A Real Cowboy

A Real Cowboy
Carla Cassidy

OPPOSITES ATTRACT…Oklahoma cowboy Lucas Taylor isn’t used to close company – and he’s quick to tell newcomer Nicolette Kendall so! But when she and her adorable son Sammy are threatened by a kidnapping attempt, Lucas steps in to become the little boy’s bodyguard. Suddenly, Lucas finds himself getting closer to Nicolette… and trying – in vain – to resist the white-hot sparks between them.Nicolette can’t deny the attraction, but she’s been hurt before and this time she won’t risk her heart easily. Still, there’s something about Lucas that makes her believe he will prove his loyalty and protect her family… forever.

“It’s going to be all right,” Lucas murmured against her ear.

Nicolette raised her head to gaze up at him, and all he knew was that she looked as if she needed to be kissed … badly.

Following instincts alone, he lowered his lips to hers, stunned when she tightened her grip around his neck and pressed closer against him.

She opened her mouth to allow him to deepen what he’d intended simply to be a kiss of compassion, of support. The kiss became so much more complicated than that. It stole his breath away. You’ve got to stop, a little voice whispered inside his head. Finally he broke the kiss.

It was as if she heard the little voice. She suddenly stepped back from him, her green eyes glowing and her breathing labored.

Before he could mutter an apology or say anything, she grabbed his hand, hers feeling hot and fevered. “Come to my room, Lucas. Come and make love to me.”

It never entered his mind to deny her. After all, a real cowboy never turned down a lady’s request.

A Real Cowboy

Carla Cassidy

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CARLA CASSIDY is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author who has written more than one hundred books for Mills & Boon. In 1995 she won an RT Book Reviews award for Anything for Danny. In 1998 she won a Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series, also from RT Book Reviews.

Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.

Contents

Cover (#uaf16eb9b-a40b-5c1e-9319-1cf01e338f2e)

Excerpt (#ufd8ba557-9e46-56a5-bf41-7ed05c4c909a)

Title Page (#ucf21253a-edc0-5ad7-95d0-71b5cd7a8597)

About the Author (#u903f3c5a-35f6-55dd-a929-9320f60adab2)

Chapter 1 (#u78a25eb3-88fb-5a1d-85e5-c22695e4664c)

Chapter 2 (#uf85ad836-ea0f-5b91-8b09-32b0c31111b0)

Chapter 3 (#u7f773c98-c43e-5746-98ea-7374caf9d8b5)

Chapter 4 (#ub0012cb1-3a5d-5441-96ff-217ca93fbafb)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

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)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_1a4bc50b-471a-58a0-8fd1-d58c71f3258e)

Even two weeks after the tornado that had ripped through the area of Bitterroot, Oklahoma—and in particular Cass Holiday’s large ranch—the damage was still evident in the topless shed, the broken trees and in the very heart and souls of the twelve men who had worked as Cass’s ranch hands.

The tornado had not only damaged outbuildings and felled trees, it had also taken the life of Cass Holiday, the tough, sixty-eight-year-old owner who had been like a mother to the cowboys she’d raised.

As dusk swept the area, Lucas Taylor leaned against the two-story house’s porch railing. It was Saturday night and the rest of the cowboys had gone into town to drink away their sorrow and to commiserate with other people in town who had lost property or loved ones to the massive spring storm.

Lucas had never been much of a drinker and had volunteered to stay behind, knowing from the lawyer that Cass’s niece and beneficiary was due to arrive sometime during the evening hours.

Lucas wanted to get a look, a feel for the woman who would now be their boss. From what he’d heard about her, he wasn’t inclined to be overly impressed.

According to what they’d all been told, Cassandra Peterson was a struggling artist who co-owned a clothing boutique in the Soho area of New York City. She’d probably never seen a cow in her life, and Lucas had a feeling that she wouldn’t stick around long.

No doubt, she’d have the cowboys work to put the place back to right and then she’d sell it. She’d make enough money to never struggle again and could go back to her life in the big city. Unfortunately, that meant Cass’s dream and all of her hard work here would die.

The cowboys would eventually find jobs on other ranches, in other places, but the sense of community, the special bond of family they had shared here for so long, would be lost forever.