Winning the Cowboy (Circle B Ranch 6)

“Hell no,” I say, trying to stay focused as I climb down the ladder. Before we leave, I check the water troughs

“Why not?” he asks.

I laugh as we walk to the truck. “I procrastinated last night and thought I’d just throw a change of clothes in my bag beforehand. It’s family. Nothing fancy.”

He shakes his head. “Dude. You’re finally goin’ out with Kenzie, and you’re not bringin’ nice clothes? What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s not a date,” I explain for the umpteenth time.

“It’s called dressing to impress, but suit yourself.” He shrugs as we drive to the other barn and finish distributing the hay.

“Before Rowan and I got together, I did whatever I could to get her attention,” he admits.

“I remember, but that’s not always a good thing,” I counter. “Especially when it comes to Kenzie.” She’s made it clear she didn’t like my attention, which led to our war in the first place.

He smirks. “It worked for me, though, didn’t it?”

I shake my head and park. After a quick walk around, Diesel lets me leave early since I’m driving three hours to San Antonio tonight.

I love my job so much and don’t take many vacations. When I ask for a few days off, I usually get them.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he says as I pull my keys from my pocket.

“That’s not saying much.” I laugh, and he flips me off.

I go home and take a quick shower before Kenzie meets me at my place. She’s been busy with the after-school program and has been getting home later than usual. I didn’t want to interfere with that, so I told her we could leave when she was done.

After I’m dressed and shove a few pairs of jeans and shirts into a bag, Kenzie arrives with a giant suitcase.

I step outside and load our stuff into my truck.

“What’s all this for?” I ask. “We’ll only be gone a day and a half.”

“I like to have a variety of outfits to choose from. You should be thanking me for not backing out because you know I thought about it at least ten times on the way over.”

I shut the door and turn to her. “Thank you. I really do owe ya.”

“Oh, you’re gonna work for it during the Harvest Festival. Trust me.” She chuckles.

“I have no doubt about that.” I wink, opening the passenger side door for her. She climbs inside with a sweet smile, then I go around to the driver’s seat.

On the way over, we don’t talk much since Kenzie grades papers.

Eventually, we stop and eat dinner. Once we’re closer to downtown, the traffic gets heavier, and it takes us longer than I anticipated to make it to the hotel. It’s nearly nine when we arrive, and I’m exhausted. I grab our bags, and we walk to the front counter.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“Hi. I have a reservation for Grayson Harding,” I tell the woman.

She smiles and taps on the keyboard. “Oh yes, Mr. Harding. I have you down for a room with a king-sized bed.”

Kenzie tenses beside me, and I feel like a total dumbass for not remembering to change the reservation. “Can we change it to a room with double beds?” I ask.

She clicks a few times before giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry, we don’t. Right now, king-sized beds are the only option we have. I apologize, it’s a busy weekend.”

“Not your fault. Thanks for checking,” I reply. After she hands us the key cards, I give one to Kenzie, then we silently walk to the elevator. I know she’s not happy.

When we walk into the room, I notice we’ve got a good view of the city. The huge bed is piled with pillows with a flat-screen TV facing it.

“This is really nice,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.

“Ya sure this wasn’t all a part of your plan to get me into your bed?” She gives me her signature glare.

“I booked the room before I knew you were coming, and I forgot to change the reservation. My mind has been all over the place lately. I swear it wasn’t on purpose. Cross my heart and hope to die, won’t ever eat another piece of Maize’s pie.” I add the last part to make her laugh, but she doesn’t take the bait.

“Mm-hmm,” she groans, placing her suitcase on the wooden rack and unzipping it. “There’s gonna be some ground rules, or that’s exactly where you’ll be sleeping. I never agreed to share a bed with you.”

“I took a shower before we left, and I swear I don’t toss and turn. I don’t snore either.” I smirk, but she’s not impressed.

“You’ll stay on your side of the bed no matter what.”

I hold up my hands. “I will. Promise. I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” I tell her as she grabs some clothes, then goes to the bathroom.