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If you like possessive Marines, maybe you’ll like cocky cowboys who grin and swagger inHer Cocky Cowboys,book one in my Men of Montana series.
Her Cocky Cowboys Excerpt
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“Janessa, comeon,” my roommate, Becca, pleaded with me for at least the millionth time this week. “Please?”
I was already shaking my head. I knew what she was going to ask, and my answer still had to be the same as every other time she’d asked.
“You know I can’t,” I said. “And don’t act so sad. You and Daisy Lynn are going to be drunk the whole time. You guys won’t even know I’m not there.”
Becca made a noise like she might object, and Daisy Lynn snickered from across the room where she’d been pretending to study.
Neither girl denied my prediction, though.
I wasn’t dumb. Spring break in Cancun? Yeah, they were going to be lucky to have any sober memories at all from the moment their plane left Missoula.
And even though I was trying to put on a bored, tired-of-talking-about-it face, the truth was that I was more disappointed than they were that I wouldn’t be able to go. There was just no way my parents would go for that.
Like,noway.
It had been enough of a stretch for them to let me come live on campus at the University of Montana. I could recite their irritated—and increasingly desperate—excuses.
It’s too far away.
You’re too young.
What if we need you here at the ranch?
What ifyouneedusfor something?
And on, and on, andon…
It was only after my parents had sat down with Becca and Daisy Lynn, along with their respective parents—and cross-examined them like they were applying for a job at the White House rather than just sharing a dorm with me—that they finally agreed I could go for at least a year.
Now that my freshman year was nearly over—and without any major incidents at all, thank you very much—I hoped there wouldn’t be any fuss when I told them I was coming back in the fall.
That would be a problem for another day, though. Right now, I still had to convince my roommates that them going to Cancun without me was exactly what I wanted.
“I think you should call and ask them again,” Becca said. “It couldn’t hurt. Or maybe just ask your dad when your mom isn’t around?”
I laughed. “You must be joking. It’s like you’ve never met my parents. I’m surprised they haven’t already called today just to tell me no in advance. I’m pretty sure they have this room bugged.”
Daisy Lynn nodded. “I thought they were going to ask me for a blood sample and a pee test before they let me move in with you. And even after they said yes, I still felt like I’d just gotten in trouble for something.”
“Welcome to my life,” I groaned. “Now you see why I had to move three hours away for college. I love my parents, and I know they’re just trying to look out for me, but…” I shook my head. “I just couldn’t stay around there. I want to see some of the world before I get married and settle down on the ranch like everyone else in my family expects me to do.”
And granted, going to school in western Montana wasn’t exactly the same thing asseeing the world, but… baby steps. Today, Missoula. Next year? Maybe Cancun could at least be a discussion.
“I still think you should at least keep trying,” Becca said, flopping down on the edge of her small bed. “We still have a week until spring break. The plane ticket might be a little more expensive, and you’d have to room with us because I’m sure the hotel is all booked up by now, but…” She gave me a hopeful look. “You already know how much fun it would be if you came with us. Think of how many hot, single guys are going to be there. Think of the tans we’ll be able to get. The beach. The ocean.No snow. It will literally be paradise.”
“I know,” I said, frowning. “And you know how much I want to go. But seriously, my parents would kill me if I did something like that behind their backs. And they just… look, I know you think there’s still a chance, but once they’ve made up their minds about something, that’s it. That’s the end. And they’vereallymade their minds up about this.”
I huffed out a short breath and reached for my economics book, hoping that would be the end of the discussion. Not that I particularly felt like studying, especially on a Friday afternoon, but I was honestly tired of talking about Cancun.
Tired of hearing about how much fun it was going to be. Tired of hearing about how beautiful it was or how many hot guys would be there.
