Boss Of Her Heart (Dirty Texas Love Book 1) Read online

  Boss of her Heart

  Dirty Texas Love, Book One

  Shanna Handel

  Blushing Books

  Contents

  FREE Books for Amazon Customers

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Sneak Peek

  Authors Note

  Shanna Handel

  EBook Offer

  Blushing Books Newsletter

  Blushing Books

  ©2018 by Blushing Books® and Shanna Handel

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Blushing Books®,

  a subsidiary of

  ABCD Graphics and Design

  977 Seminole Trail #233

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  The trademark Blushing Books®

  is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.

  Shanna Handel

  Boss of her Heart

  EBook ISBN: 978-1-61258-611-3

  Print ISBN: 978-1-61258-635-9

  Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

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  Prologue

  Garrett

  After the pain I caused, I knew that I didn’t deserve to find love. I had left my lucrative career on Wall Street, fast paced playboy lifestyle, and the bottle behind. I had been back on my family’s ranch for over a decade now. Completely comfortable in my role as the fun uncle, the supportive brother and non-profit business owner. But my past mistakes still haunted me.

  I did my penance every single day, but I found so much joy in running my business that even my work made me feel guilty. I founded Hope Reigns—a horse therapy program for children of recovering alcoholics. And now, everyone thought I was a great guy. A stellar model citizen.

  And they wanted me to find love.

  Wes, my wiser older brother told me, “You have to forgive yourself, Garrett. You must move on.”

  “Never. Not after the mess I made. I can’t risk that.”

  Jessica, the fiancée I had left behind, said, “You aren’t the same person you were ten years ago, Garrett. None of us are. You must forgive yourself. You can find love again.”

  “Never.”

  And Mama, precious Mama. In her soft gentle manner, she had told me, “Never say never, sweetheart. That’s usually when love comes to find you.”

  And just when I hit my ten-year anniversary of chosen celibacy, I met Bella.

  Her baby blue eyes had widened in fear the first time I helped her young son up onto the Palomino horse. A tendril of her red hair wrapped around her finger, twirling nervously. Her teeth biting into her plump pink bottom lip in the cutest way.

  She was as nervous as an untamed horse, skittish even. Her uneasy nature, and earthy, natural, make-up free beauty instantly had me wanting to wrap her in my arms to protect her. Mine to tame.

  And I knew I did not deserve to entertain the thought of holding her in my arms for even a moment.

  As much as I wanted to make her mine, I knew I would never love again.

  That still didn’t stop me from watching her fire red hair flowing down her back, thinking to myself, ‘red on top, red on bottom’?” What I wouldn’t give to find out. To pull that faded denim from her waist…

  “Damn, Garrett, get ahold of yourself,” I muttered aloud, kicking at the loose Texas dirt with the toe of my worn leather boot.

  But of course, just when I was trying to clean up my thoughts, she bent over, right in front of me, to pick up a penny that she had found. She had one of those upside-down heart shaped bottoms. You know the one—tiny waist, slim hips, then that curve just hits you out of nowhere—bam!

  Her favorite light blue jeans went right up into the cleft of those full bottomed cheeks. How I wanted to run my fingertip down the seam of the back of those Levi’s, all the way…

  “Heads up, that means it’s lucky.” She turned to me over her shoulder, flashing her dimpled smile and holding the penny out towards me.

  “Lucky you,” I said, tearing my eyes away from where they shouldn’t be and flashing her what I hoped looked like a wholesome grin.

  Yeah, that penny was the only one getting lucky around here. Choosing my monk like lifestyle after my sordid past, I knew it had been too long since I had been laid. I didn’t even know how to act like a normal person around Bella in those jeans.

  It wasn’t just that I wanted to unzip those Levi’s, pulling them off and making her moan with delight. That was the old Garrett. He had been dead for over ten long years.

  I wanted Bella. All of her. Mind, body and soul. I was in love with her.

  And so, I was relieved to hear that after seeing her twice a week for months this would be her and Oliver’s last session. I could let her go and probably never see her again after today. Going back to my sexless thoughts and pure days, focused on my business and continue to make amends to my family.

  Her baby blue eyes flashed at me as she interrupted my thoughts. What she said next made my heart stop beating.

  “Hey, Garrett, you guys hiring?”

  The words were out before I could make up a polite lie. “As a matter of fact, we are.”

  Throwing that gorgeous, fiery mane over her shoulder, she held up her penny once more. “Maybe it is my lucky day, then.”

  And that was when my world stopped, tilting on its axis. Changing everything as I knew it.

  We were hiring. And Bella would be a perfect fit. There were currently no women working at Hope Reigns. Carrie, my brother’s wife, helped when she coul
d, but she was teaching full time and just wasn’t available like we needed.

  If she came on board, Bella Buchanan would be working directly underneath me. Damn, I mean under me. I meant—for me? You can take the playboy out of the mansion, but his mind is just never going to get clean, even if he is. Sobriety is one thing; sexuality is a whole ‘nother beast to tame.

  And ever since Bella had shown her face on The Lonestar Cattle Company’s Ranch, I had found it to be an untamable monster.

  Maybe there was something to be said about forgiveness, redemption, second chances. I was starting to hope so. Because I had the feeling that working beside Bella every day was going to be the breaking point for my purity.

  Chapter 1

  Bella

  I had sworn off the bad boy. You know, the drop dead gorgeous guy with the sexy dark hair perfectly swept back in an effortless look that you know actually cost him two hundred dollars to achieve?

  The man with the worn in jeans hanging from his trim hips. The thin material of his shirt pulling taut over the tight muscles of his shoulders as he moved. Long and lean—not from working out in the gym, but from his active lifestyle.

  You know, the guy who has your panties melting off you just from that confident glance from the corner of his flashing eyes? That guy.

  I had sworn off them. And so why had I opened my big mouth last week and asked one for a job?

  Garrett Love—can you believe that name? Weston, Garrett, and Carrie Love the proud owners of The Lonestar Cattle Company had become like a family to me and my son over the last few months. And Garrett had quickly become the star of my X-rated dreams every night since I had first laid eyes on him.

  Sober for ten years and having sworn off his playboy Wall Street ways, he was a safe bet, right? The look of the bad boy but with ten years of excellent behavior under his belt.

  I couldn’t help but hope there was still a little bad boy left for me, somewhere buried deep within those jeans. I liked my escapades in the bedroom to look like my riding boots at the end of the day. Filthy dirty.

  Hitting the side of my head with the heel of my hand, I hoped my inappropriate thoughts would be dislodged. I was talking about how I felt about my new boss, after all.

  My first day on the job and I was going to be late. Damn, damn, double damn. I tore my eyes from the clock on the wall and continued to struggle to get my riding boots pulled on. Grabbing my keys and racing out the door I couldn’t stop myself from daydreaming about the boss man taking me over his knee for a long, hard spanking for being late on my first day.

  I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror. My cheeks blushed as red as my hair, as I threw my keys in the ignition. “Come on, Bella, be professional,” I muttered as I turned the key. There was a groan, and a moan, not from me—from Bessie’s engine. A high-pitched whine and then—nothing.

  “Damn.” I rested my forehead on the steering wheel of my Wagoneer. “Not today, of all days.”

  Hopping out of the car, I gave old Bessie’s threadbare tire a kick of my boot. I might be late, but there was no way I wasn’t showing up for my first day of work. Hustling down my mile-long dirt drive, I set my sights on the main road.

  “Thanks again!” I called, smiling, waving and shutting the door of the semi.

  Walking towards the barn, I looked over my shoulder giving Bill, my new friend, a final wave, laughing as he honked his great horn at me. When I turned back, I bumped straight into the rock-hard chest of Garrett Love.

  “What—was that?” he asked, his hard gaze boring into mine. His mouth was set firm, his jaw clenched with an intense look of displeasure.

  “That was Bill.”

  “And did you know Bill before this morning?”

  “Technically, no. But I found out that he drives by my house once a month when he delivers onions,” I said brightly.

  “Bella Buchanan, did you hitchhike to The Lonestar Cattle Company this morning?” He raised one of those dark, perfectly shaped brows at me. My insides melted at his stern tone.

  “Maybe? Possibly? Yes?”

  My admission was met with silence. I filled the tense air with nervous rambling. “My car wouldn’t start, it made this really weird noise and I was already late and it’s my first day and I…”

  “I think we’d best have a little talk, boss to employee.”

  My stomach dropped like it did the time I took Oliver to the amusement park and he made me ride the Free Fall. The ride climbs vertically to the top of the tower in 7.2 seconds, then without warning, the car is released, and riders drop sixty feet in less than two seconds. With his livid eyes gazing down on me, that was how I felt right now.

  His fingers wrapped around my elbow. His tight grip had the skin under my light jacket tingling as he led me to the office he had built onto the back of the barn.

  Sitting me down in the wooden chair in front of his desk with a thump, he shut the door tightly behind us. He stood behind the desk.

  He put his hands flat out on the desk, leaned his weight on them, his eyes flashed as he growled, “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you, hitchhiking out there?”

  I gave a nervous gulp, avoided his eyes and instead focused on the place where the rolled-up sleeves of his button-down work shirt met his toned forearms.

  “Um.”

  He ran his hands through his tousled hair and paced back and forth in front of the desk. “I have half a mind to put you right over my knee and spank you for doing something so absolutely reckless.”

  Okay—so he didn’t say that. I imagined that part.

  He asked me, “Why didn’t you just call me to pick you up, Bella?”

  “Um.” My master’s degree in communication was apparently a giant waste of money.

  Returning to his place behind the desk, his gaze locked on mine, daring me to take my eyes from his. When he spoke, his tone was low, dangerous almost.

  “Don’t you ever do that again, Bella. I don’t care if you are on your way to work, the gym, the grocery store. You call me. You do not hitch a ride. Do. You. Understand?” He punctuated each word with a rap of his knuckles on the desk.

  “Yes, sir,” I whispered.

  At my utterance something in his faced changed. There was a look of recognition as he considered my face. The look was fleeting, but I had seen it, clearly.

  “If I hear you so much as stuck your thumb out anywhere near the side of a road, I will take you over my knee and spank you until you are unable to sit comfortably in a saddle for a week. It that understood?”

  My knees felt so weak, I thanked my lucky stars I was seated in a chair. Hiding my trembling fingers beneath the desk, I nodded my head.

  So, it was as I had thought. Garrett was an ex-bad boy turned good with dominant tendencies and a hand that itched to spank. And he was my boss. And I was absolutely, head over heels in love with him.

  Garrett

  After the stunt she pulled, she needed her bottom bared and spanked until there were tears in her eyes and her trembling voice promised never to do such a thing again. And then a good hard, ‘don’t you forget who the boss is around here’ fuck.

  But instead, I maintained my professional composure, after I threatened to spank her ass that is, and gave my new employee a detailed tour of the ranch. Knowing in the back of my mind that I had the contract, still warm from my printer, sitting in the middle of my desk drawer.

  “I forgot to ask you this during our interview last week, but are you able to work most weekends? I know you have Oliver to think about and all.”

  Her voice sounded shamed when she spoke. “I actually only get him one weekend a month. I can have him more—you know since I’ve been sober for so long, but he has such stability with his new family I hate to tear him apart from his new brothers. Staying with me is not quite as fun, I’m afraid. But that’s part of what the program teaches you isn’t it? Putting others needs before your own wants.”

  My voice felt tight in my throat as I spo
ke. “I know how that goes better than you think.”

  Her eyes cut to mine, as if trying to suss me out. Avoiding the inevitable conversation, I continued to point out all the tourist spots of the ranch. As well as the long list of safety issues for her to be aware of. No one was going to get hurt on this ranch under my watch.

  Interrupting one of my lectures on the importance of keeping the kids away from the areas I had designated unsafe, Bella’s high laughing voice interrupted me.

  “Can I ask you a question?” she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

  “Sure.”

  “Are you always this serious?” she asked, teasingly, poking a slim finger into the side of my ribcage.

  “I have to be.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ve made too many mistakes to count in my past. Alcohol was only the catalyst for my selfish behavior. I’ve gotten that out of my life, but I can’t go back to the man I once was. There is no room for error, and so I am, as you say, serious. It’s better this way—trust me.”

  “Everyone has past mistakes, Garrett,” she said softly.

  “But not everyone is faced with those mistakes, day in and day out. And not everyone’s past mistakes impacted other people’s lives as mine have.”

  Her blue eyes considered my face. Reaching up, she traced the line of my jaw with her fingertip.

  I froze under her gentle, unexpected touch.

  “I know you’re a good man,” she said, quietly. Her hand dropped from my face and she turned to continue our tour. “Even with the mistakes in your past.”