Once
Upon a Cowboy
Whisper Creek # 1
Whisper Creek # 1
By: Maggie McGinnis
Releasing June 30, 2015
Loveswept 
Blurb
In
this sexy Whisper Creek romance for readers of Kristan Higgins, Susan Mallery,
and Molly O’Keefe, a red-hot cowboy uses some Montana magic to give a reclusive
beauty her happily ever after.
Yoga
instructor Jessalyn Alcott radiates peace, calm, and serenity—on the outside.
Inside, she still feels like the broken, desperate girl from the trailer park.
She’s got dark secrets she can’t share, which is why she never lets her
relationships go beyond the third date. But when she travels to the Whisper
Creek dude ranch for a friend’s wedding, Jess is enchanted by a cowboy whose
deep blue eyes, dimpled smile, and rock-hard body make it tough to remember why
she keeps running scared.
Cole
Driscoll has struggled to find his place on a family ranch where he’s always
played second fiddle. His future might be uncertain, but he’s sure of one
thing: He wants Jess by his side. Easier said than done. When it comes to getting
close, she’s full of excuses, and he longs to fix the hurt he sees in her eyes.
Now that she’s at Whisper Creek, there’s nothing he wants more than to break
down the walls around her heart and heal her pain with the power of love.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/03/once-upon-cowboywhisper-creek-3-by.html
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23395415-once-upon-a-cowboy?ac=1
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/145426-whisper-creek
Author Info
Maggie McGinnis, USA
Today Bestselling Author of Accidental Cowgirl and Driving Without a License,
which was a finalist for Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award is a
former high school English teacher, an accomplished musician, and a certified
black belt, who lives in New England with her family.
Website: http://www.maggiemcginnis.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Maggie_McGinnis
Excerpt
2
“Oh, lordy. I forgot my shoes!” Jess
handed her carry-on bag to her landlady and scrambled back through the door of
her yoga studio. Forgetting a jacket was one thing, but showing up for
bridesmaid duty at Montana’s Whisper Creek Ranch in flip-flops would send her
friend Hayley into serious bridezilla mode.
She flew back down the stairs, but as
she reached for the door, the studio phone rang. She debated letting it go to
voice mail, but since Hayley had called six times already this morning to add
items to her packing list, she figured she’d better answer. She put the phone
to her ear, but before she could say hello, a voice rasped over the line, and
Jess’s eyes widened in fright.
“Knock-knock,” growled a
cigarette-fried throat that could belong to only one person. Jess’s hand shook
as her knees buckled. Then there was a cackle. “What’s the matter? You forget
how to play this game? You’re supposed to say who’s there?”
Jess spun around, eyes taking in the
gleaming hardwood floors of her yoga studio, the mats piled neatly in one
corner, the sunny little shop area in the other corner, the brand-new door with
its brand-new locks. The busy Boston street outside her door was a far cry from
the dumpy Charleston suburb she’d left in the rearview mirror thirteen long
years ago, but South Carolina suddenly felt very, very close.
They couldn’t possibly know where she
was. They just—couldn’t.
But they apparently had her number.
She hadn’t heard this voice for thirteen years, except in her nightmares, but
here it was on the other end of the phone.
She took a deep breath in through her
nose, exhaling carefully as she gripped the receiver with white knuckles. At
least it wasn’t Billy. God help her—it wasn’t Billy.
“I’m sorry. I think you have the wrong
number.” She cringed as her voice shook.
The cackling laughter at the other end
of the line dissolved into a coughing spasm and a series of expletives. Then,
“Bullshit, princess. I have exactly the right number. Yours.”
Jess slammed the phone back into its
cradle, but missed and had to do it again. She tried to take a series of
calming breaths, but instead ended up walking in circles, her heart thumping so
fast that she started to feel faint.
The phone rang again, and she almost
tripped. After four rings, the call went to the ancient answering machine on
the desk. The same voice was still cackling as she left her message. “Not gonna
answer now? Your auntie calls for the first time in thirteen years, and now
you’re gonna play possum?”
There was a long pause, another cough.
“All right, then. I’ve waited this long. Guess a few more days won’t hurt.” She
coughed again, and Jess winced. Two packs a day hadn’t killed her yet, but it
couldn’t be too much longer before they did. “We got a lot to talk about, princess.
Maybe you’ve gone and forgot about Billy, but he ain’t forgot about you. Mack,
neither. I think you know what I mean. You call me. Same number.” Cough.
Cackle. “We ain’t gone nowhere since you left.”
The answering machine clicked as
Luanne hung up. If history held, she’d light up another Salem Light, creak back
in her crusty recliner, and use her remaining teeth to chaw on a beef jerky
she’d dipped in her Old Milwaukee beer. Breakfast.
Jess wrung her hands as she started
pacing again. How had they found her number?
How had they found her name, for God’s sake?
Someone rapped on the door, and she
grabbed her throat as her heart rate spiked again. They couldn’t be
here. Not possible.
“Yo, Jess. Cabbie’s getting
impatient.”
Oh, thank God. Just Gianna. She’d left the poor
landlady standing on the sidewalk surrounded by suitcases. Jess tried to calm
her heart rate before she went back outside, but it was useless. Finally, she
headed through the door, pulling it closed behind her and locking the three
deadbolts.
Gianna raised her eyebrows as Jess
double-checked the last lock. “You expecting zombies while you’re gone?”
Jess swallowed hard. Worse. “No.”
Gianna’s eyes made a quick dart from
the door to her. “You look like you’re expecting zombies. You all
right?”
“Yes. Fine. Just fine.” Jess opened
the cab door and tossed in her carry-on bag. “I’m late, that’s all.”
“You got everything?”
Jess pointed to her shoes, shaking her
head. “I do now.”
Gianna took her by the shoulders and
kissed both cheeks. “You have fun out there, missy. You haven’t had a vacation
in way too long. You just stay in Montana as long as you want to. I got
everything covered here.” She motioned Jess into the cab. “Go. Have fun. Enjoy
the wedding. Maybe find a cowboy so I can live vicariously through you, okay?”
Jess’s stomach jumped at the thought
of one particular cowboy at Whisper Creek. She hadn’t seen Cole since
Christmastime, but she’d checked in on him via the ranch’s website once or
twice a month, or maybe—ahem—daily.
“I’ll do my best, Gianna. I will
definitely do my best.” She blew her a kiss and closed the door, but Gianna put
a hand up to stop her.
“Almost forgot. Mail came while you
were inside. I was going to just hold it till you got back, but this one looks
important.” She handed a manila envelope through the window, then waved and
thumped the roof, kicking the cabbie into gear.
As the taxi reached the end of the
street and careened onto the next one, Jess held on to the door handle, cursing
herself for not finding a friend to drive her to Logan Airport. Even on a
Sunday morning, she’d rather navigate Boston traffic on a unicycle than put her
life into the hands of one of the city’s cabbies.
When they entered the tunnel that
dumped them out near the airport, Jess tried not to think about how much an
ocean weighed, or whether the people who’d designed this underwater Slinky had
gotten Ds in Structural Engineering. She needed distraction as the cab
inched forward, and even the phone call of twenty minutes ago wasn’t enough of
one.
She was debating whether it was legal
to jump out of the taxi and just wait for it at the far end of the tunnel when
her gaze landed on the envelope Gianna had slid through the window. She pulled
it out of the carry-on pocket where she’d stuffed it, then flipped it over to
look at it.
When she saw the return address, she
felt icy prickles slide up her scalp.
Then her voice made a strangled,
pitiful sound she hardly recognized, and she dropped the envelope on the floor.
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