Midnight Ride
Midnight Cowboys #1
By: Cat Johnson
Releasing April 28th, 2015
Zebra
Midnight Ride
Midnight Cowboys Romance
One bucking bronco…
Oklahoma ranch hand Tyler Jenkins is too young, too sexy, and too damn wild to be tied down by any single woman—for more than a few steamy hours…
One hard-working widow…
Widowed rancher Janie Smithwick is too busy paying off her debts to play rodeo with a reckless young cowboy like Tyler—no matter how hot he gets her…
One midnight ride they’ll never forget…
As a rule, Janie should be dating a man her own age, like her handsome neighbor Rohn—not the twenty-four-year old ranch hand he employs. But once Tyler gets Janie alone—held tight in his arms, pressed against his hard muscled body, burning with desire—the widow realizes that some rules, like broncos, are meant to be broken…
A
dark shape, its bulk blocking the window of the back door, caught her
eye. Startled, she jumped, but managed to hold in the scream that
threatened to sneak out past the hand she’d pressed to her mouth.
Logic
replaced fright soon enough and she recognized the cowboy hat and the
cowboy beneath it. Living alone had made her jumpy. She wasn’t used
to company. She moved toward the door and swung it wide.
“I’m
so sorry I scared you again. I seem to keep doing that. I didn’t
mean to.” He bowed his head in a move that would have looked
contrite on anyone else. On Tyler, with a cocky smile lighting his
face, it only made him look amused.
“It’s
okay. I was expecting you. I just got startled, is all.” Janie
figured it was simply a symptom of living alone after having people
around the place for so many years.
“This
here’s Colton.” Tyler stepped to the side and hooked a thumb in
the direction of the blond
cowboy
behind him. Not only had Tyler arrived as promised, but he wasn’t
alone. Good thing she had made that extra coffee.
“Howdy,
ma’am.” The man introduced as Colton tipped his hat to her in
greeting. “We spoke on the phone yesterday.”
“Yes,
we did.” She had to wonder when ranch hands in Oklahoma had gotten
so young and so handsome.
They
certainly hadn’t seemed so when she’d had a crew working here.
Then again, her husband had done all the hiring. Tom had always
chosen older, plainer, married men to work for them. It seemed Rohn
leaned toward hiring a crew way younger than she was used to having
around her own place.
Janie
realized she was being rude, leaving them standing in the doorway,
and took a step back. “Come on in, both of you. And thank you for
calling and letting me know about the fence. I appreciate it.”
“Not
a problem.” Colton dipped his head. “I didn’t think it would be
good to chance having your cows break out and somehow get in with our
bulls.”
She
laughed. “I don’t know about that. Considering the bulls on your
property, I might have me some prize-winning bucking stock in a few
years if that were to happen.”
“If
you’re thinking about breeding your heifers, I could talk to Rohn
for you—”
“No.
That’s okay.” Janie interrupted Tyler’s offer. “I know full
well that Rohn’s bulls are potential champion buckers. My stock
consists of a few heifers and some cows I was too sentimental to sell
with the rest of the stock last year. It would be silly to even think
about breeding them with your bulls.”
Tyler
shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.”
“I
will. And thank you.” A beep from the counter behind Janie signaled
the pot was done brewing. The fence would wait long enough for them
to drink the coffee while it was fresh and hot. “Coffee’s ready.
Can I pour you two a cup before we head outside?”
“Yes,
ma’am. That would be great.” Colton nodded. “Black, lots of
sugar if you’ve got it.”
“Yeah,
I’ve got it.” She smiled as she poured. That was how her husband
used to take his. She handed Colton the mug. “Sugar is in that big
canister right there on the counter. Spoons are in the drawer just
below.”
She’d
long ago given up on trying to keep one of those cute little sugar
bowls full with Tom and the other guys dipping into it all day. Even
though it had been nearly a year since she’d been drinking her
coffee alone in the morning—and she only took one teaspoon of sugar
in hers—she’d never put the oversized sugar container away. It
was too familiar, too much a part of the kitchen, so it remained
where it had always been.
Tyler
took the mug Janie handed him. “I take cream and sugar in mine . .
. if you’ve got any. I’m afraid I’m not as hard-core as Colton
here.”
Always
the charmer, he treated her to the same self-deprecating smile she’d
seen the night before during their odd encounter. Janie smiled.
“Don’t
worry, so do I. There’s a quart of half-and-half in the fridge. Top
shelf.” Coffee without cream and sugar was torture, as far as she
was concerned. It didn’t matter how good the beans were or how
fancy the machine brewing them.
“Thank
you, much. I’ll grab it for us both, then.” He nodded, sending
the cowboy hat into a dip as he turned to open the refrigerator.
Tyler turned back to her with the container in hand. “Then when
we’ve all had our coffee, you can come outside and see if Colton
and I did a good enough job on the fence for you.”
Janie
drew her brows low. “You fixed it already?”
“Yes,
ma’am.” Colton leaned back against the counter with his mug in
his hand.
“I
was going to help—”
Tyler’s
burst of air cut her short. “No gentleman worth anything is gonna
let a lady help him do something like dig out a fence post. We
handled it just fine on our own.”
“Yup,”
Colton agreed. “Wasn’t a problem at all.”
Their
kindness threatened to bring tears to Janie’s eyes. “I don’t
know how to thank you.”
“This
here fine coffee is thanks enough.” Tyler smiled. “Don’t tell
Rohn I said so, but he makes the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
Colton
let out a laugh. “Ain’t that the truth. Tastes like he scooped it
out of a tire rut after a rainstorm.”
Janie
couldn’t control her smile. “Maybe I should come over and give
him a lesson.”
The
corners of Tyler’s mouth lifted. “I think that’s a very good
idea. I can’t think of a better way to start a morning than
greeting the day with a beautiful woman and some good coffee.”
His
stare was so intense upon her that she felt her cheeks heat. She
couldn’t exactly say thank you since he hadn’t said she was that
beautiful woman he’d been referring to, but the implication had
been there. Judging by the look in his eyes as they focused solely on
her, his meaning was clear.
“Then
I’ll see what I can do . . . about Rohn’s coffee, that is. It’s
the least I can do to pay you back for your work on the fence.”
Desperate to get out from under his gaze, she threw out that response
and then turned toward the counter to add sugar to her own mug.
“I’ll
look forward to it.” There was amusement in Tyler’s voice as it
came from much closer to her than she expected.
He
leaned past her to set the container of half-and- half on the counter
next to her. The move put him close enough that the combined scents
of manly deodorant and good clean sweat hit her. That, along with the
warmth radiating off his body as he brushed against her before moving
back, had her hyperaware of Tyler. He was a man and she was a woman.
Her body knew it and didn’t care he was younger and she was a fool
to even think of him that way.
Janie
took her time adding cream to her mug. When she finally had no more
excuse to hide in the corner, she turned. She was in time to see
Colton shoot an amused look at his friend before his mug covered the
smirk on his lips.
Tyler
was a flirt. Colton knew it. Jed from the lumberyard had known it.
Deep down, Janie realized it, too, which made it even more ridiculous
that she was letting him get to her. He was a young, cocky ranch hand
enjoying life. Enjoying it a bit too much, as far as she could see.
She
needed to get herself back on level ground. She was a mature woman
who also happened to be the sole owner of a large tract of land, some
damn good horses, and a few head of cattle. Things weren’t ideal,
but she was hanging on. Those accomplishments were nothing to sneeze
at in this economy, especially after last year’s drought, which had
been bad enough to put some farms in dire straits.
Searching
for a safe topic of discussion, she asked, “So how’s Rohn doing?
I don’t get to see him much.”
“He’s
real good,” Tyler answered before taking a sip from his mug.
Colton
frowned. “You think so? It seems to me he’s lonely. When we’re
busy working he seems okay, but when things slow down at the end of
the day, he looks kinda sad. I think he’s still not over losing his
wife.”
Janie
nodded. “That I can understand better than most.”
“I
guess you can.” Colton’s eyes settled on her. “I’d meant to
say it before, ma’am. I’m real sorry about Mr. Smithwick’s
passing. I’d met him a few times. He was a good man.”
“Thank
you. He was.” She’d reached the point where she could smile at
the good memories and accept the kindness of those who’d known her
husband without tearing up. Maybe things were improving after all.
“If
you need any help, like with the fence, just give Rohn a call and
Tyler and I will be right over.
Our
other hand, Justin, too. As soon as he’s back to work.”
“Thanks.”
When Janie glanced at Tyler, she noticed his odd expression as he
watched the conversation between her and Colton, maybe because she
hadn’t included him in her gratitude. She could rectify that easily
enough. “Thank you both. I appreciate the help more than I can
say.”
She
directed that last to Tyler. For once, there was no amusement in his
expression when he focused his piercing blue gaze on her. “It was
my pleasure.”
Uncomfortable
beneath his scrutiny, she raised her mug. “I guess you’d better
finish up so you two can go back to work before Rohn gets mad.”
“He’ll
get over it.” Tyler’s gaze remained on her.
“Still,
I didn’t mean to steal his two best hands for the entire morning.”
“No
stealing involved. I came very willingly. Believe me.”
Her
cheeks heated at the implication in Tyler’s words. Watching her
face, he smiled, a smile that reached all the way to his eyes.
Janie
had a feeling she’d be seeing that smile and those eyes again real
soon. Most likely the moment her head hit the pillow and she closed
her weary lids, and she feared there wasn’t a damn thing she there
wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
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