Cowboys Don't Come Out
by Tara Lain
Blurb:
Rand McIntyre settles for good enough. He loves his small California ranch, raising horses, and teaching riding to the kids he adores—but having kids of his own and someone to love means coming out, and that would jeopardize everything he’s built. Then, despite his terror of flying, he goes on a holiday to Hana, Hawaii with his parents and meets the dark and mysterious Kai Kealoha, a genuine Hawaiian cowboy. Rand takes to Kai’s kid brother and sister as much as he drools over Kai, but the guy sports more prickles than a horned toad, and more secrets than the exotic land he comes from.
Kai’s earned his privacy and lives to protect his “kids.” He ought to stay away from the big, handsome cowboy for everyone’s sake—but since the guy’s just a haole on a short vacation, how much damage can he do? When all of Kai’s worst fears and Rand’s darkest nightmares come true at once, there’s not much chance for two cowboys who can’t—or won’t—come out.
Release Date:
December 7, 2016
Available for pre-order at
Also available in paperback
Excerpts
By now the place was jumping. People had been
squeezing into the cracks ever since they arrived, and the music clearly
signaled dancing time. Couples bopped out onto the floor and the Texas
two-step, Hawaiian style, began.
Rand slugged back a mouthful of beer. “You wanna?”
“You can dance? Hell yes.”
She was out of the booth and onto the floor in record
time. Apparently she didn’t get enough dancing. She’s come to the right place. Dancing
R Us. He took her in the semiclose two-step hold and set off onto the
floor.
After a couple of twirls and close-hold side-by-sides,
she grinned up at him. “You really can dance.”
“As advertised.” That might be the only thing about
him that was.
A few people had come to the edge of the dance floor
and were clapping Rand and Julie on. Rand released his inner exhibitionist and
put on a little show. Julie had no problem keeping up. Suddenly a loud whistle
cut through the music, and someone yelled, “Go Kai!”
Rand looked around and saw a guy dancing with a pretty
redhead. Whoa. Maybe he should say a
pretty guy dancing with a redhead—tallish, lean, with caramel skin that glowed
in the soft light, and below-the-ear-length black hair that swayed under his
cowboy hat as he danced. And shit, could that guy dance. Graceful, sure-footed,
and sexy. Holy hell.
“Hey, can’t stand the competition?”
“What?” Julie grinned at him. Damn, he’d stopped
dancing to watch. “Oh, hell no.”
The band segued into something far more up-tempo and
fiddle-based. Most of the dancers gave up, but not the beautiful guy. He just
stepped it up and out, twirling his partner across the floor. Rand took up the
gauntlet, adding in some line-dance steps. Julie picked it up fast, and they
held their own. Rand glanced at the other couple and got a stare from Mr.
Gorgeous, who filled out his jeans like sin in blue denim, his ass rounding the
back and worn fabric cupping his package in front. Stop looking, asshole, before you get a very embarrassing boner.
He half opened
one eye. Boobs! And large blue eyes somewhere above them. The redhead leaned
over and peered at him. He opened the other eye, trying to stare at her face
and not her breasts or the guy’s cock directly behind her. “Hi.”
She stood
upright, which brought her breasts into a less dangly position. Beside her, the
cute, dark-haired girl stood with her arms crossed and her legs crossed, which
managed to pretty much obscure her girlie parts.
The redhead
smiled. “Aren’t you the guy who was dancing at the bar last night?”
“I was
dancing there, yes.” His eyes pulled toward the man, but he yanked them back.
“You’re
really good. Where’d you learn such a mean two-step?”
“Uh, I, uh, I’m a rancher, sort of. I mean, I raise horses and—”
“You’re a
cowboy!” She sort of jumped, which proved distracting despite his limited
interest in her charms. She looked over her shoulder. “Kai, another cowboy.”
She stuck out her fist. Rand hesitated, then bumped his fist against hers. “I’m
Audrey, by the way. This is Moke.” She pointed to the girl, who nodded. Then
she turned. “And this is Kai. He’s a paniolo.”
Kai also
nodded but didn’t step forward or offer a hand. His expression? Wary, maybe. At
best, neutral.
Audrey
definitely claimed the spokesperson title. “So are you coming back to the
club?”
“Uh, I’d
like to. I haven’t made any plans or anything.”
“Why don’t
you come with us tonight? Moke’s a real good dancer, and we can switch and
stuff. I mean, if your girlfriend wouldn’t mind.” She fluttered her lashes just
a tiny bit. Hmm. He’d been operating
on the assumption she was Kai’s girlfriend. Maybe Moke was?
Moke looked
pleasant, but Kai didn’t look especially welcoming. “She’s not my girlfriend.
We just met yesterday at the hotel.” Audrey smiled bigger. He shrugged. “But I
don’t want to barge in.”
“No
barging. We’d love to have you. I mean, this is a small town, brah. We don’t
get a lot of mainland cowboys here.” She laughed. “Right, Kai?” She looked back
at him.
Kai gazed
unblinking at Rand with his dark eyes. “Sure. Come if you want.” With that, he
turned and flexed one of God’s most perfect asses all the way back to the
water.
Audrey
sighed. “Don’t mind him. He saw High
Plains Drifter one too many times.”
Rand
snorted. “Man of few words. What’s his story?”
She flopped
down on the sand, which took her well-trimmed pubic hair out of the line of sight.
Patting the sand next to her, she pulled Moke down to sit as well. “Kai’s a
genuine paniolo, descended from generations.” She looked at Moke.
Moke nodded,
and for the first time Rand heard her voice—soft and low. “His father descended
from the first vaqueros.”
He cocked
his head. “Vaqueros, like Spanish?”
“Mexican.
King Kamehameha invited a few Mexican vaqueros to Hawaii to manage cattle here.
That began the tradition. Of course, most paniolo are now Hawaiian.”
Audrey
grinned. “Moke used to live in Makawao, so she knows all this historical shit.”
Rand
shrugged. “Yeah, well, I didn’t know any of it. When I think Hawaii, I sure
don’t think cowboy.”
That earned
him a cool glance from Moke. “And yet we had cowboys before California.”
He grinned.
“You guys need your own John Wayne. Get some PR going.”
Audrey
laughed. “Or a Hawaiian Clint Eastwood.”
“I thought
you said he was just here.”
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at Lain
