Ropin' Trouble (Cowboys of Nirvana Book 2) (21 page)

“I had to take care of business first. I’m sorry it took me so long. I had to give Chase enough time to find someone to take my place and I had to go home, to see my parents. I needed to make things right. Needed to tell them about you, about my happiness.” He reached out and cupped her cheek. “No matter where you go, how far you go, I’ll always be with you. That I promise.” He tugged her into his arms and kissed her.

“That’s good that you left Nirvana. A baby wouldn’t fit into that calm, serene lifestyle.”

His gaze narrowed. “A baby?” Then his brow shot up. “You’re having a baby?”

“I found out yesterday. It’s truly a miracle.” She could barely contain the shaking in her voice. “I thought I had the flu but no, I’m pregnant. The doctor took my blood and verified that it’s true. About six weeks. Aparently the first night we, uhh...”

He blinked. “But we used protection.”

She shrugged. “Apparently we’re the one-percent faulty statistic of condoms.”

“Are you happy?”

“More than words could ever describe.”

“Cara, I’m the happiest man alive. So now this time is only fitting.” He reached into his pocket and took out a small, velvet box. He opened it and the diamond sparkled in the light. “I’m probably not your dream man. I don’t have a lot of money. And right now, I’m unemployed. But I do have a lot of love for you and always will. If that’s enough, will you be my wife?”

“We’re going to have to work on your self-esteem, my love.” She looked up at the love of her life as everything came full circle. “And yes, a million times over. I will marry you.”

The End

From the author:

Thank you for reading. Please leave a revie
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Hugs,

Rhonda Lee Carver  “Writing Men Who Love to Get Their Hands Dirty…”

At an early age, Rhonda fell in love with romance novels, knowing one day she’d write her own love story. Life took a short detour, but when the story ideas were no longer contained, she decided to dive in and write. Her first plot was on a dirty napkin she found buried in her car. Eventually, she ran out of napkins. With baby on one hip and laptop on the other, she made a dream into reality—one word at a time.

Her specialty is men who love to get their hands dirty and women who are smart, strong and flawed. She loves writing about the everyday hero.

When Rhonda isn't crafting sizzling manuscripts, you will find her busy editing novels, blogging, juggling kids and animals (too many to name), dreaming of a beach house and keeping romance alive. Oh, and drinking lots of coffee to keep up with her hero and heroine.

I hope you’ve enjoyed
Cowboy Paradise (Cowboys of Nirvana)

For other titles by Rhonda Lee Carver, please visit:

www.rhondaleecarver.com

 Find me on Facebook, too!

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Other books by Rhonda Lee Carver

Diamond in a Rose

Double Dare

Delaney’s Sunrise

Second Chance Cowboy (Book 1, Second Chance Series)

Second Ride Cowboy (Book 2, Second Chance Series)

Second Round Cowboy (Book 3, Second Chance Series)

Second Dance Cowboy (Book 4, Second Chance Series)

Second Song Cowboy (Book 5, Second Chance Series)

Second Burn Cowboy (Book 6, Second Chance Series)

Second Hope Cowboy (Book 7, Second Chance Series)

Castle’s Fortress

Dreaming Ivy

Friends With Benefits

Sin With Cuffs

With Honor

Wicked Pleasures (Book 1, Wicked Wolves Series)

Wicked Lust (Book 2, Wicked Wolves Series)

Fighting Flames

UNDER PRESSURE (Book 1, Rhinestone Cowgirls)

PRESSURE RISING (Book 2, Rhinestone Cowgirls)

Under the Mistletoe

Have you read Pressure Rising? Here’s Chapter One…

Pearl couldn’t believe her ears!

“Let me get this straight.” She wrapped her arms over her waist and eyed Scrawny with a narrowed gaze. “You’re telling me you caught Pugly with Charmin?” She slammed the gate to the corral shut.

Scrawny bobbed his head and scratched his scraggly beard with his dirt-encrusted fingernails. “Yes, ma’am. They were doing the dirty, yes-siree, they were.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Icy fingers marched down her spine. She’d had enough!

“Who? Pugly?”

“No, that son-of-a-gun DJ Walters. How many times have I told him to keep that donkey off this property? I swear he does this on purpose.” She kicked up dirt with the toe of her boot. “I knew I’d only have trouble with that scoundrel. I’ve dealt with him for years and my patience has come to the very last thread! Just last week I was checking the mail and he drove his truck through a mud puddle, splashing me. Can you believe that? I bet if he was looking down the barrel of a shotgun he wouldn’t be so arrogant.”

Scrawny laughed but Pearl kept a straight face. This wasn’t a bit funny! His eyes widened and his jaw clicked. “You aren’t serious, are you, ma’am?”

“Very!” she snapped. “I should have done something about that man long before now.”

“Come on, Pearl. Don’t go high-tailin’ it over to Walter’s R&R and get yourself into trouble, ya hear?” His thin bottom lip trembled. As a ranch hand at the Rhinestone Ranch, Scrawny was always attempting to keep the peace with Pearl and her sisters. Pearl almost felt sorry for the older man because she knew they never made it easy for him.

But she couldn’t go on as things were.

She had every right to feel the wrath toward DJ Walters and was tired of his shenanigans!

Tightening her hands into fists, her nails dug into her palms. “Will you finish feeding Charmin for me, Scrawny? There’s something I have to do.”

“Rethink this, Pearl. Nothin’ is ever solved in anger.”

She ignored him, turned, and stomped toward the truck. She slipped behind the wheel and slammed the door so hard that the metal rattled. Turning the key, the engine roared alive and she cranked the window down. Sweat beaded on her upper lip and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” she yelled across the yard to Scrawny who was shaking his head.

She threw the gear into drive and sank her foot into the gas pedal. The large tires kicked up gravel and dust as she steered down the narrow lane causing several hands to look up in curiosity as she sped by them.

Satan DJ had falsely accused her of trying to run him over before, but he just might see how capable she was now. The man had no ethics and she understood just how far he’d go to send her blood pressure spiking.

Pearl reached the main road just as Em, the youngest Rhinestone sister, was pulling in. She stopped and waved.

“No time to talk, Em. I have something pressing to do.” Pearl wasn’t sure that Em heard her, but she couldn’t chance that her sister would convince her not to pay DJ a visit.

Turning right, Pearl drove to the lane on the neighboring property. She looked at the hanging metal sign, Walters’s R&R, and sighed. It was new, which meant DJ’s business was doing good. She guessed there was no chance he would take his R&R somewhere else—across the country preferably.

She cursed as she drove the bumpy, gravel road. Her teeth clanked and clattered, which made the ache at her temples turn to throbbing. She couldn’t believe with all the brawny Walters brothers, not one could fix the dang sink holes. Apparently, they couldn’t build a fence either to keep their damned donkey in. Her anger grew to massive proportions.

By the time she pulled up in front of the two story, white farmhouse she was still steaming. Her knuckles ached from holding the steering wheel for dear life.

She was going to teach DJ a lesson, once and for all! Every chance he got, he pushed Pearl to her limits and she was sick of his pestering ways. If he wanted her furious, then he would get just that—or more.

Grabbing the shotgun from the window rack and not thinking of the danger of carrying heat, she darted from the truck and stomped up the flower-lined sidewalk. She had an urge to kick one of the peonies from the dirt, but she had an appreciation for the neat and pretty landscaping of the property.

“I usually find a woman who carries a gun sexy as hell, but you just ruined that fantasy for me. What do I owe this displeasure, Pearl?”

At the sound of the thick Texas twang, Pearl stopped dead in her tracks and shot her chin upward. She came gaze-to-gaze with Satan—DJ to most folks. Her belly knotted and her knees quivered, but the anger remained burning hot. Her throat constricted. She swallowed hard and didn’t remove her gaze from his. The rocking chair creaked as he pushed himself to standing and walked across the porch, his boots pounding the wood.

From the short distance, Pearl could feel the penetrating heat from his hazel eyes that once made her think of tumbles in haystacks and long, scorching kisses. She lost her marbles one hot summer night behind a Rhinestone barn and blabbered her adolescent crush to him. She’d never told anyone about that evening, not even her sisters. Pearl was the only one who knew what happened that night—and of course DJ.

Why was he staring at her like he wanted a repeat? Never!

Why the hell had she been crushing on him anyway? Then again, what adult woman doesn’t feel a sense of regret over their first stupid crush, especially when the boy was an arrogant jerk?

She abhorred DJ.

Holding the cold metal of the shotgun in her hands, she removed her finger from the trigger and aimed it away from Satan who was now leaning casually against the porch rail, all six foot two, two hundred pounds of egotistical, self-righteous cowboy who sent her temperature rising—and not in a good way.

“Don’t act as if you have no clue why I’m here! Where is Pugly? I’m going to shoot that danged bastard once and for all!” Since shooting DJ wasn’t an option, she could shoot the donkey, or at least take away his ‘tools’ for impregnating her prized horse.

A proud smile spread over DJ’s tanned face making the brackets around his mouth deeper. “Why don’t you put that thing away before you shoot someone? I’ll get you a glass of water to cool you off.”

“Don’t bother!”

“A dip in the pond then?”

He was pushing her every button. “If you can’t keep your donkey in your own pasture then I’m going to take matters into my own hands,” she seethed.

“I’ve been thinking about this.” He hooked his thumb in his front pocket and shifted his work boots. “It seems all of the males here wander over onto Rhinestone to sample the greener grass. Foolish bastards we are.” His words dripped of latent meaning and she caught every implication like a slug into her stomach. She needed to keep her wits.

At times, she questioned whether she truly despised DJ, but the emotion that scorched her insides and made her dizzy told her it was a good possibility. He was a poison she couldn’t seem to medicate or extricate. After so many years she shouldn’t allow fury to consume her, but she had little control when it came to DJ. “Scrawny caught Pugly in the pen with Charmin, again. That makes the second time this month.”

A casual shrug of his shoulder sent an ache through her jaw. “I already heard. Scrawny was nice enough to bring my donkey home. He certainly has a thing for that horse of yours. And from what I hear, Charmin likes the attention.” He winked.

“How can you be so inconsiderate? Does it even occur to you that Charmin is a Thoroughbred, a perfect pairing of sire and dam? I have been preparing her since Thanksgiving to breed with a suitable stud, not with a donkey!”

“Ahh, but wouldn’t their mule be so precious?”

His sarcasm boiled her blood. “I’m beginning to believe you’re walking that ass over to the Rhinestone, opening the gate, and letting him in with Charmin.”