Prologue
Luis Bridger lay staring at the ceiling of the utilitarian hotel room. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”
Jordan rolled toward him and snuggled close. “It’s been an incredible three days.”
“Sure has.” He stroked her golden hair. “I expected the clinic to be awesome. I didn’t expect you.”
“Ditto, cowboy. I’ve been to several of these. Never had this kind of extracurricular fun.”
“Several? I don’t think I knew that. No wonder you were the star pupil.”
“I’d better be if I want to take my show on the road next spring.”
“About that.” He loved sliding his fingers through her silky hair. Loved stroking her satin skin. Her body thrilled him. He didn’t want the fun times to end. “Do you have a plan?”
“Absolutely. I’m working two jobs this winter to build up my savings while I set up my clinic schedule for next year.”
“Any chance you and Fudge will be in my neck of the woods?”
“Um… maybe, but….”
Her hesitation said it all. “Hey, forget I asked.” He shouldn’t have. They’d agreed not to pursue a relationship. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers. No calls. No texts.
“It’s okay.” Her warm breath tickled his skin. “I’ll be sad to say goodbye, too. But I need to pour all my energy into making this work.”
“I get it. I just hate to think we’ll never see each other again. That we’ll completely lose touch.”
“If you send a postcard to my P.O. box, I’ll write back. Maybe not immediately, but….”
“Okay.” A postcard. How are you? I am fine. XO, Luis. Not happening. “And you can always find me at Laughing Creek Ranch.”
Changing her position, she lifted her head and met his gaze, her blue eyes filled with tenderness. “I won’t forget you.”
“I won’t forget you, either.” He pushed away the sadness and cupped her cheek. “Checkout isn’t until eleven. We don’t have to say goodbye, yet, querida.”
“No.” She smiled. “No, we don’t.” Leaning closer, she kissed him.
With a soft groan he abandoned himself to the lure of her kiss. One last time.
Chapter One
Looks like we might see each other over Fourth of July weekend!
Jordan Sterling’s cheery email played in a loop in his head. She’d likely staked out a spot along the parade route, eager to experience the Mustang Valley festivities Luis had raved about five years ago. And he still hadn’t told his family squat about her. Way to dig yourself a hole, idiot.
“You’re muttering to yourself, hermano.” His brother Xavier gazed across the golden rumps of Woody and Buzz, the palominos hitched to the Hearts & Hooves wagon promoting the wild horse sanctuary. “Something wrong?”
“Not a thing, Zay.” He adjusted the traces on his side, fighting the urge to glance around for any sign of Jordan in the crowded parade staging area.
“Parade jitters?”
“Nah. We’ve got this.” He glanced in the back of the wagon where his sister Claudette had been organizing the logo hats and T-shirts she’d toss to the crowd along the way. The new digital adoption program allowed them to be generous with merch. “Where’s Claudie?”
“She forgot the T-shirt cannon. She went to fetch it from her truck. She’s been gone a while. Probably got involved in a conversation.”
“It happens.” He hadn’t noticed she’d left until now. Time to get his head out of his butt. “You’d better start unloading the rest of the horses from the trailer. I’ll help once she gets back. We don’t want to leave this creation of yours unattended.”
“I appreciate that. It’s more fragile than it looks. How about I locate Rio and send him over to babysit the wagon?”
