Last of the Red Hot Cowboys
by Tina
Leonard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A
sexy cowgirl gives a rugged Texas loner the ride of his life in USA Today
bestselling author Tina Leonard’s seductive new series.
Ava
Buchanan dreams of a career on the rodeo circuit. Winning a spot on a
one-of-a-kind team would be her ticket to the life she’s always wanted. Ava
won’t let anyone stand in her way—not even a stubborn cowboy whose
slow-molasses smile and red-hot swagger set her senses aflame . . . and whose
talents as a trainer could make her a star. Rodeo might be a man’s game, but
Ava knows the right woman’s touch can tame the wildest heart.
Trace
Carter believes his mayor’s plan to raise the town’s profile has disaster
written all over it, and he won’t allow the Hell’s Outlaws Training Center to
be dragged into the fiasco. Yet watching Ava’s delectable body on horseback
proves too much of a temptation, and his fantasies stray to her riding skills
outside the arena. Soon Trace is fighting like hell to rein in his unbridled
desire for the petite brunette before it becomes a passion hotter than the
Texas sun.
EXCERPT:
“It doesn’t
matter,” Trace said, glancing over at Ava.
“Don’t let the Horsemen guilt you.
They’re working an angle, and it’s always a crooked one.”
“That makes no sense.” Ava gave him a look of disgust, which he
intercepted with good humor. He was just
happy to have her in his truck. Frankly,
she’d come with him more easily than he’d thought she would. Especially after he’d overheard Fallon ask
her out.
That alone
had caused Trace to shift his gears. He
hadn’t really planned on dragging Ava off.
The plan had been to talk rationally to her, help her put her horse in
the barn. Hell, he hadn’t had a plan.
Until he’d
heard Fallon make his boneheaded offer—and split-second, Trace had known that
just couldn’t stand.
“It makes
sense to me. You don’t want to hang out
with them, Ava. Trust me.”
“I don’t know
if I trust you at all. You seem shadier
than they do.”
He shook his
head. “Just some friendly advice. You don’t know the pitfalls of Hell. Friends help each other out.”
“Do they?”
He felt her
glare and grinned. Such a sweet, sexy
body, so much sass. “Last I checked,
yes.”
“You need to
sell your idea to Judy. Not me.”
“You let me
handle Judy.”
“Fine.” She waved her hand dismissively.
“You don’t
really like me much, do you?”
Ava looked at
him, her dark-green eyes gazing at him curiously. “You’re arrogant and short-tempered. You didn’t want to give us a shot in the
first place, and this is the second time you’ve put me in your truck to twist
my arm. Did I miss what I’m supposed to
like?”
“Now that you
put it like that, I realize I haven’t given you much to be impressed with at
all. Let me fix this snag.”
“Go right
ahead.”
He turned his
truck toward his barns to put her horse away.
“If I train you, you’ll be a helluva rider.”
“I’m a
helluva rider now.”
“Yeah, but
when I get done with you, you’ll be a badass helluva rider.”
“Why? Why are you suddenly so motivated?”
He laughed,
parked the truck. “Maybe I hate to see a
nice girl getting taken advantage of by the Horsemen.”
“I’m not
being taken advantage of.”
“I meant
Judy.” He grinned, enjoying himself.
“It doesn’t
matter. You’re not that kind of guy.”
“Unselfish? Sure I am.”
He went around to open her door.
She slid out
of the truck. “Considerate. You’re not considerate enough to try to help
us out. Your ego may be involved because
you’re competitive. But not considerate
or unselfish.”
He grabbed
her hand, turned her to face him. She’d
been sassing him with those pink lips for a few days now, and a man could only
take so much.
He kissed
her, long and slow and sweet, taking his time since she didn’t protest. She felt better than he remembered, even in
his wildest fantasies, which he’d had plenty of concerning her. He was dying to move his hands to her waist,
circle it, palm her sexy fanny. Told
himself it was too fast, and too fast never got a man anywhere.
Her lips
moved under his, returning his kiss, surprising him. Had she just moved a fraction closer? She seemed to melt against him, surrendering,
and Trace’s world spun at all the magical wonder suddenly opening to him.
Somewhere a
truck door slammed. Ava gasped, moved
away from him. Stared at him, blinking,
then silently went to unload her horse.
He followed,
helping her unlock the trailer. She
unloaded Mack, walking him to the barn.
“Go away,”
she told Trace.
That was
it? He’d given her a kiss to melt the
hardest heart, and she was telling him to drop dead? “Hey,” he said, “don’t freak out.”
“Do I look
freaked out?” She walked her horse
inside the barn, checked that Mack had fresh, cool water and plenty of fresh
hay. “This is the face of annoyed.”
That wasn’t a
woman’s typical response to his kissing.
“I’m sorry. I jumped the gun.”
“You jumped
more than the gun, buster.” She put her
horse into a stall, checked the hay, filled the water, brushed past him.
He followed
her as she sashayed toward her own beat-up blue truck she’d driven from
Virginia. “Ava.”
“What?” She moved a mountain of paper and horse stuff
from the front seat to the back.
“Can you
forget that happened?”
“Easily.” She got in her truck, switched the engine on,
rolled down the window. “I already
have.”
He jumped
back as she peeled away, shredding his gravel drive. Trace grinned.
She might try
to forget, but that kiss was going to last him a while.
It had
to. He wasn’t touching the lady
again—she was going to have to make the next move.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
USA
Today Bestselling and award-winning author Tina Leonard has sold over 2.6
million copies of her titles. She has made the USA Today Bestseller,
Waldenbooks, Bookscan, and Ingrambook lists, and has written and contracted
seventy-one books and special projects. Her work has been published by
Harlequin, Samhain Publishing, Robinson Scarlet, and most recently Random House
Loveswept contracted for a single title trilogy project, Hell’s Outlaws.
Leonard was chosen to be among the first authors published for Robinson’s
Scarlet line, writing four single title novels for that imprint. Not long
after, she sold on proposal to Harlequin American, where she has since written
several popular series, most notably the Cowboys By The Dozen, Morgan Men, and
Callahan Cowboys series. Her newest single title project, HOTTER THAN TEXAS,
was published in March 2013. Leonard is known for her fun sense of humor,
endearing communities, snappy dialogue, and memorable characters.
Join
Tina at www.tinaleonard.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/tinaleonardbooks
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/Tina_Leonard
