THE FINAL ROUND...

The 5th and final round in ARe's Summer's Hottest Hero Contest  is open and my hero WES from Texas Two-Step is in it. It's a shortened round, ending Sunday night at midnight. Have you voted in Round #5 yet? You can vote once in each round and one lucky voter will receive $25 in eBook Bucks.

TEXAS TWO-STEP 

It takes two to tango, but three to do the two-step with these Texas cowboys…

Londoner Maryann Morrissy finds the companionship she's missing by making friends on the Internet with fellow rodeo fans in the States. Her fiancé Robert doesn't understand her new obsession. His mocking is just one more thing in a long list that convinces Maryann he's not the man for her. Perfect timing, because Maryann is flying to Texas where two rodeo cowboys are waiting to show her the ropes.

Annoyed he has to pick up his sister's British online buddy from the airport, tie-down roper Wes Griffin drags his best friend Shooter with him. Misery loves company until Wes sees Maryann get off the plane. When her sexy accent makes his heart do the two-step, Wes begins to wish he'd kept Maryann all to himself because Shooter is just as intrigued.

After the nasty end to Maryann’s engagement, she's ready to take both cowboys on, but is Wes willing to share?

Excerpt:

“You got no chance of winning the round now. Not with that penalty added to your time.”

Wes didn’t need Shooter to remind him of that. He knew he’d broken the barrier and cost himself a ten-second penalty the moment he’d left the box. He’d performed like crap tonight and he knew it, and the reason was standing along the sidelines next to his sister. Maryann’s presence had him so on edge, even his damn horse had sensed it. He couldn’t blame the animal for the penalty. It had simply misread the tension in him and taken off too early.

Wes blew out a loud breath. “I know.”

Shooter frowned at him. “Where’s your head at tonight?”

He glanced at Maryann one more time, looking as if she was having the time of her life watching the event. “I don’t know.”

“Well I do.” Shooter laughed. “You’ve got it bad for her.”

Wes spun back to his friend. “Who? Maryann? No, of course not. I don’t even know her.”

“Oh, don’t we?” Shooter’s brows shot up to the brim of his hat.

Wes rolled his eyes. “I’m not talking about sex.”

Shooter let out a short laugh. “Neither am I. Look how much we’ve been through with that girl in just a little over twenty-four hours? We’ve seen her drunk and sober, happy and crying. We were with her when she found out for certain the man she thought she was going to marry was cheating on her and we were there when she put him in his place and dumped him too. And then, yeah, there was everything else that happened last night at my place. We can’t forget about that.”

No, Wes would never forget that. He shook his head, not willing to admit anything to Shooter. “I’ve been with women the night before an event and had them watch me compete the next day. It never messed me up before. I’m just having an off day. That’s all.”

“Well I hope you’re right, because I have a feeling you’ll be repeating last night with her again tonight and I’d hate to see you look this bad tomorrow.”

What Shooter said struck Wes. He glanced at Maryann again. Would she be interested in a repeat? And the bigger question was, if it happened would it include Shooter? Wes wasn’t exactly good at sharing. He sighed. “I’m gonna go grab something to drink. You want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Shooter glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t be too long or you’ll miss your sister. The barrel racing’s up next.”

“I won’t.” He needed to get away for a bit and clear his head, something he should have done before he competed instead of after. Wes shook his head, so busy beating himself up he didn’t notice Maryann until he’d smacked right into her. “Dang. I’m sorry.”

She smiled, her eyes smoldering. “I’m not. I’ve been hoping to run into you.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Really? And why is that?”

Maryann crossed one booted foot over the other and dipped her head shyly. “Now that I’ve seen what a piggin’ string is, and what it’s supposed to be used for, I couldn’t help but imagine what else a cowboy could do with one.”

Well, he’d be damned. Watching him tie up a calf had gotten Maryann hot. “I imagine together we could figure out quite a few things to do with it.” Just the thought had him trembling with anticipation.

She swallowed hard as her gaze dropped momentarily to his lips. “How long does this last?”

“A while, but I’m done so we really only have to stay until Ellen rides.”

“Good.” Her eyes were narrow as she looked up at him and he couldn’t resist. Wes lowered his head and crashed his mouth into hers, pressing them both against the back wall of the concession stand.

Wes pulled his mouth away just far enough to say, “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Me either.” She grabbed his head and kissed him hard.

He pulled away again. There was something he needed to know. “What about Shooter? Whatever we do later, is it going to include him?”

“Do you want it to?”

Hell no. “Do you?” Wes did his best to keep his voice neutral. It wasn’t easy.

“He’s your mate…” Her gaze searched his face.

“If that means he’s my friend, yeah, my best one, but that doesn’t mean I have to share my girl with him.”

Maryann’s brow crinkled while she smiled at the same time. “Am I your girl?”

Wes drew in and blew out a deep breath. Things had turned real serious real fast. He decided to take the tension down a notch with some joking. “You could be, if you play your cards right.”

“And how would I go about doing that.” She was back to being flirty and playful. This he could handle.

“The piggin’ string tonight will be a good start.” He grinned and planted one last kiss on her lips.

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