In a Texas Minute

by Stella Bagwell

Overview

An abandoned baby brings a man and woman together in a pretend engagement in this friends-to-lovers romance from a USA Today–bestselling author.

Sierra Mendoza was nursing yet another broken heart when an unexpected distraction appeared at her door—an abandoned baby who was truly the man of her dreams. But Child Services wouldn’t consider the unmarried Sierra as a possible foster parent until her friend Alex Calloway came to the rescue, pretending he was Sierra’s fiancé.

Caustic yet charismatic Alex grappled with demons of his own even as he admitted that his feelings for Sierra had grown far deeper than friendship. But when Sierra decided to move forward with plans to adopt the baby, would the ready-made family be too much for Alex to handle?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459216402
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	10/10/2023
Series:	Fortunes of Texas: Reunion Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	400,914
File size:	434 KB

About the Author

The author of over seventy-five titles for Harlequin, Stella Bagwell writes about familes, the West, strong, silent men of honor and the women who love them. She credits her loyal readers and hopes her stories have brightened their lives in some small way. A cowgirl through and through, she recently learned how to rope a steer. Her days begin and end helping her husband on their south Texas ranch. In between she works on her next tale of love. Contact her at [e-mail]

Read an Excerpt

In A Texas Minute

---

By Stella Bagwell

Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.

Copyright © 2005 Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0-373-24677-3

---

Chapter One

"Sierra! Hello! Are you there?"

Sierra Mendoza's gaze circled the table where she and her friends had gathered for lunch. Every eye was zeroed in on her and she suddenly realized her mind had wandered off again and she'd lost all train of the conversation.

Her cheeks pink with embarrassment, she glanced at Gayle, a blonde who was five years older than Sierra and much more experienced in the men department.

"I'm sorry, Gayle, I was ... thinking about something. I didn't hear your question."

Gayle rolled her blue eyes, but softened the impatient gesture with a smile. "I asked if you wanted to try one of those fudge brownie desserts with me today?"

"Ugh, no. I - I'm just not in the mood for sugar today," she said, declining.

Actually Sierra wasn't in the mood for anything. She was only here at this lunch because these people were her best friends and had been since she'd met them at the University of Texas at Austin many years ago.

Today the two women and three men had congregated for their weekly lunch get-together at the Long-horn Bar and Grill in downtown Red Rock, Texas.

Back in San Antonio's earlier days, the Longhorn building had been a feed-and-grain store and today it was still more like a barn than anything else. The ceiling was high, open and crossed with heavy rafters. The wooden planked floor was rough and the pine picnic tables were covered with blue-and-white checked tablecloths. What used to be the loading dock was now an outside dining area that looked out over Main Street. The air in and out of the Longhorn always smelled of beer and fried onions, scents that mingled with laughter and rowdy conversation.

Mario, a Hispanic doctor who worked the emergency room in one of San Antonio's larger hospitals, turned a look of concern on Sierra. "What's the matter? Are you trying to diet? You certainly don't need to. You've gotten too thin in my opinion."

Feeling as if a bright spotlight were focused on her, Sierra dropped her gaze to the half-eaten lunch plate in front of her. "Not really, Mario. I've been eating plenty. I just don't want dessert today." She looked up and smiled apologetically at Gayle. "Maybe next week I'll have more of an appetite. Why don't you go ahead and eat one without me."

Laughing, Gayle shook her head. "No way. I'm not going to be the only one to eat a days'worth of calories in one small bowl."

"Well, I think Mario is right," Trey spoke up. "Sierra looks thin and pale. We've all noticed it. So what's wrong, honey? Still mooning over Chad Newbern?"

She looked at Trey, a big, brawny civil engineer with forearms the size of Popeye's and an even bigger heart.

"I don't want to talk about him," she said flatly.

She didn't even want to think about Chad, much less talk about him. Sierra had dated the man for two long years and then, suddenly, two months ago, he'd told her he wanted out of their relationship. He'd explained how he wanted more excitement in his life and Sierra was left with the clear conclusion that she'd simply been too boring to satisfy him. The whole incident had left her ego in shreds.

"Why not? It's obvious you're still thinking about the loser."

A grimace tightened her jaw as she looked directly across the table at Alex Calloway, the smooth lawyer of the bunch. A look of pure boredom etched his handsome features and Sierra had the most unladylike urge to kick his shins beneath the table. Of all her friends, Alex had a way of irritating her the most. Sarcasm should have been his middle name and there were times he could be so callous Sierra wanted to bop him over the head. Yet, on the other hand, he could turn around and be a real peach whenever he wanted to be.

Sierra had never considered him as more than a good friend and she supposed it was that complex personality of his that had kept her from falling for his tall, lanky good looks. And thank God for that, she thought. Alex was a heartbreaker of the worst kind.

"You don't know what I'm thinking," she bit sharply back at him.

"Well, I certainly believed old Chad was gonna be your husband someday soon. I was expectin' you to waltz in here and tell us wedding bells were fixin' to ring," Trey spoke up. "Instead the jerk runs out on you."

"Yeah. And after all you've done for the cad," Gayle added disgustedly. "There's nothing as sorry as a sorry man."

Trey scowled at Gayle, but none of the three men at the table bothered to speak up and defend their gender. Instead Mario looked sympathetically at Sierra and said, "Well, at least you got him off alcohol. And he's got a steady job. You can feel good about that."

"Yes, sir," Trey spoke up brightly, "you fixed Chad Newbern when he was pretty broken. You can feel proud of yourself for helping someone to get on with his life."

It was true that Sierra had been proud of the progress Chad had made since she'd first met him two years ago. At that time, he'd just been discharged from the navy for medical reasons and he'd been devastated over losing a career he'd wanted so badly. He'd taken to drinking to get the loss off his mind, until the liquor had taken hold of him.

Sierra had been touched by his wounded spirit and slowly but surely she'd helped him get over the drinking problem. In the process, she'd fallen in love. And she supposed her biggest mistake had been thinking that Chad had fallen in love, too.

"Yeah," Alex drawled as he lifted his beer mug to his lips, "Sierra's not just a social worker, she's a miracle worker. She's good at patching things. No matter how rotten they are."

"Alex!" Gayle scolded. "Can't you see that Sierra is hurting? She needs our support."

A mocking slant spread over Alex's firmly chiseled lips. "What Sierra needs to do is stiffen her spine before someone else walks all over her."

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from In A Texas Minute by Stella Bagwell Copyright © 2005 by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---