Page 1 of A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy

Chapter

One

There she was. Not that he’d been watching for her return.

Weston Kline turned away from the dining hall entrance. She wouldn’t have spotted him in those few brief seconds, would she? Nah. Paisley was far too busy laughing with the long-lost friends she’d made here last summer. It was practically old home week. A reunion of sorts.

She was like a butterfly, bringing life and joy wherever she went. Everybody loved her. Everybody wanted to be near her, to be her best friend.

Everyone except Weston. All that happy-happy-joy-joy was nothing but an irritation. A show. Nobody could possibly be blissful all the livelong day, week after week. One of these days, she’d crack, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

Then he’d know she wasn’t genuine. Was that what he wanted? No, of course not, but it was still inevitable. He’d be able to relax his guard around her if she proved herself a little more human.

“Dude!” Weston’s cousin Maxwell clapped his hand on his shoulder. “Aren’t you starving? Get in there before the new hires eat everything. They’ll soon figure out what a great cook your mom is.”

Yeah, Weston was hungry. When wasn’t he? As the head wrangler at Grandfather Sullivan’s guest ranch, he worked harder than any of his city-boy relatives. He’d met his cousins for the first time just over a year ago when Mom finally went against Nana’s wishes and tracked down her biological father through a DNA site. She’d found out the old man was filthy rich and had no idea he’d ever had a daughter. Or so he said.

So, Weston had suddenly met the other half of his family, and he sometimes wished he hadn’t. All that privilege had gone to their heads. The namby-pamby, sheltered — but they’d been good to him, and some of them, at least, had proven to be regular guys. If regular guys had designer clothes and penthouse apartments in Chicago and master’s degrees in who-knew-what.

Weston didn’t care. Except he did.

“West?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m coming.” He forced some sort of smile at his cousin. It didn’t have to look genuine. They all knew better than to expect joviality after working with him for an entire year.

Maxwell gestured. “You first.”

Grr. Weston hated that, but if he insisted, it might draw everyone’s attention. Like Paisley’s. Yeah, no. He stepped forward. “Where’s your crew?”

“Most of them are already in here, I think. Join us?”

Maxwell’s crew had been with him several years as they’d flipped houses together before pausing that career to renovate Sweet River Ranch’s cottages, some of which had been in severe disrepair. The construction workers were a tight unit who didn’t mingle a lot with the other staff.

“No, thanks.” Weston shook his head as he stood in line, his back to Paisley, Cadence, Kaci, and the other girls. He was not part of Max’s elite club. “I’m sure you all have a lot to catch up on.”

“Always room for you, dude.”

“Thanks, but I can’t stick around long.” It wasn’t that he couldn’t, exactly, but he didn’t want to. How long could he pretend not to notice Paisley’s return? Pretend not to care?

He didn’t need to fake it, because he didn’t care. She was annoying, remember? He wasn’t looking for a relationship, and especially not with someone so… bubbly. So effervescent. He might not have his cousins’ degrees, but he knew a few big words. Reading a lot was an education in itself.

“Weston!!!”

He winced, but ignoring Paisley would lead to even more attention, so he turned slowly. Before he could fake noticing her for the first time, she slammed into him, her arms wrapping around his middle in a ginormous squeeze.

His arms went around her in self-defense, only so she wouldn’t send him crashing to the floor. Much as he would have liked to revel in that for a moment, maybe sniff her perfume, he dropped his hands as soon as they’d both regained balance. “Paisley. Hi.”

“Oh, it’s so good to see you! How were things in Montana over the winter? I emailed you, but you didn’t write back.”

Of course, he hadn’t. Why put himself through that?

Weston shrugged. “Okay. Spring’s here now.” And it was represented by the blue-eyed beauty beaming expectantly at him, wearing her typical cutoff jean shorts, with a green staff T-shirt peeking out beneath her plaid flannel shirt.

“How’s Enchantment? May I ride him today?”

“Uh… he’s fine. Ride whenever you want before the tourist schedules take over.” Weston had been surprised to discover he didn’t mind the influx of visitors. They were mostly poor city chumps who didn’t know which end of a horse was which, so his expertise was revered. A few girls had tried to flirt but given up quickly when he stared straight past their heads.

“Ae you and Ranger going out later? I’d love your company for my first time back in the saddle after eight months. Before?—”

---