PROLOGUE
PENNY
“More champagne!”a voice calls over the crowd.
I make my way to the bar, grabbing the two buckets I have stowed underneath.
Before I can pop the corks off, people are already pressing their glasses toward me, eager to be the first served.
I remove the foil, loosen the wire cage, and twist. With the soft pop comes cheers from the crowd.
“This is taking too long,” a blonde woman huffs, rolling her heavily makeup-ed eyes. She’s one of the few women not wearing cowgirl attire, opting for a low-cut, v-neck dress that hangs near her belly button, showing off her enormous fake boobs.
I give her my fakest smile, and she flashes her Hollywood-white teeth in a distasteful sneer. Two friends standing behind her snicker their distaste.
There are always a handful of women like her at Crimson Crest’s parties. Those who know what the brothers are worth and trek out here dressed to the nines to get their attention.
Sometimes, it works.
I pour the first bottle into the waiting glasses and move to the second. As I go to twist, the blonde reaches forward, grabbing the bottle.
“Give it to me!”
I jerk the bottle away, but she has it by the neck and won’t let go.
“You’re taking too damn long,” she hisses.
Annoyed, I jerk it away two more times, but as it’s pulled from her grasp, the cork pops, launching into the blonde’s Hollywood smile.
The crowd gasps.
“Shit!” I blurt, knowing I’m in a heap of trouble.
Hollywood’s hand flies to her mouth, and she gasps. Then, she pulls it away, revealing two missing front teeth.
“Yew bitthhh!” She launches at me, her nails biting into my flannel-covered shoulders.
My arms flail at her, landing a few slaps, but her friends are on me, pulling my hair and ripping my flannel open.
“What the hell is going on?” Greyson Prosper’s bearish voice shouts over the excitement.
The women lift off me, each grabbed by one of the Prosper brothers.
“My office—now!” Greyson shouts, pointing an emphatic finger towards it.
The women are guided away by the brothers, each telling them how terrible and jealous I was acting.
As I sit up, hands looping under my armpits, lifting me to a stand.
I jerk away, furious. “Hey!”
“You too, Penny,” Greyson barks.
“But—”
“My office—now!”
Grumbling, I obey, annoyed that I’m being treated like a common criminal when I bend over backwards to keep the ranch running.
