Tangled in Texas
Texas Rodeo, #2
Author: Kari Lynn Dell
Pub Date: February 7, 2017
ISBN: 9781492631972
It took 32
seconds to end his career.
But it only
took 1 to change his life.
Thirty-two seconds. That’s how long it took for
Delon Sanchez’s life to end. One minute he was the best bronc rider in the
Panhandle and the next he was nothing. Knee shattered, future in question, all
he can do is pull together the pieces…and wonder what cruel trick of fate has thrown
him into the path of his ex, the oh-so-perfect Tori Patterson.
Tori’s come home after her husband’s death,
intent on escaping the public eye. It’s just her luck that Delon limps into her
physical therapy office, desperate for help. All hard-packed muscle and
dark-eyed temptation, he’s never been anything but a bad idea. And yet, seeing
him again, Tori can’t remember what made her choose foolish pride over love…or
why, with this second, final chance to right old wrongs, the smartest choice
would be to run from this gorgeous rodeo boy as fast as her boots can take her.
EXCERPT:
They sat in
the dark, staring at the television and taking comfort from the presence of
another human being. A fellow refugee from reality, if only for a few hours.
Crazy, to get even this close when she seemed dead set on leaving again, but as
long as he knew, as long he didn’t let himself dream, he was safe, wasn’t he?
“What time is
it?” he mumbled, twisting around to look out the window. Pitch dark.
“After
midnight. We both slept a while.”
She gave the
jacket another tug, but it was pinned under his shoulder. He was warm and
relaxed, still half asleep. Before his mind could fully engage, he reached up
and caught her wrist. She froze, her eyes wide and wary in the dim light.
“What if I
said I don’t want to just be friends?” he asked, his voice raspy with sleep.
She stared
down at him, emotions flickering across her face so fast he couldn’t identify
any of them. “I would say that’s probably not the smartest thing we could do,
given the situation.”
“And if I
said I’m willing to take my chances?”
She took her
sweet time thinking it over. “I need some time to…adjust my expectations.”
He stroked
the tender underside of her wrist with his thumb, watching as her lips parted
on a swift intake of air. He might not know her mind, but he knew her body, and
he remembered exactly how she liked to be touched. “How long?”
“I don’t
know. This thing with my parents…”
“Will you let
me know when you’re ready?”
She shook her
head and his heart sank, but then she blew out a reluctant sigh. “Check back
with me in a couple of weeks.”
“The middle
of February?” he asked, unable to leave it alone.
She gave a
halfhearted shrug, her gaze tracking to the door, though she still didn’t pull
away from his touch. “Sure. Why not?”
He could
think of a dozen reasons—things he’d done, and she’d done, and all the ways
they could hurt each other all over again—but he stroked her wrist one more
time before sitting up to free her jacket. She pulled it on, tugged the zipper
clear to her chin, and stuffed her hands in the pockets.
“You realize
I’m a lousy emotional bet.”
“Unlike me.”
She gave a
low, short laugh. “Think of the magic we could make together.”
He didn’t
have to imagine. He had a perfectly good memory. As if reading his mind, she
said, “I’m not that girl, Delon.”
“You’re a lot
tougher.”
She smiled slightly
at her own words. “I’m also a lot more…difficult.”
No kidding.
But he needed to borrow some of that toughness, from someone who’d gone through
the worst and was emerging from the other side, singed around the edges but not
destroyed. Tori understood the snarl of anger and guilt in his gut because it
wasn’t so different than what she felt about how Willy died.
“I’d like to
get to know this you,” he said softly.
“I might not
be ready to decide who I am yet.”
“Decide?” He
laughed, incredulous. “You just get to make it up for yourself?”
“Why not?
Didn’t you decide who you wanted to be?”
His fists
clenched in the plush throw. “We don’t all have the luxury of reinventing our
lives.”
She gave him
a long, level stare. His eyes dropped first. Her voice was low and surprisingly
gentle. “Try it, Delon. You might be less likely to feel like punching
strangers in bars.”
She brushed a fingertip as light as a
kiss across his cheek, and left him to sleep on it.
***********
Kari Lynn
Dell is a
ranch-raised Montana cowgirl who attended her first rodeo at two weeks old and
has existed in a state of horse-induced poverty ever since. She lives on the
Blackfeet Reservation in her parents' bunkhouse along with her husband, her
son, and Max the Cowdog, with a tipi on her lawn, Glacier National Park on her
doorstep and Canada within spitting distance. Her debut novel, The Long Ride
Home, was published in 2015. She also writes a ranch and rodeo humor column for
several regional newspapers and a national agricultural publication.
***********
Sortin’ the Herd—How a Real Cowgirl Cuts
Off the Strays
Nowadays pretty much anyone can pop online and
order up a full set of cowboy duds to wear to their nearest rodeo. Which I
think is awesome, by the way. The companies that sell those hats, boots and
peart snap shirts are also the sponsors that keep my favorite sport in
business. I’d be thrilled to pull into the next rodeo and see a Stetson or
Resistol on every head, and Justin or Ariat boots on every pair of feet. But it
also makes it harder for a girl to tell…which are the real cowboys, and which
are just playing the part?
Luckily, it doesn’t take long to sort off the
bleacher buckaroos. I’ve put together a few never-fail tips to help you
identify the wanna-be’s, like this one:
His
cowboy hat has been shaped in the
style of Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw or Jason Aldean. All great singers. Not
cowboys. Ditto for boots with pointy toes. If you want to look to a celebrity
for fashion guidance, George Strait is the gold standard. He’s also a real
cowboy who rides, ropes, and annually hosts one of the richest and most
prestigious roping competitions in the country. In the ranch and rodeo world he
is, as Garth Brooks so aptly said, the King of Cool. Oh, and did I mention he
can sing?
Take note of the word in bold face above. When
you’ve finished reading about Tangled in
Texas and enjoying the excerpt below, come on over to my blog, Montana for Real, to find the rest of my helpful hints. Collect all the of key words
and you’ll get a free download of the unofficial soundtrack to Tangled in Texas.
***********
GIVEAWAY:
5 print copies of Reckless in Texas
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