The Right Cowboy
by Megan Ryder
Series: Granite Junction, #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 21, 2021
A sheriff seeking the truth, and the bad girl who will make him question everything...
Find her long lost dad? Check
Have a hot affair? Check
Land in the cross hairs of the town police? Wait. What?
Abby Byrd is on a journey to reconcile her past. Venturing to Granite Junction, she’s searching for the father she hasn’t seen in twenty years. It was meant to be a quick stop. Meet him and move on. Then, her car broke down. Temporarily stuck in the tiny little berg, the silver lining comes in the form of a sexy sheriff who allows her to check sizzling fling with a handsome cowboy off her bucket list.
Nathan Holt is married to his job as sheriff, and that’s the only long-term commitment he intends to embark on. Especially after experiencing first-hand the devastation his own family suffered through after his father’s death. Yet when a woman as fiery as she is beautiful comes to town, challenging him and firing his libido, he can’t help but be drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
Unfortunately, as feelings begin to develop between the two, Abby becomes the target of malicious gossip and accusations. Will Nathan see past the faulty evidence and ludicrous claims against her? Or will his sense of duty and fear of commitment blind him to the truth?
Nathan took her hand and tugged her to her feet, dragging her onto the dance floor. “Hey, where are we going?”
He pulled her close, one hand on her lower back to press her against his body. “You wanted to dance. You wanted romance, so here we are.”
The music penetrated and the sexy slow beat of a Jason Aldean song washed over her. Her muscles relaxed and a gentle smile curved her lips. “I love this song.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and the tension she’d been holding drained away as she let the music and the magic of the evening carry her away. She could almost believe she was on a romantic date with a knight in shining armor, that they were a genuine couple exploring a future together. Only, the reality was that she was only here briefly and didn’t do relationships and Nathan wasn’t looking for one either. They were two people enjoying each other’s company for the short term. But swaying gently to the music in his arms, he could seduce her into believing it was something more, or at least the potential for something more. And a part of her wanted that.
The music segued to a Dierks Bentley song and Nathan rested his cheek on her head, his hands warm on her back. She closed her eyes and let herself go with the illusion because reality was a bitch right now and she needed a little magic in her life. Her mother had told her to seek her job, find her path, and maybe look for the magic in the world. She’d scoffed at the advice, not understanding what she’d meant, but, for the first time, she thought she got what her mother was trying to tell her.
It didn’t take much to lift her head and be a hairbreadths away from Nathan, his eyes dark and radiating a raw hunger barely banked, restrained only because of their being in public. As she slid against him, he made his feelings known against her lower stomach, the hard evidence of his arousal pressing against his jeans. She wanted to make a smart-ass comment, to defuse the situation, as she normally would have done, but the intensity in his gaze, the raw need she could feel from him, made her stop, especially since she had the same desperate need for him too.
She’d been keeping it at bay by staying busy, occupied with talking to other people, working, and focusing on her plans for leaving Granite Junction. But she couldn’t deny that the one thing she wanted more than anything else was to take Nathan Holt to bed and wake up in his arms the next morning, something she’d never done with anyone else.
Abby wasn’t inclined to long moments of introspection and debating over decisions. She’d already spent more time chewing on this than she’d like. So, she stretched up on her toes so her lips brushed Nathan’s ear.
“Rain check,” she whispered.
He stiffened in her arms and stared down at her, his arms locked around her like a steel trap. A muscle ticked in his jaw and she feared he’d crack a tooth. But deep inside the intensity was a hint of hope, of vulnerability, like he hadn’t expected her to say that.
He swallowed hard. “Are you sure? Colt is going to sing again.”
“I’ll download it.”
A slow, sexy grin crossed his face and he whirled, dragging her off the dance floor, past his startled sister and Gabe. He paused at their table to grab their jackets and her purse, throw down some money for the bill, and dragged her for the door where Zane blocked his way.
“Sheriff. You okay to drive?”
Abby giggled. Cockblocked by the bar owner. Leave it to Zane to remind the sheriff of the rules about drinking and driving. Though, she loved knowing she’d distracted him enough that he’d been about to force his way past the bouncers.
Nathan scowled at Zane. “I had one beer, which she finished. I appreciate your commitment but get out of my damned way.”
He pulled her close, one hand on her lower back to press her against his body. “You wanted to dance. You wanted romance, so here we are.”
The music penetrated and the sexy slow beat of a Jason Aldean song washed over her. Her muscles relaxed and a gentle smile curved her lips. “I love this song.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and the tension she’d been holding drained away as she let the music and the magic of the evening carry her away. She could almost believe she was on a romantic date with a knight in shining armor, that they were a genuine couple exploring a future together. Only, the reality was that she was only here briefly and didn’t do relationships and Nathan wasn’t looking for one either. They were two people enjoying each other’s company for the short term. But swaying gently to the music in his arms, he could seduce her into believing it was something more, or at least the potential for something more. And a part of her wanted that.
The music segued to a Dierks Bentley song and Nathan rested his cheek on her head, his hands warm on her back. She closed her eyes and let herself go with the illusion because reality was a bitch right now and she needed a little magic in her life. Her mother had told her to seek her job, find her path, and maybe look for the magic in the world. She’d scoffed at the advice, not understanding what she’d meant, but, for the first time, she thought she got what her mother was trying to tell her.
It didn’t take much to lift her head and be a hairbreadths away from Nathan, his eyes dark and radiating a raw hunger barely banked, restrained only because of their being in public. As she slid against him, he made his feelings known against her lower stomach, the hard evidence of his arousal pressing against his jeans. She wanted to make a smart-ass comment, to defuse the situation, as she normally would have done, but the intensity in his gaze, the raw need she could feel from him, made her stop, especially since she had the same desperate need for him too.
She’d been keeping it at bay by staying busy, occupied with talking to other people, working, and focusing on her plans for leaving Granite Junction. But she couldn’t deny that the one thing she wanted more than anything else was to take Nathan Holt to bed and wake up in his arms the next morning, something she’d never done with anyone else.
Abby wasn’t inclined to long moments of introspection and debating over decisions. She’d already spent more time chewing on this than she’d like. So, she stretched up on her toes so her lips brushed Nathan’s ear.
“Rain check,” she whispered.
He stiffened in her arms and stared down at her, his arms locked around her like a steel trap. A muscle ticked in his jaw and she feared he’d crack a tooth. But deep inside the intensity was a hint of hope, of vulnerability, like he hadn’t expected her to say that.
He swallowed hard. “Are you sure? Colt is going to sing again.”
“I’ll download it.”
A slow, sexy grin crossed his face and he whirled, dragging her off the dance floor, past his startled sister and Gabe. He paused at their table to grab their jackets and her purse, throw down some money for the bill, and dragged her for the door where Zane blocked his way.
“Sheriff. You okay to drive?”
Abby giggled. Cockblocked by the bar owner. Leave it to Zane to remind the sheriff of the rules about drinking and driving. Though, she loved knowing she’d distracted him enough that he’d been about to force his way past the bouncers.
Nathan scowled at Zane. “I had one beer, which she finished. I appreciate your commitment but get out of my damned way.”
Ever since Megan Ryder discovered Jude Deveraux and Judith McNaught while sneaking around the “forbidden” romance section of the library one day after school, she has been voraciously devouring romance novels of all types. Now a romance author in her own right, Megan pens sexy contemporary novels all about family and hot lovin’ with the boy next door. She lives in Connecticut, spending her days as a technical writer and her spare time divided between her addiction to knitting and reading.
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