The Cowboy's Sweet Elopement

The cowboy and his best friend...
April MacFarlane wishes her best friend, veterinarian, Brant Wylder would see her as more than another rescue. Someone he might choose for his own happily ever after.

Can she convince him the only thing in need of rescue is her heart?

Brant knows April’s life is a mess, and figures the last thing she needs is her BFF hitting on her. After all, he just extracted her from a loveless marriage, gave her a job, as well as a home for her and her four-year-old son. Plus, she’s got to be freaking out over the sudden return of her first love, the man everyone believes came to win her back…

There’s no way April’s ready for love.

But when Brant and April find themselves on the doorstep to the local chapel on New Year’s Eve, ready to say “I do” for reasons of practicality, will this cowboy find a way to move out of the friend zone and into the husband zone?

Find out in The Cowboy’s Sweet Elopement, a friends to lovers sweet romance which can be read alone or within The Cowboys of Sweetheart Creek, Texas series.

“Hello?” Out of habit as a small town veterinarian always on call, Brant had his cell phone to his ear before he was fully awake. Something was on his left arm, and his bed felt softer than the one at Carmichael’s. Where had he fallen asleep?

“It’s mine,” April said, rolling off his arm to collect her phone from the bedside table nearest her.

“Sorry,” Brant muttered groggily. He lifted his head and peered around April’s bedroom. Light was streaming in through the open curtains and they were on top of the covers, fully clothed, Ryan’s homemade champagne gone. April had been curled into his side, his arm tucked under her.

She sat up, gripping her phone. “Hey, Maria. Happy New Year!” Her voice sounded a bit too high, a bit too tight, as though she was hiding something.

Brant felt a jolt of panic.

They’d gotten married last night. Eloped.

It had hurt his mom to discover Ryan had done the same thing years ago. She’d found out only recently, and while she had tried to hide her pain, Brant had seen it. Now he’d repeated what Ryan had done—slipped away to get married without telling a soul.

Why couldn’t he have taken some time and treated April and his family to a proper wedding?

Because he’d been afraid she would back out?

What kind of man was he if that was his big motivator for moving fast?

He groaned and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

“A fever?” April said into the phone. “How bad?”

“Kurt?” Brant asked, turning to watch her.

Kurt. His stepson. He was a stepdad.

He felt the smile start, but then thought of what Kurt might think or feel when he found out. The boy might not be ready to have his father replaced in his mother’s heart.
Why hadn’t Brant thought of that last night? He’d been so wrapped up in April’s kisses and a caveman-like urge to pull her away from Heath and Cole so he could stake his claim as her number-one man. He had agreed with her argument about quieting the rumors, but hadn’t thought about the ones they might start with such a hasty wedding right after her divorce, or what it could do to their families.
April’s forehead crinkled, and she held her phone out to check the screen. She tapped it a few times. “It died. Can I borrow yours?” She reached across the bed, palm up. “Kurt’s running a fever.”

Brant’s phone rang in his hand. He answered it.

“Hello?”

“You’re with April,” his mother stated, her voice even, revealing no hint of surprise.

They had come here last night, settled in with the champagne and a mostly ignored movie on April’s tablet, sometimes kissing, sometimes laughing and joking like best friends, until they’d fallen asleep before dawn. Not once had they discussed a plan for today.

“I am. Is Kurt okay? April said he has a fever?”

“Can she come and get him? I think he’d like to be home with his mom.”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Brant ended the call before his mom could ask anything further, and stared at the black screen.

April was already on the move. Last night she’d switched out of the tight dress, opting for a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. To him she looked just as sexy in the loose wear, her hair tousled and her body soft from sleep.

“Want me to make coffee?” Brant asked. He’d ditched his socks in the night, and now he walked around the bed, looking for them on the floor.

“If your mom called, I should go now.”

“I can drive you.”

“I’ve got it. You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” he said. “Anyway, your car’s still at the Watering Hole.”

April’s eyes met his for a moment, and they stared at each other across the bed. Brant could see the doubts, the worries in his wife’s eyes. All their arguments about why they should elope seemed less convincing in the light of day. He wanted to sweep her into his arms and give her a good-morning kiss that reminded her of all the reasons they’d said “I do” last night, all the reasons they could do this.