Page 1 of Wyatt & Weston
PROLOGUE
My eyes trail over the big wooden sign. Welcome to Wild Thorn Ranch. A rush of excitement travels through me as we wait.
We hired a driver to bring us here from the airport, not knowing that they wouldn’t go past the front gate. I told Greg that we should have just rented a car and drove here ourselves. Of course, I knew how stupid it sounded as soon as the words left my mouth because, of course, Greg Sutherland doesn’t doanythinghimself, not if he can pay someone else to do it.
“Now what do we do?” he huffs, glaring at the property before us.
“We only have a few bags. We can just walk the rest of the way,” I tell him, fully expecting the horrified look on his face.
“You're joking, right? Not in these Prada loafers, I’m not.”
“Greg, we’re on a ranch. If you can’t walk down a dirt road, then how are you going to do anything for the next two weeks?” I huff, crossing my arms.
“Easy, I’m not. I have no plans on leaving that cabin. Room service, air conditioning, and wifi. We’re here foryou. Because you hounded me for days after finding this place online and said it was your dream to come here.” He rolls his eyes and my teethgrind together in annoyance. “I agreed to two weeks here, and you give me two weeks in London.”
What is this man's obsession with London? Why the hell would I want to spend my honeymoon there when we literally go every other month?
I’m so over this rich boy bullshit.
“Fine. You can stand here all you like, but I’m going to walk.”
“Emma.” He scolds me like I’m some ridiculous child. “Just let me call the ranch and see if someone can come get us.”
“You do that.” I don’t bother looking at him as I grab my suitcases and start down the dirt road.
He calls my name, telling me to get back there but I don’t listen. Honestly, I’m starting to wish I bought the idea of a solo honeymoon. He does his thing, I do mine.
Sounds crazy for a couple who just got married, right?
Not for us, seeing how there's not one ounce of love in this marriage. Hell, half the time I can’t even stand the man.
We are married in name only.
You would think being engaged to the man since birth, I’d eventually learn to love him, but love can’t be forced. Sometimes, you can fall in love along the way but I don’t see that happening with Greg.
I’m Emma Vanderbilt, heiress to the Vanderbilt fortune. My job is to smile and look pretty. I’ve been a pawn in my parent's life since the moment I was conceived.
While this might be my future, I still want to find any bits of enjoyment I can out of life. When I was looking up honeymoon locations, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do.
So when I stumbled upon the Wild Thorn Ranch website, I felt like it was a sign. And by the time I was done looking, I knew this was the place I wanted to go.
Squinting my eyes, I grin as I take in my surroundings. It’s truly breathtaking. Mountains as tall as the eye can see. It’s a refreshing change of scenery. Nothing like New York, that's for sure.
I’m halfway down the road when I start to regret my decision to walk. The hot sun beats down on me as I start to break into a sweat. My feet are already killing me. I’m starting to think these boots were more for fashion than authenticity.
Stopping, I close my eyes and take in a few deep breaths.
“Hey there little lady, are you alright?” Opening my eyes, I find a man on a horse. He’s older, maybe in his fifties, but damn, he’s fine. My lips part as I stare a little too long, getting a twitch of his lip in amusement.
“Ah, yeah, sorry.” I laugh. “We got dropped off at the end of the road. Thought I could walk it myself. I think I might be wrong about that.”
“We?” he asks, cocking his head to the side.
“Oh.” I look behind me to the tiny little dot that is Greg. “My husband is back there with the rest of our bags.”
“Well, shoot. Let me call my son down here to go get him.”
“Thank you.”
