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Cowboy After Dark
Vicki Lewis Thompson
There's a wedding happening at Thunder Mountain Ranch, and cowboy Liam Magee couldn't be happier for his foster brother. Of course, the occasion just got a whole heap more interesting now that gorgeous Hope Caldwell is a guest at the ranch.After regarding him warily, the sexy blonde has started looking at Liam like he's one ride she couldn't possibly resist…It's true. Hope can't seem to keep her eyes (and her sexy thoughts) from the blue-eyed hotness that is Liam Magee. She'll never let herself believe in love and happy endings—she learned that lesson the hard way—but why can't she have a little fun while she's on vacation? After all, there's only so much trouble one cowboy can cause in a week… especially once the sun sets!
Hotter when the sun goes down
White-water rafting guide Liam Magee is a cowboy at heart—happy to return to his country roots at Thunder Mountain Ranch for his foster brother’s wedding. And when Hope Caldwell shows up as a guest...well, the occasion just got more interesting. She’s started looking at Liam like he’s one ride she couldn’t possibly resist, so why is she holding back?
Hope can’t keep her eyes (and her sexy thoughts) from the hotness that is Liam. She’ll never let herself believe in love and happy endings—she learned that lesson the hard way—but maybe she can have a little fun while she’s on vacation. After all, there’s only so much trouble one cowboy can cause in a week...especially once the sun sets!
Praise for Vicki Lewis Thompson (#ulink_49479e47-66a1-5487-84fd-cf1ca46822c9)
“Thompson continues to do what she does best, tying together strong family values bound by blood and choice, interspersed with the more sizzling aspects of the relationship.”
—RT Book Reviews on Thunderstruck
“All the characters, background stories and character development are positively stellar; the warm family feeling is not saccharine-sweet, but heartfelt and genuine, and Lexi and Cade’s rekindled romance is believable from beginning to end, along with the classy, sexy and tender love scenes.”
—Fresh Fiction on Midnight Thunder
“Intensely romantic and hot enough to singe...her Sons of Chance series never fails to leave me worked up from all the heat, and then sighing with pleasure at the happy endings!”
—We Read Romance on Riding High
“If I had to use one word to describe Ambushed! it would be charming... Where the story shines and how it is elevated above others is the humor that is woven throughout.”
—Dear Author
“The chemistry between Molly and Ben is off the charts: their first kiss is one of the best I’ve ever read, and the sex is blistering and yet respectful, tender and loving.”
—Fresh Fiction on A Last Chance Christmas
“Cowboy Up is a sexy joy ride, balanced with good-natured humor and Thompson’s keen eye for detail. Another sizzling romance from the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award winner for best Blaze.”
—RT Book Reviews
Dear Reader (#ulink_88b29ed9-36f3-5b74-acb8-32f26d4c008e),
Hey, it’s great to see you paying another visit to Thunder Mountain Ranch! I’ve had such fun with this summer’s trio of books and I can’t wait to hear how you like Hope and Liam’s story. In case you didn’t know, I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so come find me and let’s chat! Connecting with you is such a joy for me.
Here’s another joy—telling you love stories featuring gorgeous cowboys! I’m sure Liam Magee will win your heart the way he won mine. He comes into Hope’s life at a critical time, and the silly girl doesn’t immediately recognize that he’s the answer to her prayers. He’d probably be the answer to a lot of our prayers, if you get my drift...
Every once in a while an author is able to indulge herself with a story about the work she knows best—writing! Hope Caldwell is living my worst nightmare. She’s a blocked writer. Thank God for Liam, who rides to the rescue even if Hope thinks she doesn’t need rescuing.
Enough of the buildup—turn to chapter one and dive in! Nothing like a hot cowboy on a warm summer’s night!
Joyfully yours,
Cowboy After Dark
Vicki Lewis Thompson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
A passion for travel has taken New York Times bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON to Europe, Great Britain, the Greek isles, Australia and New Zealand. She’s visited most of North America and has her eye on South America’s rain forests. Africa, India and China beckon. But her first love is her home state of Arizona, with its deserts, mountains, sunsets and—last but not least—cowboys! The wide-open spaces and heroes on horseback influence everything she writes. Connect with her at vickilewisthompson.com (http://vickilewisthompson.com), Facebook.com/vickilewisthompson (http://Facebook.com/vickilewisthompson) and Twitter.com/vickilthompson (http://Twitter.com/vickilthompson).
To every writer who’s felt the pain of blocked creativity and has soldiered through it to give the world what she’s got. Bravo!
Contents
Cover (#ub939f807-7c11-5e68-9e04-7505d46ca310)
Back Cover Text (#uc007f376-26b7-598f-bda4-cebd77e11f4d)
Praise for Vicki Lewis Thompson (#ulink_5d99743c-b773-5231-a428-179065b81d54)
Dear Reader (#ulink_586b394c-8542-569a-ba3b-fffdcab46e30)
Title Page (#u420530bb-7dc4-58e1-b785-96076811d69f)
About the Author (#u47c83bdc-5342-5e3a-93bb-01a31992740f)
Dedication (#ue847e534-909a-5f88-a193-3a4a74d45be6)
Chapter 1 (#ulink_5eb71c18-95c7-5d78-977f-c853f4e0fba9)
Chapter 2 (#ulink_40e60c5b-ed75-58e6-a886-6446d08274a9)
Chapter 3 (#ulink_54d19e5d-3dfb-566c-a784-96f1ee49dc4b)
Chapter 4 (#ulink_870922d3-9c3b-54a6-8019-0a71165c5816)
Chapter 5 (#ulink_a5da3128-f4ee-5b7e-bc27-709f34bee88e)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
1 (#ulink_d42799d7-3ac3-59fb-b71d-a670fa724d93)
LIAM MAGEE PULLED off the road, shoved back his hat and peered through the windshield of his truck. “That’s a helluva steep driveway, Grady.”
“Yeah.” His brother studied the incline. “You should probably come around again and make a run at it. I’m pretty sure if you hang a right at the corner, you can circle the block.”
“I know I can. I used to date a girl who lived on the next street over. Whenever we had a fight, I’d drive that loop more than a few times until I cooled down enough to apologize.” He looked at the slope and calculated how fast he’d have to be going when he started up. At least it was July. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would create a driveway like that in Sheridan, Wyoming, unless it doubled as a toboggan run. “You’d better check the hitch and make sure the tie-downs are tight.”
“Will do.” Grady hopped out and loped back to the flatbed they were towing.
Liam wasn’t going to say it and upset Grady, but they were courting disaster hauling the loaded flatbed up that hill. His big-hearted brother had made a spectacular wedding present for his foster brother Damon Harrison, and he was determined to deliver it when nobody was home. He wanted it to be a surprise.
Years ago, Damon had been a significant role model for Grady—likely still was, judging from this wedding gift. Damon had been one of the older guys at Thunder Mountain Ranch, formerly a home for foster boys and now a student academy for everything horse-related.
Located a few miles outside Sheridan, the ranch had once provided a temporary haven for Liam and Grady while their mom recovered from a bad car accident. Damon’s determination to become a master carpenter after high school had inspired Grady to learn a trade. He’d chosen welding, a skill that had landed him a job in Alaska working on a pipeline.
He’d come back to rejoin Liam in Cody a couple of years ago with a new dream. His recycled metal sculptures had taken the local art world by storm, and he was making money hand over fist. Liam couldn’t be prouder of his little brother.
Naturally Grady had wanted to create something special for Damon and his bride Philomena. He’d welded about five hundred pounds of scrap metal into a ten-foot sculpture. Although a gallery would charge thousands for the piece, discussing the market value of his work always made Grady laugh.
He created for the love of it. When the price of his sculptures had skyrocketed, he’d asked Liam to invest the money that kept pouring in because dealing with that aspect of success wasn’t his thing. Surprises were his thing, though, and he desperately wanted to surprise Damon and Phil.
Liam had asked some of his river-rafting coworkers to help load the gift onto the flatbed in Cody. The trailer had a tilting mechanism, so if Liam could get it up the hill, he and Grady should be able to install the sculpture somewhere in the yard. If the spot didn’t suit Damon and Philomena, Grady could enlist some of the guys from the wedding party to help move it.
Grady climbed back in the cab. “Everything looks good. I spotted an SUV and a truck parked up by the house, though. Are you sure nobody’s there?”
“Shouldn’t be. Damon told us to meet him at the ranch, and Phil’s supposed to be in town at her bachelorette shindig.” Liam felt a stab of guilt. He’d been afraid the happy couple wouldn’t welcome a gigantic wedding gift, so he’d secretly warned Damon that something big and metallic was coming his way. Turned out Phil was a huge Grady Magee fan, so Damon heartily approved of the gift.
Grady wouldn’t have wanted to alert Damon, but Liam was used to paving the way for his kid brother, a habit he wasn’t likely to break anytime soon. Damon wouldn’t be surprised, but Philomena would be, and that was the compromise Liam had made with his conscience. “The women probably carpooled into town for Philomena’s bachelorette party.”
“That makes sense. Okay, let’s do this thing.”
“Keep your eye on the trailer.”
“I will.” Grady focused on the side mirror as they went around the block. “So far, so good.”
“Yeah, but I’ll really punch it the minute I see that driveway. If anything looks wonky, yell out.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
The driveway came into view. Liam stomped on the accelerator, and his F-350’s engine roared. He would make it up the hill, by God. Grady was counting on him.
* * *
HOPE CALDWELL HAD taken her glass of white wine out to the front porch swing. She was thrilled to have been invited to the wedding and to have been asked to house-sit while Phil and Damon honeymooned. It would be a fun little vacation, her first in more than a year.
She and Phil had been close in high school, but then they’d drifted apart, so reconnecting after all this time had been wonderful. She hoped Damon and Phil would spend the rest of their lives basking in wedded bliss in this adorable cabin Phil had remodeled.
In fact, the cabin had charmed the bachelorette party guests so much, they’d changed the plan. Instead of going into town, they’d made a wine run, ordered pizza, turned on some music and settled in right here. The added privacy and cozy ambiance seemed to suit everyone as wine and laughter flowed.
Hope had been fine with all of it. Then, partway through her second glass of wine, the joyous celebration morphed into a painful reminder of her crushed and mangled dreams. She’d quietly slipped outside to regroup and put her happy face back on.
While swinging lazily and sipping her wine, she heard what sounded like a heavy-duty truck stop at the end of the drive. It sat there, engine idling, as if the driver might be scoping things out. It could be the beginning of a prank orchestrated by Damon’s foster brothers, but none of them knew that the bachelorette party had changed locations.
After one and a half glasses of wine, Hope’s imagination shifted into high gear. The house was filled with wedding presents. What if some bad actors knew that and were planning to rob the place? If they had inside info, they’d think no one would be home this afternoon.
Then the truck moved on. Okay, so much for that theory. Maybe the driver was just lost. But moments later, she heard the truck again, only this time the engine was cranking. They’d gone around the block to get a faster start up the hill. Setting down her wineglass, she raced to the door and wrenched it open. “Phil, call the cops! Someone’s coming up here to rob you!”
Then she barreled down the steps toward the drive. Chances were they wouldn’t run over her if she stood in their way, plus they’d realize the house was occupied. She’d heard that most burglars robbed houses when the owners were gone. Throwing her arms wide, she yelled at them to stop.
The driver slammed on the brakes, both he and the other guy looking as if they’d seen a ghost. Oh, yeah, those two had definitely been up to no good! They were towing a loaded flatbed covered with a tarp to hide the stolen merchandise underneath. No doubt they’d planned on adding some wedding presents to their pile of booty.
Fists planted on her hips, she smiled in satisfaction as the truck rolled slowly backward, pulled by the weight of the trailer.
“What’s happening?” Phil’s red hair swung against her shoulders as she walked quickly over to Hope. Buzzing with excitement, the other guests followed.
“I’m positive they were after your gifts,” Hope said. “Did you call 911?”
“I did, but—”
“Robbers?” Edie, Phil’s stepmother, stared at the truck with wide eyes. “In broad daylight?” She and Phil looked enough alike to be mother and daughter, especially because Edie had colored her hair to match Phil’s.
“They thought nobody was home.” Hope watched a police cruiser pull up to block the thieves’ escape. Small towns usually had speedy law enforcement. “Caught in the act. That’ll teach them.”
Both men got out of the truck.
“Cowboys?” Lexi Simmons, one of Phil’s good friends, gazed at the two guys wearing hats, boots, jeans and yoked shirts.
“Cute ones, too,” someone added.
