Forever Cowboy (Montana Brides Book 5) by Leeanna Morgan

in Bordello Red and say it’s next seasons must have color.”
    Emily picked up her Bordello Red cherry and threw it at Alex’s chest. Hard. He caught it in mid air and popped it in his mouth.  
    “Monday morning otherwise the walls are white,” he said. Then he turned on the heels of his scuffed boots and headed across to the bar.
    “Well…” Nicky said. “I wouldn’t have thought Alex could get so hot and bothered about anything…or anyone.”  
    “Don’t look at me like that,” Emily said. “He’s annoyed because I don’t agree with him.”
    “Really?” Nicky reached for another French fry. “It didn’t look like that to me.”
    Emily didn’t trust the grin on her sister’s face. “Alex is my business partner. We have a professional relationship and nothing more.” And just to prove how professional she could be, she spent the rest of the night avoiding him.

    Emily hauled the last bucket of paint off the counter. “Thanks, Jake. I appreciate you opening the store a little earlier for me.”
    Jake Stanley owned the busiest hardware store in Bozeman. He sold everything from hammers and nails to power tools and paving stones. Emily had decided long ago that Jake deserved a gold medal for community service. His store had become a social hub. A place where anyone with a hankering for strong coffee and good conversation could come and pass the time of day.
    Jake shook his head and tisked. “A little thing like you can’t go around lifting heavy buckets. You open the door and I’ll take it out to your truck.”
    Emily smiled as Jake hurried around the counter. She didn’t bother arguing with him because they’d already had the same conversation over the other four buckets sitting under her canopy.  
    “Are you sure this is the color you want?”
    “Yes, Jake.” They’d had this conversation before, too.
    “Is Alex going to unload everything when you get to the old library building?”
    Emily opened the tailgate and waited while Jake pushed the bucket beside the others. “He’s meeting me later.” Lying wasn’t one of her strong points and she felt the skin on her nose stretch uncomfortably.  
    Alex didn’t know that she planned on painting as many walls as she could before Monday morning. No one did, except Jake, and he didn’t count because he wouldn’t be telling anyone.  
    On Friday evening, Alex had headed across to his parents’ ranch for a weekend rodeo camp. Sam and Nicky were spending the weekend at home with Christopher, and Gracie wasn’t moving from her front porch. That only left Cody, and he’d gone to Great Falls.  
    “I added another couple of paint trays and drop cloths to your order.” Jake slammed the tailgate closed and stood back with his hands on his hips. “If you run out of anything, just give me a call and I’ll drop it off after we close.”  
    “You’re a sweetie.”
    Jake puffed his chest out so wide that the snaps on his shirt almost popped open. “Don’t let Doris hear you say that. After fifty years of marriage she thinks I need a little socializing every now and again. But once a gentleman always a gentleman, I say.”  
    Emily opened her door and slid into the cab. “Doris is a lucky woman, Jake.”
    “Just promise me you won’t go climbing on top of any ladders. I don’t want to hear that you got yourself into trouble.”
    Climbing a ladder wouldn’t get Emily into trouble. But it would be a different story when Alex saw the color of the boutique.

    Alex drove down Main Street, enjoying the peace and quiet of a Sunday evening. He’d spent the last day and a half at his parents’ ranch with sixteen of the top high schools bull riders in Montana. They’d been training hard for the Nationals in Wyoming and had made the most of every minute with him. They’d walked, talked and ridden like professionals, and Alex had been impressed.  
    He could have stayed with his mom and dad for another night, but it would have taken him half an