The path to true love lies deep in the heart of Texas!
As a child, the Rocking C was Blake Darnell’s home away from home. Now it’s a place for former rodeo cowboys to hang up their spurs...and the LA attorney is back in Texas to stop his uncle from making the biggest mistake of his life! Until he locks horns with Shannon Cramer, the sexy RN in charge of the place.
Blake thinks his uncle is falling for a gold-digger, but Shannon believes it’s love even if the gorgeous, jaded lawyer doesn’t. Agreeing to disagree gets complicated as their attraction heats up. But the born-and-bred cowgirl’s digging in her boot heels—she’ll settle for nothing less than this city slicker’s heart!
Rocking Chair Rodeo: Cowboys—and true love—never go out of style!
He could see the wheels turning in her mind, no doubt going over those blasted questions he’d been asking himself ever since that last kiss.
And he sensed the yearning in her eyes, the desire.
“What are we going to do about this?” he asked finally.
“I know what I’d like to do,” Shannon said. “But you’ll be leaving soon. Right?”
She bit down on her bottom lip, a pensive reaction that sent Blake’s blood racing. He suspected she was about to agree to the suggestion he hadn’t actually spelled out.
That was, until she looked up, caught his eye and said, “Believe it or not, I’m an old-fashioned girl.”
Which meant what? That before making love she wanted a ring, a white lace gown, a walk down the aisle to the altar and a vow that would last forever?
He supposed he couldn’t blame her for that. But that wasn’t something he could offer her.
They sat quietly for a while, but her words still hung in the air. And so did his desire for her.
He reached for her hand. “I’m afraid that, under the circumstances, I can’t give you any kind of commitment. But I can give you tonight.”
* * *
Rocking Chair Rodeo: Cowboys—and true love—never go out of style!
Roping in the Cowgirl
Judy Duarte
Since 2002, USA TODAY bestselling author JUDY DUARTE has written over forty books for Mills & Boon Cherish, earned two RITA® Award nominations, won two MAGGIE® Awards and received a National Reader’s Choice Award. When shes not cooped up in her writing cave, she enjoys traveling with her husband and spending quality time with her grandchildren. You can learn more about Judy and her books at her website, www.judyduarte.com, or at Facebook.com/judyduartenovelist.
To J. Frank Astleford, Emily Itzaina, George Johnston and Emelie Kuehn, who taught me to love and value the older generation and all they had to offer.
Your stories about your own grandparents and the “good old days” made history come alive for me. You will live in my heart and my memories forever.
Contents
He’d been...fired? Seriously?
Blake Darnell bent forward in his tufted-leather desk chair and studied the legal document he’d just received in the afternoon mail. He was so caught up in reading what his great-uncle’s new attorney had drafted and filed with the Texas court that he only now heard someone speaking to him.
“Did you hear me?” the law firm’s administrative assistant asked, her voice rising a decibel.
He glanced at his open office door, where the efficient older woman stood. “I’m sorry, Carol. What did you say?”
She crossed her arms, her expression of curiosity morphing into one of concern. “I asked if there was anything else you needed me to do before I leave, but you were a hundred miles away. Is something wrong?”
Apparently she’d been standing there for a while, long enough to notice the furrow in his brow, the frown on his face. But he shrugged off her question and his penchant for honesty. “No, everything’s fine.”
“It doesn’t look that way to me.”
That’s because things were actually a mess. What had Uncle Sam been thinking when he’d made this decision? Yet as stunned as Blake was, as angry at the circumstances, a niggle of guilt wormed its way into the mix. And having to assume at least part of the blame didn’t sit well with him, especially since he could justify everything he’d done. But it was what he’d failed to do that was most unsettling.
Carol entered his office and made her way to the edge of his desk, the familiar scent