Corralling the Cowboy: Covet the Cowboy, #1

By Katie O'Connor

City girl Alex wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary when she headed off to Buffalo Days with her friends. A bit of rodeo, a few rides on the midway, some corn dogs and maybe a couple of beers. She definitely wasn’t expecting to run smack dab into the sexiest hunk of cowboy she had ever laid eyes or hands on.

Joe came to Buffalo Days to support his ranch hands as they took part in the rodeo, and to watch the bulls he raised in the bull riding events. It was never his intention to spend time with a city girl like Alex. In spite of this, he was unable to stop himself from stepping into her path as an attempt to meet her.

Neither of them was expecting the blazing heat that rose between them, or the unbridled passion that burst into flame as the midway grew dark in late evening. There was definitely something between Alex and Joe, and they couldn’t help but explore each other as they tried to come to grips with it.

Would this cowboy catch a city girl? Would this city girl lasso herself a cowboy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katie O'Connor
• Release date: Mar 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9780988128101

Katie O'Connor

Best Selling author Katie O’Connor lives part time in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She married her high school sweetheart and is living her happily ever after. She is the mother of two grown daughters and is extremely proud of her five grandchildren. Katie’s career path has been long and twisted, with most of her life devoted to her family.  She’s been a waitress, chambermaid, cashier, store manager, as well as a lab and x-ray technician.  Katie trained in martial arts for a while and tried distance running.  She likes to shoot and for a few years performed in numerous staged gun battles with a theatrical group, Guns of the Golden West, at various venues including the Calgary Stampede.  Katie played box lacrosse for a while and even coached for a year.  The team she coached won the gold medal in Canada’s first ever Junior B Girl’s Box Lacrosse Championship. She is an avid quilter and for several years owned and operated a home-based quilting business and designed quilt patterns. Early in her writing career she wrote seven novels while raising twin girls. With family life taking up much her time, she put writing on hold until life calmed down. Now she spends her time reading and writing while splitting her time between Calgary and her bush retreat called Sanctuary. She reads many different genres and has started numerous books, many of which are ongoing, back burner projects.  Her favorite writing spot is on her land where she can listen the wind in the trees and be inspired by the deer that often wander by. She believes in all things magical including dragons, fairies, UFOs, ghosts, and house pixies.  But most of all she believes in love, romance and hope.

Book preview

DEDICATION

and

Acknowledgements

It takes a wild imagination to create a work of fiction, but no story is created without the help of many minds and a few talented hands. Special thanks go to Steena Holmes for her fabulous cover. She saw the images in my mind and made them real.

Kudos to my editors and critics: Phaedra, Deb, Wendy, Carrie, and Betty who gave me much needed feedback and thousands of corrections. Any mistakes left are mine alone.

To my husband for always being there for me,

for supporting me and for not divorcing me for yelling Can ya just shut up, I’m trying to write.

And to the boys of Prague whose macho games provided me a lot of insight into the twisted male persona. Boys, you amused me and you inspire.

Thank each and every one of you! Words alone will never be enough to express my gratitude! Hugs to you all!

Corralling the Cowboy

Joe watched her enter the beer garden and look around. She was different from the usual buckle bunny that crowded into the tent, drooling over all the wanna be cowboys. She had an air that set her apart; she seemed ... almost like she didn’t really want to be there. She moved with a purpose, definitely a woman on a mission. Joe took a moment to study her. Her full lips turned up just a bit at the corner. Her black cowboy hat tilted just a little to the left, almost hiding her eye. Her boots were black and brushed against her calves and for a moment he envied them. Those long, lean legs were made to wrap around a man’s waist and pull him closer. His eyes traced the sweet line of her legs from the top of her boots to the hem of her short, tight, black denim skirt. She pivoted from left to right as she strolled between the tables, looking for someone. Joe watched her progress, delighting in the brief glimpses of the curve of her ass as she danced her way through the crowd. Her long blonde hair swishing across her shoulders as she moved and he wanted to wrap his hands in it and pull her close. The need to get closer compelled him to move in her direction.

Alex paused just inside the door of the beer garden. Country music pounded loudly in her ears, the beat infectious, making her hips twitch and sway. Thankfully it was late and it wasn’t as crowded as it might have been earlier. With the late evening crowd thinning her search for her missing friend would be that much easier. Where the hell had Janine gotten to? She was supposed to give Alex a ride home. Pausing for a moment, Alex turned in a circle, studying the people filling the beer garden; across the tent she spotted some friends. Slowly making her way towards the small group, she kept her eyes open for Janine.

She greeted the group, pausing with her hand on Mick’s shoulder; she bent over to be heard over the