Chapter 1
Joy
I’mrunninglate,ofcourse. Running late is kind of my thing. If it isn’t work, or someplace Ihaveto be, I’m probably going to get there whenever I get there. Rayna is never going to believe that I really did leave the house right after she asked me to meet her for lunch. As soon as we got off the phone, she sent me a text message telling me to hurry up because she’s starving. Leave it to her to get me out of the house on my day off and then rush me on top of that. I headed straight to the market for two of our favorite smoked turkey melts. But then I ran into Mrs. Crawley, and she wouldn’t stop talking about some “young man who loves exotic women” and that she wants to introduce us.
Exotic? I laugh again as I round the turn into the parking lot of the doctor’s office. My skin may be brown, and I may have curly hair, but I’m hardly exotic. I’m as American as Mrs. Crawley. No fun accent. No fun recipes. Just regular, boring me. But then again, I suppose coming from outside of Cole County might make me a bit of a novelty for this small town.
As soon as I pull into the parking lot, a pickup starts backing up, heading right for me. I lay on the horn, trying to make myself known, but it does nothing. Short of backing into the street, there’s nowhere for me to go. As predicted, the truck hits the front of my car hard enough to move me.
“What the hell!” I shout as I slam my door shut and walk around to see if my fender is lying on the ground.
By the time I make it over to inspect the damage, the driver’s side door opens, and I watch as a cowboy boot connects with the ground. The driver steps the rest of the way out, and my breath catches. I’m looking up at what is definitely the most good-looking man I’ve seen out in the wild. Tall. Thick, dark curls show from beneath his cowboy hat. He has a neatly trimmed beard, with traces of silver.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” He takes his hat off and raises his hands in apology.
I continue to study his face. Perfectly sculpted lips, a strong nose, and the most gorgeous honey-brown eyes. Reminding myself that he asked a question, I give my head a gentle shake.
“I’m fine. No thanks to you,” I grumble.
He returns his brown Stetson to his head then absently rubs the bandage covering his hand as he looks from my car and back to me. “Listen. I said I’m sorry; do you need my blood too? I’m not trying to be a dick, but I’m having a shit day, and I just want to get home. Your car seems okay.”
I glance over at my car and the glaring lack of damage. I’m not sure how, but the only thing I can see wrong is the tiniest scratch. Almost beginning to pity him, I feel my face begin to soften for a moment… until I remember how he just kept backing up as I blared the horn.
“It looks like my car is fine. But pay attention to what you’re doing before you kill somebody.”
He mumbles something under his breath as I turn to head back to the driver’s seat. After making sure there’s no one coming up behind me, I back up, giving him plenty of space to pull out of the spot and out of the parking lot. As I watch his truck turn onto the road, the familiar feeling of regret begins to sneak back in. My car is fine. I’m fine. It wasn’t necessary to act like such a bitch to the guy. But he really does need to pay attention.
“I knew you weren’t anywhere near ready to walk out your door,” Rayna says from behind the desk before I’m even fully inside.
“I left on time, but I ran into Mrs. Crawley, and you know how she likes to talk. I’ve been in the parking lot for like ten minutes, though. You didn’t hear all that commotion?”
She just blinks at me. “We had a lot of patients in exam rooms at once. I was pretty focused on getting the rooms cleaned up and the right notes in for the right patients. There could have been an explosion, and I wouldn’t have heard anything.”
“Well as soon as I pulled into the parking lot, some asshole in a giant truck backed into me.”
Rayna takes the bags of food from me, and we head to the break room. I accept my daily dose of jealousy at the way she looks in her scrubs. She’s one of those people who fills out every outfit to perfection. On top of that, she can throw on a pair of earrings and some lip gloss and look photo ready no matter what she has on. Meanwhile, I look like a potato in my scrubs—plain and shapeless.
I work part time at the Family Health Center as a medical assistant, and here I am on my day off, bringing lunch and hanging out. Rayna’s my best friend, and I would have been bored just sitting at home, anyway. We’re entering rodeo season, so there won’t be much time to meet up for lunch or to do much of anything during the day. Part time at Bolder Ranch becomes full time and then some during the spring and summer, with several of the rodeo participants boarding their horses at the ranch during the season.
“Is your car okay? You seem okay, but are you?” Rayna asks as she takes a seat at the table and divvies up the food. “I’m just glad neither of you stumbled in wounded. I’m already behind.”
“I’m fine,” I huff, sitting in the seat across from her. “I’m just annoyed. I laid on the horn and everything. Then he acted like I was inconveniencing him. He’s the one who backed into me, not the other way around!”
“And you’re looking at me like this is my fault.”
I laugh, taking a bite of my sandwich, which is delicious, before I answer her. “Well, it certainly isn’t mine.”
Rayna rolls her eyes and waves me off. “Anyway, are you sure it’ll be okay if I’m behind the scenes with you tonight? I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
It’s opening night of the rodeo at Bolder Ranch, and the rodeo kicks off bull riding season. I have to work, but I should be able to watch most of it. Between immediately bonding with Gary and Rhonda Miller, and Gary finding out that Rayna is Wyatt’s fiancé, I’m not worried about getting into any trouble.
“Yeah. They suggested it, actually. Gary said it’s pretty common, and as long as you’re comfortable around horses it’s fine.”
Rayna stops chewing and quickly swallows. “I don’t know anything about horses!”
“I know, but you’ll be fine. You’ll be with me. Most of my work happens before the event, and I just have to hang around in case they need me.”
“I don’t see why they would need you during the event at all.”
