Lipstick and Leather: Three Sexy Cowboys, Three Sexy Tales by Cheyenne McCray Page A

off.”
    “I have a business to run.” She pushed her hand through her hair. “One of Dad’s last wishes was to keep the business in the family.”
    Sally tilted her head to the side. “One of your cousins could always run it for you and you can work from here on that computer of yours.”
    “Telecommute?” Susan shook her head. “It’s the kind of job that requires hands on, onsite management. I’d need to bring someone in from the outside to buy the business and who knows if they’d lay off everyone in the family?”

    “You can’t live your life for everyone else, honey.” Sally leaned up against the porch railing as she looked at Susan. “Things will work out fine for everyone.”
    “Thanks, Aunt Sally.” Susan gestured toward the barns and outbuildings. “After what you’ve done with this place… It’s going to be difficult for anyone to fill your shoes.”
    “At least it’s more of a homestead than the operating ranch that it was back in the days.” Sally put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “A couple of horses, a cow and a calf, three goats and half a dozen pigs along with more chickens than I know what to do with. The grazing right payments aren’t much, but they pay some of the bills.” Susan braced her palms on the porch railing as she looked out the view that went on for miles and miles. “Like I said, it’s going to be hard for someone to fill your shoes.”
    “You’ll do fine, girl.” Sally patted Susan’s back. “When will you be back from town?”
    “I shouldn’t be too long.” Susan glanced in the direction of the closest town to the ranch. “I just need to grab a couple of things.”
    “Here are a few items to add to your shopping list.” Sally handed her a scrap of paper.
    Susan took the list and glanced at it before pocketing it in her flowing broomstick skirt.
    “Anything else you need me to do while I’m in town?”
    “That should do it.” Her aunt shook her head. “But keep your cell phone handy just in case.”
    “You’ve got it.” Susan headed down the steps and gave a little wave to Sally before climbing into her SUV.
    She drove out the gates of Horseshoe Ranch and over the cattle guard, and then she was driving past Gray’s spread, the Rocking R Ranch.
    It took thirty minutes to drive from her aunt’s house into town. After having lived in Dallas for the past seventeen years, small town life would be a big, but welcome, change, if it was even possible for her to take over for her aunt.
    The buildings in the original part of town looked older, sad with age, and several storefronts were vacant. The drugstore, where her dad bought her chocolate milkshakes, was now nothing more than a shell.
    She passed through to the part of town that boasted a Super Wal-Mart and a McDonald’s, both of which had taken business away from the once thriving downtown stores. The huge chain store had virtually everything, eliminating the need for the tool store, a dress shop, the mercantile, and even the small-town grocery store.
    Still, there were some businesses hanging on, and one of them was the feed store where she needed to pick up some grain and chicken feed.
    She parked near the loading dock then climbed out of the SUV and headed toward the front entrance. Just as she was about to enter the store, a man wearing a Stetson walked out carrying a bag of grain over one shoulder. She smacked into him and he caught her arm with his free hand to keep her from stumbling.
    “Pardon me, ma’am.” The low drawl was familiar enough to make her heart stop and the hand on her arm heated her skin.
    “Gray.” Even as she said his name a wash of raw emotion flooded her as she looked up at the tall cowboy.
    He’d grown into an exceptional man and had filled out. He had a cowboy’s build, his body muscular and his skin tanned golden brown from working out in the sun. Memories flashed through her mind of his ice blue eyes looking into hers as he slid inside of her. The