Must Love Cowboys: This steamy and heart-warming cowboy rom-com is a must-read! (Once Upon A Time In, Carly Bloom [pocket ebook reader .TXT] 📗

The hayride erupted in whistles and whoops of laughter.

Beau removed his work gloves and slapped them against a fence post to shake the dirt off. Then he crammed them in his back pocket. “Goddammit,” he said. “By the time I get back to the room for a shower, I’ll miss most of the rehearsal dinner.”

Bryce slapped him on the back. “I’m sure Alice will understand. You had to work.”

Beau sighed. His brother was right about both things. He absolutely did have to work, and Alice would totally understand. But he wanted to be there with her. He wanted to be there for her. As her date.

“I think you should hop on your horse and crash that dinner cowboy-style. Hell, I’ll go with you. I wasn’t invited, but Carmen will slip me a plate.”

Beau looked down at his jeans and dirty boots. “We’re dirty. We smell like cow shit.”

“Speak for yourself. I smell like a spring bouquet.”

Beau doubted that. “Well, let’s at least ride by.”

They mounted their horses and rode for about five minutes. When they came over the hill, the campfire area where they held the chuckwagon dinners was buzzing with activity. Beau’s mouth watered when the scent of grilling meat hit his nostrils. Both he and Bryce picked up the pace, and soon they were galloping toward the party.

Folks saw them coming and started waving.

A blue head—Carmen—weaved in and out, and he looked for the familiar brown ponytail that got his blood boiling, but didn’t see it.

They slowed to a trot, and then Bryce did a fancy dismount by swinging his leg over and riding sidesaddle before taking a leap. That particular trick had originally been devised to impress the ladies, but it seemed to be coming in handy on the dude ranch, because everyone cheered. And Beau had to admit that with the ridiculous fringe flying, it looked kind of cool.

He dismounted like a normal person and calmly tied his horse to the hitching post. While Bryce accepted applause and handshakes, Beau started looking for Alice.

He scanned the crowd. All he saw was blonde, blonde, redhead, blue head, bald head, wavy brown hair, black hair . . . Where the hell was Alice? His eyes flitted back to the wavy brown-haired woman, who stood alone, holding a drink, and his heart sputtered and knocked like an old Ford tractor.

Alice looked up, and their eyes met. Suddenly, the boisterous noise of the party dimmed, and Beau’s vision narrowed until Alice was the only thing he could see. He quickly headed her way, single-mindedly ignoring the folks who tried to say howdy.

He removed his hat. “Sorry I’m late—”

Alice rose on her toes and kissed him. Her lips were warm and soft and tasted like wine. When she broke the kiss, he had to reach for her hand, because the sudden disconnect made the earth tilt.

Hold on to me . . .

“You look handsome,” she said.

He grinned and shook his head as he replaced his hat. “I’m dirty and sweaty. I can go take a quick shower—”

She squeezed his hand. “Stay with me.”

“Okay.” He finally relaxed enough to get a look at her. And damn. Did she know how beautiful she was? He doubted it. “I like your hair that way.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean, I like it in a ponytail, too. Not that it matters. What I think. Because you don’t make yourself pretty to please someone else—”

“I like pleasing you,” she said. And then she bit her lip as a slight blush crept up her neck.

Beau bent his head to whisper in her ear. “You please me very much, darlin’.”

Alice’s breath hitched, and she put her hand on his chest. He thought for a moment that she might push him away, but then he felt her small hand grip his shirt, and she pulled him closer. “You please me, too.”

God. It was such a simple sentence. Four little words. But they turned his insides to mush. He searched for something to say and came up empty.

They were yanked from the eye of the storm by a booming voice. “Y’all hungry?” The barbecue sauce on Bubba’s shirt indicated he’d already eaten.

“Starving,” Alice said. “Where’s Trista?”

“Dropping the kids off in Round Rock with her sister. She’ll be here tomorrow. And you should go get some food. Carmen said I can’t have seconds until everybody’s had firsts.”

“I was just waiting for Beau.”

“Well, he’s here now,” Bubba said, looking Beau up and down. “And wearing chaps.”

“It’s required,” Beau said with a grin.

“Why don’t y’all go grab yourselves some plates and come sit with us?”

Alice touched Beau’s sleeve. “Go sit down. I’ll bring you a plate.”

Alice was offering to fix him a plate? No way. He was her date, and he was going to take care of her. “I don’t mind fixing my own plate. In fact, why don’t I get yours?”

Alice grinned. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

She did that thing again. The thing where she rose up on her toes and kissed him. Right in front of Bubba.

As Alice walked away, Beau was left grinning like an idiot. Bubba raised an eyebrow and tapped his beer bottle against Beau’s. “Good save, bruh.”

“Pardon?”

“If you let that girl fix you a plate, it’s all over.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

JD walked up. “Are you tossing that plate theory around again, Bubba?”

“It’s not a theory,” Bubba said. “If a woman fixes you a plate at a social function, she plans to marry you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Beau said. “Alice doesn’t ever want to get married to anybody.”

Bubba shrugged. “I said what I said.”

“What are you even doing here?” JD asked Bubba. “Which one are you related to?”

“The groom is the son of Trista’s aunt’s second cousin by marriage,” Bubba said.

The ties that bound the folks of Big Verde to their ancestral trees were sometimes long and excessively thin, but they were strongly respected where weddings and funerals were concerned.

“Brittany is related to me somehow,” JD