Back in
the saddle again…
HIS LAST RODEO
Sierra Legacy #4
Claire McEwen
Releasing May 1, 2017
Harlequin Superromance
Tyler Ellis
catches Kit Hayes completely off guard when he swaggers back home and into the
bar she manages. Since high school, he's been a champion rodeo star…a notorious
playboy…and now, apparently, a bar owner. She accepts his offer of a hefty
bonus and helps him transform the place because she's desperate to escape their
tiny town in the Sierras. She doesn't expect him to work this hard beside her.
Where's the cocky cowboy he's supposed to be? Instead she discovers he's still
the sweet, genuine young man she once knew. And so much more…including a threat
to the adventurous life she craves.
EXCERPT
Kit
glanced at his towel in horror. “Use the lint-free kind.” She
handed him a towel from the stack on the shelf over the sink. “Jeez,
you are green, aren’t you?”
“Green
at this,” Tyler admitted. “But rumor has it I’m a pretty quick
study.”
“Well,
I guess we’ll find out if the rumors are true,” she teased. “It’s
your first Friday night, isn’t it?”
“It
sure is.” He tried to smile, but it felt a little weak. “I’m
looking forward to it. But I’ve got a few nerves.”
“You
should. You have no idea what you’re doing.” Her intoxicating
combination of sass and mischief had the glass slipping out of his
hand, so he had to hustle to catch it.
“Nice
reflexes,” she murmured. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
“If
you help me out tonight, there is. I can pour a pint—”
“Barely.”
“—and
measure out a shot. But if I get anything more complicated than that,
I’m toast.”
“You
don’t know your cocktails?”
“Don’t
drink ’em myself. I’ve been reading recipes, but I’m more of a
hands-on learner.” A nice way of saying that half the words he read
made no sense. He glanced hopefully in her direction. “I just need
a good teacher.”
“You
want me to train you? You won’t be embarrassed?”
“When
you rodeo, you learn by falling on your ass in front of hundreds of
people. This can’t be more humiliating than that.”
She
studied him from underneath her thick black lashes. “What’s in it
for me?”
“A
boss who’s not totally incompetent?”
Her
slow smile could melt metal. “But that could be kind of fun to
watch.”
“No
shit-show is fun to watch for long. Plus I saw you with those
customers. You pretend to be all tough, but you have a soft spot for
the lost and lonely. I’m part of that club right now.”
“You?”
She laughed, soft and bitter. He’d give a lot to know what put that
resentment in her soul. “Not the words I’d ever use to describe
someone like you.”
“Someone
like me will pay you a training stipend. A hundred extra bucks each
night.”
“Now
you’re trying to buy my help?” She scrubbed the pint glass in her
hand with extra vigor. “Not everything can be bought, you know.
Loyalty, for example.”
“I’m
not asking for your loyalty, though that would be nice,” Tyler
said. “I’m trying to treat you like a professional. You have
years of experience. I have none and I need to learn. So I pay you
extra to share your expertise with me. It’s only right.”
“Fine,”
she said quietly. “I’ll do it. But you have to be willing to move
fast and do what I say.”
“I’m
yours to command,” he said, liking the flush creeping up her cheeks
at the tiny innuendo.
“And I appreciate the help.”
She
grabbed a stack of dry glasses. “Well, let’s get going then. It’s
getting loud out there, which means it’s getting busy.”
They
rounded the corner and Tyler was amazed to see a crowd that stretched
almost to the door. A quick scan revealed a collection of some of the
most rugged-looking folks he’d ever seen in one place. Bikers in
leather, ranch hands in hats, jeans and bowlegs. Women in tight
T-shirts and big hair. Kit glanced over her shoulder. “Welcome to
the Dusty Saddle. Hope you’re ready to earn your spurs.”
Claire McEwen lives by the ocean in Northern California with her family and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. She loves writing stories where strong heroes and heroines take big, emotional journeys to find their happily-ever-afters. When not dreaming up new books, she can be found digging in her garden with a lot of enthusiasm but, unfortunately, no green thumb. She loves discovering flea-market treasures, walking on the beach, dancing, traveling and reading, of course!
