Read 9781618857279MakeMineaCowboySullivanNC for Free Online

What are you? Twenty-five?”
    “Twenty-eight,
but when you’re doing rodeo for a livin’, it makes you old fast. Ever realize
there aren’t a lot of old rodeo guys? It’s a hard life.”
    “Any
of your brothers do professional rodeo?”
    “Nah. We have too much work to do around the ranch.”
    “Oh.”
    “Ranchin’
is a hard life too. Don’t get me wrong.” He wiped his palms on his pant legs.
“We get up before dawn most days and don’t get to bed until late.”
    “I’m
sure you all have a normal party life though, right? I mean, all work and no
play makes Joel a dull boy.”
    “We
get around,” he said with a crooked little grin on his lips.
    She
wanted to kiss it right off his mouth.
    The
lights of San Antonio came into view as more businesses sprouted up along the
sides of the road.
    “What
hotel are you staying at?”
    “The
Marriott near the airport. The conference is being held there in the business
suites and ballroom.”
    “How’s
the conference been?”
    “Pretty
boring, actually. I was hoping for more reader interaction, but it’s been
mostly panels and such. There is a book signing tomorrow, but I think I’ll skip
it for the research the ranch offers me.” She pulled down the road toward the
hotel. The Marriott stood five stories high and encompassed the whole block.
Concrete walls and steel framed windows, painted a bright yellow with white
trim, outlined the hotel. Native bushes lined the
walkways. She pulled into a space and shut off the car. “Do you want to wait
here? I don’t have much to repack.”
    “I
can help you bring the stuff down if you like.”
    Hmm…a sexy man in a hotel room with
a bed? So not a good idea. “Why don’t you wait in the car? It’ll only take me a minute.”
    “Okay. If you’re sure. I came to help, you know.”
    “Yeah,
but you don’t need to see all my underwear and stuff strung all over the room.”
    He
laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made her toes curl. “Fine. I’ll stay in the
car.”
    “Great.
Be right back.”
    After
she slipped out of the car, she shut the door and hurried toward the side door
of the hotel. Luckily, her room was on the second floor, so it wouldn’t take
much to get her big suitcase and her computer bag down to the car. She really
didn’t want Joel seeing all her makeup, toiletries, and personal
unmentionables. It seemed weird to have a guy in her room, especially since
she’d only known him a few hours.
    The
door lock beeped opened as she slid the keycard into the slot. When she pushed
the door, the darkness of the room surrounded her for a few moments until she
flicked the lights on with a press of the button on the wall. She grabbed her
suitcase from the closet and quickly folded her clothes to pack back in the
bag. Shampoo,
conditioner, makeup bag. I
think I got it all.
    She
grabbed her computer and slid it into the case. That didn’t take long. She glanced around the room to make sure she
had everything as she pulled up the roller bar on the suitcase. The conference
had included her hotel room so she would be losing the money there, but the
chance for front row seats to a real ranch setting would be worth it in the
long run. Her book would be authentic and her hero would be to die for!
     
    * * * *
     
    Joel
checked the reflection in the side mirror of the car. He could clearly see the
door Mesa disappeared through in the glass. What
to make of her? When he’d found her stranded in her car, he wasn’t sure she
had a brain cell in her pretty head. Who would take a drive out into the middle
of nowhere without enough gas to get back? But while he chatted with her, he
realized she actually was a very intelligent woman with a big heart. She sure is beautiful with all of her long,
dark hair and brown eyes.
    He
checked his watch. She’d been in there for several minutes. What the hell is taking so long?
    Tap, tap, tap .
    Joel
turned his head to see a security guard tapping on the window with