Unedited Excerpt - Tough Luck Cowgirl ~ Coming December 30th, 2026

Chapter Two 

"I never have considered myself a perfectionist, but I do think of myself as a 'professionalist'... I always strive simply to be my very best." - Dolly Parton

Next time Pearl saw Hoyt she was gonna slug him. Right in the damn arm. It was his fault she was standing here in this bar, degrading herself by giving Tiffany Parsons the opportunity to laugh at her. Tiffany had laughed at less when it came to Pearl.

She’d avoided this damn place since the rodeo, except for the night her family had celebrated Mary’s promotion and Pearl announced her marriage to Hoyt. Call her ornery, but she wanted to see the look on Tiffany’s face then… which had surprisingly been completely void of emotion.

What had Pearl expected it had only been one night with a woman who never seemed to be lacking in company. A night that frequently played on repeat for Pearl when she needed to unwind. After the rodeo last year, she and Tiffany had finally acted on this strange attraction they seemed to share. Except dating Tiffany wasn’t in her plans and she wasn’t sure how to not feel like a fool after having the most insane orgasms of her life with a woman who tended to collect sexual conquests, so she’d ran.

Pearl also needed to show this town she was the perfect representative for them, and Tiffany was the black sheep heartbreaker running the local bar. She wouldn’t have brought positive influence to the campaign as a girlfriend, add her family’s scandalous past, and it was pointless. Because Pearl’s ultimate goal meant being what the town needed her to be, not what she wanted. Except Hoyt had convinced her that Tiffany would be good for something… campaign manager. No way.

“Sounds like you got a problem.”

“Thank you for stating the obvious. I need help solving this and you were highly recommended.”

Tiffany snorted and that’s when Pearl really took a look. Tiffany’s tanned skin covered in her a stained t-shirt, a black strap of her bra visible at the edges with the way the collar’s wide scoop hung, and short sleeves put her corded forearms on display. Her curly reddish-brown hair was pulled into some updo, bundling them on top of her head, and those hazel eyes were like orbs of color she could get lost in.

Nope, Pearl. You don’t want the woman with a directory of female companions at her beck and call. You were already the notch in the bedpost. She didn’t chase, just moved on.

The itch had been scratched and Pearl had turned to world domination. She’d declared her candidacy for the council member position a few months after announcing her engagement determined to continue her path of rebuilding the DeVelder name, bigger than a horse racing and stud farm could ever be. Only to be back at what felt like square one.

“You’re looking at the wrong person. Last time I checked you already had someone who was happy to help. Mary got that PTO mom, Sissy’s daughter… Alice.” 

“Like I mentioned, Alice resigned.”

Tiffany scoffed, as she grabbed a glass and scooped some ice. “Not paying enough to deal with your attitude?”

“An attitude that’s served me well. You’ll remember I’m the top realtor in the county. And no, she couldn’t follow simple instructions.”

“Ah, couldn’t remember if you prefer La Croix, the cranberry one.” As she spoke, Tiffany popped the tab on a can and poured the very water she mentioned into the glass then set it front of her. This is how she landed every damn woman that came into her orbit. Simply by remembering little stupid details, like their favorite drink.

Pearl reached for the glass and took a sip. “I wouldn’t waste my campaign manager’s time with water. Our schedules weren’t compatible, and it appears mothers with school age children tend to want to prioritize the brats over their part-time gigs.”

“What about dear Hoyt? Can’t he help? He put a ring on your finger and it doesn’t hurt to practice those vows early.” Tiffany pointed to the simple band of diamonds on her right ring finger.

Pearl had picked it out herself, bought it herself, but no one knew that, except Hoyt. “He told me to talk to you. Said you were the person who had the most knowledge about re-inventing yourself. I need someone to help the town see me as an option not as an empty candidate.”

“And I’m supposed to do this out of the kindness of my heart?” Tiffany pushed away from the bar and moved back towards Tom.

Pearl hunched over resting her elbows on the dark wood. “No, I want to pay you to be my new campaign manager.”

Tom turned toward her and grinned, the gaping holes where teeth used to be smiling back at her. “How much does this gig pay?”

“Tom might be willing to take the job,” Tiffany replied as she gathered his empty plate and used silverware. “You want an extra glass of water before you go, Tom?”

Tom shook his head as he slid off the stool. “No. You’ve done enough for me today. Gonna head down the road to Kent’s. He said he had some scrape metal I could have. Pearl, you let me know if you’d consider me for the job. I’ve even got a slogan for you… Vote Pearl, she’ll polish this sandpit of a town until it shines.”

Pearl couldn’t summon up a smile at the poorly phrased joke. How many times had people compared her to oysters over the years. Too many.

But Tiffany busted out laughing. “Tom, that’s a good one. Now get out of here before Pearl loses her last screw and picks up the stool to chase you.”

“Might be good for my heart rate – “ Tom grinned once more and pointed at Pearl – “Think about it.”

Once he’d exited the bar, Pearl bothered to look at Tiffany again, who dumped the dirty dishes into a gray bin. “So… will you do it?”

Tiffany sighed, her shoulders flexing, and Pearl was struck by a memory of the honed muscles in Tiffany’s back, the way they felt under hands. She shook her head, shoving the thought to the side, and crossed her arms right as Tiffany turned to face her.

“Not with you looking at me like that. Besides I already run a business and a nonprofit effort. I don’t have time for more responsibilities on top of my existing ones.”

“You have as much time as you want to have.” Pearl leaned against the wood bar as she took a long sip of her drink, letting the bubbles dissolve on her tongue. “Or is this really because of what happened between us?”

Tiffany raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

No missing the way Tiffany’s shoulders locked or how her eyes drifted across Pearl’s chest. Yep, there were plenty of memories there. They’d shared one night in her upstairs apartment, not counting some explosive kisses in the hallway and in Tiffany’s office. All their greatest moments happened right here in this bar.

“Oh, I can tell you remember but see I’m not like you. I can put personal situations aside for the sake of getting a job done. I’m a ‘professionalist’ that way.”

“That’s not a word.”

“It is if Dolly Parton said it, but you’re changing the subject. Is this about that or what?”

When Tiffany frowned it pissed Pearl off because of how it made her nipples tighten. The woman’s facial expressions did weird things to her and Pearl noticed the ident above Tiffany’s left eye whenever her eyebrows hunched. Like they were doing now.

“No.”

“No?”

Tiffany huffed. “You’re like a damn dog after a bone. It’s because I’m busy.” She motioned to the room around them and held up a towel in her free hand. “I run a bar. I have a busy life. My commitments are important to me, and I would think as a business owner yourself you would have some understanding of that.”

The implication irked her, but then she and Tiffany were well matched in the trading of sticks and stones. Pearl refused to let them hurt her.

“Yes, but you’re missing a big point. I can pay you.”

“You make it sound like I’m desperate for cash. This business is flush. Unless you’re trying to pay me for something else?”

Pearl sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. She hadn’t been ready for that one. “I’ve never had to pay for sex in my life—“

“That’s what they all say, but I’m not going to judge if you have. As for managing, I already heard about your irrational expectations and Alice’s failed attempt at trying to reign you in. Sissy came through not more than an hour ago, spitting to Daisy June and one of the other church ladies all the tea. I might’ve overheard. “

“What were they doing here?”

Tiffany reached out and swiped Pearl’s now empty glass. “Picking up a few items I prepared for their women’s bible study. Mary called in a favor, since Delia’s and The Valley’s Delights were already packed on orders. But yes, Alice hasn’t been silent about how you’re non-communicative, expected her to work outlandish hours and weekends with no consideration—”

“All right, all right. I don’t need to hear the mess again,” Pearl replied waving her hands in the air.

Tiffany shrugged. “Fine, but you can see where your previous campaign manager didn’t exactly leave you a glowing reputation.”

Pearl considered her options. She could fire back some more laden words. Try her hand at being sweet. Offer her body. No way. The only other option was unthinkable…. But she was going to do it.

She leaned up, the tip toes of her heels against the lower rung of the barstool, crushing her breasts against the wood in front of her and ignoring the bite of pain that came with it. “Tiffany.”

The woman of her every fantasy stared her down then. Hazel eyes, eyes like the sky right before a storm swirling with blue sky, green and brown earth, and gray thunderclouds.

When you can’t win ‘em, beg ‘em.

“Please, I need this.”