CHARLENE

  BRIGHT

  __________________

  To Cherish and Keep a Cowboy

  A Cowboy Nuptials Novella

  Copyright © 2019 by Charlene Bright

  All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  To Cherish and Keep a Cowboy

  Annalisa Jamison has spent her life avoiding attention, content to hide behind her books and stay away from the drama that seeps through her small Texas town. A local girl with local ambitions, she works as a part-time librarian while harboring self-esteem issues and a deep-seeded mistrust of men, due in large part to the childhood trauma she experienced when her less than loving father abandoned her family. Despite little interest in love, Annalisa does have one secret, one she holds close to her chest. Luke McMurtry, the town rascal and player, stole her heart long ago…. But he doesn’t know it, and she’ll never tell him. He’s a hard-partying cowboy with a reputation for trouble and she knows enough to stay far away.

  Yet that all changes when Luke, the eldest of the McMurtry brothers of the Triple M Ranch, spies her at his brother’s wedding. After watching his younger brothers succumb to the allure of love and find themselves in marriage, Luke needs a reprieve—and a respite from “love.” As the only woman in town who hasn’t fallen to his charms, the lovely Annalisa seems the perfect target…. Except she is having none of it. The normally demure woman tells him off, and somehow inspires an interest, and a strange craving Luke didn’t know he could feel.

  Suddenly he doesn’t want Annalisa to just be a one-night-stand, he wants more, much more … but can he get past his own ego to find her heart? Can they overcome the pasts that have haunted them both for way too long and learn to trust each other, or are they simply embarking on a collision course twenty years in the making that will result in a disaster?

  CHAPTER ONE

  Luke McMurtry hated weddings. At thirty years old he’d managed to avoid his own all of these years. Suddenly it seemed there was a wedding on the ranch every other weekend. He sighed and pulled at the bolero tie his mother had made him wear. He knew he was exaggerating. This would only be the second wedding in as many years on the ranch, but that was two too many as far as he was concerned. He didn’t believe in happily ever after. Now suddenly both of his brothers were head over heels in love and married, and the youngest one was expecting a baby.

  He shook his head at the way things had changed. His youngest brother, Brad, had been one of the most eligible players in the Texas Hill Country until Stephanie came along and turned him into an old man. All he wanted to do now was spend time with his wife and paint nurseries and talk about building a playground for the “babies” on the ranch. Stephanie had just found out she was pregnant with their first and Brad was already multiplying them in his head.

  Then there was Reed, who was the cause of all of this fuss today. He and the love of his life (who’d had no idea she was the love of his life) got drunk and married in a bar. Somehow they’d made it work. Only Reed could manage that. People made the mistake of thinking Luke’s middle brother was weak because he was so quiet and easy to get along with. The truth was that besides their mother and father, Reed was the strongest person Luke had ever known. His character was unshakable no matter what situation he was in.

  Kadence was a lucky woman, and any kids they might have in the future would be lucky as hell to have Reed for a father. Luke would likely never admit that out loud. Saying things like that just wasn’t really in his nature. Words weren’t his thing unless they were being used to get what he wanted, like underneath the skirt of a hot cowgirl he picked up in town.

  Two months to the day after Reed and Kadence got drunk and married—though not legally—they were standing in front of their family and friends. Celia McMurtry had insisted they do it … the right way on the ranch. All of the McMurtrys had gotten married on the ranch, from their great-grandparents on forward, and Celia wasn’t going to allow Reed to get away with being different. It didn’t bother Reed. He never argued with his mother or his wife and rarely with his brothers. He was happy to do as he was told, and Luke wondered some days what it would be like to be that content with his lot in life.

  “Hi, Luke.”

  He was sitting on the front porch of the main house waiting for things to begin when he looked up to see two women walking up the steps. “Hey, Lena, Annalisa. You ladies look lovely.”

  Lena smiled, and Annalisa blushed and looked at the ground. “You’re a sweet talker as usual,” Lena said. “You’re looking mighty handsome yourself. Are you in the wedding?”

  “Best man.” He didn’t laugh, but every time he said that, he wanted to. He’d spent most of Reed’s life tormenting him. If Reed needed backup for any reason, Luke was there, but beyond that he had never really been good to his brother … either of them. He was not really anyone’s best man.

  “Oh how nice.” Lena Jamison looked at her daughter. “See there, Annalisa, you could have danced the first dance with Luke tonight if you had said yes to Kadence. Now he’s stuck with Grace.” She winked. The mother and daughter were like night and day. Lena rarely held back on saying what she thought, and Annalisa rarely spoke.

  Grace Bonner was Kadence’s maid of honor. Luke and Grace had danced before. They’d done the horizontal mambo many times, as a matter of fact, since they’d been right out of high school. Each time Luke walked away and never called her back. Grace sent him one ranting text after the other until she tired of it. Then he’d run into her at the bar and they’d end up cycling all over again. He hadn’t been thrilled that she had been chosen to be maid of honor, but at least he knew he wouldn’t be sleeping alone tonight.

  He looked at Annalisa now. He’d had plenty of thoughts about this girl, but he knew even if she had been the one walking down the aisle with him, those thoughts would stay in his head where they’d been all of these years.

  He looked at her now with her head down and brownish-blond hair nearly covering her face. He wanted to see those brown eyes.

  “You turned down the maid of honor spot, Annalisa?” He knew she hated it when he tried to talk to her. She often looked like she was about to be sick when he just said her name. He hadn’t been able to figure out if she just really didn’t like him or if she was attracted to him and trying to hide it. He liked how cute she looked when her face was all flushed red though, so he tried to get to her every chance he got.

  She cleared her throat and pushed her glasses up her nose. Still looking at the ground, she said, “Yeah.” It was a lot of work for one word.

  “She doesn’t like being the center of attention,” Lena said with an eye roll. She was like a mama bear if anyone attacked her daughter, but it was no secret that Annalisa’s almost painful shyness drove her crazy.

  Luke tipped his head sideways so that the younger woman was forced to look at his face. He moved slowly until she pulled her head upright and was looking him in the eye. She had really pretty eyes; they’d been the stars of some of his fondest fantasies. He wondered what she would say if she knew that. He winked at her now, and her face went from bright red to a deep scarlet … almost purple. She was wearing a blue sundress that showed off her tiny waist and long, smooth legs. It was hard to tell because she never said anything, but Luke was sure she had no clue how pretty she was.

  “You look so pretty I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to be the center of everyone’s attention,” he told her. It was the first time he’d told her she was pretty. He liked the way her eyes widened when he did. “You’ll save a dance for me, right?” He’d had the fantasy of dancing with her too.

  She actually grimaced. “I don’t really—”

  “Of course she will,” Lena said, taking her daughter’s arm. “Let’s go see what Celia still needs help with. We’ll see you in a bit, Luke.”

  “Sure, Lena. See you later, Annalisa, Don’t forget that dance.” She mumbled something and practically buried her face in her mother’s big hair as they went inside. He laughed out loud when they were gone. This wedding might not be so boring after all.

  “Luke!” The smile fell off his face at the sound of his mother’s voice. He loved his mother but the two of them were like oil and water and had been since he was born. Some days it was almost more than he could take.

  He stood up, pulled off his hat, and went inside. “Yeah, Ma?”

  “I thought you said you were putting those calves in the south pen.”

  “Brad said he’d do it.…”

  “Well guess what? No one did it. They’re still right there next to the barn where we’re having the reception, attracting flies.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I really think I need to hire a foreman to make sure things get done around here.”

  “Are you kidding? You think someone else telling Brad to take his lazy ass out there and move those calves would have worked any better

than me doing it?”

  “Maybe. Maybe a little tact and couth would get the job done. Your brother is not lazy. His wife is pregnant and they had a doctor’s appointment today. It was the first time he got to hear the baby’s heartbeat. Did you even bother to ask him about it?”

  “No I didn’t because I didn’t know about it. I thought he was here working or I would have moved the damn calves myself.”

  His mother looked like he’d slapped her in the face. “How dare you use that language toward me. What has gotten into you?”

  “You always on my back, maybe, or the fact that I can never do anything that’s good enough for you.” He looked up and saw Annalisa standing in the doorway of the dining room. When she realized she’d interrupted an argument, she tried to turn and run back in but he stopped her. “Annalisa.”

  She looked pained as she made eye contact with him. “Yes?”

  He looked at his mother and then back at her. “Don’t leave. I’m sorry. We’re done.” He slammed his hat back down on his head and stormed out. He would move the calves and when he got to the wedding it would be at the last minute and he’d be covered in dust. That would just give his mother more to complain about. At this point, he didn’t care. If he hadn’t promised Reed he’d be his best man, he’d blow the whole thing off.

  *****

  Luke could feel his shirt sticking to his back and underarms as he stood at the altar next to his brother. It took him over an hour to move the calves by himself and by the time he finished he was almost late for the wedding. He stood there now trying not to think about the sweat rolling down his back or how angry he was with his mother. Grace had even wrinkled her nose at him as he led her down the aisle. He wasn’t going to let any of it get to him.

  Reed’s face was beaming and, at least for today, he needed to not be an asshole, and celebrate his brother’s happiness. Reed had been in love with Kadence since he was fourteen years old. Luke liked to give him a hard time about that, but the truth was that he was envious. He’d love to find the woman that he knew was his other half. He just didn’t believe it would ever happen.

  The wedding march began and the guests rose from their seats. Luke turned with Reed and Brad, who was one of the groomsmen … and going to get his ass kicked later. They watched as Kadence stepped out of the white tent Celia had set up near the edge of the meadow where the wedding was taking place. She’d decided that she wanted to walk herself down the aisle. It was something about being independent. Luke would normally have rolled his eyes at that but once Reed told him her backstory, his estimation of her had gone way up. She’d been to hell and back with the death of her baby and her husband’s suicide and she was still standing. Even Luke had to admit she deserved respect for that.

  He looked at his brother. Reed was watching her like there wasn’t another soul in the world. She did look beautiful in an antique-lace, off-white dress and tan cowboy boots. Her long hair was down and wavy, and she wore a felt cowboy hat that matched her dress with a veil hanging off the back. Luke had to smile. She and Reed had been married—albeit it not legally—for two months. He’d been sleeping with her every night as far as Luke knew, yet the look on his face was akin to a man who was anticipating his wedding night above all else.

  When Kadence reached the altar, Reed held out his hand to her and helped her up on the small wooden riser. They clutched hands tightly as the preacher began with “Dearly beloved.”

  Now that he’d seen his brother accept his bride, he just wanted all this to be over with so that he could have a cold beer … and kick Brad’s ass. He glanced at his little brother. Brad wasn’t looking at Reed and Kadence. He was staring instead at his own bride. She had her hands resting almost protectively against her tiny baby bump, and her eyes were locked in to his.

  Luke rolled his own eyes, and just as he did, Annalisa’s pretty brown ones were on his face. He winked at her and she blushed and turned away. He suddenly had an idea that after years of quietly lusting after the mousey little librarian, tonight was going to be the night. He had never approached her before because it was easy to tell that she wasn’t the type of girl you took home for one night and never called back. When she gave herself to someone, he knew it was going to be forever.

  He didn’t believe in forever but when he looked across the sea of faces and into her eyes, something inside of him stirred in a place he’d never gone before. He laughed inwardly at himself. These weddings were making him sappy; that was all. If Annalisa didn’t want a night with him she was free to say no, but the least he could do was try. They say the quiet ones are the wildest. He thought maybe he was ready to test that theory.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Ma, since I was here for the wedding, I don’t think anyone would think me rude for missing the reception. I doubt anyone would even notice I’d left.” Annalisa wanted to go home. She hated things like this, and to make it worse, every time she chanced a glance at Luke McMurtry it seemed like he was looking at her. Why on earth that would be, she had no idea. Her mother told her once that Luke looked at her all the time when she was working in the bar and not looking. Lena thought that Luke liked her. Annalisa thought it was wishful thinking on her mother’s part that anyone would like her. She was twenty-eight years old with no hopes of a happy ending in sight. That dashed her mother’s hopes of being a grandmother and essentially broke her heart.

  There is no way on God’s green earth that a man like Luke would want anything to do with a woman like me.

  “I would notice.” The voice behind her sent chills down her spine. What was he trying to do? Had he exhausted every other option in the county and she was the only one left? “You promised me a dance, remember?”

  She didn’t turn around. Instead, she looked at her mother who was smiling broadly. “That’s right, honey, you did. You shouldn’t break your promises.”

  “Or my heart,” Luke said. She could feel the heat rising up her neck and knew that any minute her face would be bright red. She hated that. She wished that she wasn’t so fair-skinned if she had to go around blushing all the damned time.

  She slowly turned around and looked at him. His green eyes were gorgeous, but they constantly had a glint in them that made him look like he was up to something, and it made her a nervous wreck. His curly black hair was sticking out from the rim of his cowboy hat. He was clean-shaven today. She hardly ever saw him like that. She thought she might actually prefer the scruff; without it he looked younger and more innocent. She was sure there was nothing innocent about him.

  “I don’t really dance,” she said, finishing what she’d tried to say earlier before her mother had interrupted her.

  Lena started to open her mouth, but Annalisa gave her a pleading look. “I’m going to say hello to the Watsons,” she said instead. As she walked by them, she was looking at Luke. Annalisa suspected something unspoken passed between the two of them. Was it possible her mother had asked him to pay attention to her and that was what this was all about?

  “I’ll lead,” he said. “All you have to do is follow.”

  “Luke …,” she choked out his name. God he was breathtaking to look at, especially this close. He was not that tall, only a few inches taller than she was. But, what he lacked in height he made up for tenfold in musculature. Even in his long-sleeved shirt, his muscles were obviously perfectly defined. She had seen him in short-sleeved t-shirts many times, and his bulging biceps were enough to make her panties damp. She could only imagine what the rest of him must look like.

  “Please, Annalisa. You heard the fight I had with my mom. I had to move twenty head of cattle before the wedding. I don’t smell great, and Grace doesn’t want to dance with me. Please don’t leave me all alone to sit in a corner to mope.”

  She was shy and maybe a bit naïve for a twenty-eight-year-old woman, but she was definitely not stupid. She knew that he was being manipulative by bringing up his mom. Celia was kind of hard on him, but Luke was giving back as good as he got. With a sigh she said, “One dance, a slow one and only if the floor is crowded, and I get to say no if I don’t like the song.”

 

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