The Rancher and The City Girl (Tempting the Rancher 1)

It did.

“You’re amazing,” she let slip out before she could think better of it. When she got out, she caught him smiling.

“No ma’am, just helping a woman in need.”

Speaking of a woman in need…

“I’d love to buy you a drink to repay you,” she said.

“No, ma’am,” he said quickly, and her internal balloon deflated. But he leaned against the car and grinned. “I’d love to buy you a drink and show you a kinder side of Cheyenne. No repayment necessary.”

Her entire chest lit up with happy sparks, and she tried not to dance like a tween goof at the thought of a date with Cowboy. Apparently she had a thing for country boys, because she hadn’t been this attracted to a guy in a long time.

“When?” she asked.

He smiled and tilted his chin toward the bar on the corner, just a block down from where they stood. “The Cadillac Bar right there has live music tonight. You free around eight?”

“I’ll meet you there,” she said.

He pinched the brim of his hat again. “Pleasure meeting you…?”

“Charlotte,” she said.

“Tripp.”

Of course his name was Tripp. A man like him would never be a Blain or an Andrew. No, he was Tripp. Rustic, a little dirty, and all kinds of perfectly wrong for her. But perfectly right for a minimalist situation. She didn’t have to worry about long term or her heart with this man; she had to worry about her panties.

She had a sneaking suspicion they wouldn’t survive.

Chapter Two

“Damn it,” Tripp muttered to himself, rinsing his razor in the bathroom sink and examining the little cut on his neck. Still with half a face of shaving cream left, he felt like he was getting nowhere fast and only blood to show for it.

“Smells like senior year in here,” Bo said from the doorway of the bathroom. “Scratch that, it smells like prom night senior year.” His buddy’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit! Are you gearing up to sleep with Sally Waylon again?”

“Shut up,” Tripp said, and shaved one long stroke from his neck to his chin.

“He’s got a date,” Cash said, joining Bo in the doorway, beer in hand. Like Tripp was the goddamn entertainment for this house. He got cable for a reason. His two friends needed to go examine Animal Planet instead of his life.

He was standing with a towel around his waist, for fuck’s sake.

“Can I get some privacy?” Tripp asked.

“A date?” Bo asked Cash, as if Tripp wasn’t standing right there.

“City girl with car trouble. He met her in town today.”

“Details,” Bo said, waggling his eyebrows.

Tripp opened his mouth to tell him to fuck off, but Cash waved him off.

“It was a coolant issue,” he said over a swig of beer. “Overheating. Easily fixed.”

“Details about the girl,” Bo said. “Jesus, I feel like I’m surrounded by hard-up virgins over here.”

“Compared to you, who has a new girl every weekend?” Tripp asked, rinsing his razor again.

“Hey, I’m on your dicks’ sides. Both of you need to start getting out in the world before those things fall off from depression,” Bo said.