The Country Bees

By Ella B. Wilder

From the author of The Cowboy Billionaire and Beauty and the Beste comes a whole new adventure of love and cowboys... 


It's been a hard week for Jo Laguin. First she finds angst at the office and then heartbreak at home. 

And so, it's with a heavy heart that Jo flees the city and exchanges her days at the office for those spent outdoors. Only, a new job isn't the only thing the country has to offer this out of work artist... An introduction to the neighboring cowboy and wannabe beekeeper offers a whole new interesting twist to her impromptu western holiday. 

But will Jo try to resist the man's charms? Will she turn back? Or is a rough ride with a new fling just the cure this curvy girl's searching for? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ella B. Wilder
• Release date: Jul 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513086521

Ella B. Wilder

This one is a thirty-something lover of all things erotic and western. Do cowboys turn you on? Enjoy the thought of a muscled younger man with a deep tan and talented tongue? Eager for some gun-slinging action? Then pour yourself a whiskey, sit back, and enjoy some Wilder western stories! ... Although you might wanna close that door first...

Book preview

Ella B. Wilder

This complete novella includes all three parts of The Country Bees trilogy.

This book is entirely a work of fiction. All characters, companies, organizations, products, and events in this book, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead, events, companies, organizations or products is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 Ella B. Wilder

All rights reserved.

Except for use in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Published by Wylde Press.

CHAPTER I

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Just as everything in Jo Laguin’s life was aligning perfectly...

Mr. Palmino? Jo stuck her head into her boss’s office.

The lanky studio manager was nodding his head furiously against his flashy silver phone. He glanced over at Jo and hustled her in with his free hand like a frantic air traffic controller. She slipped past the door and slinked to the hard metal seat in front of his glass-topped desk desk.

Palmino shouted a few curt replies to whatever poor soul was on the other line before slamming down the receiver and focusing his cold hard stare at Jo. Ever since he had replaced Jo’s former boss six months ago, the entire art department at the advertising agency had shifted. There was no doubt that George Palmino knew how to get the job done. The higher ups loved him, while everyone under his direct supervision at best admired him and at worst, as more often was the case, feared him.

The tall Italian-born man always wore sharp suits and more than once Jo had caught herself raking her eyes over his handsome build, along with more than a few of the other office ladies, and men. Just because she was married, didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a good looking man, right? The problem was that Palmino tended to look at her like a roach in need of squashing.

You wanted to see me? She managed to squeak out. Rumors in the department was that the new director wanted to upgrade the unit. And by upgrades, the thought was slightly better pay in exchange for even longer hours.

I’ve been looking over your work. Palmino picked up a lone sheet of paper on his otherwise pristine desk. He held it spread between his two hands with the image, her image, facing Jo. It was a hand-drawn comic styled piece she had just submitted for their latest client, a popular eco-styled vacuum machine seller out of Portland. 

Jo nodded her head, Thanks, everyone in the department seemed to like-

The client didn’t like it. Palmino barked before she could finish her sentence.

The color drained from her face. She had gotten nothing but positive responses to that piece, a colorful and friendly handdrawn signature item for the growing company.

A cold silence had descended over the room and she stumbled to find the right words to warm up the featureless room. Well, perhaps it isn’t everyone’s style...

The problem is Mrs. Laguin, that your style is quickly becoming a non-style.

I’m sorry? She was at the top of her game. Had been hired by this company, Seattle’s most lucrative advertising agency, just over two years ago and it had been one of the greatest career moves of her life. But what exactly was the man insinuating now? A non-style? With all due respect sir, I’ve gotten a lot of positive reviews lately. The De’Gorgio group had nothing but accolades for tha-

In the past. Again, he cut her off. But I have a different future for this company. He put the paper down and slammed his hand over it, as if he were killing a pesky fly. We’re in the digital era now Mrs. Laguin, and despite my repeated requests for you to switch over to more computer-rendered imagery, you keep sending me these handdrawn images from a bygone era.

But that’s what I’m good at. She whispered in protest. Jo had been doing this type of work for ten years. Ten years. Her skill was legendary. She knew it. Her colleagues knew it. Her damn customers knew it. But Palmino?

Then you can find some other company to admire it. Palmino reached again for his phone. You’re fired.

Jo felt the air being compressed out of her lungs. Fired. Fired? You can’t fire me-

Palmino punched a new series of numbers into his phone. I just did. You can go now.

* * *

CHAPTER II

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At least it’s a beautiful day, Jo thought as she kicked her way through the shallow puddles of her Capitol Hill drive. The past couple weeks she had been working well into almost sunset and never seemed to have time to admire the most beautiful of seasons in her Seattle neighborhood.

The soft afternoon rain clouds had just cleared, and the fresh orange paint of her two story home shined against the bright blue sky in front of her. She clutched her paint-spattered portfolio case close to her side as she slowly ascended the stairs.

Jo was determined to make this ugly afternoon into a gorgeous one. She was just going to drop off her things and then take a walk down the hill and enjoy the early autumn afternoon amongst the Cal Anderson Park frolickers.

On the bright side of life, she still had a comfortable home to live in, a refrigerator packing a delicious half-eaten cheesecake, and a husband who could make everything better again. Yes, thank goodness for Mark. That is what husbands are equipped for, aren’t they after all? To kiss away the bad days, swaddle their love with assurances, and maybe even whip together a delicious cup of honey tea.

As she stood in the front hall, carefully unburdening herself of her jacket and shiny designer boots that she probably spent a bit too much money on, Jo heard Mark’s voice floating across the first floor. He must be on the phone selling some new fangled airline products to a favored client. She softly padded down the hallway towards the kitchen, not wanting to disturb him from the potentially lucrative call. Funny thing though. Her ears perked up as she approached the half-open door. She didn’t hear the normal words that peppered his business calls. Instead, she heard a word that sounded very much like ‘panties’.

Panties?

Jo pushed the door quietly open. The new brass hinges not making a peep as the kitchen opened to a very uncomforting sight. Mark was leaning oh so very casually against the granite kitchen counter, his cell phone pressed hard against his cheek with one hand while the other squeezed an orange a bit too meaningfully.

... the pink ones? You didn’t like those little black ones I gave you? Say that again? Oh... Mark chuckled as his grip almost destroyed the orange in his hands. What a naughty, naughty girl. You come over here right