CAN’T RESIST A COWBOY
By Elizabeth Otto
A Paint River Ranch Novel
He’s always been her weakness…
Injured and discharged, Marine Levi Haywood has returned to his family’s ranch to heal and start a new life. After all, once a cowboy, always a cowboy. The only problem? Life at the ranch has moved on since he joined the service, and suddenly his role in the family business is much less clear. And things get a lot more confusing when the woman he left behind returns home.
Carrie Lynn Waite has never known a time when she didn’t love Levi. They were childhood sweethearts, but because of her health, she was forced to move to the city, away from the ranching life. Now Carrie’s come home only to learn her family’s ranch is in trouble and Levi is back, along with an undeniable attraction she can’t resist. But some things never change, forcing Carrie to choose the future laid out before her…or the cowboy she could never resist.
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Excerpt #1
Time had given
the lines and edges of his face a maturity that heightened his masculine
appeal. And no doubt, the military had provided him with the razor-sharp and
completely breath-stealing expression. Even in the dimmer cast of light, his
eyes glowed with intensity that shot a throb between her legs and a flicker of
apprehension in her breast.
He stopped,
close enough that heat radiated from his chest to hers. Around his neck, a
silver chain disappeared beneath his shirt. It didn’t take much to guess what
the chain held, and she wanted to see. She touched her fingertips to his
collarbone, exhaling as if the contact were the fuel she needed to breathe,
tracing the chain and slowly pulling it until a single dog tag slid up from
beneath the fabric.
His name was
stamped into it, the metal tarnished on one edge as if it had been rubbed
repeatedly. The tag rested in her palm, warm from his body heat. One small,
thin piece of metal represented the different paths they’d taken. She’d held
his tags before, though he wouldn’t remember. She’d thought then, as she did
now, what a strong, admirable man he was. Levi Haywood was a damn good man.
She let go, and
the tag clanked against the chain as she stepped back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
have…”
“You never have
to apologize for touching me, Carrie.” Low, almost dangerous, the tone sent a
sensual ripple through her body. “In fact, I’d like you do it again, right
now.”
Her gaze fell
to his lips as her palm met his chest. Carrie took one small step forward,
pressing her hand flat again and traveling it over his pecs, the fabric of his
shirt sliding over his firm, warm muscle, to his ribs where his torso stiffened
and his breath stalled. Lightly, he gripped her wrist in one hand and tipped
her chin with the other. Her mind and body seemed to go somewhere else, a
static place, where this moment erased everything else.
He swept a
thumb over her lower lip. “We have unfinished business.”
She shook her
head, trying to dissuade him, herself; both. In a couple weeks she’d be gone—would
be reduced to seeing Levi once or twice a year when she came home to visit,
maybe. That wasn’t really worth the emotional wringer she’d have to go through
if she let herself get close to him.
“We don’t.”
“We do.”
“No,” she shook
her head again, the sting behind her eyes biting. If this moment could truly be
suspended and molded into whatever she wanted it to be, there would be a second chance. Her vision and
health would be perfect, and she could safely live in this remote place. But
her future wasn’t malleable. And a second chance wasn’t possible.
“Maybe you have
unfinished stuff, but I don’t, and I’d rather you didn’t bring it up again.”
His head dipped
low. Her lips began to tingle and want. With the touch of his breath, her mouth
parted. He drew closer.
“Sounds like a
challenge, Carrie. Remember what happens when you challenge me?”
She studied the
faint kiss of freckles across his nose, the angle of his cheekbones and
strength of his smooth jaw. The beauty of it muddled her thoughts…until she
remembered that she couldn’t do this. If he kissed her, she’d want more.
Carrie stepped
back, immediately regretting the loss of his closeness. “Yes, I do. You usually
lose.”
**
Excerpt
#2
Carrie was
about to shake out of her skin. Her teeth were actually chattering. He
shouldn’t have agreed to let her come up here with him. If she ended up with
pneumonia or something, he’d never forgive himself.
His oiled
canvas jacket was mostly waterproof, the fleece lining inside warm and dry. He
slipped out of it and put it between his knees, then unbuttoned his flannel and
peeled it off.
“Take off your
shirt.” He gave her a look, knowing she was going to argue. She’d always been
good at that. She crossed her arms, but he didn’t give her time to be
squirrely. “Take it off, or I will. Your bra, too.”
Her mouth
parted, reminding him just how fantastic her lips had tasted. Dang, had that
really happened? It seemed so surreal, to have her in his arms again…that taste
so ripe on his lips.
“I’m not
getting naked in front of you.” Yeah, because that had never, ever happened
before. He still remembered, vividly.
“Then turn
around. Just do it before you freeze.” His breath came out in a puff, the
temperature having dropped with the rain and wind. In a short-sleeved Henley,
the cold air assaulted his bare arms, making him shiver. If he was this chilly
dry, she had to be downright frozen.
Gently, he
gripped her shoulder. “Come on, Sunshine. Do as I say.”
Her back
stiffened but she didn’t protest, just unzipped her coat and shrugged it off
into a wet, heavy lump on the ground. A thin blue shirt molded the feminine
structure of her back and into the dip of her spine. Levi traced her curves
with his gaze. She unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it back, but it clung to her
shoulders. With one hand, he grasped the neckline and pulled it down…slowly,
the tip of his middle finger making a trail over her damp skin as he slid the
shirt off.
Stepping
closer, Levi was torn over wanting to pull her cold body into the warmth of his
chest. The rain beat staccato on the rocks above, the patter splashing into the
wet ground. Tracing her white satiny bra across her back, he grinned as a
violent shudder when through her. How easy would it be to rekindle the fire
between them? Not just this—though her form was something he wanted to explore
slowly, intimately—but her heart, her mind. To know her again, all of her—how
sweet would it be?
Letting her
shirt drop, Levi used both hands to unhook the bra and toss it aside. Her arms
came across her chest, the quick glance she tossed over her shoulder cautious.
Levi settled his flannel shirt over her shoulders, held it in place as she
shakily slid into it.
He could tell
that she was fumbling with the buttons, so he turned her to help. Slowly
closing each button, thanks to his cold hands, he tried not to focus on the
rise of her breasts beneath the fabric. Her chest went still and he swore she
was holding her breath.
The chemistry
was still there. Holy shit, was it still there, and he wanted to grab hold of
it and see how far it went. How would he ever keep his shit together as she
walked out of his life? Levi ran his palms over the tops of her shoulders, down
her arms.
What if he
asked her for a second chance?
What would she
say?
About the Author:
Elizabeth Otto grew up in a Wisconsin town the size of a postage stamp, where riding your horse to the grocery store, and skinny dipping after school were perfectly acceptable. No surprise that she writes about small communities and country boys. She’s the author of paranormal romance, and hot, emotional, contemporary romance, and has no guilt over frequently making her readers cry. When not writing, she works full-time as an Emergency Medical Technician for a rural ambulance service. Elizabeth lives with her very own country boy and their three children in, shockingly, a small Midwestern town.
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