Dustin Morgan. If possible, he looked better than he had in high school.
Jenna could never forget the guy who flirted with every girl in schoolâeveryone but her.
âHello, Dustin. Itâs been a while.â She offered her hand. So far, so good.
He took her hand for several heartbeats and held it before he finally shook it. She could feel the calluses on his palms and fingers. Dustin stared down at their hands, and so did she.
It was a simple thing, just a handshake, but she felt like a giddy schoolgirl again instead of a rocksolid teacher who was soon to be thirty years old.
âI guess youâre stuck with me,â he said.
She pulled her hand away. Maybe then her brain would work. âIâI guess I am.â
Dear Reader,
How to Lasso a Cowboy continues my GOLD BUCKLE COWBOYS miniseriesâstories about bronc riders, bull riders and the cowboy next door.
When I was writing this book, it reminded me of the trials and tribulations of high school and âunrequited love.â I certainly remember my first crush, and so does Jenna Reed, the heroine of this story.
Jenna was drawn to bull rider Dustin Morgan when they were students, and Jenna didnât go unnoticed by Dustin, either. When they went their separate ways, their attraction smoldered. Reunited years later and virtually living under the same roof, old feelings resurface. Jenna decides that sheâs waited long enough for Dustin, so she decides to lasso her cowboyâfinally! But does she really know how?
I hope this story will make you smile or even laugh out loud. And Iâd love to hear from you. Contact me at PO Box 2000, Cicero, NY, 13039, USA or visit me at www.christinewenger.com.
Christine Wenger
CHRISTINE WENGER has worked in the criminal justice field for more years than she cares to remember. She has a masterâs degree in probation and parole studies and sociology from Fordham University, but the knowledge gained from such studies certainly has not prepared her for what she loves to do mostâwrite romance! A native central New Yorker, she enjoys watching professional bull riding and rodeo with her favorite cowboy, her husband, Jim.
Chris would love to hear from readers. She can be reached by mail at PO Box 2000, Cicero, NY, 13039, USA or through her website at www.christinewenger.com.
To my St Margaretâs, Ludden and Powelson buddies,
Janice Egloff DiFant and Patty Tomeny Holgado. Time sure flies, but weâre still having fun!
Jenna Reed studied the new clothes that sheâd bought for her long-awaited trip to Europe. They were organized by day, stacked in neat piles on the bed in her guest room and her matched set of tomato-red luggage was open and ready to be filled.
She reread the now dog-eared itinerary that sheâd received from Happy Singles Travel, Inc. She knew it by heart, but she still loved looking at it. Their motto was printed in lime green on the top of their letterhead: âTravel with us, meet new friends and discover new places.â
She would have rather traveled with her current friends, but they were all too tied up with their husbands and/or kids. Though she was disappointed, she understood. So, she was going with seventy-five other singles, mostly women, for three glorious weeks in Europe!
Finally, Jenna was going to live it up. She hadnât had a vacation since sheâd started teaching fourth grade after college. When other teachers at Wilson Road Grammar School took the summer off, she worked summer school and tutored kids whenever she was asked. Among her peers, she was the teacher who never said no.
She loved teaching mostly because of the kids. She thought of them as hers and threw her whole being into her work. But they werenât her kids, and at age twenty-nine, sheâd given up looking for Mr. Right. She just wanted Mr. Right Now. Someone special. Someone she could hang out with and who liked to do the same things that she did.
Sheâd once wanted to settle down and have children, but all that changed when she approached her thirtieth birthday. With no romantic prospects, she decided that she had too much living to doâand now was the time for her to enjoy life. So she cut her workload and began making plans to change her life from a humdrum, staid existence to one of excitement and adventure.
As part of her new life plan, Jenna decided to make a drastic career change and applied for a yearlong position teaching English in China. Every time she thought of her application being accepted and making a move, excitement shot through her.
Even if she didnât get the position, sheâd take a leave of absence and travel, visiting places that sheâd only read about. And this European vacation would be the perfect start to her new plan.
Jenna sat on the edge of the bed, holding on to her itinerary, and imagined meeting her knight in shining armor at a bistro in Paris or at the Parthenon in Greece. Maybe heâd strike up a conversation with her as she watched him maneuver his yacht through the glittering waters of Cannes or bump into him on the Rialto Bridge in Venice.