Grumpy Cowboy (Single Dad Collection)

Needless to say, Shaw Springs Ranch pulls out all the stops for Fourth of July weekend.

I watch surreptitiously as Rhett steps down off the hearth gently and works his way through the crowd, stopping occasionally to shake hands and glad-hand some of the VIPs that have shown up this weekend. I don’t specifically recognize anyone as, like, an actress or anything, but from the way other people point and whisper at them, I’m pretty sure I’m one of the only ones who doesn’t know who they are.

Joey is the first to make it to me, bobbing and weaving through the forest of legs between us, and I actually jerk back a step when she slams into me with a hug.

“Whoa, there, Jo-Jo.” I laugh. “Where’s the fire?”

She giggles, taking me literally. “There’s no fire yet. That’s usually somethin’ they do outside at night.”

I smile. “Makes sense, honey, but I was just asking why you’re in such a rush. Does the fastest little girl in the room get a prize or something?”

Joey giggles more, her nose wrinkling up this time. “Was I really that fast?”

“Fastest I’ve ever seen, I think.”

Her eyes widen slightly, and she jerks her head at the lodge doors and grabs my hand. “Wanna go outside and race me?”

I smile as I consider it. I mean, I’m not all that fast, but I wouldn’t exactly be trying to win. Maybe some outdoor racing with my best girl wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I glance up at Rhett again just as he throws his head back and laughs at one of the female guests. Blond hair, big boobs, and a perfect body, she’s like a walking advertisement for sports cars. She reaches out and touches Rhett’s elbow, and then his shoulder, and then even slides her hand all the way down to rest on his forearm. All of her touchy-feely flirting sets me on edge, and Joey tugs on my hand again.

“Leah, come on.”

With effort, I tear my eyes away from sexy-whatsherface and the man I have absolutely no claim over and look down to the sweet, blond-haired girl who doesn’t make me want to lash out irrationally.

Goodness knows, it’s taken me long enough to put the massage thing behind me from a week ago. The whole “fantasizing about my freaking patient while providing a massage to my patient” situation really messed with my head.

Ha. Messed with your head? As in, past tense? Girl, this is the present, and you’re still going there when it comes to Rhett Jameson.

Gah. I have to stop.

“Hello? Leah?” Joey bounces with impatience.

“Okay, yes. Let’s go outside and race.”

Maybe the physical activity will level out my hormones or something. I glance back up at the catalyst of all my unrest to find him still talking to the same woman. She laughs again, but Rhett’s eyes move off her for the first time as a different woman approaches him, a crowd of rowdy guys around her taunting one another and laughing.

She’s voluptuous and skinny at the same time, and the features of her face are so overproportioned, they ooze sex appeal. She’s wearing a button-up blouse that looks like the American flag, but it’s more than clear that when men around her pledge their allegiance, it’s to the boobs inside.

It’s not like she has it unbuttoned indecently low—she’s just that well-endowed.

A huge, sparkling buckle sits at the front of her hips, and if I didn’t know it’s the kind of style all these rodeo types wear, I’d liken it to the kind of chastity belt that’s there for the sole purpose of enticement and inviting attention.

With blond-brown hair and big, unmistakable blue eyes, she is the Kate Upton of rodeo queens, hands down.

Beyond all that, though, is the familiar way she looks at Rhett. It’s not the longing, wishful way that the other woman did—it’s knowing. Without a shadow of a doubt, this woman has seen the inside of Rhett Jameson’s pants.

My gut roils, and I shake my head to clear it. And Joey, once again, tugs on my hand. “Come onnnnn.”

Willing myself to end the misery, I tear my eyes away for a second time and follow Joey’s lead out the lodge doors and over to a patch of grass so we can have the race to end all races.

As Joey giggles in the free space and spins around with her arms out to the sides, I resolve to one thing—I’m going to run like the freaking wind and show this little girl the time of her dang life.

I only wish I could use the same kind of speed to put some distance between me and my very much unwelcome feelings about the grumpy cowboy.

Rhett

“What happened?” I ask Chase with a jerk of my chin as he, Cutter, Lynn, and another bull rider by the name of Bo come to a stop behind the one woman in this world I have true, unending disdain for. “You all get the last pick on rodeo queen selection when you split into teams for the day?”