Cooper Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 3 Read online

  COOPER

  A Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Novel

  Book 3

  Susan Fisher-Davis

  Erotic Romance

  Cooper

  Copyright © 2015 Susan Fisher-Davis

  First E-book Publication: September 2015

  Cover design by Dawné Dominique

  Edited by Amy Valentini/Romancing Editorially

  Proofread by Renee Waring

  All cover art copyright © 2015 by Susan Fisher-Davis

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER: Blue Whiskey Publishing

  Susan Fisher-Davis

  www.susanfisherdavisauthor.weebly.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  COOPER | A Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Novel | Book 3

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

  **THE END** | About the Author

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  COOPER

  A Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Novel

  Book 3

  Susan Fisher-Davis

  Chapter One

  Cooper Lang drove along the back road with the windows down even though it was hotter than hell. His elbow was hooked on the ledge of the open window and the hot August wind whipped through the inside of the truck. The sun beat down on his arm and glared through the windows. His fingers tapped the steering wheel in time to a Jason Aldean song blaring from the CD player. His white T-shirt clung to his chest and back. As he came over the rise in the road, he saw a car sitting on the side of the road so he slowed down and pulled in behind it. He swore softly when he saw the brown haired woman at the rear of the car struggling to change a flat tire. He tossed his sunglasses onto the dash, put the windows up, and turned on the air conditioning. Opening the door, he settled his Stetson on his head, hopped out, and strolled toward the car.

  “Do you need some help?” he asked.

  “No.” Kendra Mattingly glared up at him.

  Cooper sighed. “Come on, Kendra. I can see you’re having a hard time with it.”

  Kendra stood slowly and stared up at him. “I’ve got this.”

  Cooper smirked. “Really? How long have you been here? Your hair is wet from sweating and your shirt is clinging to you. I can do this a lot faster.”

  “Why? Because you’re a man?”

  “Because I’m stronger. Go sit in my truck and cool off.”

  She stared at him for a few seconds then sighed and walked to his truck. Cooper blew out a breath when he heard the truck door slam. She was the most obstinate woman he’d ever met and she hated him with a passion. He muttered under his breath as he squatted down by the rear wheel and put the spare on, but it was also flat. Son of a bitch! He headed back to the truck and opened the door. She stared straight ahead, her arms folded across her chest.

  “Your spare’s flat too,” he told her.

  “What?” Kendra turned to look at him with an expression of disbelief.

  “It’s flat. When was the last time you checked it?”

  “I’ve never checked it. I’ve never used it.” She shrugged.

  “You’ll need to have the car towed or I can take you, and the tire, to town and the garage can repair it or you can buy a new one if you need it.”

  “I’ll call a tow truck.” She reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

  “You’d rather sit in the heat waiting on the tow truck than let me drive you into town?”

  “Honestly? Yes, I would.” Kendra threw open the door, jumped down out of the truck and started walking toward her car.

  Cooper watched her stride away from him, and then ran after her. He grasped her arm and spun her around. “How fucking hard-headed are you? I can take you into town.”

  Kendra jerked away from him. “Do. Not. Touch. Me.”

  Cooper raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, but just because you hate me doesn’t mean you can’t let me help you.”

  “The hell it doesn’t, Cooper Lang. I don’t want or need your help.” Kendra pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called the garage to have her car towed in.

  Cooper put his hands on his hips and hung his head. He’d never met a more stubborn woman in his life. He knew why she hated him but it was years ago and she needed to move past it. “You can at least sit in my truck while you wait.”

  Her head snapped up. “Why are you still here?”

  “I’m trying to help you,” he growled with growing impatience.

  “I already told you I don’t want your help. Now go away.”

  “Christ! Could you just get past it, Kendra? I hurt your feelings when you were fifteen and you’ve never gotten over it. Grow the fuck up.”

  “You think that’s why I don’t like you? Don’t flatter yourself. You just don’t appeal to me, Cooper.”

  He stepped closer to her and smirked when she stepped back, but he kept advancing until her back came up against the trunk of her car. Her hazel eyes widened as she gazed up at him. “I don’t appeal to you?” He watched as she swallowed hard and shook her head. He grinned as he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. He raised his head. “Are you sure about that?”

  She smiled up at him but the next thing he knew, her knee slammed into his groin. He grunted and fell to his knees. Kendra leaned over him. “Maybe next time you’ll believe me.”

  He groaned. "I wanted to have children one day."

  Kendra folded her arms across her chest. "Can you get up?"

  Cooper narrowed his eyes. "Probably never again."

  Kendra snorted. "I meant from the ground."

  Cooper groaned. "I don't know yet. I might have to throw up first." He glared at her. "You're one wicked woman."

  Kendra shrugged. "You shouldn’t have done that."

  Cooper swore. "Hell woman, you didn’t hold back at all. I'm still seeing stars."

  “Yeah, poor you. Leave me alone,” she said before she spun on her heel and got into her car.

  "Sure, it's not your balls that were kicked back up into your stomach," Cooper muttered.

  He watched as she closed the door, and started the car. He imagined she was running the air conditioning for a little while. Son of a bitch! He hurt so much he almost crawled to his truck but he had more pride than that, so he slowly stood, made his way back to his truck, and climbed in. After taking a deep breath, he pulled out, spinning gravel and dirt everywhere as he tore down the road. He needed to get home and make sure he still had balls because it felt as if she really had kicked them up into his gut. Blowing out another breath to ease his discomfort, he drove home and hoped to hell that the tow truck took hours to get to her.

  ****

  Kendra watched his truck heading down the road. Dust flew up behind it to where she lost sight of it. She snickered as she remembered the look on his face when her knee connected with his crotch. The smile left her face. She really shouldn’t have done that but it was either knee him or let him continue to kiss her, and she co
uldn’t do that. He would figure out how she still felt about him.

  She fell in love with Cooper when she was fifteen and he was twenty. When she asked him why he was dating a certain girl, he smiled and replied, ‘why do you think?’ She told him there were other girls much nicer, and he’d told her if she meant herself to get over it since she was still a baby. She’d never been so hurt in her life and she swore she’d never forgive him. But her love for him had only deepened. She hated being close to him because she was scared her feelings would show.

  Cooper Lang was so gorgeous. He stood six foot three, and had thick dark brown hair and light blue eyes. His nose was straight and narrow and sat over a sexy set of lips. He had a strong jaw and a dimple in his chin that she had the absurd desire to stick her tongue in. His teeth were straight and white. Cooper had been one of the bad boys of Dry River. He and five of his friends were always in trouble growing up but they’d all grown up into good men. One of her best friends, Emily Walters married Cooper’s friend, Lucas Taggart. They owned a lucrative horse ranch and were very much in love, although the marriage hadn’t start out that way. Lucas married Emily to protect her from her ex-husband who was getting out of prison, and they fell in love and have two baby boys now, who Lucas spoils every day.

  The other bad boys consisted of Montgomery Bradford, who was married with twins and another one on the way. He was former FBI and now a deputy sheriff. The others were Lincoln Cole, who was single and trains horses, Storm Bateman, divorced with a daughter and owns an Arabian horse ranch, and then there’s Dakota Walker, single, he’s a big shot attorney in Colorado. Cooper owns a motorcycle design shop, along with running beef on his father’s ranch.

  Kendra touched her lips. The years she had dreamed of him kissing her, paled in comparison to the real thing. Her lips still tingled from his lips. She sighed. Why had he even kissed her? Cooper had been a fantasy of hers since she was fifteen and had never noticed her, and now he kissed her. Why? Sighing, she turned the car off to save gas and almost immediately felt the heat pour through the glass.

  She opened the door and stepped out. Why couldn’t you just go with Cooper and not be so hardheaded about it. She leaned back against the car, glancing up, and then down the road. Damn, it was hot. She straightened up when she saw dust coming from the direction of town. She was hoping it was the tow truck, but it was just another pickup truck. The truck slowed and she smiled when she saw it was Storm Bateman. He pulled over, stepped out of his truck, and strode toward her. Her heart gave a little skip. Storm was one gorgeous man. He stood six foot five with coal black hair and eyes just as dark. His mother was full-blooded Cheyenne. It was just too bad Kendra wasn’t interested in him at all. He smiled at her as he strolled toward her.

  “Kennie, are you all right?” he asked as he removed his sunglasses.

  She nodded. “I’m just waiting on the tow truck.”

  Storm frowned at her. “I just passed Cooper. Didn’t he stop to help you?”

  Shit! “Yes, he actually changed the tire but the spare’s flat too.” Kendra shrugged.

  “O-kay,” Storm said as he narrowed his eyes, but Kendra had a feeling he knew she didn’t want Cooper’s help. “Do you want me to take you town? The tow truck could be hours.”

  “I’m fine, Storm. Really. I’m sure it’ll be here soon.”

  Storm swore. “I don’t like leaving you here alone and I can’t believe Cooper did.”

  Kendra started to tell him it didn’t matter when she saw the tow truck coming up the road. She sighed with relief. “See? The truck’s here.” She jerked her chin in the direction of the tow truck barreling up the road.

  “I’ll stay until he loads your car. Go sit in my truck and get out of this heat.”

  She hesitated, and then walked to the truck and climbed into it. From the coolness of his air-conditioned cab, she watched as the tow truck driver loaded the car and talked with Storm. Once the car was loaded, she hopped out of the truck, walked toward the tow truck, and climbed in, after thanking Storm, of course. He put his fingers to his cowboy hat and gave her a nod before he left. The driver climbed in and smiled at her. She gave him a small smile as he pulled the truck out and headed to town.

  “I suppose I’m taking you to Mackie’s?”

  “Yes sir,” Kendra said.

  He nodded and they drove to town in silence. Kendra could see him glancing at her from the corner of her eye. He looked like he hadn’t washed his hair in years. Cooper would have been a much better choice. The lesser of two evils, she supposed. Though the windows were down in the truck, the heat was stifling. She blew her bangs up off her forehead with her breath.

  “Sorry, the air ain’t workin’ in the truck,” the driver said.

  “It’s fine. It’s not that far.” She pulled at the neck of her T-shirt but when she saw him gazing at her chest, she stopped and leaned closer toward the door.

  They pulled into the lot of Mackie’s Garage and Kendra hopped down from the truck and entered the garage. Albert ‘Mackie’ McNamara walked toward her, wiping his hands on a rag.

  “Hi Kennie. It’s going to take a while for me to get to your car. I’m real busy.”

  Kendra nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’ll call someone to pick me up. I can pick it up later today, if that’s all right?”

  “Sure. I’m sorry,” he told her.

  “It’s fine, Mackie.” She strolled to his front office to get out of the heat and call her father. Her mother answered and Kendra mentally groaned. She loved her mother but Kendra knew her mother would ask a million questions.

  “Hi, Mom, is Dad around?”

  “He’s in Cheyenne today, Kennie. He went to the cattle sale.”

  “Oh. I forgot. Um, can you pick me up at Mackie’s?”

  “I’m with a client right now. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

  Angela Mattingly was a real estate agent and she only dealt with millionaire clients. Kendra knew there was no way she would leave a client to pick up her daughter. “All right. I’ll call Emily.”

  “I can pick you up afterwards, Kendra. What’s wrong with your car?”

  “A flat and my spare’s flat too, but Mackie can’t get to it for a while. I don’t want to sit here and wait. I’ll call Emily,” she repeated and hung up. Sighing, she dialed her friend.

  “Hi, Kennie,” Emily said in way of answering.

  “Can you pick me up at Mackie’s?”

  “Lucas and I are in Casper right now. I’m sorry.”

  “I can try Isabella...”

  “Isabella and Mont are in Cheyenne visiting her parents.”

  “Shit. All right. I know Chloe’s out of town for a few days. I guess I’ll wait for my car after all.”

  “Is it bad?”

  Kendra explained to Emily about her car, and then they hung up. Grumbling, she took a seat in the office and sulked. Why was no one around when you needed them?

  ****

  Cooper sat in his truck and took some deep breaths. Damn her. His balls still hurt. He gingerly got out of his truck and walked slowly into his home. The air-conditioning inside the house hit his hot skin, making him sigh. His boot heels clicked on the mahogany hardwood floors as he walked to the refrigerator to retrieve a beer. He leaned back against the cream-colored granite countertop and blew out a breath then he headed to the living room and took a seat in his recliner. Setting the cold beer bottle between his legs, he groaned as the cold seeped through his jeans. He was surprised he didn’t speak in a higher voice after the way she slammed her knee into his crotch.

  Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. Kendra had certainly grown into a beautiful woman. A mean, but very beautiful woman and regrettably, her beautiful hazel eyes had gazed up at him with pure hate. Her sable-colored hair looked so soft, even sticking to her face from sweat. Just because he kissed her, didn’t mean she had to try to castrate him. Jesus!

  His cell phone rang and he answered, “Lang.”

  “Coop, it’s Brad
y. We’ve got a problem.” Brady Hix was the welder in the motorcycle shop. He made the bikes Mitch Irwin designed. His other employee, Alex Carrington, did the custom painting on the tanks.

  “What is it?” The thought of walking down to the shop did not appeal to Cooper right now.

  “Livingston said the design we’re doing isn’t what he ordered. Mitch said it is, but Livingston is pissed.”

  “How in the hell did Livingston even see it yet?”

  “Mitch sent it to him,” Brady muttered.

  “What the fuck for?” Cooper jumped up from the chair and grimaced at the pain it caused.

  “He said Livingston said we were fucking around and Mitch just wanted to show him where we were on the bike.”

  “Son of a bitch. I’ll be right there.” Cooper hung up and strode from the house, out the door and down to the motorcycle shop. When his father died, he left Cooper the ranch but before he passed away, he helped Cooper achieve his dream, of owning a custom design motorcycle shop. That was as long as Cooper agreed to continue to run cattle for beef. Cooper agreed and both the ranch and the shop prospered. He missed his dad and he wished he hadn’t put him through hell when he was a teenager. From the time he turned twelve until he was seventeen, he tore up the town with his friends.

  Cooper entered the shop, signaled to Brady to stop welding and follow him to Mitch’s office. They entered the office to see Mitch standing over a drawing table. He glanced up when he saw them.

  “I know I did wrong, Coop, but that son of a bitch kept complaining and saying we were fucking around to stretch out labor costs.”

  “I knew it was a mistake dealing with him.” Cooper ran his fingers through his hair. “So, after he sees the shots of the bike, he says it’s the wrong design?”

  “Yes. Right after I emailed it to him, he called and raised all kinds of hell,” Mitch told him.

  “I’ll take care of it. But next time, tell me about it before you send any photos to the customers.” He picked up a copy of the photo Mitch had emailed Livingston, and then walked into his office and opened the wooden file cabinet against the wall. After finding Livingston’s folder, he sat at his desk and opened the file. He smiled as he laid the designs side by side and reached for the phone to call Ralph Livingston. No one accused his men of fucking around, or of making the wrong design.