Page 1 of What the Cowboy Wants
Prologue
Four months earlier
If only shecould stop crying.Sniffing and blinking, Rose inhaled, trying to stop the flow of tears, but they kept coming.
You’d think after ten hours of driving and sobbing, she would’ve run out of tears, but there seemed to be a never-ending supply of salt water in her body.She was tired, fed up, hurt and angry—mostly at herself.How could she have been so stupid, so naïve?
Her eyes were fixed on the lights in the distance.Marietta, a big billboard a few miles back had said.She had never heard the name before, but the moment she’d seen it she’d somehow felt that was where she was heading.Why, she had no idea.She’d driven through beautiful parts of country, cute towns, lovely cities, but besides stopping for gas and something to drink, she had just kept going.Until the billboard.
Exactly where she was, she wasn’t sure.It was somewhere in Montana, not far from Yellowstone National Park, that was about all she was certain of at the moment.
It had begun to rain a while back, making it difficult to see through her tears and the rain.Not taking her eyes off the lights in the distance, she gripped the steering wheel tightly.
The next moment, she was blinded by the light of an oncoming vehicle.For a moment, she couldn’t see the road.With her heart in her throat, she quickly turned the wheel.That was when she saw the road curved, something she’d missed because her eyes had been on the lights.
The wheels of her car skidded, damn it, she was going to end up in the ditch!With adrenaline racing through her, her heart pumping furiously, she turned the wheel to the other side, took her foot of the gas, and let her car shudder to a stop, and somehow she managed to put it into Park.
She was still trying to catch her breath when someone opened the car door.The man standing next to her car in the rain was big, completely filling the opening.Blue eyes, the color of the ocean on a clear day glared at her.Chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, cowboy hat.Did men really wear those?Ridiculously attractive.Maybe she was dreaming?It wouldn’t surprise her, she was ready to drop.
“Get out,” he said.
Okay, so not a dream.Shivering, she stared at the guy, watching the rain falling over his hat, dripping on his hair in his neck.Her legs were like jelly, getting out of the car on her own wasn’t an option.“I… can’t.”
Muttering under his breath, he picked her up with surprisingly gentle hands as if she weighed nothing and put her down beside her car.“Are you okay?”
Too stunned to say or do anything, she stared at him.Big, tall, muscled.She should probably be afraid, but for some reason, she wasn’t.Maybe because she was so tired.And there was still the possibility this was merely a dream.
“Let me see.”He put his hands on her shoulders and slowly slid them down her arms.Before she could catch her breath, his hands were on her body, not in an inappropriate way, but professional, like a doctor would.
Catching her breath, she tried to get her sluggish brain to function but the shivers running down her spine—anything but professional and seriously inappropriate—were making it difficult to focus.
“You seem to be fine.”He inhaled sharply.“What the hell were you thinking driving like that this time of night?You could’ve killed someone and put other people in danger!”With a derisive snort, his eyes raked over her before it turned to her convertible.“What happened?No, let me guess.Texting instead of watching the road?”Sarcasm dripped from his voice.“That’s illegal in this country.”Gone was the soft tone, he was just about yelling.
At least his angry voice brought her back to earth.Still shaking, but determined not to let him see that, she lifted her chin and got back into her car.“What a rude man you are.”Slamming her door shut, she put her car in gear.As she drove away, she glimpsed in the rearview mirror.He was still standing where she’d left him.
As she drove into town, the stupid tears were back.Sniffing, she saw a sign.Main Street.Turning into the street, she searched for someone who could direct her to the nearest guesthouse or hotel.Surely someone was awake somewhere, it wasn’t that late.
Seconds later, she blinked.All the buildings had classic, square solid fronts of nineteenth-century Western-style buildings.Was she still dreaming?Was she on a film set?Or had she been transported back in time?She wouldn’t really be surprised if that was the case; it had been a strange day.
Driving slowly down the street, she searched for any kind of movement.What day was it?Still Friday?Why wasn’t there any movement?Cowboys fighting?Saloon girls dancing?Anything?At this point she’d be glad to see a cat or a dog or any kind of animal for that matter.Any proof of life would be nice.Finally, her eyes fell on store where the lights were on.Great.People.Or aliens.She parked her car and got out.Hopefully she was about to find out.
There was definitely movement inside the… She glanced at the name on the window—Ellie’s Yarn Shop.Thank goodness.Yarn shop sounded innocent enough.People who had yarn shops were nice, weren’t they?She wouldn’t really know, she wouldn’t know what to do with yarn, but she was desperate to find a place where she could stay the night.
With her eyes on the door, she walked closer.She was wet, bedraggled, shivering, and not sure whether she’d be able to get a coherent word out, but they would help her.Somehow, she just knew that.
She opened the door and just about fell into the place.Seven women turned around and stared at her, all clearly stunned to see her.
A beautiful blonde was the first one to move.“Hallo, I’m Laura,” she said softly as she took Rose’s arm.“Come on in, you look cold.”
“Here,” a redhead said as she approached them with a towel in hand.“Let’s get you out of that wet jacket.”
Something warm opened up inside of her.She was going to be all right.These women would help her.
*
Exhaling slowly, Cooperstared after the car.When he’d left the ranch and turned onto the highway, the convertible was right in front of him.Within minutes he could see whoever the driver was had to be either drunk or tired or both.
What he hadn’t expected when he’d opened her door was a wet, disheveled-looking woman who had obviously been crying.But what really took him by surprise had been the instant punch of desire that had hit him in the solar plexus.
