Tycoon's Tryst (Culpepper Cowboys Book 10) by Merry Farmer, Culpepper Cowboys Read Free Book Online Page B

boobs.”
    “Does she do that a lot?”
    “All the time.”
    A ghost of a smile flickered at the corner of Rachel’s lips, but only for a moment. She was back to looking like she might strangle him a moment later.
    “I’m not going to let you snowball me, Sly O’Donnell. No one is nice to me unless they want something. You want me to sacrifice myself to make you look good. Well, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to fight for my company, even if that means kissing you.” She blinked. “I mean, fighting you.”
    A thousand different comebacks to that slip jumped to Sly’s mind, but he was in far too deep to let any of them pop out and potentially ruin what he was certain had just started. Instead, he held his arms out to the side.
    “Then tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.” It was a huge risk, but it was one he was willing to take if it meant winning Rachel.
    She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, a dozen or more emotions flickering across her gorgeous, mud-smeared face. Even dirty, she was the most divine thing he’d ever laid eyes on. Sly hoped she would ask him to give up his company for her. He hoped she’d ask him to be her servant, popping bonbons in her mouth while fanning her with a giant feather fan. He hoped more than anything she’d ask him to strip down and clean her pool for him while wearing nothing but a pair of her panties, two sizes too small, while she ogled him.
    But no, she drew herself up to her full height and said, “Take me home and leave me alone.”

4
    T wo days later , and Sly had achieved approximately nothing in his quest to win Rachel over.
    “I need something that will really impress her,” he told Grace, Felicity, and Patience as he leaned against the counter in the bakery. Business was booming for the new brides and had been since they expanded the bakery’s space. The tail end of the breakfast crowd was just finishing up some of the most delicious-looking meals Sly had ever seen. He’d come to the right place to pick up something that would sweeten Rachel, in more ways than one. “Something like a really pretty cupcake or a mini pie.”
    “What’s all this about?”
    Sly twisted and straightened as his brother, Doc, strode up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder. “Morning, ladies.” Doc nodded to Grace, Felicity, and Patience.
    “Your brother here has a girlfriend,” Grace blurted, grinning from ear to ear.
    “Not a girlfriend.” Sly held up a hand to correct them.
    Doc snorted. “What then, a sweetheart?”
    Sly’s smile faltered just a little. “She’s not all that sweet on me at the moment. She thinks I’m trying to ruin her life.”
    “What, did you ask her to marry you or something?” Doc teased. “That would ruin her life.”
    It was like a lightbulb went off in Sly’s head. “I’m going to marry her.”
    Doc blinked. The ladies grinned and giggled.
    Sly glanced out into the morning sunshine as a thousand ideas zipped through his mind. “I’m going to marry her,” he repeated. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Rachel is perfect. She’s beautiful and strong and smart. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman. She can take care of herself, but she needs someone to embrace her and support her at the same time.”
    His dreamy gaze focused, and he focused on Doc with a smile. “Get your best suit ready, bro, because I’m getting married soon.”
    “Um, didn’t you just tell us that the object of your desire can’t stand the sight of you right now?” Felicity asked.
    Sly pivoted to lean on the counter once more. “A minor detail. And Rachel doesn’t hate me, she’s just been beaten down by a few things and isn’t ready to admit how head-over-heels in love with me she is yet.”
    The women laughed and shook their heads, and gave him looks like he was out of his mind.
    “Who’s Rachel?” Doc asked. A couple steps behind in the whole thing.
    Sly rapped on the counter, then