by BA Tortuga
Curtis beamed like he was Christmas and New Year’s and Easter, all come on the same day.
A huge round of applause sounded, but Stetson didn’t care. All he heard was Curtis’s voice, the soft whisper of “Thank God.”
Then Curtis grabbed him and hugged him until he couldn’t catch his breath. He reckoned the kissing would have to wait until they got back to their room. This was Dallas, after all.
“Come upstairs? Please?” He whispered the words, but that was what he wanted. To talk to Curtis. To wear his ring.
“Yep. You guys have a good night, and thanks for celebrating with me!” Curtis took his hand, then paused in front of Barb. “Can we buy the guys a round and you charge it to me when I get that check cashed?”
“I’ll take care of it. I’ll call tomorrow.”
“Late tomorrow.”
“Phone interview,” she said.
“Right. But then I’ll go back to sleep.” Curtis waved to Barb, and they ran the gauntlet of cowboys shaking their hands and slapping their backs.
Stetson walked in a daze, the world making no sense at all.
Curtis got him to the room and closed the door, then slipped that ring on his finger. It fit perfectly.
“Thank you. This—what a day. Are all events this exciting?”
“Nope. They’re usually pretty dull, actually.” Curtis stood about a foot away, his expression… weirdly uncertain.
“Well, I’m glad to have been at this one. Did you mean it? You want us legal?”
“I mean it. I’ve been thinking hard about it since Christmas. It felt right. I wanted to ask you right after I rode, but it just didn’t happen.” Curtis ducked his head. “It’s good, right? You’re not mad?”
“Cowboy, I’d never let myself imagine…. I’ve been yours forever. You have to know that.”
“I do. And we’re ready now. I know we are.” Curtis took Stetson’s hands, excitement in every line of his body. “The thought of waking up next to you, of us running that horse ranch together… it makes me tickled to get up every day.”
“I’m in. First, I’m going to get you another bag of ice before your face explodes.”
“My practical Roper.” Curtis caught him when he would have turned away. “Actually, first you’re gonna kiss me.”
“I am.” He was going to kiss his fiancé. How fucking amazing was that?
Curtis pulled him in, and the kiss was gentle and sweet. He could feel how hot Curtis’s skin was on his cheek.
“Stop thinking, baby. Kiss me one more time.”
One more time.
He could do that, again and again.
Epilogue
THE BUZZ of a tiny Smart car engine made all the dogs set up a ruckus, and Curtis grinned, hopping up from the desk in his office.
“Stetson! He’s here!”
“Good deal. I’m making up the guest bed.”
“Babe, he’s going to end up in the casita with Trey and Oscar. I don’t want whatever they’re going to get up to in our house.”
Stetson stuck his head through the door. “But I want him to have a place of his own to go if they get too weird.”
“Ha-ha. They’re good guys.”
“Well, at least they’re older now than when I first met them.”
“True.” A tiny bark followed by an enormous yawning sound made Curtis glance down, then bend over to pick up his new pup. The girls were sleeping in the mudroom now, which was progress, but this little boy he would raise up himself.
“Spoiled dog.” Stetson leaned over, kissed his temple, petted Yellowjacket on the head.
“He is not.” Well, okay, he was. Really, a yellow lab wasn’t gonna be much of a herding dog or anything. He was there just because Curtis hadn’t had a pet since he left home.
The knock sent them both out into the hall, Stetson going to get the door, Curtis moving to fire up the coffeepot.
“Stetson! Love! I’m back!”
“I think we should give him a room of his own.” Curtis made sure to be loud enough for Isaac to hear him.
“Wherever you want me!” Isaac flew in the back door. “Whew. So much easier driving this time. No snow.”
“None up near you either?” He hugged Isaac hard. The little weirdo was sweet as hell and a regular visitor these days.
“Nope. Yay! I love fall.” Isaac moved to kiss Stetson’s cheek. “Where are my play dates?”
Curtis hooted. “They get in tomorrow morning. They’re driving in from the stock show in Omaha.”
“I brought five pounds of coffee, some almond butter, and four six-packs of craft beer.”
“You fit that all in that tiny car?” Stetson hooted.
“Do not malign the Smart car of joy!”
“It’s just so little!” Curtis rubbed in the constant joke between them.
“That’s what Stetson said on your honeymoon.”
“Ohhh! Nice one.” He fist-bumped Isaac, who looked so proud of himself. “Too bad for you I know I kept my man so busy he wasn’t calling you.”
In fact, if he’d known the honeymoon was going to be so much fun, he’d have married Stetson earlier.
Isaac rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. He wouldn’t even share the gory details with poor deprived me.”
“You’re both awful. You’re going to violate my innocent casita.” Stetson would have been way more believable if he wasn’t laughing.
“I sure hope so.” Isaac sniffed deeply. “Mmm. Coffee. Oh, hey, let me get all the stuff out of the car.”
“I’ll help.” Stetson headed out with Isaac, so Curtis dug in the fridge to see what he could make into food.
Good thing they were used to cowboys coming and going. There were always options. Curtis liked the idea of the ranch being a place everyone knew they could come hide out, just be themselves.
Stetson had given him that, and he hoped he made the house theirs and not Miz Betty’s for Stetson.
Now they could turn around and give that feeling to their friends.
That was a pretty damn good deal.
Everyone needed their own place to fall.
More from BA Tortuga
Colby McBride is a blue-collar cowboy trying to make ends meet laying tile in Colorado. A loner by choice, Colby works hard with his hands and finds his peace camping in the mountains outside Boulder. Gordon James is a white-collar restaurateur who owns not one, but two successful establishments in downtown Boulder. He’s a sophisticated urbanite who is devoted to his work and is accustomed to getting what he wants.
The men are friends, but sparks fly when Colby falls in love and decides to show Gordon how much fun a good old boy can be. They’re just beginning to explore their relationship when Gordon’s sister’s suicide leaves him with custody of his five-year-old niece.
Colby comes from a huge family and is eager to help with the girl and to prove his worth to Gordon. But neither of them is ready for the tremendous changes to their already busy lives, or for how this new relationship with Olivia challenges them, complicating the way they interact with each other.
They say opposites attract, but can these two very different men work together to join their disparate lives and form a strong, if highly unlikely, family?
The Wildcatters: Book One
Oilman Max inherits a passel of trouble when his boss passes away and leaves him a house in England, a family full of squabbles, and a heck of a lot of money. He’s thinking London is the worst place on earth… until he meets Morgan.
Colorful, carefree, and a little crazy, Morgan is just what Max needs, and the two set out on the adventure of a lifetime, chasing pleasure wherever it takes them, learning that together they can make anything fun… and sexy.
Too bad reality has to set in, and Morgan’s multimillionaire father has a lot to say about what reality looks like. Will their different worlds conspire to separate them like oil and water?
As a teenager, Dalton Jakoby made Tank an offer—one Tank turned down gently. It was s
till embarrassing as hell, so when Tank returns to the Jakoby Rodeo Company after a big-time bull riding tour, Dalton decides polite but distant is the best course of action.
Tank is hurting from some tough injuries and ready for a lighter workload. He’s also ready to admit Dalton is an adult now, one he wants to get to know much better. While Dalton’s past makes him suspicious of Tank’s attention, he can’t stay standoffish for long… not with Tank.
The new romance burns hot, but problems inside and outside the arena threaten what Tank and Dalton might have together.
Gianni Cesare is a DEA agent and rancher—who also happens to be a millionaire heir to an Italian count. Running a multiagency sting out of his East Texas ranch means he needs a new foreman… preferably someone a little wet behind the ears who won’t ask too many questions.
Gianni’s Aunt Jerilyn hires Bonner Fannin, a roughstock rider with zero ranch experience and a sister who’s pregnant with a violent biker’s twins. If that’s not bad enough, Bonner is pretending he and his sister are married to protect her and to help get him the job.
Gianni didn’t think Bonner was the marrying type during their torrid beach affair years ago, but he’s not sure if he has time to explore that thought now, as overrun as his ranch is with drug cartels, macho government agents, and local cops. Looks like Bonner and Gianni are both in over their heads, and they may have to band together during this adventure to swim rather than sink.
Working on a full house.
Once upon a time, Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh had quite the whirlwind romance—but that was before family tragedy left them the guardians of five kids. Their lives have changed quite a bit over the last six years, but Ap is still on the rodeo circuit, doing what he does best in an attempt to feed all those extra mouths.
That leaves Trey back on the ranch, isolated and overworked as the kids’ sole caregiver. Something has to give, and when Ap comes home, they’re reminded how hot they burned once upon a time. But is it a love that can withstand wrangling over time, money, and the future? They have to decide what kind of family they want to be… and whether what they share can stand the test of time.
Readers love BA Tortuga
Long Black Cadillac
“It’s a wildly adventurous and very, very hot exploration of vampire lore and the kinds of shenanigans that ‘bloodsuckers’ and those who hunt them can get up to.”
—Rainbow Book Reviews
Two of a Kind
“Full of joy, drama, laughter, and so much love it just spills over the pages….”
—Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
“This one isn’t too sweet and not over the top, it’s just the perfect cowboy love story….”
—The Blogger Girls
Rainbow Rodeo
“…this was a wonderful, fast paced book that I really enjoyed and couldn’t set down. If you are into gay cowboys and the rodeo circuit that’s this book will bring a smile to you face.”
—Love Bytes
BA TORTUGA, Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist-fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has heard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeonholed by anyone but the voices in her head.
Website: www.batortuga.com
Blog: batortuga.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/batortuga
Twitter: @batortuga
By BA Tortuga
Best New Artist
Bombs and Guacamole
Boys in the Band
Fighting Addiction
Latigo
Living in Fast Forward
Long Black Cadillac
Mud, Movies, Bullets, and Bulls
Old Town New
Private Dances
Rainbow Rodeo
Rough in Wranglers
Say Something
Seashores of Old Mexico
Soft Place to Fall
Stetsons and Stakeouts
Things that Go Bump in the Night
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
#6 – Trial by Fire
#30 – Two Cowboys and a Baby
#65 – Two of a Kind
LEANING N
#16 – Commitment Ranch
#42 – Finding Mr. Wright
#78 – Whiskey to Wine
TURQUOISE, NEW MEXICO
#53 – Cowboy in the Crosshairs
LOVE IS BLIND
Ever the Same
Real World
RECOVERY
Refired
Slip
THE RELEASE SERIES
The Terms of Release
The Articles of Release
Catch and Release
ROAD TRIP
Road Trip Vol. 1
Road Trip Vol. 2
SANCTUARY
Just Like Cats and Dogs
What the Cat Dragged In
STORMY WEATHER
Rain and Whiskey
Tropical Depression
Hurricane
THE WILDCATTERS
Oil and Water
With Jodi Payne
Heart of a Redneck
COLLABORATIONS
Refraction
Syncopation
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Soft Place to Fall
© 2019 BA Tortuga.
Cover Art
© 2019 Tiferet Design.
http://www.tiferetdesign.com/
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-767-9
Mass Market Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-111-5
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64080-768-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938133
Digital published April 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
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