Just Shoot Me (Cowboy Way, #1) by Becky McGraw Page B

you’ll be here
too.”
    “ She wants to take the pictures out
here?” Dean asked with surprise.
    “ That’s what Tina told Hope on
Saturday. I agreed, because we need the money. I didn’t know the
shoot would be with you though,” Cord said with a
snicker.
    It wasn’t going to be with him, and his
brother sure agreed to a lot on his own these days. But Cord was
right this time, they did need the damned money. Dean couldn’t help
but wonder how much his dignity was worth. “Did she mention how
much?”
    “ She offered five grand to use the
ranch for the location. Probably a grand an hour for your time.
That was my rate when I was modeling.”
    Dean’s heart shot to his throat, and his knees
went weak. “Holy fuck!” he shouted as the towel slipped from his
hand to the dirt floor.
    A cocky smile eased up his brother’s mouth.
The same smile Dean had seen on his face in those magazines, the
same one that women all over the country seemed to go weak-kneed
over. “A lot more than ranching or rodeoing, huh?” Cord asked
smugly.
    “ That’s just stupid. Those
companies have more money than sense,” Dean said, trying to
regulate his breathing.
    “ Understand now why I shaved my ass
and moved to Dallas?”
    Dean picked up the towel, then met his
brother’s eyes. “No, I’ll never understand why you abandoned your
family for money.”
    Dean thought about it while he made one more
pass over Blaze’s back with the towel. He didn’t have much choice
really. Hope was forcing his hand. Dean hated being cornered, but
that damned money was too tempting to resist even if she hadn’t
pressured him.
    “ I’ll do it, but I’m not shaving my
ass,” he said firmly.
    “ You got it. No ass shaving,” Cord
agreed with a chuckle. “I’ll let Hope know, so she can call Tina.
They’ll both be happy.”
    Tina Montgomery had outmaneuvered him after
all, and she’d won. Dean was sure she would be ecstatic. He was
going to do the damned shoot, but he wasn’t going to make it easy
for her. She was going to do things on his terms.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Friday morning, Tina and her crew of rodeo
clowns invaded the ranch. By then Dean was having second, third and
fourth thoughts about agreeing to this crap. He sat on a stool in
the bunkhouse where they set up what they called a staging area,
while a man who looked as feminine as the women in the group cut
his damned hair. He needed a haircut yeah, but what this guy was
doing to him was way beyond that.
    Gel? Hairspray? Definitely not him. And Dean
had about had enough of his flitting around. When the guy named
Paulo reached for the hairspray again, Dean clamped his fingers
over his wrist and gave him a glare. “That’s enough,” he said,
standing but not releasing the hairdresser’s wrist.
    “ Daddy, can Paulo cut my hair now
too?” Jeremy asked with excitement as he skidded to a stop beside
the hairdresser. “He said he would cut my hair too.”
    “ Not now. Go find Grandma,” Dean
said gruffly, still not releasing his hold on Paulo’s wrist. “Paulo
is finished with the hair for now.”
    “ But, Daddy—“ Jeremy started, but
Dean gave him a hot glare. Jeremy’s eyes dropped to the toes of his
dusty boots, and he turned and walked off. Dean swung his gaze back
to Paulo. “Where is Tina?” he asked darkly.
    She needed to get this show on the road, or he
was going to do what he should be doing. Helping unload the stock
his father and brother bought at the auction. He wanted to see the
stock anyway. He trusted his dad, but Cord had a way of talking
Silas Dixon into things that Dean didn’t agree with. Dean wouldn’t
put it past him to have talked their daddy into buying peacocks to
stock the ranch, instead of cattle.
    Paulo jerked his wrist from Dean’s hold and
folded his arms over his chest. “I haven’t put the wax in your hair
yet to separate it,” he complained. “And I did tell your son I
would cut his hair too.”
    Tina Montgomery scheduling this