Asking For Trouble

ASKING FOR
TROUBLE

by Becky McGraw

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are products of the author's
imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as
real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Becky
McGraw on Smashwords

ASKING FOR TROUBLE, Copyright @
October, 2012 by Becky McGraw. All rights reserved under
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CHAPTER ONE

It wasn't the blindingly blue crystalline
water, or white sand beaches that held Beau Bowman's attention, as
he sipped a beer leaning against a palm tree just outside the tent
set up on the beach for Tommy and Katie Tucker's wedding reception
in Tahiti. His attention was solidly focused on the beautiful
Latina fiddler in the country band playing under the tent, the
multi-talented and exotically beautiful Jazzie Ramos. He hadn't
seen her in a year, and she was a sight for sore eyes.

In a tight purple floral print sundress and
skyscraper purple heels, the lusciously curved woman looked like a
Polynesian goddess up there on that stage, dancing around and
setting fire to the strings of her violin, as well as his desire.
Beau took a drink of his beer, and tried to work up the nerve to
ask her to dinner. Last year, he'd seen her in Bowie, when their
lead singer, Jess Sparks, had gotten hurt and her band was stuck
there, and he'd almost managed to work up to it. With all the drama
between Wade Roberts and Jess Sparks though, the timing just hadn't
been right then.

It seemed like something always happened to
prevent him from taking that step to get to know her better. Even
when he'd seen her after that at the Charity Rodeo in Dallas, he'd
been so close to asking her out, but fate intervened again. Wade
Roberts had gotten thrown from a bronco, because someone sabotaged
his equipment, and Beau had to investigate the crime.

Come hell or high water, that wasn't
happening this time. Beau had thought about her for a year. The
timing was right now, and it was now or never, he knew, because she
was touring all over the country. They were the opening act for
country superstar, Glory Shine right now, but the Bowie grapevine,
and he'd come to learn it was pretty damned accurate, said that
next year they would be the main act when the toured. Considering
that, he had no idea when he'd have the chance again.

Beau hadn't ever had trouble attracting
women, and he'd never been shy, but something about Jazzie Ramos
made him feel that way. Maybe it was the smart mouth and attitude
he'd noticed in Bowie that was putting him off his game. She wore
it like a porcupine wore its quills when she'd been protecting Jess
from Wade Roberts, and he was afraid he might wind up with a few
needles in his ass if he didn't approach her just right now.

Jazzie Ramos was as vibrant as the Tahitian
sunset he was watching now. She had fire inside of her that Beau
knew he'd only seen the smoke from. He wanted to see more, explore
it, and feel its heat. Three beers and this gorgeous, romantic
venue, might just be enough for him to find the guts to step into
that circle of fire. The band would be finished playing in just a
few minutes, then Glory's band would take over from there. Once
Jazzie was off the stage, he'd find her, and ask her to go do
something with him.

The question was what could he do to impress
her? Ditching his beer in the trash can, Beau decided to head to
the hotel and talk to the concierge for some ideas. He had to
hurry, because they'd be done playing in less than thirty
minutes.

By the time Beau got back to the tent,
they'd finished their set, and Glory Shine's band was setting up to
start playing. He'd found Jess and told her what he was up to, just
so someone knew where Jazzie had gone, then he searched the crowd
for Jazzie. He didn't see her, so he made his way around the back
of the tent, behind the stage, thinking maybe she might be back
there. He rounded the stage and saw her talking to some beefed up
blond guy with a toothpaste white smile, and stopped short.

The same smile she'd leveled on him once or
twice, the one that left him dumbstruck with his tongue wrapped
around his teeth, was plastered on her face as she listened to
whatever he was saying to her. That guy didn't seem to be having
the same problem that Beau always had around Jazzie Ramos, it
looked like he was turning on the charm, and she was lapping it up
like a cat on a bowl of fresh cream. Beau stifled a growl that
rumbled inside of him, then stomped toward them.

The board-shorts-wearing surfer dude handed
her an umbrella drink, and Beau ground his teeth. It was obvious
the man was making a move on her, and Beau realized he might be
watching his chance at his perfectly planned date with her go up in
flames. Admittedly, he should probably have asked her, before he
made the plans, but she'd been on stage, and he'd been waffling,
and gathering his courage.

Stopping a few feet from them, Beau studied
their body language and picked up on the fact that she obviously
didn't know the guy well. Although flirtatious, it was a little
stiff and uncertain. Being a Texas Ranger, a cop, Beau was trained
to pick up on hidden physical cues that could be important to
assessing a situation. This situation and these two people told him
they were still in the 'getting to know you' phase, which relieved
him somewhat.

He closed the few steps that brought him to
her side, and Jazzie looked up at him, and her face brightened with
a smile of recognition. Beau gave her a wide grin, then leaned down
to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, beautiful...ya'll were great
tonight."

"Thanks!" she said with one of 'those'
smiles, and he felt his brain wiggle around in his skull, then
settle. "Playing on the beach at sunset was amazing," she told him
and shifted her stance toward him a little. Out of the corner of
his eye, he saw the other guy's shoulders stiffen a little, and he
crossed his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge.

"Hey, I've got a surprise for you...are you
done for tonight?" Beau asked her hopefully, then took her empty
glass and handed her the one he'd snagged from a passing waiter on
his way over to them.

She took a sip then smiled again, "Yep, we
just played one set, so Glory could take over..." she told him,
then curiosity sparked in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and
her full lips spread in a sexy grin. "A surprise, huh?"

"Yeah, I think you'll like it too...I'm
sorry to interrupt," he said with a quick glance at the blond guy
whose eyes were narrowed now. He probably knew just how far from
sorry Beau was for interrupting them.

"Oh--I'm sorry," She said then turned to the
guy and said, "Chase, this is Beau Bowman...he's a Texas Ranger,
and good friend of Jess's."

But not a good friend of hers evidently,
Beau thought sourly as he extended his hand to Malibu Ken. "Nice to
meet you."

"Beau this is Chase Rhodes, he's the person
who found the oil on Katie's property...his daddy owns Rhodes
Drilling and Exploration."

Beau wanted to snort as the guy shook his
hand, because there was no way this soft-handed pretty boy had ever
done a hard day's work in his life. He'd probably been silver-spoon
fed his entire life. Beau was raised with wealth, but he worked his
ass off on the ranch with his dad, and in college, and at the
academy, so he hated guys like Chase Rhodes.

Guys like him usually walked around with a
sense of entitlement, like the world owed them something. When they
found it out didn't, they sought out easy ways to make money, often
illegal ways, to keep them in the style to which they had become
accustomed. Beau ought to know, he had arrested enough of them.

Beau knew he was being judgmental where this
guy was concerned, but at this point he didn't give a shit. Chase
Rhodes was hitting on
his
girl, and that automatically made
him an asshole...even though technically, Jazzie wasn't his
girl...yet.

Looking back at Jazzie, Beau gave her a big
grin then asked, "So, are you ready to go see your surprise?"

"Sure..." she said then looked over at
surfer dude and told him with a smile, "Thanks for the drink,
Chase...have a good night, and I'll see you tomorrow."

He didn't return the smile, he shot Beau a
hot look instead, then stepped forward and gave Jazzie a kiss on
the cheek, and said intimately, "See you later, sugar, but I'm
going home tonight. I'll call you in Dallas," which made Beau want
to growl. Taking her arm, Beau turned and started to walk, but was
jerked up short when Jazzie stopped.

Her purple stiletto heels had sunk up to her
ankles in the sand and she was stuck. She laughed then said, "I
forgot to change shoes, after the set." She slid her shoes off and
she wiggled her pretty coral pink-painted toes. Lust slammed into
his chest, as thoughts of sucking those dainty digits seized him.
Beau wasn't a foot fetish guy, but damn, she even had gorgeous
feet.

He shook his head, then dragged his eyes to
hers, and took her shoes from her. Lacing his fingers with hers, he
asked, "Do you have your bathing suit under your dress?" If not, it
was going to be kind of hard for her to enjoy her surprise.

"No...do I need to put it on?" she asked and
glanced down at her dress.

"Yeah, let's go back to your cabana and you
can change and get your other shoes," he told her with a grin.

"Great, I'm down that dock there, last hut
on the right," she told him pointing to one of the over-water
bungalows down the long dock.

They walked to her room, and he stood
outside and waited while she went in to change. It took a few
minutes, but when she came back out, Beau came to the firm
conclusion it had definitely been worth the wait. Jazzie had
changed into a white bikini with gold chain accents that made her
creamy tan skin glow. She had a gold mesh wrap tied at her hip, and
gold sandals on her tiny sexy feet.

In front of the back drop of the
sunset-drenched cerulean blue water, she looked like a Polynesian
water goddess, but Beau couldn't get his tongue to work to tell her
so. Finally, he swallowed a couple of times and managed to
unsuction his tongue from the roof of his mouth to say, "Wow,
darlin', you look beautiful."

She glanced down at herself and blushed
prettily, then she smiled softly. "Thanks, Beau..." Her eyes
drifted down his body and back up, heating him up in places that
were already smoldering just being near her, then she asked, "Do we
need to go to your room now?"

Her innocent words sent images of stripping
that bikini off of her and licking every delicious curve of her
body flitting through his brain. If that was on the menu, hell
yeah, they needed to go to his room. Then Beau looked down, because
he was damned afraid he was rock hard and she could see the proof
of his thoughts on blatant display. That's when he realized she'd
suggested the trip to his room, because he still had on the jeans
and white shirt he'd worn to the wedding, and his cowboy boots.
Definitely not beach attire.

Blood rushed to his face and he said, "Yeah,
but I'm in the hotel, so it's a little bit of a walk."