For Love's Sake Only

Dedication

For my Aunt Charlotte, who will die when she finds out I wrote this book with her in mind. Surprise, enjoy, don’t kill me.

Chapter One

“Damn, these people are crazy,” muttered Charlotte, looking from the bucking rider to the crowd roaring their approval. “This is insane.” A soft laugh escaped from TJ Maguire, her client from the rodeo company sponsoring the event. Charlotte could tell that the voluptuous redhead loved this sport just as much as the crazed fans hollering in the stands.

“You haven’t even seen the half of it,” TJ assured her with a smile.

And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. People were shouting, cheering, and drinking more here than at any college football game she’d ever gone to. All over some fool holding on for dear life to a horse that didn’t want him on his back. If this was what this town did for fun, they could count her out.

“I can’t believe how crazy people are about this.” Crazy seemed like the right word, too. To Charlotte, it seemed a bit cruel and inhumane, yet the stands were filled with people who paid twenty-five dollars each to watch some man risk his neck for a stupid gold belt.

She didn’t know who she felt more sorry for -- herself for having to be there, the rider getting jerked all over the place, or the animals being ridden for the crowd’s amusement. It was all a bit too much for Charlotte, a Los Angeles native.

2 Lena Matthews

Looking back at the field, Charlotte let out a loud sigh of relief as the rider was tossed down to the ground. The people filling the arena jumped to their feet, roaring their approval, as she sat still, praying for divine intervention. The ride had taken less than seven seconds, but to her it felt like a lifetime. And to think she thought hockey was a rough sport. “I’m going to grab something to drink,” she shouted to TJ, who was on her feet with the crowd.

Sure that she wouldn’t be missed, Charlotte scooted her way out of the stands and down the steep steps. She couldn’t believe Nathan, her boss and friend, was considering giving up Los Angeles -- the Mecca of the business world, in her humble opinion -- for this place. As much as Charlotte adored him and enjoyed working for him, she really was beginning to question his judgment.

And he was giving it all up for a woman -- his entire life! For a woman who dressed up like a clown and willingly jumped in front of a bull. Something just wasn’t right about that.

Walking around the stadium, Charlotte people-watched, observing the many different faces of people who loved rodeos. Her job required that she figure out how to draw in more people, but her brain didn’t get the appeal to begin with. It wasn’t like it catered to only the Caucasian population. There were Hispanics, Asians, and even a few African Americans wandering the grounds. More people were into rodeo than she would have ever imagined, and that straight baffled the hell out of her.

When she walked as far as she could and the noisy crowd finally dissipated, Charlotte found herself a bit lost. Wandering around, she headed down a corridor and followed the bright light looming up ahead, like the North Star in the dead of night. Hurrying her steps, she turned a corner and came to a dead stop in front of a wall of muscles, covered in plaid.

“Sorry, miss. I’m afraid you can’t go back there,” a firm voice stated, pulling her out of her silent reverie.

Spurs & Mistletoe: For Love’s Sake Only

3

Startled, Charlotte glanced around, trying to get her bearings. Go back there? Hell, she didn’t know where there was. Looking around the large beast of a man, Charlotte’s eyes ran across wooden fences filled with animals calmly grazing in the sun.

“Ma’am.” A giant of a man, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt with the sleeves cut off, stood in front of the gate, staring down at her, with his massive arms crossed over his enormous chest. “You have to leave.”

Well, that was beyond obvious. The last place she wanted to be was where they kept the smelly animals. Give her a dark alley filled with bums any day. “I’m sorry, I was only ...”

“Only owners and riders allowed back here,” he interrupted, frowning down at her as if he was guarding the Holy Grail instead of livestock.

“That’s fine, if you could just tell me ...”

“Look, lady ...”

Lady! For some reason, Charlotte seriously doubted he meant “lady” in a good way. “If you would stop interrupting me, this would go a lot faster.” The rhinestone-cowboy-in-training looked startled at her angry words. It was a look Charlotte was accustomed to seeing on a man’s face, especially on the face of a man who thought he could walk over her because she was petite. “Where is the ...” A loud whinnying drew her attention, as she darted around the hardheaded cowboy to get a better look. Something was wrong. Ignoring the menacing glare aimed at her, Charlotte side-stepped around the human barrier, but before she could get a step closer to the sound, beefy arms reached out and grabbed her, picking her up in the air.

“No reporters.”

No, he didn’t just grab her like that. “Put me down, you ass.”

“Gladly,” was the only warning she received before she was released as quickly as she’d been grabbed, and dropped onto the dusty ground. “No reporters.” 4 Lena Matthews

Charlotte was able to keep herself from falling to the ground -- but just barely. Never in her life had she been grabbed like that, and he wasn’t going to live much longer to brag about it. “Why? You got something to hide?”

“A body in a few minutes,” he growled, stepping closer to her.

Eyes widening, Charlotte took his words for the threat he intended, but instead of running as he might have hoped, she stepped closer. Charlotte had never given into bullies, whether they were the corporate kind or the cowboy kind. Dicks came in every color, shape, and size, literally and figuratively, and she was more than able to handle them. “You are so dead, rump ranger.”

“What is going on here?” bellowed a voice from behind her. Turning with every intention of blasting the new intruder, Charlotte was cut short by the size of the man. If she thought Tiny here was huge, then this man had to be enormous. He towered over her five-four frame by yards, and looked like the very definition of a cowboy.

He wore a t-shirt that seemed as if it was stretched beyond belief across his massive chest, and his long, lean legs were covered in denim. A cowboy hat adorned his head, worn low over his brow, with dark brown hair trickling down his tanned neck. He looked like the Marlboro man on steroids.

“We got a reporter trying to sneak back in the corrals,” Dick Number One answered, staring at her.

“Reporters are allowed back here only after the tournament.”

“Well, that’s nice to know.” Narrowing her eyes, Charlotte faced the larger man head on. Maybe he was able to understand English. “But since I’m not a reporter, it doesn’t exactly pertain to me, now does it?”

“Sure you’re not,” her nemesis muttered behind her.

Spurs & Mistletoe: For Love’s Sake Only

5

Charlotte twisted around quickly and shoved her finger in his face. “Listen carefully, cattle boy. I am not a reporter. NOT A REPORTER.” The blank look on his face only further inflamed her. “Am I talking too fast for you?”