COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) Read online

  © Copyright 2016 by Amanda Boone - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

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  Justin

  The Steele Brothers

  Book 1

  (Can be read as a standalone book)

  By: Amanda Boone & Amber Duval

  Introduction

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  To go directly to the Table of Contents, Click here.

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  This book’s Riddle:

  Q: What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and not once in a thousand years?

  >>See answer

  The Steele Brothers: Justin

  1.

  “If I get the cheese sticks, will you pay for half?” Bradley Currell asked me while the waiter stood beside our little two-person table.

  I looked up at him and took a deep breath. It wasn’t the fact that he wanted me to pay for half of an appetizer, which he was going to eat, that had me so fed up. Well, it wasn’t the whole fact, anyway. It sure wasn’t helping anything. I’d been set up again, by my mother, with a man who couldn’t be further from what I was interested in. Not that I especially knew what I was interested in.

  “Sara? The cheese sticks?” His cheeks were turning pink and he was fidgeting.

  Time to put the poor guy out of his misery. “Sure, Bradley. Half of the cheese sticks.”

  In my mind I stood up and apologized for having to leave so soon. I would have to get down to the shelter that dream me owned to make sure the thunder that was rumbling outside didn’t scare the dogs. Bradley would never call me again.

  The woman in my mind was so much cooler than the real me. Instead of dismissing myself from another abysmal date, I sat with my back straight and smiled politely as Bradley slurped his water just like the imaginary dogs in my shelter would’ve.

  I’d never understood why I had to be so polite when the men who surrounded me were never as well-mannered. My mother was a Southern belle from Charleston, though, and she’d forced me into etiquette classes as soon as I could hold my own head up. As repayment for obediently going to her stupid classes until I was eighteen? She set me up with guys like Bradley Currell, who wanted to split the cost of his dinner with me.

  I bit my tongue and folded my hands in my lap. “So, Bradley, what brought you to Martinsville? Mom told me you just moved here a few weeks ago.”

  He leaned back in his chair and slurped some more water before answering. “I got a job in the offices at the state prison. It pays really well.”

  It couldn’t pay too well if he couldn’t afford to pay for his own appetizer.

  “Do you like it?”

  He nodded. “I like it enough. There aren’t a lot of pretty girls there, though. I was so excited when I ran into your mom at the post office. We just started talking and then she showed me your picture. You look just like a girl I dated in high school, Mary Carter.”

  I was going to kill my mother. I sat up straighter and ran my hand down the skirt of my white cocktail dress. It was silk. I’d worn a silk dress to dinner at Shoney’s.

  “Oh? That’s interesting. My mom spoke really highly of you. She said you were such a gentleman and helped her get her package to her car.”

  His cheeks grew hot again. “She must’ve been thinking of someone else. All of my Sports Illustrated posters finally came in. I had my hands full with my own stuff.”

  I clenched my teeth together so hard it hurt and nodded. It was just like my mother to lie so I’d feel obliged to go on the stupid date. “Sometimes she gets a little confused. So, you collect posters?”

  “No. I just love the women in little bikinis. It’s the Swimsuit Edition.” He made a hand motion that I assumed was supposed to reflect him holding a boob. “Those are some real lookers.”

  I refrained from looking down at my chest. I wasn’t huge, but I also wasn’t small. I had plenty to fill someone’s hands. If someone’s hands were ever interested in holding them. They hadn’t been so far.

  Bradley went on to talk about the women of the newest issue while I covertly looked around the restaurant. I was hoping for a discreet exit, or maybe a giant steak knife that I could throw at my mother. Not that I ever would. She was definitely the boss in our relationship. I wouldn’t even work up the nerve to complain about Bradley.

  Instead of help I found the amused face of some cowboy watching me. His white cowboy hat was pulled low so I couldn’t see much of his eyes, but I could feel them on me. Even from across the room, it seemed he could tell how horrible the date was going.

  I slid my eyes back to Bradley, who was still going on and on about swimsuit models. I closed my eyes for a beat, and when I opened them the waiter was putting Bradley’s cheese sticks down for him.

  “What would you like for dinner?”

  Oh, god. We still had to order entrees. I was going to lose my sanity. I looked over at Bradley, praying that he’d found me dull and lifeless. Maybe he’d call the whole thing off.

  Instead, he just smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll order for you.”

  I listened while he ordered himself a steak with a loaded baked potato and banana pudding for dessert and then ordered me a small salad with the dressing on the side. No dessert. No dessert and I was going to have to stay an extra fifteen to thirty minutes while he finished his.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with just a salad, ma’am?” At least the waiter wasn’t going to assume that was all I wanted.

  Before I could speak, Bradley leaned forward and nodded. “Your mom told me that you’re trying to lose fifteen pounds. I know how hard that can be. Just the salad.”

  I was going to murder him, right after I murdered my mother. I was not trying to lose any weight. My mother was the only one of us who didn’t like how I looked.

  I flashed them both a dazzling smile while digging my nails into my palms beneath the table. “That’s fine.”

  As soon as the waiter made his exit with an apologetic look in my direction, I pushed back my chair. “I’ll be right back. Excuse me.”

  He nodded and then dug into his fried, cheesy goodness with abandon. Jerk.

  I made my way to the bathroom but veered left to go out the back door instead. I figured I’d give myself a few minutes to relax and then I’d go back in. I needed a bottle of whiskey and a cigarette. Only I didn’t drink whiskey or smoke. It felt like a good time to start, though.

  I leaned against the brick building, next to a dumpster, and blew out a big breath. I wanted to scream and shout, but I knew that wouldn’t get me anywhere. I counted to twenty and then blew out another shaky breath.

  I’d had worse blind dates. My mom set me up pra
ctically once a month. I was hoping the supply of men in Martinsville would eventually run out, but so far, mom kept producing. She was so desperate to get me settled down because all of her friends’ daughters had been married off already.

  “You get lost?”

  I spun around and gasped. “Jeez! You scared me!”

  The cowboy from inside the restaurant pushed his hat up on his head so I could fully see his face and grinned. “I didn’t mean to.”

  My heartbeat tripled, and it had nothing to do with him scaring me. He made my idiot date look like something you’d find feeding at the bottom of the ocean. “You didn’t. I mean, you did, but it’s not a big deal.”

  His grin widened, and two dimples peeked out from his bearded face. “Are you running away?”

  I looked longingly down the alleyway. Oh, how I wished I was. “No. I just needed some fresh air. You?”

  He shoved his hands into the front of his worn jeans, stretching the material tight across the front of his body. “Thought about it a few times.”

  I averted my eyes from his crotch and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’d better get back in there.”

  He stepped forward, officially into my bubble. “We could run away together.”

  I stared up into his handsome face and then laughed. It surprised the both of us. I covered my mouth and then moved around him to go back inside. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Thank you, but no, thank you.”

  I let myself back into the restaurant and then went to my table. Bradly had already gotten his plate of food and had dug in. I glanced back at the door, longingly. I wanted to be back outside. Maybe not with the cowboy, but outside nonetheless.

  “I was afraid you’d fallen in. Don’t you girls usually throw up after the dinner?”

  I bent down and grabbed my purse. “I’m so sorry, Bradley. I feel terrible, but I just got a call from my dog sitter. She’s come down with…the measles…and has to leave. I’ve got to get home and make sure my dog is okay.”

  Another dream of mine, owning a dog that could possibly be trained to ram its head into someone’s crotch on command. I’d crossed my fingers as I said the lie and hoped lightning didn’t strike.

  He nodded. “Sure, sure. Um, let me just add up your part of the check, plus the cheese sticks, and then you can go.”

  Never mind the fact that he’d driven me there. I chewed on my tongue to keep from yelling at the idiotic man and reached into my purse. “Here’s twenty. That should cover it.”

  Bradley looked at my untouched salad and water. “Yeah…but what about the tip?”

  I took out another twenty and placed it on the table. “It was nice to meet you, Bradley. Have a nice night.”

  I pushed in my chair and then rushed out of the place, vowing to never enter a Shoney’s again, as long as I lived. Anything to avoid flashbacks of Bradley.

  Once I was on the sidewalk, I looked around and decided to walk. Martinsville wasn’t that big, and I lived over my parents’ garage in a suburb in the middle of town. It wasn’t ideal in my heels, but it was better than hearing anything else Bradley had to say.

  I set off at a quick pace, eager to get home and start forgetting the awful night. Maybe not all of it, though, I thought. The cowboy had been nice to look at.

  2.

  Martinsville held an end of summer carnival each year to get kids ready to go back to school. I’d attended since I was little. The first few years I’d gone had been for fun. Then, as soon as my mom could enter me into the Little Miss Martinsville pageant, it’d stopped being fun. I’d competed for the title ten years straight and brought it home ten years straight.

  I thought about the backstage area and shivered. I’d been shoved into gowns that weighed nearly twice as much as me and then had hot rods shoved in my hair. That was before my mom arrived with her speeches, too. When she did show up, she’d poke and prod at me until I wanted to cry, and then she’d lecture me about how important it was to win. She was the worst stage mom.

  I stood at the back of the audience a week after that disastrous date and watched as little girls pranced around the stage. I felt bad for them because I knew that a lot of them had a mom like mine backstage, ready to scream at them if they missed a step.

  My best friend, Amanda, was standing next to me, her eyes anywhere but the stage. “I heard that the Steele brothers are back in town.”

  I moved my eyes to her. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress with her favorite sandals. Her dark red hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she looked beautifully laid back. “And?”

  She jerked her eyes to me and grabbed my arms. “Seriously? It’s the biggest deal, Sara Jane. They’ve been gone for so long.”

  I looked around the crowded field we were in and shook my head. “I still don’t see why it’s a big deal. Are they famous?”

  “Um, yes. Well, kind of. The oldest brother, Justin, is a bull riding champion. He’s been all over. Devon is the middle one, and he’s some sort of horse trainer. Avery, the youngest, does some kind of charity work with the rodeo. Mainly, I followed Justin. He’s the bad boy of the three. There are so many rumors about him being a freak in the bedroom. Into some kinky shit.”

  I looked around us to see if anyone was listening, but thankfully no one was. “Good grief, Amanda, do you stalk them?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “No, but I should now that they’re back in town.”

  I decided to play along. “Why are they back in town?”

  “Their parents decided to retire and someone had to take over the ranch. I guess they were all at a place where they could move back, so they decided to do it together.”

  I nodded. “That’s nice.”

  Her eyes were back to scanning the crowd. “Not nice, Sara. Hot. Sexy. Cowboys. The three of them are all drop-dead sexy. I can’t believe you haven’t heard about them. Every woman in town has been whispering about them.”

  I shrugged and turned back to the stage in time to see a little girl stumble. “I’ve been locked in the school, trying to get my office ready for the start of the year.”

  She suddenly grabbed my arm and squealed. “I think I just saw one of them. I have to go and try to get into their tight Levi’s.”

  I reached out to stop her, but she was already sprinting away. I’d never seen her move so fast. I watched as her hair disappeared into the crowd and sighed. I was on my own. I doubted I’d see Amanda again for the rest of the night. Once she had her sights set on someone, she didn’t quit until she got them.

  I cast one last look at the stage before backing out of the group of onlookers. I headed toward the corner of the field dedicated to food vendors with my mind on a funnel cake. I’d been thinking about eating one since I’d heard the date of the carnival. I waited in line and paid for my delicious, fried greatness before walking over to a picnic table and sitting down.

  I’d just taken my first bite when my plate was swept away from me. I snapped my eyes up to the person who clearly had a death wish and found a pair of eyes nearly identical to my own glaring back at me.

  “Sara Jane Barrows, what do you think you’re doing? What about your diet?!” My mother’s shrill voice penetrated my brain like an ice pick.

  I turned around and tried to resist the urge to snatch my food back. It was going to turn to ice in her cold clutch. “I’m not on a diet, Mom.”

  She frowned at me and then passed the funnel cake off to someone passing by. “I know you don’t mean that, Sara. It’s just hard to stay on the right track with all of this fried food hanging around. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you’d still be locked in that office of yours.”

  I stood up and started walking away from her. I knew she’d follow, but I just had to move. “I come every year.”

  Janet Barrows was not one to be dismissed easily. She was a hard woman with an uncanny ability to say the worst things with a sweet tone. “I haven’t heard you say anything about the date with Bradley yet.”

&
nbsp; I opened my mouth to reply but then snapped it closed when the cowboy from the restaurant materialized in front of me. I looked up and met his gaze.

  His eyes trailed down my body and then moved back up to my face. “Fancy running into you here.”

  I took a step back and bumped into my mom. She huffed and groaned like I’d nearly killed her. I mumbled a quick apology to her and then refocused on the cowboy. “Running being the operative word, unfortunately.”

  When I tried to step around him, he matched my steps and blocked my way. “I’m starting to get a complex here.”

  My mom cleared her throat. “Do you two know each other?”

  I shook my head. “No. Not at all.”

  “Sure we do.”

  Mom looked between the two of us and raised her eyebrows. “Is he the reason you didn’t call poor Bradley back?”

  The cowboy snorted. “That little shit from last week? I saw that travesty, ma’am. She had every reason to not call him back. I’d like to believe I had a little something to do with it, though.”

  I laughed, not for the first time, at him. “You didn’t. It was the fact that he strong-armed me into paying for the entire meal. It just didn’t work out with him, Mom.”

  Her cheeks brightened and she placed her hand delicately over her heart. “Sara Jane, you’re being rude. I’m sorry, sir, I don’t believe I caught your name.”

  I spotted Amanda’s head near the sign for fried Oreos and casually stepped away from them. “Please, excuse me.”

  I chased after Amanda but still managed to lose her in the crowd somehow. After a half hour of looking, I gave up and decided to go home. I had stuff I could be getting done there.

  3.

  The first day back at school was never without its issues. The day always started out with my mom calling me and telling me of at least four different office positions she knew of, all with friends of my father’s. Rich men needing secretaries. After getting my mom off the phone, I made my first stop at Hal’s for an extra-large cup of coffee and a chocolate muffin. Then it was chaos as soon as I stepped into the school.