Free How to Rope a Real Man by Melissa Cutler Page A

“That’s the story of my life. My family still treats me like I’m a kid.” Not only was he the youngest, but he was the only sibling who wasn’t married or had kids of his own. “Drives me bat-shit crazy sometimes.”
    Jenna paused halfway onto the seat and touched his cheek. “Despite that, you’ve got a great family. I look forward to meeting your parents tonight at the wedding.”
    Tara angled forward, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “After I tell them about you and Matt’s teamwork to fix this flower emergency, I’m sure they’ll be dying to meet you too.”
    Bat. Shit. Crazy.
    He didn’t bother to scold Tara with a cranky expression, just closed the passenger door and crawled in the backseat. “Let’s move it, Tara. I need some coffee.”
    By nine o’clock, without a minute to spare, they’d returned to Carpe Diem to fashion flower toppers for the arch Kellan and Amy were going to stand under during the ceremony and the wedding party’s table at the reception. They’d then transferred the arrangements, bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres from the shop’s fridge into the back of Tara’s minivan.
    Time was flying way too fast. The wedding might not be until three o’clock, but the photographer would be there to take pictures of the bridal party at one. Which meant he and Tara needed to put some extra pressure on their gas pedals to make it to Catcher Creek in time for a beautician to stick flowers in Amy’s hair, better known as—he’d learned at about 2:00 A.M. —her updo.
    He programmed directions to Catcher Creek into the minivan’s GPS, then jumped into the driver’s seat of his SUV and jammed it in gear.
    Jenna’s purse chimed. She pawed through it and came up with a cell phone. “It’s Kellan, returning my text from earlier. Amy’s feeling better. That’s a relief.”
    “Excellent. I’m glad she got over whatever it was fast. You ready to ride with me again, darlin’?” he asked, cocking a brow in her direction as he navigated out of the parking lot.
    “I’d be your passenger any day. I wouldn’t even fight you for the keys.” She paired the remark with a set of bedroom eyes that heated him all the way down to where it counted.
    Yow. Guess it was his fault for opening the door to flirtation with his question, but it was going to be a long day for his fraying willpower. He was still going to allow himself to dance with her tonight at the wedding reception, if she’d have him, but that was a safe, public place and they’d be surrounded by people. Until then, he was not under any circumstances going to let himself touch any part of her or even allow his attention to linger on her figure too long.
    Irritated by how turned on he got by simply telling himself he wasn’t going to think about her body, he flipped on the radio, checked for cross-traffic, and pointed them south.
    After the windy drive down from the Rockies, it was a straight, flat shot to Highway 40, which would take them on into Quay County.
    He blazed over the blacktop like a rocket, with Tara’s minivan tailgating him. Every so often, the van’s speed would plummet before eating up the ground between their vehicles again. He could easily imagine her having sneezing fits, being trapped in a closed area with so many flowers. What a ridiculous way to live, ignoring what her body was trying to tell her.
    Jenna spent the first part of the drive on the phone with the cake lady, the event rental company, and who-knows-who-else, making arrangements and confirming arrival times. The hairstylist was going to meet them at the civic center, the DJ was all set, and between Rachel and Kellan’s mom, Tommy was taken care of.
    An hour and a half into the drive, she tossed her phone into her purse and shook out her arm.
    “We good to go on this wedding?” he asked.
    “Finally. I don’t think there’s anything more I can do from the road, which is good because my mind is toast.”
    “How about some music?” Anybody