old, same old. Can I get you a drink?”

  She shook her head and glanced back toward the entrance. “I think I’ll wait for the girls.”

  Reese shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He then turned to attend to the cowboys lined up along the other end of the bar.

  Due to the influx of outsiders to Marietta for the rodeo, Grey’s was busier than usual. Selah had already been approached by half a dozen, quite good-looking—but also quite tipsy—men, so she kept her head down now, hoping to fly under the radar until her friends arrived. Cowboys had a reputation, and one-night stands were not her thing. Besides, her priorities for the next few days were catching up with her friends and writing her story. Her interest in hot cowboys was purely professional.

  Chelsea showed first, looking almost like another person as she waltzed up to the bar to join Selah. She no longer looked like the high school history teacher she was—gone were the conservative clothes she’d always worn, replaced by a flirty skirt, funky knee-high boots and a figure-hugging shirt.

  “You look awesome,” Selah told her friend, smiling in approval as she gave her the once-over.

  Chelsea beamed in reply, her whole face glowing, and Selah guessed her guy, Jasper Flint, could take responsibility for this new woman. She’d met him briefly at Colton and Jenny’s wedding last Christmas, but couldn’t wait to get to know him better. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” Chelsea said. “It’s so good to see you.”

  They were in the middle of a crazy reunion hug when Selah felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Sage and Jenny standing behind them. Girly shrieks ensued as the four of them danced around in a group hug, uncaring about what anyone thought. When they broke away, Selah took a moment to scrutinize Jenny, who’d recently announced she and Colton were expecting their first baby.

  “Oh, my, we’re all growing up,” she said, beaming at her friend. “It’s true what they say about the pregnancy glow.”

  In reply, Jenny placed a hand on her barely visible bump, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. Her grin looked too big for her face, and she radiated bliss from her sparkling eyes. Selah felt her own eyes prickling. Last year, when Jenny’s longtime boyfriend and boss, Charles Monmouth, had called off their wedding, they’d all been devastated for her, but Colton was so much better for Jenny, so everything had worked out well in the end.

  “I’m so happy for you,” Selah said, as she wrapped her friend in an extra hug. “I want to hear all the news. From all of you.”

  All agreed this was a delightful plan, so they ordered a round of Cosmos (a mocktail for Jenny) from grumpy Grey himself and took their drinks to a table in the far corner of the establishment, where they hopefully wouldn’t be bothered by amorous cowboys.

  In unison, all four women took a sip of their bright pink cocktails and sighed their contentment.

  “So, when do we start bridesmaid-dress shopping?” Selah asked.

  Her friends looked at her curiously.

  “Well”—she shrugged with a smile—“won’t Jasper be popping the question soon?”

  Chelsea’s face turned a sweet red as she took a quick sip of her Cosmo, then said, “He may have dropped a couple of hints.”

  Excited discussion ensued about other upcoming nuptials and babies in Marietta. Selah cou
ld be forgiven for thinking there was something in the water, for it seemed every second person she knew had either recently fallen in love, was getting married or was pregnant. It wasn’t that she was envious—she didn’t think so, anyway—but such talk got a little bland when you had nothing to add yourself, so she was happy when Sage changed the subject.

  “So, what about this year’s honorary chair?” Sage all but drooled the question.

  Now that was something, or rather someone, Selah could get excited about. “I know,” she said smugly. “I’ve got an exclusive interview with him on Saturday.”

  Her friends glared good-naturedly at her.

  “Seriously? You suck.” Sage had always been a huge country music fan, and this year’s rodeo chair, Jake Kohl, had been the star of many of her fantasies. Despite Dawson now having the starring role, she still held a candle for her celebrity crush.

  “Do you need an assistant?” Jenny offered. “I’d be happy to volunteer.”

  Sage sighed. “And people think making chocolate for a living is glamorous, but it’s got nothing on the perks of your job.”

  Selah laughed, but inwardly felt a little irritated. Her friends thought her job as features editor for Charisma fascinating and always liked listening to her tales of meeting celebrities at film premieres and fashion shows. Charisma was constantly inundated with samples of makeup, perfumes and the like, and occasionally Selah would send some of these to her friends.

  She got the feeling they thought her job was one big party, but it wasn’t always as exciting or as satisfying as they imagined. Serious journalists didn’t receive handbags in exchange for the promise to write about them in a favorable light, and that’s what she’d always wanted to be. A serious journalist.

  “I thought you were here to write an article on the hotness of cowboys,” Chelsea said, fanning her face a little.

  “That, too,” Selah said, trying to shake off her annoyance and simply enjoy being with her friends. “What can I say? It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”

  “We’d be happy to help you with your research,” Chelsea said with a naughty giggle.

  “Yes,” Jenny nodded, trying and failing dismally to keep a straight face. “Sage and I are particularly knowledgeable in that subject.”

  Selah couldn’t help laughing alongside her friends. “Rodeo fever got you all good and proper last year, didn’t it?”

  “Sure did,” said Jenny unashamedly. “In fact, if you wanted, I could get Colton to introduce you to some guys you could interview.”

  “And although Dawson isn’t on the circuit anymore, he could assist you as well. You’d be hard-pressed to find cowboys hotter than ours,” added Sage.

  Selah rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You guys may be a little biased. Besides, I think Charisma’s readers would prefer single, available cowboys. Ones they can fantasize about seducing and luring into their webs.”

  “Fair enough.” Jenny shrugged and gestured to Sage and Chelsea. “But if you want to write an article on how to tame a cowboy, we are your girls.”

  “Thanks.” Selah took another sip of her drink and then said, “You know, not all the articles I write are so superficial. I’ve actually just finished a very interesting story about the regrets of the dying.” She didn’t add that it was languishing on her computer because her chief editor had told her it wasn’t the kind of thing Charisma readers would be interested in.

  Sage raised an eyebrow, Chelsea screwed up her nose and Jenny said, “What? Who wants to read about that?”

  Selah laughed. Maybe her editor had a point. “It isn’t as depressing as it sounds. I interviewed some really inspirational people who’ve done some amazing things in their lives but are now terminally ill. I asked them what their one regret in life is. You know, what thing they would do or change if they could.”

  Selah spent the next little while telling her friends about the subjects of her story. They ordered another round of drinks and some onion rings to share, and as the liquid went down, conversation turned to the things the four of them regretted in their lives.

  “That’s easy,” Chelsea said, scooping up an onion ring. “I regret ever dating that cheating scumbag Tod Styles.”

  As she popped the snack into her mouth, her three friends made sympathetic noises, all of them glad Chelsea had found someone who deserved her so much more than the local real estate sleaze agent.

  Sage sighed. “I guess I regret sleeping with Dawson while he was married to someone else.”

  “You didn’t know he was married,” Chelsea said, her tone protective. “And anyway, it all turned out well in the end.”

  A smile burst on Sage’s face. “Yes, it certainly did, and I definitely don’t regret anything else when it comes to him.”

  Sage’s happiness made Selah all warm and tingly inside. Her girls had done good when it came to their men.

  Then it was Jenny’s turn. She rubbed her lips together, taking a little longer over her answer than the others. “I’m not sure I regret working for Charles, because I learned a lot in that role, but I do regret squashing myself and trying to be less so that he looked good.”

  All four of them took sips of their Cosmos and a few moments for contemplation, but before too long Sage broke the silence.

  “What about you, Selah?” she asked. “What do you regret?”

  With three pairs of eyes trained on her, Selah racked her brain for something more significant than scarfing a whole bar of chocolate last night. Fact was, she mostly liked her life. Despite wishing she could sometimes write something with a little more substance, she enjoyed her job and liked the people she worked with. She had an apartment she loved, great clothes, great hair and fab friends. Sage, Chelsea and Jenny had all found Mr. Right, and she was stoked for them, but she didn’t feel a desperate urge to settle down herself. She didn’t see how she’d fit a permanent man in her busy work schedule. She’d had a couple of relationships—if you could call them that—with nice enough men, but the spark hadn’t been there and, in the end, they’d both been more career-oriented than love-oriented.

  However, if she had the chance for a do-over, there was one thing she would change. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, which although she’d contemplated many times in the last decade, she’d never voiced to anyone.

  “What is it?” Sage demanded, not missing a beat.

  “It’s nothing. You’ll all think it’s totally silly.”

  “No, we won’t.” Chelsea sounded indignant.

  “Promise,” said Sage.

  “Come on, spill,” pleaded Jenny.

  Selah sighed, trying to hide the grin that stretched upon her face at the thought of Levi Monroe, her first-ever serious boyfriend and, as far as she was concerned, the hottest guy to have ever graced the halls of Marietta High School. She leaned forward, about to whisper her confession, when the doors to Grey’s opened, and she saw the man who had starred in many a torrid fantasy of hers stride into the saloon like he owned the joint. Startled, Selah jolted upright, knocking over her cocktail tumbler in the process.

  Thankfully she’d already drunk most of it.

  Jenny uprighted the glass, and Chelsea grabbed a stash of tissues from her bag and started mopping up the mess, but Sage followed Selah’s gaze.

  “Surprise! Didn’t you know Levi was in town for the rodeo?”

  “No.” Selah gulped, heat flooding her body as she snapped her mouth shut and turned her head away before Levi noticed her. It wasn’t like they’d have anything to say to each other after all these years.

  “Oh, yeah,” Chelsea said, catching on. “And rumor has it he might stay longer and help out a bit on the McCullough spread.”

  Barely taking in her friend’s words, Selah fought the urge to turn and take another good look at her only regret. Her throat felt tight, her knees quivering and her heart racing so damn fast she’d be surprised if her friends couldn’t hear it.

  “Do you want me to call him over?” Jenny as
ked.

  “No!” Selah covered her mouth the moment the word was out, thankful the noise around them drowned her shout. “No,” she repeated quietly. It was simply the shock of seeing him just as she was about to say his name that had thrown her off-balance. She just needed a moment to pull herself together.

  “Okay, relax.” Jenny put her hand over the top of Selah’s in a gesture of comfort. “Forget about Levi. This is a girls’ night, and you were about to tell us your one regret.”

  “It’s him.” Her confession slipped out before she could think.

  Her friends frowned.

  “What do you mean?” asked Sage.

  Selah took a deep breath and glanced at each woman staring intently at her. She tried to pretend Levi wasn’t across the room, doing who knows what and talking to whoever. She forced a laugh, feigning nonchalance, and shrugged. “I wish I’d given him my virginity. That’s all.”

  And then she grabbed Sage’s half-full glass and downed the lot in a few seconds.

  *

  Levi had just sat down at the bar with a bunch of cowboys he knew from the circuit and raised his glass to take the first mouthful of his beer when he heard hysterical giggles coming from a small group of women sitting at a table in the corner. Like almost everyone else, he turned his head to see what the commotion was about, and his heart jammed up into his throat as he recognized the perpetrators of the noise.

  His drink spilled over his fingers, and he couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful group of women. He’d gone to school with all of them, but one in particular had left an imprint on his life. During what had been one of the worst years of his life, Selah Davis had made him feel at home in Marietta. Almost from the moment he’d walked into Marietta High—pretending to be all cool and unaffected but secretly shitting his pants—she’d been his girl. Hanging out with Selah—talking to her, doing homework together, kissing like crazy teenagers do—had helped ease his worries about his sick mom. Selah had made being away from everything he’d known bearable, and he’d fallen head over heels in love.