My Cowboy Crush is the first book in my Cowboys of Sunnydale series.   

 Here is Chapter 1 for your enjoyment! You can read the rest of the chapters by the tag My Cowboy Crush here on the blog. Or you can get it for free by joining my newsletter!

I strode up thestone pathway to the white doors of the park pavilion. Nerves shookmy body causing my palms to be clammy, my heart pounded, and my bodyto sweat more than normal. Breathe, Katie. You’ve got this.I closed my eyes for a second to steel my nerves. Then, I pushed openthe doors with a loud screech. Swarms of women scurried around thelarge open room. No one noticed me as I took another step inside. Alarge breath escaped as I scanned the room for the one person I waslooking for.

“Katie, you finally made it!” The bride-to-be rushed at me fromthe center of the room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us. My anxietyskyrocketed, making my chest hurt. I rubbed at my sternum as I tookin another breath. They paused for a moment before resuming theirdecorating.

“Um, I just got here.”

The bride-to-be, Annie, wrapped me into a big hug and bounced up anddown.

“I’m getting married!” She screeched.

I winced at the pitch, but I couldn’t help smiling at the otherwoman. Her shiny black hair bounced around her shoulders. Itcontrasted nicely with her ivory lace dress and faded cowboy boots.

“I’m just so glad you are here,” she whispered in my ear, “Comeon.”

She took my hand and led me to the far corner. She opened a smalldoor and shoved me into a dark closet. The door shut softly behindher with a click. The dust tickled my nose as the moldy smellsuffocated me.

“What are we doing in here?” A sneeze erupted from my nose.

I covered my mouth and nose with my hand. My eyes adjusted to thedarkness. Cobwebs suspended in the corners. A couple of discardedfolding chairs leaned against the back wall. A large yellow spiderdropped from the ceiling and hung inches above her head as she leanedclose to me.

“I need your help.” Her blue eyes grew wide as they searched myface.

“OK.” Where is she going with this? Is that spider going todrop on to her head?

“Katie, pay attention.”

“Sorry, there’s a big spider up there.”

“Don’t worry about the spider. I need your help.”

“You’ve said that.”

“My wedding photographer is in the hospital.”

“Oh no.” I gasped, inhaling a breath of dust. Coughing. “Iseverything alright?"

"Her baby was born a preemie. They are both still in thehospital. I know that this is a lot to ask, but you’re the only onethat can help me.” Tears glistened in the corner of her eyes. “Canyou, please, take pictures of the wedding? For me?”

I backed up until my back hit the wall. A shower of dust fell onto myshoulders. The large yellow spider scuttled back up her silk to hidein the rafters.

“Um, doesn’t she have a backup?” I coughed and sputtered in thedust.

“It was supposed to be her partner but she got thrown from a horseand broke a leg. I need you to do it.”

I glanced around but there was no way out. My palms started to sweat,again.

“But I only do landscape and nature photography.” Panic rose inmy chest.

“Please.” She clasped my hands in hers.

“But photographing people is hard. They don’t listen to me.” Myhands shook. “The lighting has to be perfect. Everyone needs to belooking at the camera.” My thoughts jumped ahead and I got lost inthem for a minute. “Plus, it’s a wedding. I’ve never done awedding before!”

“But you do such beautiful work. How hard would it be to add peopleto your landscapes?”

How hard indeed? “People” My voice sounded weak to myears. My mind trudged like it was stuck in fudge. “It’s notreally in my wheelhouse. Or even within a hundred miles.”

“Please, say you’ll do it for me? It’s my wedding, I need thisto be perfect.”

I nodded. That didn’t make me feel any better. But this was abig deal for Annie. And she had always been a big supporter of mywork.

“I want this to go well. If you do it, you’ll be saving the day.”She pleaded.

My heart sunk at her words. Annie was always good at getting me to dothings for her. She knew what buttons to push to get me to cave. Andshe did need help.

“Fine, I’lldo it.”

She squealed andgave me another hug before opening the closet door.

“Perfect! Hereis a list of pictures I want to be done.” She thrust a large binderinto my hands. “See what you can do. Here’s the itinerary for thewedding. And I’ll get you an assistant.” She bustled away.

An assistant?I sat down on a nearby bench as my head swam. My relaxing weekendaway to see my old babysitter get married just turned into the stuffof my nightmares.

I slapped thedust from my cowboy hat before shoving it on my head. I loved mysister, but the whole wedding nonsense drove me crazy. I’d ratherbe branding two hundred calves than delivering Annie’s waywardballoons. But here I was. My fist grabbed a hunk of ribbon and tuggedthe fifty white and ivory balloons. They fought for freedom, blockingmy view as I stumbled my way into the pavilion. I fumbled for thedoorknob until the door opened and I stepped into the large room. Acouple of balloons stuck to the door frame, stopping my forwardprogress. I turned to pull them into the room. With a loud squeak,they released from the door frame. I stumbled backward, my armsflailed, and balloons floated to the ceiling. With a thud and a softcry, someone broke my momentum. We went down in a pile of arms andlegs.

        “Levi, are youOK?”

        Annie bent overme as she extracted the woman underneath me. She was curvy withbouncy blonde hair. She straightened her skirt before looking at me.Her blue eyes widened when our gazes met. The breath caught in mythroat as recognition dawned on me.

        “You rememberKatie Kisment?” Annie flung an arm over the girl’s shoulders.

        “Of course.”I swept my cowboy hat from my head as my heart thundered in my chest.“It’s good to see you.”

        A pretty blushcolored her cheeks. Boy, has she grown up. I haven’t seenher for five years when she went off to college. Back then, she was ashy teenager who’d barely say hi to me. She dyed her pretty blondehair black and wore baggy black clothes. She didn’t smile much andhid behind chunky black glasses. I preferred her current naturalblonde and blue glasses. She looked lovely and my body responded toher. I could stare into her blue eyes forever.

        “Earth toLevi.” Annie waved her hand in front of my face.

        “Yup.” Idrew my gaze from the stunning beauty next to her and collected theballoons I could reach.

        “Katie needsan assistant for the wedding. And I need you to help her.”

        I froze inmid-reach. I loved my sister but I was trying to stay out of thewedding. I just wanted to shine my boots and walk my mother down theaisle.

        “What?” Istuttered.

        “She’s goingto be my photographer since my original one is in the hospital. Sheneeds help and you’re going to help her.” She poked me in thechest, hard. She spun on her heel and stalked off to torment someoneelse.

        I caught thelast balloon before turning to Katie. Her eyes were wide and hermouth opened into a little O. I smiled at her as she wrung her handstogether.

        “I don’tknow anything about being a photographer’s assistant.”

        “That’sfine.” A smile tugged at her lips. “I’ve never done a wedding.”She stage whispered, causing me to laugh.

        “That makestwo of us. I’ll take these over to my mom.” I motioned to thegrey-haired woman by the archway. “Then, I am at your beck andcall.” I winked at her as I walked past.

    My head spun asI crossed the room. I had to spend the next thirty-six hours beingwith the one girl I’ve crushed on. The one girl that wasoff-limits, because I worked for her family. There were three rulesto working on the Kisment ranch. No fighting, no drugs, and no datingtheir only daughter. It was shaping up to be a long wedding. I had tolive the next several hours without losing my heart or my job.

My Cowboy Crush is available in my shop, as a paperback, on all e-book retailers, or at your local library.

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Thank you for reading and see you next week!

Hugs,

Allie 

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