Bad In Boots: Colt's Choice
COLT’S CHOICE
An Ellora’s Cave Publication, October 2004
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
Stow
,
ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-4199-0052-2
Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):
Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML
COLT’S CHOICE © 2004 PATRICE MICHELLE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Edited by
Martha Punches.
Cover art by
Syneca
.
Warning:
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers.
Colt’s Choice
has been rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.
X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
Bad In Boots:
Colt’s Choice
Patrice Michelle
DEDICATION:
To Martha Punches...my calm editor with a keen eye. Thank you for always letting me keep my voice while making sure I write the best story I can.
Chapter One
“Whoo-hoo! Ride ‘em, cowboy!”
Colt turned in his chair at the very feminine voice.
Wonder if her body matches that sexy voice?
he thought as he bent the blinds to peer out the window. She stood on the bottom board of the fence and leaned over the top rail to cheer his brother on. The position caused her faded jeans to fit her rear end perfectly, displaying all her feminine curves. His gaze traveled up her body to the glossy, jet-black hair that swung against her fitted pink, spaghetti-strap tank top as she watched Mace ride their newest bronco. She had to be Mace’s bunny of the week. He always had one or two going at a time.
“Damn,” he muttered to himself as he shoved away from the desk, grabbed his hat and headed outside. “Mason!” Colt called out. His brother landed in the dirt and quickly rolled away from the bucking horse’s hooves while Sam, his best wrangler, grabbed hold of the horse’s reins and pulled the stallion back to the stables.
“It’s one thing to break in a horse when needed, but what have I told you about riding the broncs just for kicks?” He directed his anger at his brother while he walked up to the fence. “If Cade wants to risk his neck riding in the rodeos, so be it, but I need at least one brother to keep a head on his shoulders in order to help me run this place.”
Colt didn’t give a shit if he came off sounding like a dad, for the truth was, that’s how he felt about his brothers. At thirty-five, he was older than Cade by five years and Mace by seven. So what if Mace was a grown man? Old habits died hard. He felt a certain responsibility toward them since he’d taken on raising his younger brothers at the age of twenty when his father passed away. He didn’t count on, nor did he ask his mother for help since she’d seen fit to desert them when he was only sixteen.
Colt’s brother picked up his hat, dusted himself off and casually headed toward him. Mace flashed him a quick smile before he settled his hat on his head and turned his green eyes to the lady standing next to him. “Nothin’ I like better than an audience,” he said, while his appreciative gaze roamed over her form.
Colt focused his attention on the woman, now that he had a full view of her face. She couldn’t be more than a year or two older than Mace. Lust slammed him hard in the gut as he took in her exquisite features. For once in his life he experienced outright jealousy for something Mace possessed. And it was all wrapped up in a five-foot six-inch, nicely shaped package of sultry green eyes, rosy cheeks, pouty lips and soft, sun-kissed skin. He smiled and the woman returned his smile as she put her hand over the fence toward Mace.
“Nice to meet you,” she said as she turned to face his brother, “Mason.”
Mace, never one to pass up an opportunity, clasped her hand in his and instead of shaking it, leaned over and kissed her fingers as he touched the brim of his hat. “Actually, I go by Mace.” He grinned. “Pleasure’s all mine, Miss…?” He paused, his eyes carrying a hopeful look.
She gave a throaty laugh at his obvious attempt to find out if she was single. “
Miss
Elise Hamilton.”
Colt stiffened at the woman’s name. His brother cut his gaze over to him before he straightened and released her hand. “Good to meet you, Elise.” He smiled and winked at her. “I’m sure you and my brother have a lot to talk about, so it’s off to work for me.” He gave Colt a quick salute and headed for the stables.
He put out his hand. “Colt Tanner.” He knew his tone was brusque, but the woman showing up in
“Nice to meet you, Colt,” she said as she put her small hand in his larger one and gave him a firm handshake before she released his hand.
He never expected for her to come to
Five years ago, his uncle had married and since then had left the running of the Lonestar completely to Colt, which suited him just fine. But instead of keeping his end of the agreement, upon his death, his uncle willed his half of the Lonestar to his wife, Marie, “to do with as she saw fit”. Marie, Lord love her, decided to give her half of the Lonestar ownership to her niece, Elise Hamilton.
Colt didn’t hold anything against Marie. He just wanted the ranch. The sooner the better. He’d hoped the knowledge that his uncle hadn’t left him the ranch had stayed within the family. If Riley learned the news, the man would definitely up the ante on Colt’s ability to buy his land back. What a freakin’ mess that would be, having his neighbor finally get his hands on part of the land he’d always felt was rightfully his.
Throughout the years, Riley had often times tried to pit his father and uncle against each other. But blood meant a lot in
Once Colt learned the contents of his uncle’s will, he’d immediately sought backers to put together a fair offer to Miss Hamilton. Seeking financial help stretched him thin, but would be worth it if he could own the ranch outright. Owning one hundred percent of the property would go a long way in locking his hold on the Lonestar ranch and surrounding land.
Colt had his attorney draft papers for Ms. Hamilton to sign, selling her half of the ranch to him and he’d overnighted the package to her. He’d never expected her to show up here. She was from
Northern Virginia
—an elitist society type, from money,
old
money. He looked down at her boots. Yep, new as a baby colt and just as shiny. Why was she here?
The memory of the way her soft hand felt against his a minute ago, a hand that had apparently never known a day of hard work, both aroused and irritated the shit out of him.
“You didn’t have to come all the way to
She gave a melodious laugh and looked him straight in the eyes. Her chin jutted up just a little higher as she said, “You’re right, it would be ridiculous for me to come all the way to
* * * * *
Elise chuckled inwardly. Her new partner couldn’t have been more floored by her statement if she had hit him upside the head with a two-by-four. She knew by the gimme-a-fuckin’-break expression on Colt’s face that he didn’t think she knew her way around a horse, let alone a ranch. She’d been on a ranch before, but one thing was true—she knew absolutely nothing about rodeos. That was why she came here. She wanted to learn. She needed to learn. Coming to
Boone
,
She’d noticed the heated look in his steel blue eyes before he knew who she was. He was attracted to her and, heaven help her, the feeling was definitely mutual. Her gaze traveled up his six-foot two-inch frame as she took in the scuffed leather boots, the soft worn blue jeans, and
oh my
, the thick bulge at his crotch.
As much as she wanted to linger on that spot, she shifted her gaze upward. His white western shirt, a stark contrast to his tanned skin, fit his muscular upper body only too well. Dark hair peeked out from underneath the black Stetson perched on his head. What would it feel like to run her fingers through that hair? Was it wavy or straight?
She looked at his face once more. With a square jaw and late afternoon stubble already showing, his features were more rugged than chiseled, but in her mind those rugged edges made him even sexier. The sensual combination of a thin upper lip with a fuller bottom one caused her stomach to drop to her knees.
Unfortunately, right now that mouth had compressed into a thin line and his left jaw muscle jumped with what seemed to be suppressed anger. She wondered if his jaw always did that when he was angry. When her gaze finally settled on his, the deep blue pools, fringed with thick dark lashes, stared back at her, narrowed in obvious irritation.
Elise moved around him and started toward the stables. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a winning smile. “Come on, Cowboy, show me around the ranch.”
As she entered the stables and the fresh smells of leather, hay, dirt, horseflesh and open outdoors assailed her senses, Elise knew she’d made the right decision to come to
So she quit her job—to her father’s delight—and then booked a flight to Texas—to her father’s outrage—telling her parents she’d be in Texas for the rest of the summer. Her father was livid. Like that was new. He’d always expected her to come to work for Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
She’d shipped some of her things and driven to