by: LaQuette
Series: Texas Cattleman’s Club: The Wedding
Genre: Contemporary African American Romance
Release Date: February 21, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Desire
A cosmopolitan designer gets a taste of country life with Royal, Texas’s hottest rancher in the latest installment of Texas Cattleman's Club: The Wedding by LaQuette!
She’s willing to give him everything in bed
But will she risk her career for passion?
Keely Tucker knows designing a showstopping wedding dress for a movie starlet is the career-making opportunity of a lifetime. But Jacob Chatman has sent her focus into a tailspin! When a blackout leaves her stranded with a rancher she can’t resist, their passion practically sets the sheets on fire. Jacob admires her drive…but is their hookup worth Keely risking her hard-earned ambitions for a life in Texas?
From Harlequin Desire: A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry.
“I know this is a huge favor.”
“No,” Jacob interrupted, “attending that mixer at your insistence immediately after spending all day doing ranch work was a huge favor. Both you and Ex are lucky I love you.”
Tripp conceded to Jacob’s statement with a nod.
“Unfortunately,” Tripp continued, “I’m out of options and you’re the only one who can help.”
Jacob shifted in his recliner before leaning over with his forearms braced on his knees as he waited for his friend to drop whatever bomb he was holding.
“You might not know it yet since you left the mixer early, but a blackout is affecting nearly half of Royal. I remembered you installing that fancy emergency generator a few years back, so I figured you’d still have power.”
Jacob nodded. “True, but the generator hasn’t kicked in yet. There hasn’t been any power disruption here.”
When Tripp tilted his head slightly, Jacob answered his silent question.
“My ranch runs on a separate transformer than the rest of the town. As long as nothing happens to that transformer, I get power. It’s too remote out here for me to rely on the town’s equipment. Having my own means I control the maintenance and I’m not reliant on the municipality as much.”
“Even better,” Tripp replied, his response waving in the air like a giant red flag.
Jacob took a long swig from his beer before he looked at his good friend with suspicion.
“I know you didn’t come all the way out here to check on the status of my power. A phone call would’ve sufficed for that. What you want, Tripp?”
Tripp’s shoulders shook as a loud huff of laughter escaped his lips.
“Same old Jay.” Tripp’s comment triggered an acknowledging smile.
“Cutting through the bullshit keeps me sane. Now out with it. What do you want?”
Tripp drank from his longneck, before placing it on a nearby end table.
“You know the entire town is getting ready for Xavier and Ariana’s wedding, right?”
“I’m aware,” Jacob replied. His ranch may be remote, but even he caught wind of the scuttlebutt surrounding this local-turned-celebrity event. “Even a hermit like me can’t avoid all the noise about it.”
“Ex never could do anything small.” Tripp laughed. “Including his wedding. Some of the vendors at the TCC mixer you dropped in on are already doing prep for the big event. As best man and bridesmaid, it’s fallen to me and Dee to try to sort out arrangements for them.”
Jacob noticed the sparkle in Tripp’s eye as he spoke of his lady, Dionna Reed. Jacob’s acquaintance with the woman was extremely short, but even he could tell just how smitten his friend was with her.
“No,” Jacob answered before Tripp could even get the question out. “I’ve got too much work to put some stranger up on my land.”
“Jay,” Tripp pleaded, using Jacob’s nickname to lay on the extra helping of guilt. “The woman who’s designing Ariana’s wedding dress is stranded. She needs a lot of room to work...”
Jacob shook his head but Tripp ignored him and kept going. “...and since you have a whole cabin you’re not using...”
“Doesn’t matter if I’m using it or not. She can’t come here. I don’t have time to babysit some fancy dressmaker from Hollywood.”
“Technically, she’s from Brooklyn, New York.” Tripp’s clarification did nothing to quiet the alarm bells going off in Jacob’s head.
“I wouldn’t care if she was from Timbuktu, she can’t stay here.”
Tripp hung his head and for just a moment, Jacob worried that his response might’ve been too strong. Fortunately, the sight of amusement in Tripp’s eyes put him at ease.
“Man, do you know how much you sound like our parents with that ‘I wouldn’t care if she was from Timbuktu’ line? You gotta stop, brotha. We ain’t that old.”
Jacob groaned before he stood, carrying his beer bottle over to the fireplace where pictures of his parents greeted him. Bixby and Geraldine Chatman were the epitome of getting to reap the benefits of your hard labor. They’d endured the hard and rigid life of farming to keep him fed, clothed and happy.
When they retired a handful of years ago, turning the then farm over to him completely, he’d started working on his dream of converting the farm into a horse ranch. He’d had no idea then how successful and gratifying his accomplishment would be. He also hadn’t contemplated on how lonely his success would be either.
Looking down at his parents, he realized they had each other to weather the storm with. Jacob had to make do on his own.
“Tripp, she can’t stay here. I don’t need strangers on my land.” He spoke those words while still staring at the happy picture of his parents, slightly envious of the joy their union seemed to bring them, something he knew he could never have of his own.
He turned around, planning to restate his position when he saw the familiar hangdog face Tripp was making. Something the man had perfected over the years to tug at Jacob’s heartstrings more and more.
“Technically she’s not a stranger. She’s the woman I tried to get you to give a ride to when you were leaving the mixer.”
If Tripp thought mentioning that made things better, he was mistaken.
“The one who disappeared without telling you? Oh, she definitely can’t stay here.”
“Please, man.” Tripp had gone into full-blown begging mode at this point. “You’re the only one with enough space for all her dressmaking stuff. Help a brotha out.”
Jacob tried his best to scowl at his friend, but watching Tripp mock-beg was too amusing to be mad at.
“How many times has your ‘help a brotha out’ line gotten me into a world of trouble?”
“Too many times to count,” Tripp easily admitted. “What harm could having a beautiful and talented woman stay on your ranch do? She needs a big space to work without anyone bothering her, and since you’ve sworn off women, I know you won’t pay her one bit of attention.”
Tripp was right. He didn’t have the time nor inclination to pay this woman or any woman the time of day.
“Fine, she can stay on one condition.”
Tripp’s eyes widened with excitement. Jacob could tell the man would agree to just about anything to get Jacob to do this favor for him. And that was exactly what Jacob was counting on.
“If I agree to this, you gotta agree to let me off the hook for all future mixers. I don’t wanna hear nothing about me attending another one. Understood?”
Tripp hesitated for just a minute, then reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“Agreed,” Tripp replied quickly. “I promise, man, you won’t even know she’s here.”
“I’d better not,” Jacob responded. “’Cause if I do, I’m taking it out on your hide.”
Excerpted from Designs on a Rancher by LaQuette. Copyright © 2023 by LaQuette and Harlequin Enterprises ULC.
“No,” Jacob interrupted, “attending that mixer at your insistence immediately after spending all day doing ranch work was a huge favor. Both you and Ex are lucky I love you.”
Tripp conceded to Jacob’s statement with a nod.
“Unfortunately,” Tripp continued, “I’m out of options and you’re the only one who can help.”
Jacob shifted in his recliner before leaning over with his forearms braced on his knees as he waited for his friend to drop whatever bomb he was holding.
“You might not know it yet since you left the mixer early, but a blackout is affecting nearly half of Royal. I remembered you installing that fancy emergency generator a few years back, so I figured you’d still have power.”
Jacob nodded. “True, but the generator hasn’t kicked in yet. There hasn’t been any power disruption here.”
When Tripp tilted his head slightly, Jacob answered his silent question.
“My ranch runs on a separate transformer than the rest of the town. As long as nothing happens to that transformer, I get power. It’s too remote out here for me to rely on the town’s equipment. Having my own means I control the maintenance and I’m not reliant on the municipality as much.”
“Even better,” Tripp replied, his response waving in the air like a giant red flag.
Jacob took a long swig from his beer before he looked at his good friend with suspicion.
“I know you didn’t come all the way out here to check on the status of my power. A phone call would’ve sufficed for that. What you want, Tripp?”
Tripp’s shoulders shook as a loud huff of laughter escaped his lips.
“Same old Jay.” Tripp’s comment triggered an acknowledging smile.
“Cutting through the bullshit keeps me sane. Now out with it. What do you want?”
Tripp drank from his longneck, before placing it on a nearby end table.
“You know the entire town is getting ready for Xavier and Ariana’s wedding, right?”
“I’m aware,” Jacob replied. His ranch may be remote, but even he caught wind of the scuttlebutt surrounding this local-turned-celebrity event. “Even a hermit like me can’t avoid all the noise about it.”
“Ex never could do anything small.” Tripp laughed. “Including his wedding. Some of the vendors at the TCC mixer you dropped in on are already doing prep for the big event. As best man and bridesmaid, it’s fallen to me and Dee to try to sort out arrangements for them.”
Jacob noticed the sparkle in Tripp’s eye as he spoke of his lady, Dionna Reed. Jacob’s acquaintance with the woman was extremely short, but even he could tell just how smitten his friend was with her.
“No,” Jacob answered before Tripp could even get the question out. “I’ve got too much work to put some stranger up on my land.”
“Jay,” Tripp pleaded, using Jacob’s nickname to lay on the extra helping of guilt. “The woman who’s designing Ariana’s wedding dress is stranded. She needs a lot of room to work...”
Jacob shook his head but Tripp ignored him and kept going. “...and since you have a whole cabin you’re not using...”
“Doesn’t matter if I’m using it or not. She can’t come here. I don’t have time to babysit some fancy dressmaker from Hollywood.”
“Technically, she’s from Brooklyn, New York.” Tripp’s clarification did nothing to quiet the alarm bells going off in Jacob’s head.
“I wouldn’t care if she was from Timbuktu, she can’t stay here.”
Tripp hung his head and for just a moment, Jacob worried that his response might’ve been too strong. Fortunately, the sight of amusement in Tripp’s eyes put him at ease.
“Man, do you know how much you sound like our parents with that ‘I wouldn’t care if she was from Timbuktu’ line? You gotta stop, brotha. We ain’t that old.”
Jacob groaned before he stood, carrying his beer bottle over to the fireplace where pictures of his parents greeted him. Bixby and Geraldine Chatman were the epitome of getting to reap the benefits of your hard labor. They’d endured the hard and rigid life of farming to keep him fed, clothed and happy.
When they retired a handful of years ago, turning the then farm over to him completely, he’d started working on his dream of converting the farm into a horse ranch. He’d had no idea then how successful and gratifying his accomplishment would be. He also hadn’t contemplated on how lonely his success would be either.
Looking down at his parents, he realized they had each other to weather the storm with. Jacob had to make do on his own.
“Tripp, she can’t stay here. I don’t need strangers on my land.” He spoke those words while still staring at the happy picture of his parents, slightly envious of the joy their union seemed to bring them, something he knew he could never have of his own.
He turned around, planning to restate his position when he saw the familiar hangdog face Tripp was making. Something the man had perfected over the years to tug at Jacob’s heartstrings more and more.
“Technically she’s not a stranger. She’s the woman I tried to get you to give a ride to when you were leaving the mixer.”
If Tripp thought mentioning that made things better, he was mistaken.
“The one who disappeared without telling you? Oh, she definitely can’t stay here.”
“Please, man.” Tripp had gone into full-blown begging mode at this point. “You’re the only one with enough space for all her dressmaking stuff. Help a brotha out.”
Jacob tried his best to scowl at his friend, but watching Tripp mock-beg was too amusing to be mad at.
“How many times has your ‘help a brotha out’ line gotten me into a world of trouble?”
“Too many times to count,” Tripp easily admitted. “What harm could having a beautiful and talented woman stay on your ranch do? She needs a big space to work without anyone bothering her, and since you’ve sworn off women, I know you won’t pay her one bit of attention.”
Tripp was right. He didn’t have the time nor inclination to pay this woman or any woman the time of day.
“Fine, she can stay on one condition.”
Tripp’s eyes widened with excitement. Jacob could tell the man would agree to just about anything to get Jacob to do this favor for him. And that was exactly what Jacob was counting on.
“If I agree to this, you gotta agree to let me off the hook for all future mixers. I don’t wanna hear nothing about me attending another one. Understood?”
Tripp hesitated for just a minute, then reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“Agreed,” Tripp replied quickly. “I promise, man, you won’t even know she’s here.”
“I’d better not,” Jacob responded. “’Cause if I do, I’m taking it out on your hide.”
Excerpted from Designs on a Rancher by LaQuette. Copyright © 2023 by LaQuette and Harlequin Enterprises ULC.
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The Texas Cattleman’s Club: The Wedding Series:
Four Weeks to Forever by Karen Booth releases March 28, 2023
Make Believe Match by Joanne Rock releases March 28, 2023
Oh So Wrong with Mr. Right by Nadine Gonzalez releases May 30, 2023
The Man She Loves to Hate by Jessica Lemmon releases May 30, 2023
Places to find LaQuette:
Designs on a Rancher takes place in Royal, Texas and is part of the Texas Cattleman's Club: The Wedding continuity series. Have you read any Texas Cattleman's Club books before? Do you melt reading about cowboy heroes?
I've read one or two. Love cowboy heroes.
ReplyDeleteI have read quite a few of the Texas Cattleman's Club books.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any!
ReplyDelete