Excerpt from Dad Bod Cowboy
Grady
The closer I get to Saddle Creek and my girl, the more excited I get.
It’s not that I never leave Taylor alone, she spends the night at her best friend’s house and my dad’s house all the time.
But for the most part it’s been the two of us against the world since she was a toddler. I miss her when I’m away.
Still, I had to drive to Houston to pick up these new heifers. Then there were some issues and I ended up having to stay there for two days. Thankfully my sister, Daphne, was able to go stay at my house so my ten-year old daughter wasn’t alone.
But now I’m almost home. I know that once I drive over the next rise and dip, then I’ll see the big tree.
Just thinking about that tree reminds me of her. The woman I found wandering around my property nearly a month ago. I still have no idea who she was or why she was there.
But fuck if I don’t remember everything about her. She was a walking example of that saying that big things come in small packages. I mean I’m a big guy, bigger than most, so women often look small next to me. She was short, but thick and curvy in all the right places.
Brown curls covered her head and fuck if I haven’t always had a thing for curly hair. I got close enough to see her dark brown—nearly black—eyes and her round cheeks and the smattering of freckles across those cheeks and the bridge of her pert little nose.
Goddammit, I might as well write a poem for all the thoughts I’m having about an interaction that took less than five minutes.
After I asked her what she was doing on my property, the woman fainted.
I’d caught her, holding those soft, plush curves against my body while I’d tried to figure out what to do.
Then her boyfriend or husband had appeared and carried her away from me with a tight “thanks.”
Maybe I remember it because of how strange of an interaction it was. But if I had any artistic ability, I could draw that woman. I have no idea what her boyfriend looked like. I remember what she was wearing, but do not recall putting my own clothes on that day—or any day since.
It’s annoying. And that’s without mentioning the times I’ve seen her sweet face in my dreams.
I shake my head as if to dispel the image. Then I begin the climb over that rise that will take me to my land. When I first catch sight of the tree, I almost think it’s not my big oak, but instead someone else’s land. Because there are vehicles and people all around.
“What the fuck?”
I turn left to get to my driveway. I’ve got to unload these cows before I can investigate what’s going on there. But as I’m turning, I catch sight of a plump, perfect ass encased in a short denim skirt.
It’s her. I know it’s her.
I slam my truck into park and jump down. As soon as I’ve got the cows out of the trailer, I can go find out what in the actual fuck is going on.
My sister, Daphne, comes running out of my house as if she’s been looking out the window waiting for me to arrive.
“Grady,” she begins. She’s definitely using her ‘let’s all calm down now’ tone.
I point in the direction where all the people were. “What the fuck is happening over there?”
She jumps into action, helping me lead the cattle out of the trailer and into the temporary pen. They’ll need to be branded and seen by our vet before we can integrate them with the rest of the herd.
“Before you lose your shit,” Daphne says. “You need to understand that they have all their ducks in a row.”
“What are you even talking about?”
“It’s legal. I checked with Blake.”
“What’s legal? I don’t even know what’s happening!”
“Because of course Marianne didn’t give you a heads up, did she? How is it possible to continue to find new reasons to dislike someone after all this time?”
The mention of my ex-wife’s name makes the hairs on my arms stand up. “What did she do this time?”
“Evidently she signed a contract allowing for the filming of a music video up on that strip of her land.”
“A music video? I thought those died when MTV became a reality show channel.”
“No. People watch them online still.”
“Well, not here, they don’t.” I slam the pen shut. “I’m going to put an end to this nonsense.”
“I’ll just stay at the house and wait for Taylor to get dropped off. Garrett picked her up today.”
I nod. “Thanks.” My siblings are the best. I mean they can be the worst too because they’re siblings, but when it comes to my daughter, they are the absolute best. Then I storm off in the direction of the big tree.
Music video, my ass!
By the time I get there, the bulk of the vehicles have left, but there’s a trailer parked at the edge of the land. It’s like all the bugs scattered when I turned on the lights. That’s right jackasses, get off my land!
The trailer sits on the other side of the fence. It’s one of those fancy looking trailers that in movies has a big gold star on the door. Ridiculous.
I pound on the door.
It opens to reveal that curvy goddess with the brown ringlets.
“It’s you,” she says, her tone wistful. She smiles and her molten brown eyes rake over my form.
I haven’t had a woman check me out in a long time. Okay, that might not be true. Maybe it happens all the time and I just haven’t noticed. When I’m in dad mode—which is all the time, I don’t pick up women. So yeah, it’s been a long time for me. My daughter is ten. Go ahead and do the math.
I snap out of whatever spell this woman put me under. “Yeah, it’s me. Who the fuck did you think it would be. My land,” I tap on my chest. “Remember?”
“I do remember, but in truth I thought you might have been a dream.”
She pops her fists on her hips which does two things: one, it makes her tits press forward, and two, it brings my eyes to the curve of her waist and the flair of her hips. The truth is, I need neither of those things to want to stare at her curves. Fuck!
“You don’t have to be so rude!” she snaps.
And now I’m staring at her plump lips all squished up to form a perfect little rosebud. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“I need to know why you’re here and who told you you could be here.”
“I spoke with your wife earlier,” she points in the direction of my house.
“Daphne is my sister,” I say.
“Oh. Well, I showed her the contract.”
I hold out my hand. “I want to see it. My sister does not live here on this property with me.”
She turns around and grabs her phone from some surface behind her then swipes a few times and holds it out to me. “Here.”
I roll my eyes. “Can you send me a copy so I can have my attorney look at it?”
“You have an attorney?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have an entire team of them, and this contract is completely legal.”
I rattle off my phone number. “Just text me a copy.”
She taps on her screen and then my pocket vibrates. “Done. Now are you finished growling at me?”
“I am not growling.”
“Oh, you’re most definitely growling. You’re like a big ol’ bear with your scowling and grumbling.” She says all of this with a hint of smile playing at her lips.
I don’t find it amusing. Instead, I’d like to put this woman over my knee and… NO!
So I just turn around and walk away.
Grab your copy of Dad Bod Cowboy