Rough Stock
- Author: Cat Johnson
- Publisher: Linden Bay Romance
- Year: 2008, November 25
- Genre: Western
- Setting:
- Series: None
- Amazon Listing: Rough Stock
- Available Formats (As of 09/21/09):
- Ebook (ISBN-13: 978-1-60504-752-2) (Revised and expanded from its original release)
- Ebook (ISBN-13: 978-1-60202-159-4) (Original Release)
- Kindle (ASIN: B002NOGE0Q) (Revised and expanded from its original release)
- Trade Paperback (ISBN-10: 1602021589) (Original Release)
Contents
Book Description
Blurb
The heart wants what it wants…
Bronc riders Mason and Clay have shared both good times and bad as best friends, but they never expected to share their boss’s daughter, April. Can two friends love one woman, body and soul, without it destroying them?
The heart wants what it wants. For April that means not choosing between the two cowboys she loves, no matter how wrong it may seem inviting them both into her bed.
Life sends the three lovers in opposite directions, but a devastating injury brings them all together again. Their relationship now is no less bittersweet—or complicated—than before. Once severed, old ties leave scars that are tough to heal…
This book has been previously published and has been revised and expanded from its original release.
Warning: When you choose a man who thinks 8 seconds is a long time, perhaps you need two of them. In other words: Watch out, this book contains hot ménage sex with two cowboys and the woman they love.
Excerpt
“You sure you’re ready for this, Clay?”
“Yes.” Clay flipped the sheet and blanket back.
Clay may be ready, but Mason wasn’t. “But you only woke up like twenty-four hours ago. Don’t you want to rest some more?”
“I slept all damn day. The doc said things looked good. My parents finally went back to the hotel for the night. We’re doing this now, Mason.”
Mason sighed. He knew Clay when he was determined. He would do this with or without help. Not knowing whether he was being a good friend or an idiot who was helping him do more damage to himself, Mason let Clay wrap one arm around his neck while he supported Clay’s weight with an arm on his waist. The fact Clay had the power to swing his legs over the edge of the bed was encouraging. If he were paralyzed, or if there was spinal cord damage, that would have been impossible. Right? Although, what the hell did he know, he was no doctor.
“Clay, are you sure you want to try this?”
“Mason. Shut up and start walking.” A bead of sweat glistened on Clay’s brow.
“You’re in pain. I can tell.”
“You're gonna be in pain if you don’t get me across this room.”
With a groan of frustration, Mason took one step forward and watched as Clay’s foot moved to follow. Clay’s weight shifted to the front foot and Mason decided that constituted one full step.
“See, that’s great. You took a step. Now let’s get you back to bed.”
Clay ignored him and took another step, then another, before he reached out and grabbed the end of the bed frame, rattling the metal as he leaned on it heavily. Mason stood behind him, braced and ready to catch him if he fell. But he didn’t. His face was bright red, his jaw set firm, but Clay stood under his own power.
Letting out a shaky laugh, he turned his head to look at Mason. “All right. It’s not so bad. You can get me back to bed now.”
Releasing a huge breath of relief, Mason resisted the urge to hoist him up and bodily put him back in bed, and instead moved under his arm again, letting Clay lean on him as he worked his way onto the mattress.
Clay looked up and over Mason’s shoulder and his breath caught in his throat.
Concerned, Mason leaned in. “What’s wrong? Shit, I knew this was a bad idea.”
When no answer came, he followed Clay’s gaze and there in the doorway was none other than April. A day late, but there nonetheless.
Seeing her standing in front of him after all these years took his breath away. She looked the same, but somehow totally different. Her skin was paler and more porcelain and her hair darker than he’d ever seen it, as if she hadn’t been out in the sun in a long time. Her face had been pretty before, but now she had a mature, sophisticated beauty that came either from getting older, or the killer red dress that revealed far too much of her body for Mason’s liking.
Tears in her eyes, she took one step forward into the room and then hesitated. When neither of them said a word, she spoke. “The nurse said I could come in. She said she recognized me but I didn’t know what she meant.”
She twisted her fingers together nervously. A few years ago Mason would have gone to her and held her until that frightened, uncertain look left her face. Now, he didn’t move, except to glance at Clay, who also had been strangely quiet. Mason wondered about that.
Looking more uncomfortable with each passing moment, April kept talking. “My father said you were in a coma.”
Finally, Clay spoke. “I woke up.”
Publication History
- XXXX, XXXXX XX - E-book Release (Linden Bay Romance)
- 2008, November 25 - Trade Paperback (Linden Bay Romance)
- 2009, September 11 - E-book and Kindle Release (Samhain Publishing) (Revised and expanded from its original release)
