First Love
Authors: C.J. Harte
Other C.J. Harte Titles Available via Amazon
Books Available from Bold Strokes Books
Jordan Thompson was brought up to believe and trust what her parents taught her: their strong but conservative values. As the daughter of the President of the United States, she especially feels the burden of living up to her parents’ standards.
Drew Hamilton is putting her rodeo career on hold to purse a medical degree. One day she hopes to return to Wyoming to practice family medicine and ranch. She’s worked hard to pay for school and doesn’t have time for romance, especially with curious straight females. When Jordan hires her as a tutor, Drew finds she is learning more about life than she planned. Jordan is learning more than academics. She’s learning about love.
But with their very different backgrounds and families, they may not survive the stresses of a first love.
First Love
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First Love
© 2013 By C.J. Harte. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-991-6
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, New York 12185
First Edition: October 2013
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Cindy Cresap
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])
Dreams of Bali
Magic of the Heart
First Love
The fact that you are reading this book is due in part to the faith and hard work of the Bold Strokes staff. Cindy Cresap, my editor, who patiently explained things to me more than once until I finally got it. Thank you for your patience and willingness to teach. The book cover is a masterpiece from Sheri’s creative mind. I am amazed how she can take the written word and come up with amazing visuals. Stacia has been the force behind finally getting this into print. Radclyffe has opened doors for so many of us to live our dream.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the good people of Wyoming who live the code of the West, the code Drew Hamilton lives by: always finish what you start, be tough but fair, live each day with courage, talk less and listen more, ride for the brand, know when to draw the line. Good advice. To learn more about this code, visit
http://boldstrokesbooksauthors.wordpress.com
This book is dedicated first to Edith Windsor, whose love, devotion, and courage to her first love brought about change for all our loves and lives. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is no longer the law of the land. Second, this book is dedicated to my first love, the woman who taught me what love was really all about. Finally, it is dedicated to all you readers. Celebrate your love and lives.
August
“Three years. Only three years.” The air conditioning was on max, and still, she was sweating. Record heat baked Florida and had no intention of letting go. Drew Hamilton pulled into the gas station, stepped out into the hot, humid air, and wondered what the hell she was doing in Gainesville, Florida.
Three years. Only three years.
Her short hair clung to her head. Sweat, collecting under her Western-cut shirt, ran down her body in long, endless streams.
“There are medical schools in drier places,” she muttered. “Yeah, but you thought it was a good idea to get away from home. Be closer to your brother Greg, you said. Have all the pretty girls to look at, you said. Well, smart mouth, how the hell will you see them with sweat in your eyes?” She removed the gas cap and began filling her tank. “Well, AnDrew, cowgirl up, because this is probably as good as it gets.” Her gas tank full, she walked into the convenience store to pay.
Greg’s insane to want to live in the South.
Drew stopped and laughed. “What the hell does that say about me, then?”
It’s only three years!
“God, I miss Wyoming, and it’s only been three days. Yes, but it’s for three years.”
The cool air in the store offered a temporary reprieve. She sighed and stretched.
I’ll never leave this store.
As she walked up to the counter, the clerk stared at her.
Maybe he just stares at everyone.
Nope!
She then wondered if her jeans were unzipped. She checked.
Nope!
“You in that white Explorer?” he asked.
Drew nodded as she reached in her back pocket for her wallet.
“That’s thirty-seven dollars even. Where’d you buy that buckle?” he drawled.
His eyes again roamed her body, this time for an even longer time than it took for him to ask his question. For a plainspoken Westerner, that was too long. Drew stretched to every inch of her six-foot-one-inch frame and squared her shoulders before handing over the cash. “I earned it,” she answered. “How do I get to the University of Florida medical school?”
He gave brief, succinct directions. While his speech was pleasant, his manners were one step short of a porcupine. Drew nodded and started to walk away.
“How’d you earn it?” he asked.
“I rode a four-legged bull,” she threw over her shoulder, laughing at the look on the guy’s face, “and stayed on.”
Opening the door, she was again blasted by the sauna outside. “I hope he isn’t the typical Southern male,” she muttered as she crossed to her car, “or else they’d all need to become steers.”