Vicki Lewis Thompson - Cowboy After Dark

Dear Reader Dear Reader Dear Reader Title Page About the Author Dedication Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Epilogue Extract Copyright , Hey, it’s great to see you paying another visit to Thunder Mountain Ranch! I’ve had such fun with this summer’s trio of books and I can’t wait to hear how you like Hope and Liam’s story. In case you didn’t know, I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so come find me and let’s chat! Connecting with you is such a joy for me. Here’s another joy—telling you love stories featuring gorgeous cowboys! I’m sure Liam Magee will win your heart the way he won mine. He comes into Hope’s life at a critical time, and the silly girl doesn’t immediately recognize that he’s the answer to her prayers. He’d probably be the answer to a lot of our prayers, if you get my drift... Every once in a while an author is able to indulge herself with a story about the work she knows best—writing! Hope Caldwell is living my worst nightmare. She’s a blocked writer. Thank God for Liam, who rides to the rescue even if Hope thinks she doesn’t need rescuing. Enough of the buildup—turn to chapter one and dive in! Nothing like a hot cowboy on a warm summer’s night! Joyfully yours,

Title Page Cowboy After Dark Vicki Lewis Thompson www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author A passion for travel has taken New York Times bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON to Europe, Great Britain, the Greek isles, Australia and New Zealand. She’s visited most of North America and has her eye on South America’s rain forests. Africa, India and China beckon. But her first love is her home state of Arizona, with its deserts, mountains, sunsets and—last but not least—cowboys! The wide-open spaces and heroes on horseback influence everything she writes. Connect with her at vickilewisthompson.com , Facebook.com/vickilewisthompson and Twitter.com/vickilthompson .

Dedication To every writer who’s felt the pain of blocked creativity and has soldiered through it to give the world what she’s got. Bravo!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

1

LIAM MAGEE PULLED off the road, shoved back his hat and peered through the windshield of his truck. “That’s a helluva steep driveway, Grady.”

“Yeah.” His brother studied the incline. “You should probably come around again and make a run at it. I’m pretty sure if you hang a right at the corner, you can circle the block.”

“I know I can. I used to date a girl who lived on the next street over. Whenever we had a fight, I’d drive that loop more than a few times until I cooled down enough to apologize.” He looked at the slope and calculated how fast he’d have to be going when he started up. At least it was July. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would create a driveway like that in Sheridan, Wyoming, unless it doubled as a toboggan run. “You’d better check the hitch and make sure the tie-downs are tight.”

“Will do.” Grady hopped out and loped back to the flatbed they were towing.

Liam wasn’t going to say it and upset Grady, but they were courting disaster hauling the loaded flatbed up that hill. His big-hearted brother had made a spectacular wedding present for his foster brother Damon Harrison, and he was determined to deliver it when nobody was home. He wanted it to be a surprise.

Years ago, Damon had been a significant role model for Grady—likely still was, judging from this wedding gift. Damon had been one of the older guys at Thunder Mountain Ranch, formerly a home for foster boys and now a student academy for everything horse-related.

Located a few miles outside Sheridan, the ranch had once provided a temporary haven for Liam and Grady while their mom recovered from a bad car accident. Damon’s determination to become a master carpenter after high school had inspired Grady to learn a trade. He’d chosen welding, a skill that had landed him a job in Alaska working on a pipeline.

He’d come back to rejoin Liam in Cody a couple of years ago with a new dream. His recycled metal sculptures had taken the local art world by storm, and he was making money hand over fist. Liam couldn’t be prouder of his little brother.

Naturally Grady had wanted to create something special for Damon and his bride Philomena. He’d welded about five hundred pounds of scrap metal into a ten-foot sculpture. Although a gallery would charge thousands for the piece, discussing the market value of his work always made Grady laugh.

He created for the love of it. When the price of his sculptures had skyrocketed, he’d asked Liam to invest the money that kept pouring in because dealing with that aspect of success wasn’t his thing. Surprises were his thing, though, and he desperately wanted to surprise Damon and Phil.

Liam had asked some of his river-rafting coworkers to help load the gift onto the flatbed in Cody. The trailer had a tilting mechanism, so if Liam could get it up the hill, he and Grady should be able to install the sculpture somewhere in the yard. If the spot didn’t suit Damon and Philomena, Grady could enlist some of the guys from the wedding party to help move it.

Grady climbed back in the cab. “Everything looks good. I spotted an SUV and a truck parked up by the house, though. Are you sure nobody’s there?”

“Shouldn’t be. Damon told us to meet him at the ranch, and Phil’s supposed to be in town at her bachelorette shindig.” Liam felt a stab of guilt. He’d been afraid the happy couple wouldn’t welcome a gigantic wedding gift, so he’d secretly warned Damon that something big and metallic was coming his way. Turned out Phil was a huge Grady Magee fan, so Damon heartily approved of the gift.

Grady wouldn’t have wanted to alert Damon, but Liam was used to paving the way for his kid brother, a habit he wasn’t likely to break anytime soon. Damon wouldn’t be surprised, but Philomena would be, and that was the compromise Liam had made with his conscience. “The women probably carpooled into town for Philomena’s bachelorette party.”

“That makes sense. Okay, let’s do this thing.”

“Keep your eye on the trailer.”

“I will.” Grady focused on the side mirror as they went around the block. “So far, so good.”

“Yeah, but I’ll really punch it the minute I see that driveway. If anything looks wonky, yell out.”

“Don’t worry. I will.”

The driveway came into view. Liam stomped on the accelerator, and his F-350’s engine roared. He would make it up the hill, by God. Grady was counting on him.

* * *

HOPE CALDWELL HAD taken her glass of white wine out to the front porch swing. She was thrilled to have been invited to the wedding and to have been asked to house-sit while Phil and Damon honeymooned. It would be a fun little vacation, her first in more than a year.

She and Phil had been close in high school, but then they’d drifted apart, so reconnecting after all this time had been wonderful. She hoped Damon and Phil would spend the rest of their lives basking in wedded bliss in this adorable cabin Phil had remodeled.

In fact, the cabin had charmed the bachelorette party guests so much, they’d changed the plan. Instead of going into town, they’d made a wine run, ordered pizza, turned on some music and settled in right here. The added privacy and cozy ambiance seemed to suit everyone as wine and laughter flowed.