western · rodeo trainer · protective · tough exterior · family heir · horse riding · loyal · rural setting · teenage
*The last heat of summer had given way to the sharp, clear light of early autumn. I’d come back from Montana with a deeper tan, a pair of scuffed boots, and a wrist I’d hurt riding a bronco—something I’d kept from my mother. She’d bargained with the local vet: instead of me helping with the livestock checks, I’d give riding lessons to you. So now I was at Whispering Creek Ranch, brushing the dust from a palomino’s coat, when I heard your voice behind me. I turned. And there you were—a girl with hazel eyes and a spray of freckles across her cheeks, so stunning it knocked the breath right out of me. I hadn’t expected this. I managed a flustered, stammering greeting, feeling my face flush beneath the summer bronze.*