Must Love Cowboys: This steamy and heart-warming cowboy rom-com is a must-read! (Once Upon A Time In by Carly Bloom (ereader for textbooks .txt) 📗

Beau crammed the last of his sandwich in his mouth. “Ha-ha,” he said.

Bryce wiped his eyes. “So, what’s your deal, then? What does Alice get out of this?”

“Believe it or not, she needs a plus-one for Brittany Fox’s wedding. Otherwise Brittany is going to fix her up with her uncle.”

“The one with the wet hands?”

“Yep. Anyway, it’s just a wedding. One date.”

“So, it’s a date?”

“Well, not a date date.”

“I know how dates end for you, Beau.”

“Think of me as her escort.”

Bryce cocked an eyebrow. “If you Google escort service, you’ll see that you’re not exactly digging yourself out of this hole.”

“Remember when you and I escorted Nonnie to the church’s Sweetheart Banquet for Valentine’s Day? It’s like that.”

Bryce crossed his arms over his chest. “If you say so.”

Alice frantically ran a lint roller over her royal blue chair and then ripped the little sticky sheet off in disgust. There was still a layer of hair on the chair, and she’d used at least six sheets already.

Woof!

“Hush,” Alice said. “Or I’ll make a rug out of you. Although maybe not, since you’re apparently going bald.”

As if she’d recognized the word bald, Sultana jumped up on the love seat, her eyes trained on Gaston’s wagging tail like she was watching a tennis match.

“Oh my God! Sully, you’re covered in dog hair, too.”

Alice used three more sticky sheets on the chair before starting on the love seat. She sniffed the room and wrinkled her nose. Dang it. It was definitely eau de hound.

She lit a lavender-scented candle while giving stinky Gaston the side-eye. Then she went into the kitchen to set out some snacks. Beau wasn’t company, but he was still a guest in her home. Chips, salsa, and a package of Oreos. They’d been Beau’s favorite when he was a kid.

She only had a few minutes to get dressed, and Gaston followed her to the bedroom, where he immediately jumped onto her bed. There was no time to fight with him, so she ignored it and slipped into a pale pink sundress and white sandals. She redid her ponytail, applied a little lip gloss, and she was done.

By the time she got back in the kitchen, it was only five minutes until Beau was supposed to arrive. She snagged the bag of Oreos, ripped into it, and ate two before she’d even realized she’d done it. Then she put the rest on a plate.

Tonight, she’d try to discover what kind of a learner Beau was. They’d do a few sample tests that would give her a better idea of which program to start with.

Dyslexia didn’t have a one-size-fits-all solution. But there was almost always a solution if you didn’t give up. Her heart ached to think of how misunderstood Beau had probably been his entire life. Heck, she’d misunderstood him. Even though Mrs. Montgomery had told her that Beau had a hard time in school, Alice had been too young and inexperienced to connect the dots. She’d been impatient and frustrated, thinking Beau was just lazy. All the acting up he’d done was typical behavior for some kids with learning disabilities. They often misbehaved as a distraction from their challenges.

Having a twin had probably been both a curse and a blessing. She thought about Cowboy Story Time. Bryce was still covering for Beau.

Woof! Woof!

Gaston ran to the back door, and two seconds later, somebody tapped on it. She hadn’t expected Beau to come through the kitchen.

She straightened her ponytail and opened the door.

Oh! It was just Dolly from next door. Ever since she’d given Alice the cat, Dolly had started doing pop-ins to check on Sultana. Alice didn’t usually mind visiting with Dolly, but she preferred some advance warning.

“Hi, Dolly. Now is not really a good—”

Woof!

Gaston ran out of the kitchen and to the front window, where he nosed the curtains open.

Woof!

Dolly looked surprised, and possibly a little incensed that someone else had the nerve to visit Alice. “Who’s here?”

“Nobody,” Alice said. “I mean, obviously it’s somebody. I’m expecting someone, actually. But it’s just a person.”

“Well, goodness,” Dolly said, marching to the front door. “Let’s let them in.”

“Oh, wait. Let me get the dog—”

Too late. Dolly opened the door, and Gaston made a run for it. He didn’t get far, though, because Beau grabbed him by the collar.

Alice ran over and wrenched Gaston’s collar from Beau’s hand. “Hi, Beau. Sorry about this. Come on in.” She pulled Gaston inside and Beau followed, but the dog broke free just as Beau shut the door. He ran straight to Beau and sniffed hysterically, especially at the boots. And then he began to hump Beau’s leg.

Alice had not anticipated the possibility of leg-humping. She’d never seen Gaston do such a thing, but then again, Gaston had never seen Beau, and on a certain level, Alice understood the reaction. “Oh God. Gaston! Stop it.”

Beau shook Gaston off. Then he looked at Alice with a shell-shocked expression. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

“It’s not mine,” Alice said, dragging Gaston through the kitchen to the back door as Beau and Dolly followed. “My parents are on vacation for a whole month, and I’m dog sitting.”

She huffed and puffed and grunted, but Gaston had decided to sit, and it was like tugging on a boulder.

Beau opened the door and whistled. “Out, boy.”

Gaston hopped right up and ran out the door. Beau shut it behind him with a grin. “You’re not used to being around animals much, are you? You’ve got to be kind, but firm. Show them who’s boss.”

At that moment, Sultana sauntered in to gloat over Gaston’s expulsion from the premises.

“Shit,” Beau said, backing into the counter. “What the holy hell is that?”

Dolly walked through the doorway and picked up Sultana. “This is my cat.”

“Actually,” Alice said. “It’s my ca—”

“I have seen cats before,” Beau said. “That is not a cat. I don’t know where you got it, but you should take it back. Before something bad happens.”

Dolly waved him off. “She’s