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To Tame a Cowboy
Jules Bennett
Royal, Texas, is the perfect place for rodeo star Ryan Grant to slow down and finally show Piper Kindred she’s the woman for him.But when an accident sends Piper rushing to take care of him, her sexy bedside manner suggests seducing Piper will be easier than he expected…
A Texas Cattleman’s Club tale of best friends falling in love
Royal, Texas, is the perfect place for rodeo star Ryan Grant to slow down and finally show Piper Kindred she’s the woman for him. When an accident sends Piper rushing to take care of him, her sexy bedside manner suggests to Ryan that seducing his best friend will be easier than he’d expected.
But Piper knows the lure of the rodeo circuit—and the risk of a broken heart, when Ryan realizes he’s not ready to hang up his saddle for good. She can’t let herself fall for a cowboy. If only her heart would listen!
“You’ve seen me in a swimsuit. It’s not a big deal.”
He couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming over her bare skin and that valley between her breasts. When he met her gaze again, he didn’t see desire like he’d hoped—he saw uncertainty.
“You must’ve really hit your head,” she joked, but the smile failed to meet the expectation of the joke. “You’ve never talked like this before or looked at me like…like…”
“Like what?” he murmured.
“Like you want me.”
“I know exactly what I’m saying and what I want, Piper.” He purposely let his eyes drop to her mouth as he slid his hand up and over her bare shoulder. “You know how special you are in my life and how much I value our friendship.”
“Then why are you looking at me like you want to kiss me?” she whispered.
* * *
To Tame a Cowboy is part of the Texas Cattleman’s Club: The Missing Mogul series:
Love and scandal meet in Royal, Texas!
Dear Reader,
My response when I was asked to be part of the amazing Texas Cattleman’s Club continuity series? Yes, please! Writing about hunky, sometimes rebellious Texans and the women who want to tame them… How could I say no?
You may already be familiar with Ryan, the hot rodeo star, and Piper, the hometown paramedic. These two have been best of friends since Piper socked Ryan in the eye in grade school. But you know what they say about best friends…they make the best lovers. :-)
Getting to know these two characters with their push-pull relationship was such a pleasure. With Ryan’s laid-back cowboy attitude and Piper’s feistiness, I couldn’t wait for them to realize they were a match made in polar-opposite heaven.
This series was such a joy to work on with so many talented authors and friends. I do hope you enjoy Ryan and Piper’s friends-to-lovers story as much as I loved writing it.
For more information on any of my books, check out my website, www.julesbennett.com (http://www.julesbennett.com). I love hearing from readers, so drop me a line!
Happy reading!
Jules
To Tame a Cowboy
Jules Bennett
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
National bestselling author JULES BENNETT’s love of storytelling started when she would get in trouble as a child and would tell her parents her imaginary friends were to blame. Since then, her vivid imagination has taken her down a path she’d only dreamed of. And after twelve years of owning and working in salons, she hung up her shears to write full-time.
Jules doesn’t just write Happily Ever After, she lives it. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jules and her hubby have two little girls who keep them smiling. She loves to hear from readers! Contact her at authorjules@gmail.com, visit her website, www.julesbennett.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter, or send her a letter at PO Box 396, Minford, OH 45653, USA . You can also follow her on Twitter and join her Facebook fan page.
First I have to thank Charles Griemsman,
editor extraordinaire, for his cheering and guidance
as we worked together on Piper and Ryan’s story.
Second, to Shannon Taylor. Thank you doesn’t cover all you did to help me. From reading my rough draft to talking me through scenes over the phone to making sure I had my cowboy “lingo” down correctly. :-)
And last, to the other amazing authors
in this continuity. I had a blast swapping scenes and
getting inside your heads for a bit!
Contents
Prologue (#u5f53f840-8833-57d5-bcfa-fc4e20628cbb)
Chapter One (#ua24f53bc-0147-5150-8bc2-a9f224577e43)
Chapter Two (#u27cb11da-688b-521b-af39-abbac16a0e09)
Chapter Three (#ufba0c9f3-8ac8-5a78-8399-7f86c7118d84)
Chapter Four (#ud9a30a69-d8a1-572f-9d88-7c8e72313aa5)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue
Twenty Years Ago
Piper Kindred was so sick of being snubbed by the girls who thought the only things worth talking about were their lip gloss shades and where they got their new outfit. She was also sick of being disrespected by the boys who didn’t quite know how to handle her so they just ignored her.
Where did she fit in? God, she hated school. Even the third grade sucked. She’d switched schools so she didn’t have friends yet, but seriously, if this was how the rest of the year would go, she’d rather be home riding her horse or learning to rope. School was overrated anyway.
Especially considering that at recess for the past two days all she’d heard were brats mocking her. Today was no different.
“Look at her belt buckle.”
“What kind of name is Piper, anyway?”
“Dude, did you see that clown hair?”
Piper rolled her eyes at the annoying kids trying to get on her nerves. It was working, but she’d never let them know it.
She’d heard enough crap from other kids about her name and her wardrobe. So she liked plaid flannel and cowgirl boots; she was Walker Kindred’s daughter. Didn’t they know he was a legend? Morons. Didn’t even know her father was pretty much a celebrity.
And the hair comments they kept tossing her way? Yeah, there was hardly a day that went by she didn’t have to hear something about “carrot top” or “finger in a light socket” or “Bozo the Clown.” So it was red and curly. To be honest, she liked being different from all these other stupid kids.
“Don’t let them get to you.”
Piper spun around on the playground. A boy at least a head taller than her stood with his thumbs hanging in his belt loops. He had a head full of messy dark brown hair and the brightest blue eyes she’d ever seen. And he was wearing a flannel shirt. Obviously they were the only two cool kids.
“I’m not letting them get to me,” she told him, lifting her chin in defiance. “I don’t care about those smelly boys or this dumb school.”
He laughed. “My name is Ryan Grant. Thought you could use a friend if you were tired of playing alone.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not. Those losers have no idea how awesome this belt buckle is,” she told the boy. “My dad got it for me when he won the PRCA title last year.”
The boy stepped forward, his brows raised. “Your dad won the PRCA title?”
“Yeah.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to lie to make friends.”
Piper shoved her hands onto her hips and glared at the annoying kid. “I don’t have to lie at all because my father is the coolest man ever. There’s not a bronc he can’t ride.”
Okay, probably there was, but still. Her dad was the coolest and he got paid for riding and being a cowboy. Could any of those other loser kids say that?
“What’s your dad’s name?” Ryan asked, obviously still skeptical.
“Walker Kindred.”
Ryan laughed. “You’re lying.”
“I don’t care what you think. My name is Piper Kindred and Walker is my father. Like you know anything about the rodeo anyway. You probably don’t even know what PRCA stands for.”
“Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,” he shot back. “And I know who Walker Kindred is.”
“Then why do you say I’m lying?”
“Because, well...you’re a girl. I’ve never seen a girl who knows about the rodeo.”
Why were boys so dumb? For real?
Piper sighed, so ready to be done with recess and get back inside where she could just concentrate on her schoolwork and get another miserable day behind her.
“Whatever,” she told him, rolling her eyes. “I don’t care what you think if you’re going to be just as stupid as the others.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “Okay, since you got to ask me a rodeo question, I get to ask you one. I bet you can’t answer it.”
Piper had had enough. She clenched her fist and plowed it into his nose. When he landed on his butt on the blacktop, she loomed over him.
“I don’t have time for jerks who think I’m lying,” she told him. “I’ve grown up around the circuit. Walker is my father and if you have any more stupid things to say, I have another fist waiting on you.”
Ryan shook his head and came back to his feet. Surprisingly, he was grinning.
“You pack a mean punch, even if you are a girl.”
Piper eyed him. Apparently that was a compliment.
“You wanna hang after school?” he asked, holding his hand to his nose then looking at it to see if he was bleeding.
Piper figured they’d just made some sort of bond so she nodded. “Sure, but don’t think just because I’m a girl that I don’t know everything about the rodeo.”
Ryan laughed. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Red.”
She sighed and headed toward the double doors as the bell rang for them to go back inside.
If the worst he called her was Red, he might just become her one and only friend.
One
Piper Kindred did a double take at the black sports car. Her heart sank, bile rising in her throat. No, it couldn’t be.
Oh, sweet mercy. There was no way this massive accident would have no casualties. Wreckage lay crushed with mangled pieces across the median, shattered glass scattered along the stretch of highway, a black BMW on its top and a large tractor-trailer on its side, blocking both lanes of traffic.
As a paramedic, Piper had seen plenty of wrecks, fatalities and gut-wrenching scenes, but nothing settled fear as deep within her as seeing the familiar car that was so often in her driveway...the car that belonged to her best friend, Ryan Grant.
