Tina Leonard - The Twins' Rodeo Rider

Chapter Three Contents Cover Introduction “If I kiss you, I probably won’t like it.” Suz winked. “And then what motivation do I have to win the race? I’d just toss you back into the pond for Daisy.” Cisco drew back, startled. “That wouldn’t be good.” Suz nodded. “It could be horrible. You could be a wet kisser. Eww.” “I really don’t think I am.” His ego took a small dent. “You could be a licky kisser.” “Pretty sure I’m just right, like Goldilock’s bed,” he said, his ego somewhere down around his boots and flailing like a leaf on the ground in the breeze. “I don’t know,” Suz said thoughtfully. “Friends don’t let friends kiss friends.” “I’m not that good of a friend.” “You really want a kiss, don’t you?” He perked up at these heartening words that seemed to portend a softening in her stance. “I sure do.” “Hope you get someone to kiss you one day, then. See you around, Cisco.” Title Page The Twins’ Rodeo Rider Tina Leonard www.millsandboon.co.uk About the Author TINA LEONARD is a USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of more than fifty projects, including several popular mini-series. Known for bad-boy heroes and smart, adventurous heroines, her books have made the USA TODAY , Waldenbooks, Ingram and Nielsen BookScan bestseller lists. Born on a military base, Tina lived in many states before eventually marrying the boy who did her crayon printing for her in the first grade. You can visit her at tinaleonard.com , and follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Dedication Many thanks to the many wonderful readers who so faithfully support my work. I appreciate you more than I can ever say! Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Epilogue Extract Copyright

Holding Suz Hawthorne, even in the cold, cold water of Bridesmaids Creek, was every bit as mind-bending as Cisco had imagined in his dreams, and then some. She was soft and cute and dainty, and there was a part of his body that stayed warm no matter what, just from the contact. He held her plank-style so she could rotate her arms, which she did in paddleboat-wheel fashion.

Staring at her butt in the wet suit wasn’t going to make the definitely warm area—a lesser gentleman might even term that area of his body as hard, but thanks to the wet suit it was a concealed difficulty—any less warm. She was like a slippery seal with curves, wriggling in his hands, but she was making a good-faith effort to learn what he was trying to teach. And she hadn’t complained about the water temperature once.

Which was the thing he’d always admired about Suz—she was tough. In a delicate sort of way. If she were a man, she would have been a great SEAL candidate.

“You’re doing fine. But that’s enough for today.” Cisco helped Suz from the water to the bank, ostensibly guiding her so she wouldn’t slip and fall back in, but really so he could keep his hands on her a little longer under the respectable guise of swim coach.

“So what do you think?” Suz faced him as she toweled off. It looked like she might want to shiver a little, but wasn’t going to give in to it.

Secretly, he was dismayed by the fact that Suz really couldn’t swim. “At this short-straw party that was held in my honor, did you happen to mention to anyone that you couldn’t swim very well?”

Suz shook out her hair. “No. I didn’t think I’d be short straw. I’ve always been pretty lucky.”

So she didn’t think swimming for him was necessarily a good thing. Cisco was about to move on to his next salient question, namely: Was there anything else she could think of to be done to avoid the Curse, as he now thought of Bridesmaids Creek’s very potent charms, when the nightmare of his nightmares roared up on her shiny motorcycle.

Daisy hopped off, shed her helmet and glared. “What’s going on?”

“Cisco’s giving me a swimming lesson.” Suz fluffed her hair, spraying a few final water droplets. “What’s going on with you?”

Daisy’s glare could have cut fog. “You’re cheating .”

This didn’t sound good. Cisco decided he’d best intervene, but before he could say anything, Daisy got back on her bike. “I’m filing a formal complaint with the Bridesmaids Creek committee. You know very well that you’re not supposed to be doing anything to influence the prize, Suz Hawthorne.”

Suz stiffened up like a fierce chicken. “How am I influencing the prize? Cisco’s giving me a lesson. There’s nothing else going on.”

Daisy’s gaze slid to him. “You’re not being impartial.”

“Guilty as charged.” There was no point in denying it. “Look, Daisy, I know there’s this enchantment, or airy-fairy nonsense, that appears to be pretty baked here in this town, but I don’t care how many curses you put on me, I’m just not going to be into you.” He swallowed, hating to hurt her feelings but realizing that bluntness was needed before the threat of committees got thrown around some more. He didn’t know what strength a BC committee had, but there was already enough bad blood in the town as it was. “I don’t care how many times you win me, I’m not the guy for you. I’m sorry.”

Daisy shook her head. “That’s the beauty of the charms here. Sometimes we don’t know what’s right under our noses.”

He looked over Suz’s seal-slick figure, eyeing her curves and her streaked hair. “I know what’s under my nose. I don’t need any race or contest or matchmaker to tell me.”

Daisy frowned. “I’m going to file a complaint. Once again, the Hawthornes have conspired to work things to their advantage. Suz, you’ve tampered with the race, and that’s just not done in BC. Our legends are sacrosanct.”

Suz shrugged. “File away. I don’t care. It was just a swimming lesson.”

“Just because you’ve always been the hometown princess doesn’t mean you can break the rules.” Daisy zoomed off.

“Hell, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we were bending any contest rules.” Cisco shook his head. “I don’t want to be the damn prize. I only swam the first race because her dad was putting up a huge purse, and my buddies and I decided to win it and give it to charity. And we looked forward to putting a major thumping on Daisy’s gang.” He shook his head. “Didn’t foresee Squint, of all people, cramping up and crab-crawling into last place.”

Suz walked to his truck. “So don’t be the prize, if it bugs you so much. It’s just a moneymaker for our town. People like to come out and see the event, the same folks who frequent our haunted house at the Hanging H. Families who like family events they can go to with their kids.”

“It’s a big deal, huh?” A little guilt seeped into him.

She shrugged and got into his truck. “I told you, it’s a fund-raiser, a community-building event, and we enjoy tooting our own horn here. With Robert Donovan trying to tear this town down, we encourage family-friendly events, hoping to tempt people to settle here.”

He started the truck, noting that the guilt was rising inside him. “But it’s so silly.”

She smiled, brushed her wet hair straight back from her forehead in a slick tail. He had an even better look at her face sans jewelry and hair, and realized Suz wasn’t just pretty, she had a fine-boned beauty to her that was stunning. “It seems silly to you. You’re not from here. I might think things in your town are silly, too. Or at least unusual.”

“Yeah. Probably.” He drove down the road toward the Hanging H to drop her back home. Then he’d trudge over to the bunkhouse, where his buddies would be waiting to rib him. “What would happen if I fell for someone else?” he asked, his voice deliberately casual, his heart banging like mad. “Even though Daisy won me—which is kind of a bogus win, because I was really swimming lights-out to win her dad’s dough to donate to charity, and to beat her gang, which was awesome—” he took a deep breath “—but I wasn’t trying to win her .”