Dare To Love A Cowboy (Canton County Cowboys 2)

by Charlene Bright

  “I’m right here!” A smooth female voice rang through the barn. Everett looked up to find the figure of a slim woman, her curvy silhouette doused in the morning glow, standing in the center of the doorway for the barn. His heart stopped at the sight of her powdery blue eyes, at her adorable ponytail of thick, golden waves swinging to either side as she stalked into the barn. His body began reacting in a way he hadn’t anticipated. His eyes scanned her perfect body from the tip of her head to . . . her Coach riding boots? His heart restarted and began to race as if making up for lost time. Her pretty little face and her expensive fashion boots were the embodiment of everything that made his blood boil.

  “It’s about damn time!” He unhooked the lock on the stall and coaxed Penelope out. “It’s Paige, right?”

  She nodded with a lighthearted eagerness that only annoyed him even more. “Yeah. That’s me! Paige Prescott” She held out her hand to him.

  He stared at her delicate fingers, hanging in front of him. He took her hand in his and shook it, and for some strange reason didn’t want to let it go; something about the way her skin felt against his made his heart flutter in a way he didn’t recognize.

  She looked at him with big, sincere-looking eyes—eyes that pierced right down to his soul, wherever that was. “It’s Everett, right?”

  He flinched at the sound of his name falling from her lips. It was a word he knew better than anyone else did, but it sounded completely different in her voice: brand new. He nodded.

  “And I’m Ethan!” Everett turned to find Ethan standing right next to him, already holding his hand out to shake.

  Everett pursed his lips and returned his attention to Penelope. He could hear Ellie laughing in the background.

  “Hey,” Paige replied, handing him her hand.

  Ethan drew it to his lips, then planted a kiss on the back of her hand.

  “So.” Everett coaxed the horse farther toward the door. “This is Penelope. Your new best friend.”

  Paige scanned the horse; then a look somewhere between wonder and terror washed over her face.

  So he had predicted correctly. She didn’t know how to ride a horse. By the look on her face, she’d probably never been around horses. Aunt Jana really hadn’t thought this through.

  “Go on, touch it,” Ethan egged Paige on.

  She nodded, then took a couple of cautious steps toward Penelope and rubbed her mane. She breathed. “This is amazing.”

  “They are a beautiful creature, aren’t they? C’mon, let’s get you outside.”

  Before Paige could say anything in protest, Everett pushed past her with Penelope, squinting in the light of the rapidly scorching sun. He cocked his head to the side, peering at her milky white skin. “Did you bring anything to protect your eyes with, Prescott?”

  Paige ducked her head, shrugging her shoulders. “Well, I spent hours making lists so that I wouldn’t forget anything, and wouldn’t you know it, I brought my entire apartment with me, but forgot to get sunglasses or a hat.”

  Everett flexed his jaw, but before a response could slip out of his mouth, Ellie ran out. “Here, take mine.” She offered up her brown hat.

  “Are you sure?” Paige asked.

  “Of course.” She shrugged. “I have several.”

  Paige placed the well-worn hat on her head. Everett had to admit to himself that in it, she fit in annoyingly well.

  Ellie smiled. “See! It looks better on you than it does on me. Here, take my gloves too.” She slipped off her leather gloves and handed them to Paige.

  Everett couldn’t help but smile at how encouraging Ellie was being. However, his smile faded when he realized she’d most definitely be a little more impatient about this whole thing if she was the one saddled with the writer.

  She then turned her gaze toward Everett, a triumphant smirk on her face. “Happy riding, Everett. Knock ‘em dead, teacher man.” She slapped his shoulder before walking back into the barn and leaving him relatively alone with Paige.

  He turned to Paige. “I guess, without further ado, we should get started.”

  “Aw. It can’t be that hard,” she muttered. She flexed her jaw, then stepped back to appraise the horse. Finally, she squeezed her lips together, then slapped both her hands onto the horse, clutching either side of the saddle.

  Everett stepped back and crossed his arms, settling in for the show. But she just stood there, her hands clutching the saddle so tightly that the muscles on her arms flexed and trembled. “You just hoist yourself up!” he instructed.

  She huffed, then whipped her body around to face him. “Will you give me a minute?” she demanded.

  He glowered at her. “I’m sorry, city slicker, but I don’t have a minute. It’s already past ten and we haven’t even made it out to the pasture yet.”

  She crossed her arms. “Well, I don’t know what a ‘city slicker’ is, and I don’t know how to ride a horse. So could you just give me a minute?”

  His lips folded into a crooked smile, impressed at the fact that she was fighting back. “You don’t need a minute,” he replied, walking up to the horse. “You just need to watch me.” He grasped the saddle, just as she had before, but placed his foot on the stirrup. “You put your foot here.” He turned to ensure that she was watching him; she was. Then he lifted his right hand from the saddle and grabbed the reigns. “Now make sure you clasp the saddle good ‘n tight.” He positioned his foot on the stirrup and then swung his free leg over Penelope’s back. “Then just hoist yourself up.”

  Penelope took a couple of reactionary steps so he tugged on the reigns a little. Once she was steady, he glanced at Paige. “I’m telling you, Prescott, this is the easiest thing you’ll do all summer.”

  She gave him a curt nod, then approached the horse. “I wanna try.” She slapped her hand onto Penelope’s back.

  “Will you stop doing that?” he snapped.

  “Doing what?” She raised her hands in defense, her eyes wide and innocent.

  “Slapping Penelope like that. She’s not a car or a tractor. She’s an animal,” he scolded as he swung his leg back over the side of the horse and stepped down.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, father,” she retorted, glowering at him.

  Everett held his ground, staring her down while also trying not to get lost in her eyes. He felt overwhelmed with the odd sensation of two completely divergent emotions. “Just. Get. On. The. Horse.”

  She leaned in to him. “Fine.” She turned, placed her hands on the saddle, and slipped her foot into the stirrup all in one motion. A tiny grunt escaped from her mouth as she hoisted herself up, but just as she got to the part where she was supposed to swing her leg over the other side, she lost her balance and came tumbling down. She screeched as her shiny boots hit the ground hard and she hopped dangerously around, trying to catch her bearings. “Whoa,” she breathed.

  He burst out in laughter. “What was that about it not being too hard?” he mocked.

  She glared at him. “Shut up, James.” She then straightened her posture and stalked right back over to the horse. “I can freaking do this,” she pressed. Then, in one beautifully effortless motion, she hoisted herself onto the horse, swung her leg around, then clasped the reigns with both her hands.

  Everett blinked.

  “See.” She shot him a triumphant smile. “Told you. I just needed a minute.”

  He rolled his eyes, then re-entered the barn to retrieve his own horse. “Unbelievable,” he mumbled.

  Chapter Five

  Everett rode out to the pasture, his hips swaying back and forth in time with his horse’s leisurely trot. He fixed his gaze on the figure of Paige, who already looked right at home on top of Penelope. He realized that if she had been a complete stranger, he’d have thought she was born and raised on the range. That fact annoyed him. She hadn’t inherited the ranch life like the rest of them, yet she had waltzed in and everything had come easy for her. She was sinking into a life she couldn’t possibly even understa
nd, and no doubt thought she was above. It didn’t help his ego at all that she was catching things as quickly as he could throw them at her.

  “I’m so hungry.” As he got closer, he could hear her complaining to Connor, who was next to her, sitting atop his black steed.

  Connor laughed at her. “You wouldn’t be if you didn’t keep missing breakfast.”

  She bent her head. “I wouldn’t keep missing breakfast if it wasn’t at the crack of dawn.”

  “It’s not at the crack of dawn! It’s a good hour-n-a-half after!” Connor exclaimed.

  She laughed. Everett slowed his horse to a stop just a few paces away as the musical sound of her amusement drifted away with the warm afternoon wind.

  “Honestly, Prescott. The city-slicking life must be great for you to be complaining about Rock Creek Ranch.”

  Paige threw her arms up in exasperation. “What does that even mean?”

  “Rock Creek Ranch?” Connor asked, peering at her from under the rim of his hat.

  She laughed again. “No! City slicker.”

  “Oh that?” Connor asked.

  She nodded.

  “That’s a term used around here for people like you.”

  “What does that mean? People like me?”

  He shrugged. “People who didn’t grow up in the country. They grew up surrounded by concrete buildings, sidewalks, hundreds of vehicles racing past, and thousands of people bumping into each other. People who don’t quite get or appreciate living in the country and all it has to offer.”

  She bent her head, her shoulders rising and falling. From this angle, Everett couldn’t tell if she was upset or embarrassed. “Oh,” she muttered.

  “Hey”—Connor placed a hand on her shoulder—“if it helps, you don’t act at all like you don’t get it.”

  She flashed him one of those smiles of hers. “Thanks, Connor.”

  “Aw! You’re welcome,” he replied cheerfully.

  “You know. You’re the nicest person on this ranch,” she added.

  Something about hearing those words, especially since they were meant for Connor, profoundly agitated Everett. He kicked his horse back into a motion and joined them, riding up beside Paige. As he did this, he watched Paige’s smile fade and couldn’t help but be at least a little offended.

  “Hey,” she greeted him in a short voice.

  “Hey,” he replied in an equally curt tone.

  “Are you ready to ride?”

  She gave one short nod, then the three of them set out toward the pasture. Everett instinctively rode several paces ahead of the other two, leading them out into a pasture at least a mile off. It was where Ethan and Ian had led the newly branded calves the week before. The goal was to get the calves out and move them to a different pasture. Everett glanced back at Paige, who wobbled slightly. Even from under her hat, he could see that her lips were folded into a frown of profound discomfort. Even though a small part of him worried about her and even felt a little sorry for the fact that she was being subjected to this, most of him worried about those calves, and how she was ever going to be able to pull her weight in herding them.

  ***

  Paige pursed her lips, still not completely accustomed to the odd and unique sensation of riding a horse. She dipped her knees into Penelope’s sides, paying special attention to the way that the horse’s muscles rolled with her every step. Narrowing her eyes and scrunching her nose, she struggled to remain upright and centered on Penelope. They were approaching a soft incline and just the sight of Connor, who was just a couple of paces in front of her, bent dangerously backwards in accordance with the slope of the incline awoke the nervous and uncertain butterflies in her stomach. She winced, squeezing in her abdomen, which already ached from the entire previous day of forcing herself to remain upright on the back of a horse.

  Eventually, they reached a plateau. Penelope increased her speed to a swift trot, allowing Paige to ride up side by side with Connor. As she approached him, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

  She returned his impish grin with a triumphant smile of her own, then shifted her attention to Everett, who only managed to maintain a position mere feet in front of her. She watched as he sat completely upright on the back of his horse, his shoulders tensed, but more in bravado than anxiety. She scanned his form with her eyes and, every once in a while, would pause upon a part of his body—a bulging muscle or a definition in his tone—that would make her stomach drop in the most uncomfortably exciting way.

  Eventually, they reached an impasse and had to stop. Paige’s eyes darted from Everett to Connor as she wondered what was going to happen next. Then she followed their gaze and found herself looking out onto what looked like the entire ranch. Her jaw hung stupidly open and her eyes went wide at the sight of more healthy green land than she had ever seen in one place in her entire life. The sun, which had climbed significantly higher since they had left the ranch, beamed down harsh, strong rays onto the ground, which hadn’t completely lost the glisten of the morning dew.

  “Do you see those over there?” Everett asked, ripping her out of her daze.

  She reluctantly shifted her attention from the view to Everett. “What?”

  He rolled his eyes, then jutted his finger to his far right. From the angle at which she was positioned, and because of the fact that Everett and Connor sat directly in front of her, it was significantly more difficult for her to see what he was talking about. She sucked in a deep breath and leaned slightly over the side of Penelope, putting her newly acquired balancing skills to the test. She narrowed her eyes, and sure enough, she could see what he was talking about: a fleet of young cattle populating a massive parcel of land.

  “Yes?” she replied in a shaky voice.

  “Well, we’re going to ride down there and you’re going help me herd ‘em up and lead them across the pasture.”

  Paige gulped at this. “Herd them?” All she could think of were gauchos and long, thick ropes being thrown around. She could barely balance on her own horse, let alone gallop at full speed to chase down the cattle.

  Everett merely scoffed and turned back around.

  She set her jaw and followed the two men down the other side of the plateau and across the trail to the pasture of interest. Her skin crawled with anxiety at the thought of what she was about to be expected to do. She blinked, nervously adjusting and readjusting the cowboy hat that Ellie had lent her for the summer. As they got closer and closer to what she had convinced herself was essentially going to be her death, thoughts of Everett began to swim around in her mind. There were at least ten other ranch hands, not to mention the fleet of people she knew Aunt Jana had at her disposal, and he had decided to take her out to the range. Her! The girl who had only really been riding a horse for one day. It was almost like he was trying to see her fail, like he was hoping to just scare her off. She smirked. She most definitely was not about to give him that satisfaction; no matter how much sunscreen or ice baths it took, she was not going to show him an ounce of weakness.

  It was as she made this promise to herself that the three of them reached the pasture. Paige swept her surroundings with her gaze, taking note of how peacefully the young cattle stood grazing. She raised an eyebrow at the fact that there were, indeed, at least over one hundred of them. She shifted her gaze from Everett to Connor. How were the three of them going to move this many cattle?

  Everett caught her gaze and beckoned her.

  She followed his orders, awkwardly yanking at the reigns to reorient her horse.

  “We need to move these cattle to that pasture.” He pointed at another massive allotment of fenced land.

  She nodded slowly. So far it seemed doable. “Don’t I need a rope or something?”

  He glowered at her. “Have you even seen a herd of young cattle before?”

  She scoffed. “That’s such a stupid question, I’m not going to gratify it with an answer.”

  “I don’t have time for your snide remarks,” he mut
tered darkly.

  “So stop drawing them out of me and tell me what the heck I’m supposed to be doing.” The words slid out of her mouth, smooth as silk, yet sharp as a knife. They felt good coming out, but as soon as they left, she almost regretted saying them . . . almost.

  He scanned her with his sharp, blue gaze as she dared him to challenge any of what she had just said.

  She set her jaw, lifting her hands away from the reigns in order to cross her arms, but seeing as she could barely balance on top of Penelope with every single one of her faculties engaged, she dangerously wobbled to the left and had to drop her hands onto the horse’s back to regain her posture.

  As hot blood rushed to the surface of her face, she heard Everett chuckle.

  “Look, I don’t need much from you. I’m going to open the gate and then we’re going to get the cattle into one cohesive body. Once that’s done, we can slowly funnel them out of this pasture.”

  She gave him a curt nod, then shifted her gaze away from him, peering from under the rim of her hat at the rest of the range.

  “Paige?”

  “I got it,” she snapped. After only thirty minutes of being around him, she was already spent.

  “This is important,” he replied.

  “So stop wasting your precious time and just tell me.” Again, her lips were spewing poison. But how could she help herself? She didn’t want to be in Canton County, and clearly he didn’t want her to be here, so what was the point in trying?

  “I need you to look at me.”

  “Why, are you that vain?” she murmured.

  Even from her distance, she could hear him inhale a generous amount of warm air, then dispel it from his body in one, quick huff.

  “You can figure it out. Or not figure it out. I don’t care.” The last bit of his words were lost in the deep gallop of his horse as he rushed to the opening of the gate.

  She sucked in deep breaths, raising the back of her hand to her face in order to wipe the sweat off her forehead. She was tired of sitting on Penelope and tired of fighting with Everett and tired of the sun. The only thing she wanted more than one of Ellie’s iced teas and a warm plate of food was to show Everett that she wasn’t a complete ditz.