Which eccentric cowboy in Stockton County branded Evan Sting on Shotner Hill, murdering the young man? This is what private eye Joe Boxford asks himself when he's hired by Evan's father Benny to find the murderer. Joe needs some help, and enlists the services of Tal Linear, owner of The Linear Bar. But sparks begin to fly between the two. As romance heats up between them, they attempt to solve the branding crime. As the suspects start to pile up and weird relationships unfold in West Stockton, Joe and Tal begin to unravel a heinous crime. That is, until Tal vanishes and Joe thinks his sleuth buddy is going to be the killer's next victim. Does Joe have the skills needed to be a hero and save Tal from the killer's secret agenda and solve the crime? Or will Joe fall flat on his face and lose his reputation as a private investigator as well as his new lover, Tal Linear?

Stockton County Cowboys Book

“Touché,” I said, which wasn’t something you heard in West Stockton, but it fit the bill and I used it anyway.


“Don’t be getting all French on me, Joe. You know I like my American cowboys.” He stood, walked up to me, sniffed me again, and said, “Kiss me.”


I thought of Maddy and my arrangement with her. I also thought of a big lawsuit facing the agency if I didn’t follow through with her wishes. Therefore, I leaned into the dog and kissed him, which felt dead to me, unemotional, and not anything like I had shared with Tal Linear from the night before.


He rolled his hands up and down my sides, into our kiss. His tongue darted inside my mouth and pulled out just as quickly. One of his palms caressed the dick between my legs, but I wasn’t becoming excited. Instead, I was limp under the denim, uninterested in his sexual shenanigans.


Chapter 31