Page 3 of Eighteen Bowties and Counting

And crumpling to the floor right in front of him.

“Whoa.” Beau wasn’t sure if he’d spoken or not, but he did manage to propel himself out of the doorway and toward the woman who’d just suddenly and unexpectedly clattered to the floor. Pepper barked, and by the time Beau reached her, Ruby hovered over Charlotte in a very protective stance.

“Charlotte?” Beau asked. Then Ruby started licking her face, as if her rough tongue would surely wake her. Beau prayed it would as he took in the unconscious woman now in his kitchen.

“Come on,” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. He had no idea what to do with his hands, where to touch or not touch. “Charlotte? Can you hear me?” He pressed on Ruby’s chest to get her to back up.

Pepper barked again, and Beau felt at an utter loss.

Then he remembered he had a phone, and he knew Charlotte’s brother. Mason and his family had just moved onto a ranch on the southeast side of Three Rivers, and perhaps he’d know why his younger sister had literally just passed out for no reason.

Chapter Two

Charlotte Wisenhouer could hear someone talking above her. Around her. A male voice seemingly implanted in her eardrums, echoing endlessly.

I’m going to call your brother, okay?

She moaned, because that absolutely couldn’t happen. She didn’t want Mason and his super-human worrying coming into play here. Everything around her felt squishy and soft as she came back to awareness, and she hated this part of waking up the most.

Because it meant she’d passed out.

She’d lost consciousness enough times in her life to know, and she fought through the clouds in her head for the last memory she possessed. That would give her an idea of where she’d been when her mild heart condition had caused her to faint.

The scent of something male and something canine met her nose. Then alfalfa and maybe dirt. All at once, she remembered—she’d gone inside the cabin where she’d been told to come for her interview.

She’d expected to find someone there waiting for her, but the place had been empty. So she’d left the door slightly ajar and took the liberty at looking at the foreman’s pictures. And oh, she knew this foreman.

Beau Peterson. Cowboy god. Tall, dark, and handsome. The star of her teenage dreams.

She’d first met Beau when she was fifteen and he twenty. That was the first time she’d felt the rush of attraction toward the man. But Mason, her overprotective and stern older brother, had told her to stay away from the older cowboy. That he was a player, and he’d only break her heart.

And Charlotte barely had one of those that worked, so she certainly couldn’t risk losing pieces of it to men like Beau Peterson.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she found Beau moving in slow motion as he lifted his phone to his ear. In a swift, desperate movement, her arm flew out and knocked his device away.

He yelped in surprise, and his light brown eyes—or were they hazel? Brownish-hazel?—locked onto hers. “You’re awake.”

“Don’t call my brother.”

A few moments passed while Charlotte tried to further ground herself to where she was and what had happened.

“I’m not going to ask if you’re okay,” Beau said. “But do you want to stand up?” He offered his hand, and Charlotte didn’t hesitate to slide hers into it. He helped her sit up, saying, “Take it easy, now,” in that slow, sexy cowboy drawl that always made her cells vibrate in a warm way.

She’d dated men in the past, of course. Not anyone for a while, as she’d grown weary of everyone treating her like she was one breath away from breaking. She’d put nothing of her medical condition on her application here at Three Rivers Ranch, and had she known Beau Peterson was the foreman, she might’ve worn something a little different for the interview.

As it was, she’d only arrived in town two nights ago, and none of her stuff had been delivered yet. Her luggage had been lost by the airline and not found yet. So she’d borrowed a shirt from her sister-in-law, but unfortunately, Felicity was built like a barrel and most of her clothes came from the men’s section.

“You okay, Charlotte?”

The use of her name made her blink and look at Beau again. “You know who I am?”

His smile flickered across his handsome features, making his beard ripple as his cheeks pitched up. “Of course I do,” he said. “You came around with Mason plenty of times.”

She put her hand on the seat of one of his kitchen chairs and used it to help herself get to her feet. “I didn’t meant to trespass. It was just hot outside, and I figured you’d be ready for me.”

“That’s strange.” He straightened and pushed his dogs back.

Charlotte reached out to pat the black lab, who preened under her touch. “Yes, you’re so sweet, aren’t you?”

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