medical tests, Ace is on leave—maybe forever.
He’s determined to sort things out with the ranch and get back to Houston as soon as possible. What he isn’t counting on is that Molly’s only gotten more beautiful over the years...and she still wants him. The passion between them is hotter than rocket fuel—and just as dangerous. He can’t promise anything as long as there’s a chance to go on another mission. But even in orbit, this attraction has no rules...and no limits.
Don’t think. Act...
Jason’s skin was hot, his muscles hard under her touch, and damn if he didn’t smell good.
He arched one eyebrow at Molly but didn’t make another move. She felt the unspoken dare between them. Was she going to do this or back away as she had earlier?
“Hell.”
His curse lingered in the air around them as his mouth came down on hers. For a mouth that had always looked so strong and tough, it was soft against hers. He took the kiss slowly as if he had all the time in the world.
They had this night.
He tasted of whiskey and temptation. Two things she knew she should resist right now but was unable to.
She was tired of denying herself Jason McCoy.
She’d wanted him for longer than she could remember...and at last it seemed he was hers for the taking.
Hello! Welcome to the first book in my new series, Space Cowboys. I was born just before man walked on the moon, and my mom has an 8mm film of me crawling on the floor while in the background the television is tuned to that historic moon landing. From a very early age I wanted to be an astronaut—it seemed fun. Unfortunately for me you have to be really good at science and advanced math...something I’m not.
However, I am good at reading and researching, and when a conversation with my editor about how ranching is a major industry in parts of Florida (including the part where I grew up) turned to a “what if,” Space Cowboys was born. I got to combine two things that I love a lot, space—and the vast universe—and ranching. The series is set in Texas instead of Florida because all training at NASA takes place in Texas.
I had a lot of fun writing this book. I lived in Texas for five wonderful years and revisiting Texas through this story was like going home. I also love Jason and Molly, both strong-willed people who never take the easy path. They always stand by what they think is right, even if that means letting go of each other.
I hope you enjoy the first book in the Space Cowboys series!
Happy reading,
Katherine
USA TODAY bestselling author KATHERINE GARBERA is a two-time MAGGIE® Award winner who has written more than seventy books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund. Visit Katherine on the web at katherinegarbera.com, or catch up with her on Facebook and Twitter.
This book is dedicated to my darling husband, Rob Elser. Thanks for sharing your love of science and the universe with me and helping to sow the seeds of this series.
Thanks to my editor Laura Barth for helping to turn an offhand comment about astronauts and the Florida ranching community into a viable series idea.
THE DOOR OPENED. Ace McCoy couldn’t see the figure standing on the porch due to distance and the shadow cast by the setting sun, but his gut told him it was her. And if he was a betting man, he’d wager she was more beautiful than she’d been at sixteen when he’d walked away without a backward glance.
He walked slowly toward the house; her dad had once said that the only way to move forward was past fear. And, though he wasn’t truly afraid of Molly Tanner, she was the one woman who had haunted him all of his life. Seeing her again after thirteen years made his gut clench.
“Jason—I mean ‘Ace’—McCoy,” she said, as if his call sign left a bad taste in her mouth. “Thought you’d never set foot on this ranch again.”
He was right. She’d matured into her features. The mouth that had once seemed too big was now full and sensuous. Her eyes were still as rich as dark chocolate and her brows were thick and serious. Her nose was pert and some would say cute. But he’d been on the receiving end of her temper, so cute wasn’t a word he’d use to describe her.
Her breasts were fuller than he remembered, her waist smaller, more nipped in. And her hips—ah, hell—those hips were curvy, beckoning a man to squeeze them and pull her closer. He still remembered the feel of her in his arms, the taste of her mouth, even though they’d only shared one forbidden kiss.
“I’m back because of your dad,” he said, taking off his cowboy hat as he stepped up onto the wooden porch that extended across the front of the house. There were two large clay pots on either side of the stairs and four wooden rocking chairs beckoned. But he knew better than to drop his guard. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
In Houston he felt like a man in control, a man in charge of his destiny and his life. But a problem with the recovery of his bone density, revealed in his last post-flight medical exam, had him grounded indefinitely. And his mentor—the closest thing he had to a father—had left him half of this ranch. Returning to Cole’s Hill, Texas, made him feel as if he was stepping into the past, a past he preferred to leave behind.
The boy he’d been. The trouble that had dogged him. The stolen kiss that had cost him this, the only home he’d ever really had.
“He’s dead.”
“I know. I...”
“Don’t make excuses,” she said. “He always hoped you’d come back, and I guess he found the one way to get you here.”
“Dying is extreme even for him.”
“Yeah, it was,” she said, tears sparkling in her eyes as she turned away and dropped her chin to her chest. “It was so unexpected.”
He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, needing to offer comfort and maybe find some himself. Mick had been a young sixty-five, and Ace was still shocked that an all-terrain-vehicle accident had claimed his mentor’s life.
Molly wiped her eyes with her hand and then stepped back from him. Her voice broke as she started to speak, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “He named you in his will.”
“I was surprised. He and I made our peace,” he said. “But the terms of his will caught me off guard.”
“Me,
