Vetting the Cowboy

By J.P. Bowie

When Mike Henry, the new veterinarian in town, meets cowboy Seth Archer, it could be good times ahead—but Mike's ex isn't about to let him go without a fight.

Seth Archer, working cowboy on a dude ranch in Northern California, is thrown for a loop when he meets Mike Henry, the new veterinarian in town. The five-foot-eight bespectacled Mike isn't Seth's type, but the blue eyes behind the glasses are something Seth can't seem to get past or forget.

Mike's on the run. Well, not exactly, but he left Seattle to get away from Victor Torrens, a dominating boyfriend who turned abusive when Mike told him he wouldn't be his submissive. Mike hasn't worked with horses before, but it's not long before his natural love of animals—and cowboys—makes him decide to call the small town of Denton home.

Seth and Mike bond, but their love affair might just be doomed before it truly begins when Victor sends Alex Brand, a celebrity bodyguard, to strongarm Mike back to Seattle.

In order to protect Seth and his new friends from Alex's big fists, Mike may be forced to make a decision he'll regret for the rest of his life.

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes involving an abusive ex. There are threats and memories of violence, car accidents involving death and a scene involving attempted abduction with violence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Dec 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781913186524

J.P. Bowie

J.P. Bowie: I was born and raised in Scotland. Moved to London and worked in several West End shows before immigrating to the United States. First port of call was Las Vegas where I worked backstage with the Siegfried and Roy Show at the Mirage Hotel as Head of Wardrobe for the legendary stars. Another move more recently took me and my husband Phil to San Diego where we intend to stay! Love sunny San Diego.

Book preview

Pride Publishing books by J.P. Bowie

Single Books

The Set Up

Ride ‘em Cowboy

Ride ‘em Again Cowboy

Personal Trainers

Halloween Angel

The Officer and the Gentleman

With a Little Help from My Friends

Blood Relations

Nowhere to Hide

Trip of a Lifetime

A Ghost Story

Happy Ending

A Highlander in LA

Journey to Hope

Paris Connection

All I’ll Ever Need

Every Breath I Take

Highland Hearts

Evan Sent

Fear and Loving in Las Vegas

Breaking the Habit

Fear of Flying

Love on the Rocks

Murder by Design

My Vampire and I

My Vampire and I

My Vampire Lover

Duet in Blood

Blood Resurrection

Bound in Blood

Blood Lure

Blood Lust

Blood Talisman

Blood Vigilance

The Journeyer

The Journey Begins

The New World

The Fight for Freedom

Into the West

Anthologies

Fabulous Brits: Under the Law

Naughty Nooners: Lunches in Laguna

Friction: Cruising

Saddle Up ‘N’ Ride: Ride ‘em Hard Cowboy

Promoted by the Billionaire: Fly to Him

Heatwave: Summer Bliss

Collections

Christmas Spirits: A Present Christmas

Homecoming: Blueprint for Love

Yule Be Mine: A Special Christmas

Immortal Love: Night Wing

Hot in the Saddle

VETTING THE COWBOY

J.P. BOWIE

Vetting the Cowboy

ISBN # 978-1-913186-52-4

©Copyright J.P. Bowie 2019

Cover Art by Erin Dameron-Hill ©Copyright December 2019

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2019 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Book one in the

Hot in the Saddle series

When Mike Henry, the new veterinarian in town, meets cowboy Seth Archer, it could be good times ahead—but Mike’s ex isn’t about to let him go without a fight.

Seth Archer, working cowboy on a dude ranch in Northern California, is thrown for a loop when he meets Mike Henry, the new veterinarian in town. The five-foot-eight bespectacled Mike isn’t Seth’s type, but the blue eyes behind the glasses are something Seth can’t seem to get past or forget.

Mike’s on the run. Well, not exactly, but he left Seattle to get away from Victor Torrens, a dominating boyfriend who turned abusive when Mike told him he wouldn’t be his submissive. Mike hasn’t worked with horses before, but it’s not long before his natural love of animals—and cowboys—makes him decide to call the small town of Denton home.

Seth and Mike bond, but their love affair might just be doomed before it truly begins when Victor sends Alex Brand, a celebrity bodyguard, to strongarm Mike back to Seattle.

In order to protect Seth and his new friends from Alex’s big fists, Mike may be forced to make a decision he’ll regret for the rest of his life.

Dedication

Once again, my thanks to all at Pride Publishing for their encouragement and support especially my superwoman editor Rebecca who makes my stories just that much better. Thanks to my readers who love a good cowboy tale and to my hubby, Phil, who’s still standing after all these years!

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Beauty and the Beast: Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

Bluetooth: Bluetooth Special Interest Group

Budweiser: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV

Joiners: Founders Brewing Company

Mustang: Ford Motor Company

Rogue: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Old Tawny: Founders Brewing Company

Range Rover: Tata Motors Limited

Camry: Toyota Motor Corporation

Chapter One

Parker Jones stared at the empty stalls in the stable with a look of disgust. Randy? You in here somewhere? Randy?

No reply came from anywhere in the large horse barn. Eight stalls stood empty, which was just as well—they were in dire need of mucking out. Horse manure and dirty straw had been trampled into the ground. Fortunately, the horses were either out in the pasture or being ridden by at least two new customers to Parker’s dude ranch, the Seven Plus Ranch.

What’s up, boss? It wasn’t Randy answering, but Bob, one of Parker’s older hands.

You seen Randy?

No, I haven’t. I thought maybe he’d called you, sayin’ he was sick or somethin’.

No, he didn’t, but I’ve been on the phone for the last coupla hours with the bank, so he maybe couldn’t get through. At least I hope that’s what it was. If he starts sneakin’ out on me again… Last week Randy had been a no-show two days running, and when Parker had asked him for an explanation, he’d become belligerent. He hadn’t gone so far as telling Parker it was none of his business, but Parker had guessed from his expression that it was foremost in his mind.

Trouble? Bob gave him a worried look. About the bank, I mean.

No, just some new stuff they want to throw my way. A lot of perks if I invest some more money. The usual.

Bob chuckled. I wouldn’t know about that.

Right…well, those stalls need mucking out pronto, before the stink becomes obnoxious. I know the customers expect a ranch to smell like horses, but not that much horseshit.

I’ll get one of the guys to help me.

No, I need them tending to the horses out on the pasture. I’ll give you a hand.

You, boss?

Yes, me boss. The day I think I’m too good to muck out a stall is the day I’ll call it quits. Now, let’s get on with it before they bring any of the horses back. There’s a good two or three hours of work here.

Parker had a feeling Randy was on his way out but didn’t have the guts to say so. He’d been surly the last couple of days and had shown up late without much of an apology. In Parker’s opinion, Randy had a bunch of anger issues and needed counseling. Parker considered himself a laidback kind of guy and didn’t ask his men to do anything he wouldn’t do himself, but he did require a certain amount of diligence, and he absolutely hated tardiness and no-shows.

Running a dude ranch hadn’t been Parker’s burning ambition. It had been Royce’s idea in the beginning, but his enthusiasm had won Parker over and, since they’d opened it six years ago, they’d had their share of success. Guys—and some women too—came from all over for a taste of the old west, chaperoned by Parker’s experienced cowboys, who made sure nobody did anything rash or hurt any of the horses. In the early days, there had been one or two incidents that had made Parker glad Royce had insisted on really good insurance. But Royce was an attorney and clever as all get-out, so Parker was in good hands there.

Really good hands, it so happened, and had been for the past ten years. Parker smiled to himself, recalling how much his life had changed since he and Royce had hooked up, moved in together and finally bought their own home and ranch. They’d had their ups and downs, just like most everyone, but they had figured out early on that the way to harmony was to talk out their differences of opinion before they became major problems.

His cell phone chiming in his jeans’ back pocket had him grinning. Bound to be Royce. It was that time of the day.

Hi, handsome.

You sound chipper, Royce teased.

Must be the sound of your voice. Right now I’m muckin’ out the stalls ’cause some lazy fucker didn’t show…again.

Would that lazy fucker be Randy?

Right first time. Parker sighed. Gotta feelin’ I’m gonna have to show him the gate.

Would that be so bad?

Not really, but I’ll have to find a replacement. This old back of mine isn’t taking kindly to physical labor, I don’t mind telling you.

Thirty-eight is not old, Parker. If you didn’t go around falling off horses all the time, your back would be just dandy.

All the time? I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve been thrown, and one of them was your fault.

Royce laughed. Oh, not that old story again.

Well, it’s true. You strutting around with your cute little ass in those tight, tight jeans and pretending to be so high and mighty put me in a mood, so I wasn’t paying attention to what I should’ve been doing!

Excuses, excuses. Anyway, how bad is your back? Can’t you get one of the guys to take over?

Bob’s helping, but I want to keep the other guys with the horses and there’s two customers getting riding lessons. We’re almost done anyway. I’ll have Bob hose down then we can get the clean straw laid.

Well, take it easy after. Remember, you still have your husbandly duties to take care of when I get home.

Parker groaned. Again?

Yes, again…and again.

You are insatiable, Parker said through his laughter.

And you are one lucky man. Okay, I’ll let you get back to your mucking.

Ciao, baby.

Ciao, daddy.

Parker was still grinning when he shut his phone off. That Royce? Bob asked.

Yessir. Checkin’ up on me, making sure I’m workin’ hard.

No doubt of that. Bob leaned on his rake for a moment. "For a man that owns and runs this place, never saw anyone