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) 📗

those onions, you can rest assured there will be absolutely no kissing—or anything else—for the rest of the day. And possibly tomorrow.”

“Well, sweetheart, after what you put me through last night, I doubt I could muster the energy.”

Maggie feigned embarrassment while everyone laughed.

“Was that you making all that racket last night?” Bubba asked.

“No,” Maggie said. “I don’t know who that was, but I’d like to meet whoever released the Kraken.”

Alice knew, but she bit her tongue.

“I thought it would never end,” Trista said. “And when it finally did, I turned to Bubba and said I’ll have what she’s having.”

“You had it plenty,” Bubba said.

Trista shook her head. “No. I don’t think I did.”

“Well, you had something,” Bubba said. “And you weren’t complaining about it.”

“Hotel sex is the best,” Maggie said. “There’s just something special about a different bed and a do not disturb sign.”

Claire sighed. “I can’t wait until Rosa is old enough for sleepovers with my folks. She sleeps with us most nights, and we’ve had to get creative.”

“Oh, please,” Maggie said. “Like y’all ever had sex in an actual bed.”

Alice sipped her coffee and listened to the easy banter. She had nothing to contribute to the conversation. Not even any facts or figures.

JD Mayes walked up, followed by his husband, Gabriel Castro. “Is there room for two more?”

“Absolutely,” Bubba said, standing up and looking around for a couple of extra chairs. JD was Bubba’s business partner, and they’d been friends since kindergarten.

Carmen came back with the coffeepot and gave JD and Gabriel each a kiss on the cheek. “You guys doing the buffet? Or are we talking hair of the dog?”

“Hair of the dog,” JD said, running a hand over his handsome, but definitely haggard, face. “Thanks, Carmen.”

Bubba dragged two extra chairs to the table as everyone shifted to make room. They ended up with four on one side and four on the other, with Alice relegated to the end.

Carmen brought two more micheladas to the table and set them in front of JD and Gabriel. “Menudo’s coming out soon,” she said, collapsing into the other empty chair on the end. “Whew! We’re short on busboys, and as you all might have heard, my manager is on her honeymoon.”

Bubba sat up straighter in his chair. “Do you need help?”

“Are you serious?”

“Sure I am. I used to bus tables at the Corner Café. My parents had all of us kids working there from the time we could walk.”

“I doubt that’s legal,” Gabriel said. “But my menudo can wait. I’m happy to help, too.”

“What do you need us to do?” Claire asked.

Carmen shook her head. “No, guys. You don’t have to—”

Bubba had spotted a bus cart in the corner and was already headed that way.

Alice smiled at Carmen. “You indicated you needed help, and now you’re going to get it.”

“Y’all are so weird in this town,” Carmen said, with a barely suppressed grin. “You help people and make direct eye contact, and I’ll never get used to it.”

“You’re welcome,” Maggie said.

Carmen laughed. “Seriously, I appreciate it. The church crowd is going to roll through that door any minute, and they’re worse than my Houston A-list at nine o’clock on a Saturday night.”

“People go to dinner at nine o’clock at night?” Travis asked.

Before Carmen could answer, the door opened and a mob of ladies waltzed in, tittering and chattering in their Sunday dresses.

Alice stood. Bubba was already clearing a table, and the one next to it could use clearing as well. She did a quick head count of the group at the door to see how many tables they’d need . . . six, seven, eight . . .

Ugh! Her skin prickled with irritation. Beau Montgomery was holding the door open, nodding and smiling at all the church ladies like he was a freaking choirboy.

“You okay, Alice?” Carmen asked.

Alice crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as Carmen followed her gaze to where Beau stood, surrounded by his silver-haired harem of senior citizens.

“Aw,” Carmen said. “Jessica says he comes here with his grandmother nearly every Sunday. Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?”

“Ha!” Alice said. “Beau Montgomery is no angel, believe me.”

“I know,” Carmen said, cheeks slightly flushed. “I hear he’s a beast in bed, and that he never sleeps with the same woman twice.”

“Everybody in the hotel knows he’s a beast in bed,” Alice said. “It’s why we all have circles under our eyes this morning.”

Carmen gasped. “That was Beau?”

Alice slapped a hand over her mouth. Oops.

Beau held his breath against the cloud of perfume fog and guided Nonnie to the hostess station, where Holly Vickers smiled brightly. “Hi, Mrs. Montgomery. That sure is some pretty turquoise you’re wearing.”

“Thank you, dear,” Nonnie said, straightening the strand of blue beads. “It was a gift from Beau.”

Holly raised an eyebrow at Beau. “Well, isn’t he sweet?”

Beau returned the smile and removed his hat—white Stetson reserved for Sundays, weddings, and funerals—while watching Holly’s cheeks turn as pink as a honey-baked ham on Easter. “Hi, Holly.”

All he’d done was say hi, but Nonnie applied pressure to the sensitive flesh of his inner arm in a way that said, Cut it out, Casanova.

“Table for two?” Holly asked.

“Three,” Beau said. “Bryce is joining us.”

Holly looked into the dining room. “We’re really packed this morning. And short-staffed. You might have to wait a few minutes while we clear a table.”

“We can head on over to the Corner Café,” Beau said to Nonnie. “I can text Bryce and let him know—”

Nonnie shook her head. “Don’t be silly. We’re already here.”

“It looks like a table is being cleared right now,” Holly said. “Just give us two minutes.”

Beau followed Holly’s gaze to a corner table, where a woman in extremely short shorts leaned over to grab some plates.

Damn. Very nice.

“Goodness!” Nonnie said. “Is that Alice Martin?”

Where?

Beau scanned all the nearby tables, but saw no sign of Judgy McJudgypants. But then a perky brown ponytail caught his eye, and it was attached to the woman he’d been eyeing in the super-short shorts.

“What