Bear-i-licious Cowboy (Aphrodite's Love Connection Book 1) Read online

  Bear-i-licious Cowboy

  Aphrodite’s Love Connection Book One

  by

  Jami Brumfield

  Disclaimer and Copyright

  Copyright @ 2016 Jami Brumfield

  Proofreading and editing by Michele E. Gwynn

  This ebook is licensed for your personal entertainment and enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with someone else, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. This book is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents depicted herein are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Book Description

  He's not looking for love. She isn't ready for a relationship. Danger brings them together, but will it also tear them apart?

  Tucker is more concerned with his duties as the alpha bear of his pack than finding love. Unfortunately, an ultimatum from a power he can't refuse has made it clear he must settle for someone in order to keep his alpha seat.

  Ashlee has been through her share of drama in the love department, and the last thing she needs is to find another man to mess things up for her, but her best friend has other plans.

  When Ashlee meets a dangerous man at a dating club mixer, and another who wants to be her hero, she has some decisions to make. Will she choose love or a normal life? Will she defeat the monster that has her in his sights? Will she find out who set her up and why?

  This is a complete story. There are no cliffhangers. It is the first book in the Aphrodite Love Connection series. Each paranormal romance in this series will have a HEA (happily ever after) or HFN (happy for now) ending, and all books in this series can be read in or out of order.

  CONTENT WARNING: This book contains adult content and is recommended for readers 18 years or older. Contains sexual content and violence.

  Prologue

  TIME WORKED DIFFERENTLY FOR IMMORTALS. Days, weeks, months, even years bleed into each other. Little things are taken for granted, and large things are blown out of proportion. It becomes a game, for most, to create drama and chaos. Aphrodite knew this about Ares, and yet, her heart wouldn’t listen to her mind. She still loved the man. Every moment they could find to spend together was one she cherished. Even tonight.

  “You look tired.” Ares began to massage her shoulders, alternating kisses with rubs, loosening the tension and working out the knots of the last month they had been apart. He had been on a mission in the Middle East. It seemed that was his headquarters lately. They only had the night before he would be heading back for another month. It wasn’t enough time.

  She leaned into his body, reveling in his strength and sexy form. The man was an addiction to her, one she had difficulty quitting. His touch sent shivers down her spine and desire vibrated out, filling her body like a cup of ambrosia, overflowing with passion that would need fulfillment soon. She turned in his arms and placed her head on his chest. “I am. Helping people find love in this day and age is so frustrating. It’s like love isn’t a desire anymore. Can you believe people enter into fake engagements just to avoid looking for love? Seriously? The divorce rate is almost forty-nine percent. Commitment isn’t important to people anymore. They simply walk away from love, assuming the grass is greener on the other side.” She sighed heavily. “It rarely is, but they believe, so they act.” She pounded her head softly into his granite chest. “I feel like giving up.”

  His hand travelled up and down her spine, pressing deep into her tissue to soothe the stressed out muscles, relieving aches and pains she didn’t realize she had, and igniting passion she needed to release. “I’m sorry.” His voice sounded preoccupied, and his sympathy was empty, but it didn’t stop the desire from rising in her loins.

  As hollow as the words were, it was really all he could say. He’d heard her complaints night after night for years. Her duties as the goddess of love were failing miserably, and the changing world around them made it harder. There was so much hate, it was heartbreaking. What she wouldn’t give for the return of the ‘60s and ‘70s, a little free love resurgence. Now that was her time!

  “There is so much hate today. How can I produce love when your blood-thirst for war creates hatred? You have to balance the scales, Ares. The world cannot continue like this, innocent people being killed for hateful agendas or common mistakes.” She pulled herself from his loving embrace and started pacing the penthouse suite. “It is not just about making love matches, it is also about people loving people, strangers spreading love to strangers. The world will self-destruct if it continues along this path.”

  “I can’t ask you to stop spreading love, just as you can’t ask me to stop spreading hate. It is in our natures. You know our powers mandate our actions.” Ares crossed his thick, muscled arms across his large chest. This, too, was a familiar argument between them. Centuries of fighting over their inherent natures was tiring.

  “I can ask you to let up a little bit.” She turned with an angry glare. “You don’t have to push these dangerous agendas so strongly.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not about winning or losing, it is about balance, Ares.”

  “I can’t change the path that the world is traveling. I am not allowed to interfere in free will. You know this. I can help things along, but the hatred is fueled by their own teachings and desires.” He looked so strong, like a moving statue that magnetically pulled everyone in the room toward him. She loved him, despite his nature, his strength, his refusal to help balance the scales. She could feel her frustration subsiding. He was who he was. The world was full of people who made their own choices, and just because she wished love for them all, didn’t mean they’d appreciate it when they got it or would even seek it out. Other things seemed more important to people than love. It was heartbreaking, but she couldn’t change billions of people’s minds. They needed to come to the realization themselves.

  The knock on the door stopped her from continuing the conversation. She pulled her silk robe closed and tied it tight around her slender waist, thankful she had a moment to pull herself together before she continued their talk. She whipped the door open and came face to face with her uncle.

  “Hades, what brings you out of the underworld?”

  He brushed his way into the suite and grumbled, “The end of the world.”

  Aphrodite closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she closed the door and followed him into the open living room. The gods always had a way of exaggerating situations. She was sure his preaching of the end of days fell into that category. There was always some apocalyptic event on the horizon. For centuries they managed to avoid annihilation.

  Hades walked over to the wet bar and searched the drinks. Aphrodite pulled out her special stock and handed him an expensive bottle of Scotch that she saved for his visits.

  “Ah, wonderful, thank you.” He poured himself a drink. “Ares, would you like some?”

  Ares shook his head. “No.” He kept his voice calm and stature collected. They weren’t always on the best of terms, and it seemed this was one of those times.

  “Aphrodite?”

  “No. Why are you here, Hades?” She couldn’t keep the impatience out of her voice. She was in the middle of giving Ares a piece of her mind and she wanted to get back to the ar
gument. Sooner or later she’d wear him down and get the help she needed, she hoped.

  Hades knocked back his Scotch and threw the crystal glass against the fireplace mantel. “Why am I here? Because you are failing at your work, and you are bringing about the end of days.”

  “What are you talking about?” She frowned.

  “The balance has shifted to a point that it may not be possible to repair.”

  “We were just discussing the balance between love and hate. I know we have a problem, and we’re in negotiations to fix it.” Aphrodite matched Hades stance by crossing her arms over her chest. This was getting infuriating. She narrowed her eyes at Ares. The words weren’t spoken, but the message was loud and clear in her glare.

  Hades laughed. “You are so naïve that it is almost funny, if it weren’t such a dire situation.” He snapped his fingers, and pictures of death and destruction appeared from the floor to ceiling windows that faced out to the New York skyline. Beaten, bloodied bodies. Adults slain across the streets. Children, filthy and crying in the alleys, hiding in the shadows. Riots. Murders. Massacres. Nuclear explosions. And then, nothing. All life gone; humans, the supernatural offspring of the Gods, even the plant life was scorched and barren. The earth was empty.

  Aphrodite gasped as her heart broke. “This all can’t be because love is dying.” She shook her head in denial.

  “It is. My seer has foreseen the apocalypse. She has outlined the destruction. This is only a taste of what is to come. Fires, looting, people killing people without remorse. People divided. This is all because of hate. It is happening now. If you don’t find a way to bring love back into the world, then we are all doomed.”

  Without speaking, both Aphrodite and Ares sat on the couch. The battle between love and hate was as old as time. In a way, it was what brought them together, made them fall in love, despite her marriage to Hephaestus. Their affair produced six children; four sons, Phobos, Eros, Deimos and Anteros, and two daughters, Harmonia and Adrestia. But none of that really mattered if their relationship was destined to be the end of humans’ and the Gods’ supernatural offspring.

  “It looks like Eros, Anteros, Harmonia, and I have some work to do,” Aphrodite proclaimed. It wasn’t like her to give up without a fight. “And until the balance is restored, you are not welcome here, Ares. I am sorry, but you must go.” She stood up and pointed toward the door.

  Ares nodded and left without a fight. She only hoped he would take some time to regroup and find a way to help her replenish love to the world, and eliminate some of the overpowering hate.

  “I suppose I better be going too.” Hades began to fade.

  “Wait, Uncle!”

  He reappeared. “Yes?”

  “I don’t know why you’re helping me, but thank you.”

  He nodded, “Just do your job,” then disappeared.

  Chapter One

  Ashlee

  GUILT GOBBLED ME UP FROM the inside out as I stared at the half eaten pint of double chocolate crunch ice cream I had just downed. ‘A moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.’ My mother’s condescending voice echoed in my mind, increasing the feelings of remorse and further pushing me into a downward spiral, next stop was depression station. I really needed to shock myself out of this state, and listening to my mother’s snappy retorts about my weight was not going to help me. Why do I let her still verbally beat me up? She was not a part of my life anymore, for good reason. She was the one responsible for my anorexia, which graduated to bulimia by the time I hit my twenties. It eventually put me into the hospital.

  Her negative crap pushed me over the brink, head-first into an abyss of depression which eventually aided in my divorce. Sure, I had some responsibility to take in the nastiness that had become my life, and I was taking it. I also had a duty to maintain my sanity, which was why she no longer had power over my thoughts.

  It was hard to overcome the programming my mother had instilled in me since birth, but with Callie’s help, and my determination to live a better life, I found my path. Unfortunately, that path was lonely and I resorted back to emotional eating from time to time. It was my comfort zone, one that still had a small level of power over me.

  When Penny called and told me she was getting married to the hot fireman she’d met three months ago, I located the pint of Ben and Jerry’s, and decided to have a few celebratory scoops of the delicious yumminess that I often referred to as my weakness. I was happy for Penny, truly I was, but her great news reminded me that I was still alone, and for the foreseeable future, had absolutely no dating prospects. Hence, the onslaught of emotional eating lately, which I will be regretting for the next two months. For the immediate future, I saw hours of time dedicated to running on the treadmill with very little results. Thinking about it threatened to put me back in the cyclone of sadness which would result in the other half of the pint being eaten so I shoved the box back in the freezer and snapped on my computer. I needed a distraction, and Friday night television was not going to hit the spot.

  I also needed to find a congratulatory bouquet to send to Penny. Callie’s email was the first thing that caught my eye. Subject line: YOU NEED THIS! Yep, she was shouting in all caps. She knew I hated that, but it did the trick. I clicked open the message and my heart dropped to my toes. I know it can’t physically happen, but the feeling of such an act filled me with dread. Callie was dead. Not yet, but she would be when I got my hands around her skinny neck. She was the most presumptuous friend I’d ever had.

  The link she placed in the email was for a dating website called, ‘Aphrodite’s Love Connection’. Worse, that particular hyperlink sent me to my own profile. A profile I knew I never created. How Callie thought she could jump in and try to save my dating life was beyond me. If she was here, she’d appreciate the massive eye roll I gave as I read the profile.

  My eyes wandered the site. ‘I love the outdoors.’ Okay, that was true. My plus size figure didn’t indicate the hours of hiking I did just to be outside in nature. ‘Camping and white water rafting’, all true. ‘I also enjoy days at the beach, warm summer days, and ice cream dates’. As I read through the faux profile I had to give it to Callie, the girl knew me inside and out, which was expected since she’d been a part of my life since we were in diapers. ‘I’m looking for a strong man who can country dance on Saturday night, and enjoys reading the Sunday Times with a cup of coffee in front of the fireplace the next morning.’

  ‘I’m a curvy spitfire who knows what she wants.’ “Hardly!” I shouted, harsher than necessary, at my computer screen as I continued to read the words generated by my well-meaning, but overly enthusiastic friend. “The only thing missing is ‘For a good time call….,” I snarled as I shut the laptop and picked up my cell phone.

  I didn’t offer a hello when Callie picked up the phone on the second ring. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Oh, I see you got my present.” Callie’s voice purred over the line.

  “You and I have differing opinions of what a present is,” I told her. “Take it down!”

  “Nope, I won’t, and this Friday, you and I are going to the monthly mixer.”

  “Like hell,” I snorted, as I laughed at her ridiculous idea.

  “Tell me something, Ashlee. When you got Penny’s news, what did you do?”

  “I toasted her good news with half a pint of ice cream.” The words poured from my lips and made me regret them the moment they hit the air.

  “I rest my case.” Callie continued, “Your divorce has been final for three years and you haven’t had a decent date in ten. It’s time to get back into the saddle again.”

  “Yes, but--”

  “You’re not getting any younger, Ash.” She interrupted me from the excuse I was trying to come up with.

  “Neither are you,” I pointed out a little too snidely.

  “Which is why we’re doing this together. I’m picking you up at 5:30, Friday. Be ready.” She hung up the phone before I could argue furthe
r.

  I wanted to scream ‘Witch’ into the phone, but something in my mind told me she was right. I loved her and hated her for that ability, but she was almost always right.

  I sighed heavily and flipped open the laptop again. I clicked on Monthly Mixer and perused the photos of past parties. There were definitely some good looking bachelors and bachelorettes. I didn’t look like the typical patron. Callie did, but I had a feeling I was going to be out of place. Story of my life.

  The dress was classy, business casual to semi-elegant attire. It looked like I was going to be spending my lunch hour tomorrow shopping.

  Chapter Two

  Tucker

  “YES, I LIKE TO HAVE a personal meeting with all our clients. It makes things easier for me to make matches. If the meeting cannot happen until the mixer, that is fine, but before I make a match, my son and I must meet the client. This is not negotiable,” Aphrodite told the voice on the other end of the telephone line, which was on speaker.

  “I will do my best.” The lady’s voice on the other end responded.

  “Good. I’ll connect you to my assistant to get the payment processed and she’ll also forward the details of the mixer tomorrow night. I look forward to meeting him.” Aphrodite clicked hold and transferred the call. She flipped open her binder and started writing notes. A look of surprise crossed her face when her half-sister, Artemis, appeared around the corner with a reluctant Tucker in tow. “Hello, Artie. What’s new in your part of the woods?”

  “We need your help.” Artemis pointed to one of the plush white chairs in front of the desk. “Have a seat, Tucker.”

  “I really don’t understand…” He stopped talking when Artemis crossed her arms over her chest and raised a red eyebrow. A moment later he sat down.