Taming a Texas Rascal (Bad Boy Ranch #6) - Katie Lane Page 0,71
can watch their families grow until the day the Lord calls us home.” He spit a stream of tobacco to the ground. “Of course, that will be sooner for you than me, you old coot.”
“Like hell, you old fart.”
They looked at each other and grinned before they lifted their faces to the big star-filled Texas sky.
“Yee-haw!”
THE END
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Turn the page for a Sneak Peek of Katie Lane’s next Texas Bad Boy . . .
Special Sneak Peek
Finally Emma and Boone get their story!
Taming a Texas Tease
is out March 2021!
“Take me to the moon, Boone,” Emma yelled into the dark night.
Boone laughed and pushed her higher. “Only if I can come too, Emma Lou.”
She giggled at his familiar response—one he had given her since they’d been in kindergarten—and leaned back in the swing as sheer happiness consumed her. She didn’t want to be anywhere else on earth but right here in the middle of Simple Park . . . with Boone. He pushed her higher and higher until she felt like she could reach out and touch the moon.
“What will you do when you get there?” he asked as she swung back, so close she could feel his breath on her neck.
She didn’t even have to think before she answered. “I’ll open the first moon bookstore so no space traveler will ever have to go without a good book. What will you do first?”
“I’ll take a big bite out of the moon to see if it tastes like cheese pizza.”
She laughed. “You’re always thinking about food, Boone Murphy.”
There was a long a pause before he spoke. “Not always.”
She was about to ask him what else he thought about when the park sprinklers came on. The wind caught the high spray and swept it over to the playground. She released a shriek as the cold mist hit her bare legs.
Boone laughed. “Afraid of a little water, Em?”
“It’s cold.”
“And it’s hot.” He stopped swinging her. “Too hot.”
She glanced over her shoulder and saw him kicking off his flip-flops. “What are you doing?” She slowed the swing down with her feet. In the darkness, she saw his flash of teeth. Boone had the most contagious smile.
“I’m cooling off.” He pulled off his shirt, and her breath got stuck like a big wad of bubble gum in her chest. Since turning fifteen, Boone’s body seemed to be sprouting muscles daily. The more muscles he got, the more breathless she seemed to get whenever he took off his shirt.
Now, he didn’t just take off his shirt. He slipped off his shorts too. She hadn’t seen Boone in his underwear since they’d been in preschool. The saggy Spiderman underwear he’d worn then didn’t have the same affect on her as the navy blue boxer briefs did now.
Emma looked away and brought the swing to a complete stop. “Don’t you dare strip naked, Boone Murphy.”
“Why not? We used to run through the sprinklers nek-ked all the time.”
“When we were kids. We are not running through the sprinklers—nek-ked or otherwise—now.”
“You might not be, but I am.” Boone jogged toward the grassy area being watered by the rotating sprinklers. Luckily, he’d left his underwear on. Although the sight of his butt still made her feel a little woozy. He disappeared in the spray of water and hooted like he had when they’d run through the sprinklers in their front yards as kids. A few seconds later, he reappeared, looking like a happy drenched puppy. A muscular and hot drenched puppy.
“Come on, Em.” His grin was teasing and devilish. “I dare you.”
Dares from Boone had always been Emma’s kryptonite.
Since she wore a sports bra, she didn’t hesitate to strip off her t-shirt. She toed off her sneakers, but left her shorts on as she raced toward the sprinklers and Boone. She shrieked as the first spray hit her and ran faster to avoid the next one. Boone was right behind her, laughing and hooting. They ran all over the park until Emma got too close to a sprinkler head and got knocked to her fanny by the force of the spray. Boone ran over to help her to her feet. They were both thoroughly drenched and laughing hard . . . until they took note of each other’s bodies in the wet clothing.
Then they stopped laughing.
In the cool mist of the sprinklers on that hot September night, the friendship they had guarded so carefully over the years shifted. Like two magnets flipped to the right sides, they were drawn together and the physical attraction they had been trying to ignore could be ignored no more.
Boone lowered his head and Emma lifted hers. Right before their lips touched, he whispered.
“Em.”
Just one breathy syllable and she knew. She knew that things between them were about to change forever—that two best friends were about to become something more.
Much more.
What she didn’t know then was that more wasn’t always better.
(Taming a Texas Tease Excerpt by Katie Lane)
Also by Katie Lane
Be sure to check out all of Katie Lane’s novels!
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Bad Boy Ranch Series:
Taming a Texas Bad Boy
Taming a Texas Rebel
Taming a Texas Charmer
Taming a Texas Heartbreaker
Taming a Texas Devil
Taming a Texas Rascal
Taming a Texas Tease (March 2021)
Taming a Texas Christmas Cowboy (July 2021)
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Brides of Bliss Texas Series:
Spring Texas Bride
Summer Texas Bride
Autumn Texas Bride
Christmas Texas Bride
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Tender Heart Texas Series:
Falling for Tender Heart
Falling Head Over Boots
Falling for a Texas Hellion
Falling for a Cowboy’s Smile
Falling for a Christmas Cowboy
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Deep in the Heart of Texas Series:
Going Cowboy Crazy
Make Mine a Bad Boy
Catch Me a Cowboy
Trouble in Texas
Flirting with Texas
A Match Made in Texas
The Last Cowboy in Texas
My Big Fat Texas Wedding
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Overnight Billionaires Series:
A Billionaire Between the Sheets
A Billionaire After Dark
Waking up with a Billionaire
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Hunk for the Holidays Series:
Hunk for the Holidays
Ring in the Holidays
Unwrapped
About the Author
Katie Lane is a firm believer that love conquers all and laughter is the best medicine. Which is why you'll find plenty of humor and happily-ever-afters in her contemporary and western contemporary romance novels. A USA Today Bestselling Author, she has written numerous series, including Deep in the Heart of Texas, Hunk for the Holidays, Overnight Billionaires, Tender Heart Texas, The Brides of Bliss Texas, and Bad Boy Ranch. Katie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and when she's not writing, she enjoys reading, eating chocolate (dark, please), and snuggling with her high school sweetheart and Cairn Terrier, Roo.
For more on her writing life or just to chat,
check out Katie here:
Facebook www.facebook.com/katielaneauthor
Instagram www.instagram.com/katielanebooks.
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And for information on upcoming releases and great giveaways, be sure to sign up for her mailing list at www.katielanebooks.com!