Wednesday, July 19, 2017

MidWeek Tease - Ride Your Luck


July 19, 2017
**Updated 4/2/21 - the MidWeek Tease blog hop is closed.**

Before we launch into today's MidWeek Tease, I need to take a moment and say "Happy Birthday" to my wonderful partner of twenty-three years. He's a two-time cancer survivor so we don't take birthdays for granted. You're still the one, hon.


The MidWeek Tease is a blog hop where you can find excerpts from the works of your favorite authors and be introduced to new authors. Please visit participating blogs by using the Linky List at the end of this post.

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EXCERPT

I found him, riding bareback on Argo, at the top of the canyon path. Wilting with relief had a lot of appeal but I refrained. The better move was to glare at him, so I did.

“Damn it, Wythe! You scared me to death sending Ben back alone.”

He patted Argo’s neck. “I didn’t send the motherfucker anywhere. I unhobbled him and for whatever the fuck horse reason, Argo nipped his ass. Ben lit out like the hounds of hell were after him.”

I took off my hat and wiped my sweaty forehead with my sleeve. Thank God he was okay.

“So what’s the plan? Ride Argo back to the barn and get him in a stall?”

Wythe tilted his hat to block the sun from his eyes. “I would’ve but since you’re here I’d rather ride back with you.”

“What makes you think I’m offering to share anything with you, including a ride on my horse?”

“Technically, he’s my horse, but okay. So I was pissy. Okay, so I blew what should have been a really good day with you. Bite me.”

I’d like to bite him—right after I gave him the spanking of his life.

“Don’t tempt me or I’ll show you what kind of a dog I really am.”

We stared at each other, neither of us blinking, for many long seconds. Wythe looked away, so I moved the conversation back to Argo.

“So you’re just going to let Argo go again? You’re risking a lot, you know.”

“I know, but his blood will boost the wild herd some. He’s already covered six of the wild mares.”

Not everyone would agree that was a good plan. Some might say it would dilute Mustang blood, but I didn’t know how pure the wild herd on Bar RC land was and Wythe likely did. I tapped my boot to Shorty to get him to move sideways.

“If that’s the plan, swing on over here.” I held out my arm as he moved to hop over, but it didn’t work. Argo either took exception to the maneuver or seized the opening to show his rider who was the boss because Wythe landed on his ass. I looked down and laughed.

“Any more good ideas?” I slipped my foot out of the stirrup so he could use it.

Wythe got to his feet, dusting off his butt. “Nope. The nag bested me again. Go!”

He smacked Argo’s rump, and the stallion trotted back to the canyon trail and disappeared over the rim. Wythe planted his foot in the stirrup, grabbed the hand I offered, and swung up behind me. Shorty took a little hop, then stood still. I straightened as Wythe wrapped an arm around my waist. I patted his hand.

“So does this mean you’re over your snit?”

“Nope. It means I don’t want to hit the ground again.”

“Shorty and I make no promises.” I turned the horse and eased my grip on the reins. Shorty would head for the barn and his food trough without any urging from me. 


Hell, I didn’t want to make him move any faster, not with Wythe all warm and relaxed against my back. Little prickling waves of awareness washed over me every time he made the slightest move. How I kept from squirming in the saddle was a mystery. 


"For a cowboy, you sure smell good.”


I resisted the urge to turn around to look at him. “If you weren’t sniffing the back of my neck, you wouldn’t know that.”


Wythe wrapped his other arm around my waist. 

I snorted at him. “If I say the w-h-o-a word, your balls are going to take a hit on the saddle.”

He reached down and cupped mine. Well, sorta cupped. He couldn’t really get to them, the way I sat in the saddle. 

I moved his hand. “Now’s not the time to go copping a feel. You had your chance earlier.”

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ABOUT RIDE YOUR LUCK 



Regan Oakley’s luck ran out. After a stint in rehab, he’s putting his life back together without the booze. What he thinks is an old friend’s charity is really a plea for help. There’s trouble at the Bar RC Ranch and the friend’s son is in the middle of it. Regan takes one look at Wythe Carver and knows that young man isn’t the only one with his world turned upside down.

Wythe Carver’s life took a strange turn. Suspected of murdering the ranch foreman, he’s hanging on, one day at a time. The person who could alibi him has disappeared and Wythe can’t find him. To make matters worse, his prize stallion is loose on the range. Complicating his life even more, his father called an old friend to come help out at the ranch. One look at Regan Oakley is all Wythe needs to know it’s going to get hot at night. 

Regan sets out to find the truth of what happened that night at the Bar RC. He’s sure Wythe is innocent, and he’s just as sure he has no business getting involved with the boss’s son. With no solid proof to clear Wythe, Regan needs to ride his luck to get to the truth and keep Wythe by his side. 



(Obviously, Blogger had some fun refusing to allow me to fix the formatting issues this week. It's an imperfect world.)






6 comments:

Elodie Parkes said...

Lovely teaser :-)

Christiane France - Author said...

Another great tease!

Angelica Dawson said...

Gotta love horses. Great tease.

Unknown said...

I love a good cowboy romance! Great tease!

Lucy Felthouse said...

Great tease, and a belated happy birthday to your survivor!

KC Kendricks said...

Thank you all for stopping by Between the Keys! Himself had a pretty good birthday, although he still hasn't decided what he wants for a gift. We don't do surprise gifts so he needs to make up his mind :)