Starstruck Cowboy (Working Man Series Book 1) Read online

  Starstruck Cowboy

  Working Man Series

  Elizabeth Rose

  ROSESCRIBE MEDIA INC.

  Copyright © 2019 by Elizabeth Rose Krejcik

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual organizations or persons living or deceased is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the author’s written permission.

  Cover created by Elizabeth Rose Krejcik

  Edited by Scott Moreland

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  From the Author

  About Elizabeth

  Also by Elizabeth Rose

  Chapter 1

  “Take me now, my outlaw. If I’m to live another moment without feeling your body within me, I’ll die.” The woman’s voice was soft and husky. How could any man deny her what she asked?

  “I will, you little wanton. My body’s achin’ for the pleasures you have to offer.” Luke Tyler tilted the beautiful woman’s chin up with one finger as he spoke, staring down at her extremely red lips. Her foundation makeup plastered her face a little thicker than usual, making him cringe. The unnatural tan that colored her skin made her the raving beauty she was known to be. The woman had her danged eyes closed and her lush lips parted as she sat seductively upon the bed awaiting his response. Luke took a deep breath and then slowly released it.

  “Take me, my love!” she coaxed him once again. “I’ve waited a lifetime for a man like you. I love you.” It was impressive. She almost sounded convincing.

  “And I . . . love you . . . too,” he choked on the words, already kicking himself for not saying them with a little more passion. Trying not to inhale the strong perfume that drifted from her body, Luke closed his eyes and lowered his mouth to hers.

  After struggling with the kiss, he threw her into a reclining position. Then he straddled his nearly naked body atop hers. Making love with a woman usually came easy to Luke, but not this time. There was no way in hell he was turned on at the moment. Sure, she was beautiful, had a body men would die for, and was asking him . . . no, begging him to take her. But none of this was real. Tonight, Luke had a big problem. There was no way this would ever work.

  She was going to be really disappointed when she found out he wasn’t going to be able to perform. There would be a lot of people mad at him because of it. Maybe if he tried a little harder, he could pull this off, after all.

  Bringing his lips to hers once again, he caressed her shoulder and slowly slipped his hand downward. Concentrating on what he was doing, he tried to ignore the fact she was wearing a see-through nightie.

  She moaned beneath him and squirmed. He felt tense and wished she could finish this by herself, therefore letting him off the hook. His fingers trailed lower, closer to one voluptuous breast. All he had to do was grab her and it’d be the end of all this. One simple act and they would both finish.

  Lower, lower, went his hand. Her heavy breathing unnerved him. Closer, closer he came. She was close. Really close. He, however, couldn’t be further from the mark. It just wasn’t his night. He couldn’t do it. Nope, he wasn’t going to fool anybody.

  Jerking his hand away right before it met with her breast, he mumbled a curse and shook his head. He had just blown his big chance.

  “Cut!” came the director’s voice from beyond the harsh set lights. “Call it a day. We’ll try it again tomorrow.”

  “Get off of me you overgrown cowhand!” Velvet Barabelle dug her talons into Luke’s bare chest and pushed with all her might.

  Luke didn’t budge. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Instead, he stared at her and smiled.

  “Even a cowhand has his pride, Ms. Berry-bell,” he drawled in his Texas accent. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I just can’t do it.”

  “Luke!” Brent Valens, the well-known producer and director of Valens Motion Pictures approached the bed. “What the hell is the matter with you lately?”

  Luke moved his body away from his co-star, and sat on the edge of the bed. There was no way he was going to tell Brent that Velvet had propositioned him two days earlier. He’d turned her down cold, and she’d stormed off madder than a hornet. How was he supposed to pretend to seduce her now with a room full of people watching?

  Luke’s rule was never to sleep with someone he worked with no matter how beautiful she might be. Velvet was beautiful, but her personality was truly lacking. The woman was phony from her fake eyelashes down to her manicured toenails. Luke liked his women a little more natural. Of course, certain parts of Velvet were very natural . . . or maybe not. He wasn’t sure, and didn’t really want to know.

  Nope, he didn’t want a woman like her and, therefore, had a hard time pretending that he did. He was more of a private type of guy. Grabbing a woman’s breast in front of a room of onlookers didn’t sit right with him.

  “I’ll tell you what his problem is.” Velvet Barabelle slid off the bed and accepted a cover-up from her wardrobe woman. Pulling the ties around her small waist, she shooed off the hairdresser who stood behind her trying desperately to run a brush through her long, red hair. “He kisses like an iguana with a cropped-off tongue. Brent, darling, why can’t you get a real actor to play the part? This is getting really annoying.”

  “Luke’s perfect for the part of Jimmy the Outlaw,” Brent assured her, running a hand over his toupee. “He’s not only got the looks, but he rides a horse and ropes a steer better than any of the stuntmen I’ve ever hired.”

  “He’s just a stuntman!” Velvet reminded him. “We need a professional actor.”

  “But he’s good at the stunts,” protested Brent. “He’s one of the best in the business. I figured I’d double up his part and we’d kill two birds with one stone. Do you realize how much I’ll save by having Luke play Jimmy as well as do his own stunts?” If Brent’s thoughts could be heard aloud, Luke was sure the cha-ching of a cash register would be filling the air right now.

  Luke leaned back on one elbow and grabbed his Stetson from the foot of the bed. He flipped it in the air before placing it upon his head. He prided himself on his stunts. But his stunts stayed out of the bedroom.

  “That’s right, Ms. Berry-more,” Luke said with a sarcastic smile.

  “Barabelle! she snapped. “Can’t you even get my name right?”

  “Take it easy, Velvet.” Brent placed his hand on her shoulder but she brushed it away. “I’m sure Luke has a good reason for messing up the love scene for the third day in a row. Don’t you, Tyler?” Brent turned toward Luke and scowled.

  Luke sat with his back propped against the bedpost, wearing nothing more than a pair of briefs and his boots. He crossed his feet and pushed a stray strand of long chestnut hair behind his shoulder.

  “I do.” Luke pulled a toothpick from behind his ear and stuck it between his teeth.

  “How humiliating!” Velvet said with a sniff, thr
owing her nose in the air. “I’m doing my best trying to act like I want this fool, and he’s got a toothpick stashed behind his ear during the love scene. And look! He’s still wearing his boots!”

  “I’m trying to quit smoking,” explained Luke as he held up the toothpick to examine it. “And why remove the boots when no one is going to see my feet anyway?”

  “Enough!” interrupted Brent. “Out with it, Tyler. What’s your excuse now for putting us behind schedule?”

  “Simple,” Luke said in a nonchalant tone. “I have no feelings for the woman, therefore I’m having a hard time pretending I want her.”

  Velvet pursed her mouth at hearing the insult. “Get me a different co-star, Brent, or you’ll be looking for another actress to play the part of Rosie McAllister.” Before Brent could reply, she stormed off the sound stage with her hired personnel following.

  Luke rolled the toothpick to the other side of his mouth with his tongue and chuckled softly. “She’s crazy about me. She wouldn’t get so upset if she didn’t care.”

  “C’mon, Luke,” begged Brent as he tucked his clipboard under his arm. “Work with me, man. You’ve always done whatever I’ve asked in the past.”

  Luke stared at the small man standing before him who begged his expected behavior of a star. He had to admit, he’d enjoyed the last year and a half of working with Brent Valens. The man gave him the chance of earning enough money to hopefully buy back his ranch soon. Never had he given Brent a hard time before now. But then again, he had only filled in as secondary roles in Brent’s Westerns. Luke was known throughout the industry for his ability to ride and perform the serious stunts no one else was crazy enough to do. But this was different. Now he had the lead role, and was expected to seduce a woman with millions of people watching. It was definitely not his style.

  “I can’t do it. Sorry.” Luke threw his hands in the air and got to his feet, towering over the middle-aged man. He watched as Brent nervously arranged the fake crop of hair atop his balding head. Brent Valens would give anything to be in Luke’s position, playing the love scene with the Hollywood beauty, Velvet Barabelle. Any man in his right mind would jump for a role like this. Anyone but Luke.

  “Tell you what,” answered Brent slowly as he slapped Luke on the back. “We’ll put the love scene on hold for awhile, and move to the outdoor stuff. Maybe feeling a horse under your body will bring you back to your senses.” Brent grabbed a hold of Luke’s black robe from the back of a chair and tossed it toward him. “We’re on the road tomorrow at the crack of dawn.”

  “Fort Worth?” Luke pulled on his robe but left it hanging open.

  “No. We leave tomorrow for a little town called Possum Ridge. It’s just outside of Texarkana.”

  “Texarkana?” Luke was pleasantly surprised. “That’s not far from my own hometown. I thought you said we’d be shooting the riding scenes in Fort Worth.”

  “Plans change,” Brent called over his shoulder. “We got a letter from some little old woman named Daisy Brighton who offered her land for our movie. She’s only asking half the amount we were going to have to pay Kingsley for the use of his ranch in Fort Worth.”

  “Well, is it any good?” Luke hurried to catch up with the man. “Do you know anything about this place? Did you check out the terrain so I don’t end up having to shoot a nag with a broken leg after it stumbles over a loose rock? You know I usually like to inspect the area before we’ve committed. After all, don’t forget I am doing my own stunts.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brent told him. “The woman sent pictures and it looks just fine. Plus, it’s cheap! Her husband died last year, and she’s been trying to run the ranch with only a few hired hands and her daughter. By the sound of it, her daughter’s a tough cookie. She not only herds cattle by herself but keeps the hands in line, not to mention that she does the work of three men. Anyhow, the old lady needs money for back taxes or she’s going to lose it all. I could offer half of what she wants and probably get her to take it.”

  “Offer half?” asked Luke. “Are you really going to take advantage of an old woman and her daughter?”

  Brent stopped in his tracks and turned toward Luke. “No, of course not,” he said with a low chuckle. “I have a reputation to uphold. I’d never do such a thing.”

  “Good,” Luke answered with a half-smile, still chewing on his toothpick.

  “That’s why I’ve decided to let you do it, instead.” Brent gave Luke that same irritating grin he always used when he thought he was going to get away with something. Then, before waiting for Luke’s answer, he started out the door.

  “Oh, no,” Luke spoke to Brent’s back as he followed him. “You’re not going to get me to take advantage of an old widow. Besides, her daughter is probably bigger than me and meaner than a bear if she’s been running the place with hired hands doing her bidding. I’d sure hate to ruffle her feathers. You already said it was a good deal. Just pay the full price.”

  “Do you want me to replace you with someone of Velvet’s choice tomorrow?” Brent raised a threatening eyebrow.

  “You know I need the job, Brent. Plus, I’ve already got plans for the money.”

  “There’ll be a cut in it for you if you can talk the old woman and her daughter into accepting half the agreed upon price.”

  Luke cringed as Brent flashed him a look that Luke had learned to dread. He was already walking on thin ice with Brent for his behavior with the love scene and Brent wasn’t known to be a patient man. Luke was pushing him past his limits. To say no to Brent now was probably all it would take to be out of a good paying job. He didn’t doubt for a moment that the man might fire him just to gain favors with Velvet.

  After Jimmy the Outlaw was over, Luke would have enough money to get back his ranch by buying out his stepbrother, T.J.. That shyster basically stole it out from under him in the first place. Luke thought his father would have left the ranch solely to him in the will, but his last argument with his dad must have been what caused him to do it.

  Upon his father’s death, per his instructions in the will, all the livestock was sold and the money given to charity. Then to Luke’s surprise, what was left of the ranch was put into joint ownership between him and T.J.. Thank goodness, Luke had found a loophole in the will, and often wondered if his father had put it there on purpose.

  Luke had two years to come up with enough money to buy out T.J. and he was already almost out of time. If he couldn’t do it by the deadline, everything went to his stepbrother. Luke and T.J. hated each other and always had.

  Without this money from the movie, Luke was doomed. Too damned bad his father didn’t leave him the money to take care of this as well. Instead, he’d donated everything else he had to his wife’s favorite charity, leaving Luke penniless and nothing more than a charity case himself. Luke was an only child and, at one time, had been favored by his father. But once the man remarried, that was all over.

  Luke’s plans now were to finish the film just in time to reclaim his ranch before his two years were up. Otherwise, Circle T would be having a different owner. He wanted his ranch back and would do anything it took to get it. If he hadn’t felt this way, he never would have lowered himself to doing stunts and kissing floozies in B movies.

  “You’ll get the old lady to take half the money, won’t you?” Brent grinned as he waited for his answer.

  Luke stared at the air above Brent’s toupee. His future depended upon his answer. No doubt he had the capability of pulling this off, but he didn’t like it in the least. It wasn’t his style to cheat helpless women out of what was promised. If he did it, the women would be in the same bind as him. Then again, without this job, he’d probably lose the ranch forever.

  Circle T was his home and the only life he’d ever known up until recently. His heart was devoted to ranching, not being a star. He had to get back home no matter what it took to get there.

  “I’ll do it.” Luke heard the words but couldn’t believe they were coming fro
m his mouth. Had he really just agreed to swindle some old lady and her daughter out of money that was rightfully theirs? Now he was no better than his stepbrother who’d weaseled his way into Luke’s life as well as his father’s will.

  Hell, Luke thought, he couldn’t have just agreed to do Brent’s dirty work, could he? After all, he hadn’t even opened his mouth to reply. Or had he?

  Dropping his eyes to the ground in despair, Luke spied an object next to his boot. He kicked away his half-chewed toothpick in disgust, and headed to his trailer to start packing.

  Chapter 2

  Star Brighton floored the gas pedal of her blue ’72 Chevy pickup and headed down the bumpy gravel road. The latest song split the muggy night air from the crackling radio as Star belted out her slightly flat rendition. She wasn’t the best singer, but her late father had always said he liked her singing. Star missed him immensely since he was hit by a beer truck last year on his way to the cattle market and died.

  Releasing a huge sigh, she felt overwhelmed just thinking of her latest responsibilities. She had been trying her hardest to help her poor mother make ends meet and would do everything in her power to try to save the ranch that had been in the family for generations.

  Hitting a bump, she glanced back at the empty cages that clanked and rattled in the open bed of the pickup. Patting her shirt pocket full of green bills, she was proud of the price she’d gotten for the chickens. Her Australian shepherd, Maxi, sat on the front seat next to her, howling along with the song as Star continued singing.