The Bull Rider Wears Pink Read online

  THE BULL RIDER WEARS PINK

  Jeanine McAdam

  Mainstream Romance

  Sweet Cravings Publishing

  www.sweetcravingspublishing.com

  ABOUT THE Ebook YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this ebook allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this ebook, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Secret Cravings Publishing ebook being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  A Sweet Cravings Publishing Book

  Mainstream Romance

  The Bull Rider Wears Pink

  Copyright © 2014 Jeanine McAdam

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63105-099-2

  First Ebook Publication: February 2014

  Cover design by Dawné Dominique

  Edited by Colleen McSpirit

  Proofread by Renee Waring

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2014 by Sweet Cravings Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Sweet Cravings Publishing

  www.sweetcravingspublishing.com

  Dedication

  For Desi

  The Cravings Ebook Club

  The Cravings Paranormal Ebook Club

  Have you heard about the newest idea in ebooks, the ebook club? Secret Cravings Publishing has two ebook clubs, The Cravings Ebook Club or the Cravings Paranormal Ebook Club, and we invite you to become a member.

  As a new member, you will receive Trouble With a Cowboy* by Sandy Sullivan and Forget Me Not** by Jaden Sinclair FREE, just for joining!

  You’ll also receive 4 BRAND-NEW EBOOKS, specially selected by our Editorial Director, every month in a variety of genres for a total price of only $9.99 for all 4. This comes out to barely $2.50 per book, much less than the retail price and you’ll be able to enjoy your books even before they are uploaded to the popular sales sites. One of several privileges of club membership.

  *Trouble With a Cowboy, a western, erotic romance:

  18 wheels had her heart until one hard-up cowboy found her kickin' up her heels and propositions her to take his bull to Vegas.

  Jacie Hawkins drives big wheelers for a livin'. Something not a lot of women do. Littleton Oklahoma is just a dry stopover for a few hours of rest and relaxation at the nearest bar. Jacie needs to find a hot cowboy to release some of her pent up frustrations on for the night, but wannabe's aren't her style.

  Tucker Marshall needs a big-rig driver to haul his prize bull to National Finals Rodeo and he needs one fast. Who would have thought he'd find one shootin' pool at the local bar dressed to kill and takin' numbers?

  Can some slashed tires and an ornery bull bring two hard-headed people together for some fun in the sun and a little more?

  **Blood Kisses (Nightwalkers 1), paranormal erotic romance:

  Ashleigh Brown, the author of the popular Nightwalkers series, lives a quiet life free of the limelight. She keeps her real identity secret by writing under the pen name, Victoria Allure. She soon finds herself in a bind when she's kidnapped by a group of handsome vampires seeking Victoria. She then agrees to meet their Master, who's a huge fan of her books. But instead of meeting him, she accidentally crosses paths with her rock star crush. He is the sexy muse behind Nightwalkers and the man she based the hero in the series upon. She would do anything to meet him but little does she know her crush has a secret...

  We will try to match your books to your preferences, however, if you’re a major paranormal fan, we suggest you join the Cravings Paranormal Club. Everything is the same except that three of your four books will be paranormal. The remaining book will be of a different genre.

  As a club member, you will also receive:

  · our monthly newsletter

  · sneak previews of new books

  · exclusive interviews with your favorite authors

  · special offers not available to the general public

  To join, visit the Secret Cravings Publishing website. At the bottom of the page you’ll see a button for the club. You can sign up there and share your preferences for genre, format and heat level with us. You will be charged, automatically, through PayPal, only $9.99 every month. Your books will be shipped within 1 day after PayPal payment has cleared. You may cancel at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” button located on the Cravings Club tab at the bottom of our website and keep the FREE BOOKS as our gift.

  We hope our Secret Cravings books will delight you each and every month.

  Best wishes,

  Beth Walker

  THE BULL RIDER WEARS PINK

  Jeanine McAdam

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  “No,” Cassidy Cooper's brother, Logan, said to her while shaking his stubborn head. He also had his unyielding hands on his inflexible hips, which just wasn't acceptable. The man, big brother or not, had no right to tell Cassidy what to do. She was twenty-seven years old and no longer the little girl who used to follow him around the barn yard.

  “I won't let you take Kevin,” Logan continued as he looked down at her. He stood at the end of the Cooper family kitchen table dressed in way too much plaid. And...why did he have to wear a trophy belt buckle that was almost the size of an actual bull to hold his pants up? Once Cassidy won hers she didn't plan on parading it around during breakfast.

  Cassidy glanced at her brother Caleb sitting at the other end of the table with his feet on a chair. Come to think of it, both her brothers wore too much plaid. Except a huge piece of brass at his waist was not Caleb's thing and he wore red plaid which was much hipper than the blues and greens Logan chose. Plus...Cassidy had always liked Caleb better, under that rough exterior her middle brother had been very kind to her when her life took a nose dive into a big, smelly compost pile.

  The nose dive being having a baby at fifteen years old, then by eighteen leaving Kevin behind at the ranch in the care of her brothers. The reason for abandoning her child—Cassidy was young, stupid and craving adventure. Big Timber, Montana was lacking in anything that offered a thrill and coming from a family of bull riders Cassidy needed some sort of rush in her life. She moved to Los Angeles to become an actress, the plan being for her son to follow once she got settled.

  “The kid's doing great here,” Logan continued pulling Cassidy's thoughts away from her selfish and terribly immature life decisions. He placed his hands on Rachel Fox's shoulders, the woman who had become his wife last fall. “He's not fighting in school anymore, getting Cs on his report card which is a huge improvement ove
r last year.” Logan leaned in and spoke out the side of his mouth, “And, he has an actual friend to hang out with. I didn't have to bribe the guy to spend a few hours with your kid.” Logan snorted a little.

  “Bribe?” Cassidy frowned. She hadn't realized Kevin's social life was so pathetic, yes she knew there were problems, but blackmail? After going through a bullying stage with him being the aggressor, Kevin found sci-fi and turned into a certified nerd. Logan was right, things were much better. Honestly, Cassidy never thought she'd see her son carrying around a laptop, typing nonstop and saying words like bazinga. She couldn’t completely relate to Kevin’s new persona, but she was really glad he wasn’t bashing in faces anymore.

  “Don't worry about the bribes,” Logan told her while Rachel nodded. “With the computer and Rachel showing him this show called Firefly. He sort of fits in because there's other kids carrying around laptops and talking like Mal and Wash.”

  “Firefly?” Cassidy looked to Caleb for an explanation.

  “It's a western with cowboys and crooks but it’s set in space,” Logan told all of them. Then he winked at Rachel. “Seems it has inspired the kid, he wants to tell stories.”

  Cassidy leaned back in her chair. It was great that Kevin had found an interest besides fighting, but she was a little jealous she hadn't been included. Yes, she'd been in and out of his life the last few years. Again, her need to pursue the thrill got in the way. Because after she realized she stunk at the theater arts, she joined the LAPD and then her life got even more complicated.

  Before Logan could tell her again how great Kevin was doing in Big Timber, Cassidy decided to lay out her plans. “I really appreciate all the care and love you've provided him,” she started. Then she looked around the room, nodding at Rachel, a half smile for Carrie, Caleb's neuroscientist wife, and a knuckle squeeze for Caleb. She had learned negotiation skills at the police academy, actually the cadets called the course bullshit 101, but Cassidy found it useful. “But it's time for me to take him and start building a—”

  “If you were telling me,” Logan interrupted, then he glanced at Rachel and she nodded, “that you were taking him to a permanent home with a mailbox, a microwave, and maybe even a white picket fence I would be more amenable to him leaving.” He glanced at Rachel again. She nodded again.

  Rather than criticize her new sister-in-law for her role as puppet master, Cassidy had to respect the naked protester from New York. No other woman had been able to get Logan Copper in line, not even their mother, Naomi. In a few short months Rachel had changed him from a loud mouth idiot into a thinking human being.

  Little Storm Cooper, named after the Cooper family patriarch, began to fuss. Rachel shifted her attention away from her husband and to the newborn baby in her arms. With a smile she pulled up her shirt. Nobody seemed to mind her bare breast as they watched the baby tug her nipple into his mouth.

  “He latch on?” Logan asked as he pulled a chair over and sat down next to his wife.

  “Yes,” Rachel said looking at the baby while her hair fell across her face.

  “That's my boy.” Logan pumped his fist in the air.

  Caleb muttered, “Jesus Christ Logan, breast feeding is not a competition.” His face contorted into a combination of intense worry and anger. Cassidy wanted to reach for Caleb's hand again but she didn't. She knew he wouldn’t accept the comfort.

  Little Storm, had been born big and healthy and was getting even plumper at his mother's breast. While Karis, Caleb's adopted baby, was struggling to gain weight. Maybe she was just born small or maybe she still wasn't latching on correctly after the cleft palate surgery. Every time Storm fed, Caleb got more frustrated and Carrie got paler.

  Ignoring his younger brother's worries, Logan scratched his chin as he returned his attention to Cassidy. “But you're talking about taking Kevin to the rodeo.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “That does not continue the stable, loving environment we've provided for him here.”

  Caleb had warned Cassidy about Logan's newly acquired ability to speak articulately. Caleb was pretty sure Rachel was the speech writer when it came to building an argument concerning family matters. Caleb also said it was funny when Logan ran out of Rachel generated thoughts and reverted back to his God given utterances.

  “I'd like to build a relationship with my son,” Cassidy explained. Yes, she'd been away for too long. “I want to be his mother,” she added, because it was now or never. Kevin was thirteen and would soon be looking to assert his independence.

  Cassidy glanced at her new sister-in-law. Rachel Fox was a worthy opponent. And Cassidy owed Rachel big for taking care of Kevin. However, she didn't like Rachel sticking her nose in Cassidy's business. It was time for both Rachel and Logan to realize she wanted to be a part of her son's life, making decisions about his wellbeing and sharing his triumphs and failures.

  “Why can't you do that here?” Logan asked. “Walk down to the stream with the kid, play a video game, even shovel cow shit. All those can be mother/son bonding experiences.” He glanced at his wife.

  “Watch Firefly,” Rachel suggested pushing the hair out of her face. “Kevin’s writing fan fiction for the show.” She smiled as she rubbed a knuckle down her baby's cheek. “Some of it is pretty good,” she added.

  Fan fiction, Cassidy had no idea what that was. “Staying here won't work,” she replied instead. She'd figure out what fan fiction was later. She'd never been a creative type so she didn't completely understand her son's need to write everything down. But at least he was out of trouble.

  “You have to stay,” Logan countered. He looked to Rachel, then he looked at the ceiling, followed by a glance at Caleb. “It, it'd be a hell of a lot better,” he finally said awkwardly. “Those goddamn cowboys at the rodeo will just screw him up again.”

  Caleb slipped Cassidy a cagey smile.

  “I want to take him,” Cassidy answered slowly, ignoring Caleb. She wasn't going to laugh at Logan with the man in the room. They could giggle behind the barn later, like they did when they were kids. “I feel it would be better developmentally for him to be at the rodeo with me.” Then she added. “I won't place him in any threatening situations or let him hang around with anyone who is unsafe.”

  No, Cassidy didn't think her life was in danger any longer since leaving Los Angles, but she did feel the need to keep moving. That urge may have been a result of her undercover work, or it may have been because of John Risk breaking her heart. Either way, the rodeo provided the perfect opportunity to forget her worries and enjoy a nomadic existence.

  Plus, she'd been a damn good bull rider at fifteen years old. Better than Logan and Caleb combined and she planned to pursue a dream she had been nursing for a very long time. The idea was to start with the women's competition and win. Then, the goal was to work her way into the men's rounds where the recognition and big money flowed.

  Not that she needed money. Five years of deep undercover work with the LAPD provided a very good severance package. Once she decided to settle, she'd have enough for a down payment on a house. And, her investments would yield a healthy dividend if the market kept going up like it was. Yes, no matter how degrading portraying John Risk's ‘old lady' in a drug dealing motorcycle gang was, it did secure a future for herself and Kevin.

  But she didn't share any of this with Logan. At this point, she'd continue to let him believe she was a recovering drug addict and occasional porn star. Yes, she didn't want her brother to think of her like that, but if she started explaining, there would be lots of it to do. Also, she was fearful of inadvertently mentioning another investigation and endangering an undercover cop currently working inside the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club.

  “It's not like,” Logan continued leaning back in his chair and wrapping his hands around his head, “you've been a great mother.”

  “Logan,” Rachel hissed.

  Caleb snorted and kicked Cassidy under the table. This was definitely the moment Logan went off script.

 
After taking a sip of his coffee, Logan continued slowly, “I meant to say, you abandoned him every chance you got and you haven't lived the most moral of lives either, and you—”

  “Logan, could you please say—” Rachel started but the baby squawked. Rachel returned her attention to little Storm who had lost his latch on her breast. Logan was on his own.

  “Moral?” Cassidy questioned. She knew she had an opening with Rachel preoccupied and she wasn't going to miss it. Logan Cooper, former womanizer of the west, had no right to call his younger sister out on morality. He was just as bad or maybe worst.

  On top of that, Cassidy's bad behavior was fake. A made up story so that she would appear badass to the Highwaymen. The goal was to get the members to feel comfortable around her and John Risk, then take them into their inner circle and finally confide in them about their drug dealing and gun running.

  Boy oh boy, did Cassidy ever go deep. She and John were so deep that there were days she thought she was Cherry Risk, junkie and not Cassidy Cooper. Yes, that reckless aspect of her personality was not a good quality to have with a young son waiting for her at home. At the time Cassidy was too focused on catching drug dealers, gun runners, and pimps to recognize that.

  “Before you met Rachel,” Cassidy argued, “you were fooling around with anything that walked on two legs.” Cassidy glanced at Rachel, she probably shouldn't have said that. A woman with a new born baby didn't need to hear about her husband’s inability to keep it in his pants. “He's stopped,” Cassidy added with her hands up while looking around. “When he met Rachel all those other women were forgotten,” she reassured everyone at the table. Carrie was appearing pale again.