1
CASSIDY
I loved cheap beer.I’d never had it before, but I liked it. It was ice cold and bitter. Okay, the first few sips had made me wince, but it seemed the more I drank, the tastier it was. I had no idea how much I drank because my pint glass kept getting refilled by either Grady or Mike.
I’d been working on the Wilder ranch for a month now and this was the first time I’d agreed to go to happy hour with the other ranch hands. I’d consistently said no because I was eighteen and couldn’t get into The Roadside–or any bar–but Mike assured me since the bouncer was his cousin, he’d let me in.
I got in, plus a wink thrown in for free.
And, it seemed, I also got kinda drunk. Because bad beer tasted good, loud country music made my head bop to the beat, and the idea of riding a mechanical bull sounded like a lot of fun.
This was not me. I’d never been in a bar before. I’d drank, yes. One of my roommates at boarding school had raided their parents’ liquor stash when she came back from spring break and we’d made Jack and Cokes.
This was so much better.
“You got this, Cass,” Grady said, handing me a shot of something dark brown and looked unpleasant. An hour ago, he’d put my name on the list for the mechanical bull. They told me it was a new addition this summer and popular. It was now my turn.
I held the shot, glanced at the others who also were holding one.
“Over the lips and past the gums, look out stomach, here it comes!” Grady said with a wink, tipping his shot back and slugging it.
The others followed. So did I. The shot burned like kerosene and tasted like the worst cough medicine ever.
I gasped, then grabbed Mike’s beer and took someas a chaser. I couldn’t help but wince. “Gah, that’s awful.”
“Liquid courage,” Mike said. “Have fun.”
I nodded, then slid off my stool. We were at a four top near the bar. He high-fived me as I walked by, and started betting with Grady on how long I could stay on.
I couldn’t help but smile, feeling like I fit in. That these guys and my life on the Wilder Ranch were so much moremethan my own family’s ranch. As I weaved through the crowd, listing a little to the side because the room was tilting, I thought of the Two Rivers Ranch, about twenty minutes from here.
My family’s ranch was fancy. A huge house. Huge stable. It was clear to anyone who visited my father had a shit ton of money and liked to spend it. My brother Rocky, too, with his fancy cars and a blinged out necklace like I’d seen on pro football players on TV. Heck, my brother Chase before he got arrested for peddling drugs to kids. They were jerks, plain and simple. I wondered all the time if I were adopted.
Especially after I graduated from boarding school in Vermont and came home for good.
I’m going to find you a husband, Cassidy. Several of my friends are looking for a younger wife.
Gag. My father wasn’t going to win any parenting awards with the fact that he wanted to marry me off.
You’re gonna be in my virgin auction next month. All my friends have waited for you to turn eighteen to be the one to pop that cherry. I’m gonna make a mint.
Rocky was a pig and I didn’t even want to think about this virgin auction he mentioned.
When I heard about the job at the Wilder Ranch from the cashier at the grocery store–because Lainey Wilder had a new baby and her brother Buck and his wife were expecting one in just a few months and they were the two who ran the family ranch–I borrowed a truck from Kyle Valdez, my father’s foreman, went right over and asked after the job in person. I doubted they’d give it to me if I arrived in my brother’s Land Rover or one of the ranch trucks with the name emblazoned on the side. Or if I used my real last name.
I told Buck of my experience with horses, show jumping and dressage, plus working in the stable at my boarding school. It was clear he thought I was too young–and probably wondered why I needed a job if my family could afford prep school, but he was kind and open to giving me a chance. Except, he was worried I might be bothered living in the bunkhouse with the other ranch hands–me being the onlyfemale–but I assured him I’d be okay. I had my own room and bathroom and he wouldn’t hire guys who’d treat me wrong, I’d told him.
And I was okay. More than okay. I’d grabbed my bag and asked Kyle to drop me off, and never went back to Two Rivers. In fact, being on the Wilder Ranch was the one place I figured they wouldn’t come looking for me.
The Trouts hated the Wilders. Therefore, they weren’t gonna stop by for some coffee and a chat anytime soon.
In the month since, I’d been right. The other ranch hands were decent guys. Attractive, but felt more like a group of older brothers than potential boyfriends. I’d met all of the Wilders at a beginning-of-summer barbeque. All of them were married. All but one.
The One.
Hayes Wilder. The cute one. No, not cute. Hot. He was the one I thought about when I touched myself at night. Shaggy blond hair. Ever-present five o’clock shadow. Liked white dress shirts and jeans. A white Stetson. He was… gorgeous.
The first time I saw him, I dropped a water bucket and splashed it all over my jeans and boots. I’d acted like a little girl, blushing and stammering. He watched me, probably laughing to himself at how silly I wasbeing. The second time I saw him, I was in the stable with a pitchfork and a wheelbarrow full of manure. No question I smelled like it.
