Asking For Trouble (48 page)

It took a few minutes for the stage hands to
set up the stage for Jess's set, and he sat impatiently on the edge
of his chair, waiting for them to finish, so he could count down
the songs, until it was time for him to go up on that stage and
potentially make a damned fool of himself. If there was any woman
he was willing to do that for, it was Jazzie Ramos.

For her, if he had to, he'd climb a mountain
to ask her to marry him...and if she said no, he'd just jump off
the other side. Here, he didn't know what he would do, probably beg
and embarrass himself more, he thought. He didn't deserve her, he
knew that, but he sure as hell hoped she didn't realize that.

When someone tapped him on the shoulder, he
looked over his shoulder and saw Susan Whitmore standing there. He
turned in his chair, hoping Carlos hadn't sent her over here to rag
on him too, because he was going to lose total control.

"Hi, Susan," he said and forced a smile.

"I need to talk to you when you get a
moment, is now good?" she asked with a lifted brow.

"Um, no, sorry, I'm kind of busy..." he told
her and pointed at the stage.

"Well, let me give you something to chew
on...I know you left the Rangers. I want to talk to you about
coming to work for me at the agency. I need a right hand man now,
since you killed Hanson," she snorted, then said with a grin,
"Awfully convenient that you did that, so now there's a job opening
for you."

"I thought you considered me a rookie?" he
said sarcastically, then leaned back and crossed his arms over his
chest.

"I was just jacking with you, you know
that," she said and waved a hand. "You're damned good, and I could
use you watching my back--I don't trust anyone now," she told him
seriously.

"Can't say that I blame you," he snorted and
said. "And I can see why you'd worry, you're not exactly a pleasant
woman."

Susan laughed loudly, almost a belly laugh,
then told him, "See, that's why I need you. You don't hold your
punches, and you're not scared of me."

"Damn, right I'm not," he growled, but then
softened it with a grin.

"Just think about it, and I'll call you
tomorrow," she told him, then actually put her hand on his shoulder
and squeezed, before she walked back to the Ramos table.

Beau shook his head, amazed. Maybe Susan
wasn't as bad as he thought she was, he'd have to think about that,
and about her offer...talk to Jazzie about it, and see what she
thought. He liked that he had someone to talk things over with, he
liked that it was Jazzie even better. The stage hands finished
setting up, and the lights dimmed, then a spotlight lit the stage.
He saw Den, the drummer walk behind the drum set, and the
guitarists Tony and Mike pick up their instruments from the stands
and get ready, then Jazzie walked onto the stage, and Beaus tongue
rolled up in his throat like a cheap window shade to choke him.

She had on a skin-tight red spandex bandage
dress that was shorter than he'd ever seen her wear before, with
heels so high, it looked like she was standing on her toes. In her
hand was a red highly lacquered instrument that looked like a
fiddle, but it had to be something else. It looked space-aged,
there wasn't a body to it, just a curvy thin frame, and a neck with
strings.

Her wide smile lit up the stage brighter
than the spotlight shining down on her. She put the strange looking
fiddle to her chin, then nodded backstage. Jess skipped out onto
the stage in painted on leather pants, and a black halter top, that
barely contained her bosom, and rhinestone cowboy boots that added
about four inches to her already considerable height. Den started a
rhythm on the drums, then the guitars joined in and Jazzie started
moving her hips in time, which made Beau have extreme difficulty
sitting still in his seat.

Jess started singing
Living the
Dream
, an up tempo single from their CD, in her raspy, sexy
voice, and the crowd sang with her during the chorus. That's when
you knew you'd made it, when your lyrics, became something people
just knew. She played the crowd, and Jazzie played her fiddle like
she wanted to start a bonfire back behind her, adding flavor and
spice to the guitars. She danced around too, and played off of
Mike, as they got into the tune and poured heart into it.

Next, they played
Angel and My Baby
Girl
, their platinum single, then finished the set with
Take
My Breath Away
, which it looked like she was singing to Wade,
because her eyes never left him, while she sang. The man had a
goofy lovestruck grin on his face.

Beau knew that feeling, he felt the same way
when he laid eyes on the beautiful Latina he loved more than life.
When the song ended, Jess's words broke him from his daze. "Now, we
have a special guest..." she purred and looked at him and narrowed
her eyes like
'you'd better get your ass up here now'
.

He'd been so into the songs, he'd forgotten
he was supposed to be waiting backstage when she announced him.
Beau vaulted from his chair and actually took off running for the
stairs to go backstage. People giggled and whispered as he ran by
them, but he didn't care. He took the four stairs in pairs and
stood behind the curtain breathing hard and sweating. Beau ran a
finger along the collar of his tux shirt to loosen it, because it
suddenly felt like it was choking him.

"Jazzie, you need to put your fiddle down,
sugar," she said then while Jazzie did that, Jess chuckled and
added, "For those who don't know her, this is Jazzie Ramos, our
fiddler, and the new Executive Director of the Future of Music
Foundation, as well as the best friend a girl could have," she said
and hugged her.

The crowd roared in applause, and Jess
waited until they finished, then told Jazzie, "Someone here tonight
has something special to say to you, so close your eyes," Jess told
her and Jazzie huffed out a breath and looked at the crowd, but
then complied, folding her arms under her breasts. Jazzie wondered
what her friend was up to, and hoped it wasn't something
embarrassing.

They were supposed to be playing the new
song Jess had written for tonight, but instead, she was doing this.
"What are you up to, Jess...if this is some practical joke, I'm
gonna kill you," she mumbled quietly, so nobody but Jess could
hear.

"It's no joke, sweetheart," a sexy deep and
very familiar voice said, and she opened her eyes and stared up
into Beau's green gaze, and her mouth fell open. He took her hand
in his and then eased down onto one knee, and Jazzie gasped. Jess
held the microphone near him, and he reached into the pocket of his
trousers and pulled out a box, then flicked it open with his thumb
and she felt her legs wobble.

"Oh, my god," she said in a breathless
whisper.

In an emotion filled voice, Beau said,
"Jazzie Ramos, you've brought music into my life, as surely as
you're trying to bring it into the lives of children. That music is
so sweet, and you are so special to me, that I want to hear that
song for the rest of my life, sugar. I love you Jazzie, will you
marry me?" Beau's gorgeous green eyes glistened with moisture, and
his lips weren't steady.

She pulled her eyes from his and looked at
the beautiful ring nestled in the blue velvet box, and sucked in a
shuddering breath, then let it out slowly. "Beau..."

"Please, Jazzie," he whispered brokenly. He
must've thought she was going to turn him down. Like that was going
to happen. She put her hand on the side of his face and rubbed his
cheek with her thumb. "Yes, Beau, I'll marry you...I love you," she
said and his face relaxed, then he stood up and pulled her into a
crushing embrace, and kissed her hair.

"Oh, god, sweetheart, you scared the crap
out of me..." he mumbled fiercely against her hair.

"Can't let you think I'm easy, can I now?"
she asked sassily, then laughed.

"There ain't nothing easy about you, baby. I
knew when I met you that you were trouble waiting to happen, but
damn if I'm not glad it happened with me. I love you, Jazzie," Beau
told her then claimed her mouth in a hungry kiss.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Becky McGraw is a married mother of three
adult children, and a Southern girl by birth and the grace of God,
ya'll. One of several career changes transplanted Becky and her
family to Indiana, where she now lives with her husband and dog
Abby.

A jack of many trades in her life, Becky has
been an optician, a beautician, a legal secretary, a senior project
manager for an aviation management consulting firm, which took her
all over the United States, a real estate broker, and now a graphic
artist, web designer and writer.

She knows just enough about a variety of
topics to make her dangerous, and her romance novels interesting
and varied. Being a graphic artist is a good thing for her too,
because she creates her own cover art, along with writing the
novels.

Becky has been an avid reader of romance
novels since she was a teenager, and has been known to read up to
four novels of that genre a week, much to the dismay of her
husband, and the delight of e-book sellers.

She has been writing fictional short stories
and novels for fun, as well as technical copy for her jobs for many
years. She was a member of the Writer's Guild on AOL during her
last venture into writing romance, as well as a founding member and
treasurer of the first online chapter of the Romance Writers of
America, From the Heart Romance Writers.

With the advancement of online publishing
opportunities, Becky has started writing again as voraciously as
she reads. Be looking for all of the books in her Texas Trouble
Series, a contemporary cowboy romance series, with hot cowboys, a
dash of suspense, and a lot of southern flavor.

***

Be sure to read the first five books in the
Texas Trouble Series, by Becky McGraw,
MY KIND OF TROUBLE
(#1, Texas Trouble),
THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE
(#2 Texas
Trouble),
DOUBLE THE TROUBLE
(#3, Texas Trouble),
LOOKING
FOR TROUBLE
(#4, Texas Trouble) , and
TROUBLE IN DIXIE
(#5, Texas Trouble)

READ EXCERPTS BELOW

MY KIND OF TROUBLE

by Becky McGraw, Texas Trouble Series #1

Copyright @ June 18, 2012

Cassie Bellamy thought she'd left Bowie,
Texas and Luke Matthews behind for good. She'd been gone for ten
years and in that time had built a successful real estate business,
had a new fiancé, and had all but forgotten about the Texas bad boy
who'd sent her running to Phoenix in the first place.

She wouldn't be going back now, but her
daddy needed her at the Double B.

Driving her old pickup truck "Bessie" back
to Bowie had seemed like a good idea when she'd left Phoenix, but
it didn't seem so good when she was broken down on the side of the
road in ninety plus Texas weather in between Bowie and her daddy's
farm. And it seemed an even worse idea when her knight in brown
khaki turned out to be none other than the bad boy himself, a
Sheriff now, and still as hot as the Texas sun.

Cassie does her best to ignore Luke and
remember her fiancé back in Phoenix, but Luke seems determined to
make her remember his kisses and their nights of stargazing by the
lake instead. And she definitely still has stars in her eyes when
she looks at the delectable Sheriff.

Luke Matthews had worked damned hard to
change the way people thought of him. He wasn't know as the bad boy
son of the town's drunk anymore, they called him Sheriff now. For
ten years, Luke had been living on the right side of the law, and
had forgotten about Cassie Bellamy, the woman who'd left him
dangling on a limb ten years ago.

All that changes when he plays good
Samaritan and stops to rescue a woman stranded on the side of the
road. He finds out the fine behind and illegally long legs sticking
out from under the hood of the beat up old truck belong to Cassie
Bellamy. She was back in Bowie and just as sassy and stubborn as
always...looking better than ever.

Luke is determined to get answers as to why
she left like she did, and she's just as determined to keep him at
arm's length. Taking the choice away from her, Luke takes a
vacation from his job, and hires on at the Double B as a ranch hand
to help out while her daddy's down. The heat and the close
proximity work in his favor and soon Luke has her cornered like a
stray calf...but what was he going to do with her now?

He had a few ideas, and all of them involved
a king-sized bed and his lasso. She might be trouble, but Cassie
Bellamy had always been his kind of trouble...and if it took
hog-tying to get her to believe that, he was definitely game.

THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE

by Becky McGraw, Texas Trouble Series #2

Copyright @ July 2, 2012

Sabrina Roberts has become a reclusive
workaholic, since her husband Kenny, an adrenaline junky cop, was
killed in the line of duty eighteen months ago. Determined not to
let the same thing happen to her after his death, Sabrina makes her
job as a detective with the Phoenix Police Department her life.