Page 1 of Her Cowboy Prince Charming

CHAPTER ONE

JESSIEGRANGERHADnever been brave enough to go to the masked ball down in Mapleton. Well,ballwas really stretching it. But it was what they called it. It was Christmastime, and everybody got a little antsy. A little sad maybe, a little drunk. And they liked to put on their fancy spurs, and some airs along with it, and pretend that Mapleton was some kind of big city.

She had never seen the point of it. It was a meat market. A place to hook up. And anyway, the holidays made her sad.

Her oldest brother did his best to make them not sad. Levi was a prince among men—if a bit too serious and a hell of a lot too overprotective. But she was twenty-three, and she was tired of being sad. And more than anything, maybe, she was tired of being alone. So she had put on the tightest dress that she had been able to find while still maintaining the ability to walk—and whether or not she was going to manage to keep her circulation going for the evening was iffy—a pair of high-heeled shoes unlike anything she’d ever worn before, a big, sparkly mask with feathers coming out of the top and a whole lot of red lipstick for good measure. Because well...it was kind of supposed to be a disguise.

But only kind of.

The problem with growing up in a town as small as Pyrite Falls was everybody knew who she was. And not only did everybody know who she was, they also knew who her older brothers were. And knew that they would kick their asses as soon as they looked at them if they were to fool around with her. She could have left Pyrite Falls, she supposed. But it just hadn’t seemed right ever.

She was worried that Levi needed her—though he would swear up and down that he didn’t. But her oldest brother had raised her and her siblings after their parents’ deaths, and she could see how that had taken over his life. She worried he didn’t have anything without them.

He swore up and down he was fine, but she just didn’t believe him.

But there just wasn’t...anything there. But there was Mapleton, the town over, where at least some things might be possible. And tonight she wanted to have the experience of walking into a room without everybody knowing who she was. Tonight she wanted to feel beautiful. Like a woman. Maybe she was looking for a Christmas miracle.

Maybe you just want to lose your virginity.

Whatever. Either way, she was feeling good.

When she had put on the short red dress that she had ordered online, she’d been surprised by how good her body looked in it. She was accustomed to seeing herself in baggy T-shirts and high-waisted jeans. The kind that gave a girl that particular Wrangler butt that some men liked, but in her experience men ignored her. Maybe it was the long, baggy T-shirts. But she’d been uncomfortable about her abundance of curves since she was a kid, and she preferred to wander around looking spherical rather than displaying the rather extreme hourglass she had.

But when she had put the dress on... Well, she felt like a different person. She felt like the kind of person who could do...damn well anything. The mask really helped. Because the mask made her feel like someone else entirely.

For the first time—especially since her crushing rejection two years ago—she felt beautiful.

The parking lot of the Evergreen ballroom was full. Normally, it was a place that hosted line dancing lessons, West Coast swing and the odd concert and special dinner. But once a year, she had been told, it was transformed.

She got out of the truck and crossed the gravel lot, and was surprised to find out there was a small line at the door. The women were wearing masks, and over-the-top dresses, though few men were decked out quite as grandly. Though they all had on masks, of varying degrees of severity, and definitely not the way the women did.

She bought her ticket at the door and got her hand stamped, and was ushered inside, where the whole space had been absolutely transformed. There were twisted trees covered in white Christmas lights all over the place, with blue light creating the feeling of a winter wonderland.

There was a dance floor, tables with champagne and appetizers. She was genuinely impressed. She hadn’t actually thought anything in this area could be half so nice.

She was handed a glass of champagne and she smiled, taking a sip. She already felt like somebody else. Like she was somewhere else. And all right, it was just about forty-five minutes from home. And if Levi knew what she was up to he would probably have a coronary. But she would only have two glasses of champagne, and she would make sure to do it hours before she went home. She would be safe.

There was a giddy feeling in her stomach as she looked around. There were good-looking men everywhere, though most of them seemed to be attached.

But there was one man, standing in the corner, wearing all black. From head to toe. His mask was more like Zorro, bandit style, covering his eyes and most of his nose. His mouth was set into a grim line, his jaw square and arresting, even from where she stood across the room. He was big, broad shouldered, and he looked... Well, he looked kind of mean. He definitely didn’t look like he was excited to be there. But she found she couldn’t look away.

She imagined walking over to him. Imagined starting some kind of conversation. What would she even say?

Don’t imagine. You’re wearing a mask. You’re dressed up.

Yes. She was. And for a moment she stopped, tried to see if there was maybe someone else. Somebody a little less dangerous. Somebody maybe a little bit less...everything.

Why are you here? Anyway. There’s no guarantee anything will happen.But if it was going to... Why not make it a fantasy?

Yes. This was her chance to escape.

She didn’t know why, but this year the approaching holidays had felt like a noose tightening around her neck. Like the grief of everything—the loss of their parents back when they’d been kids—had only gotten worse, instead of better. Like the passage of time made her miss her mother more than she ever had before. Made her miss her father’s warmth and wisdom.

Their mother had been sick for several years before her death. Cancer that had just come back and back and back until she hadn’t been able to fight anymore.

It had been devastating, and to a small child, as shocking as anything, because she hadn’t fully been able to wrap her head around how sick her mother was. But the real shock had been her dad. Nine months later. A heart attack that had killed him right out where he was working on the ranch, and had killed him fairly instantly.

She felt like they had to be cursed. Like there had to be something wrong with them, because how could that happen to them?

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