Page 4 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

Five and half months later, Bree was gone and Reid had no job, no money, and custody of a belligerent, mourning teenager. He was completely clueless on how to deal with Sophie. He had never understood women. He still didn’t. He didn’t understand why his mama fell in love with a married man and had two kids with him. He didn’t understand why Bree had gotten with clones of their philandering daddy. He certainly didn’t understand whySophie had stolen his truck and gone for a joyride in the middle of a rainstorm.

Woman were frustrating as hell and the woman sitting in the passenger seat chattering away like she hadn’t just been driving recklessly and could have killed an innocent young girl was no different.

“. . . I swear he looked just like Ryan Gosling. He was sitting at the table sipping his Starbucks and scrolling through his phone. I thought to myself, I can walk out of this coffee shop and spend the rest of my life wondering or I can get up enough courage to walk over and ask. So I walked right up to him and said, ‘Hey, where’s Barbie?’ When he glanced up, I knew immediately that he wasn’t Ryan. But he was still a pretty cute guy. He flashed a nice smile and said, ‘I’m not really into Barbie, but I do have a thing for Strawberry Shortcake.’”

“Who’s Strawberry Shortcake?” Sophie asked from the back seat.

“Good question,” Sunny said. “I didn’t know either. So the guy pulled up a picture on his phone and showed me. She’s a cute little doll with red hair. Sam—that was the guy’s name—said his big sister had one. And I guess he loved to carry it around when he was a toddler and give it kisses. Now he has a thing for redheads.”

If Reid had been participating in the conversation, he would have pointed out that Sunny’s hair wasn’t red. It was the color of a newly minted penny. Or a polished copper tub. Or the last hint of sunset before it dipped below the horizon.

Sophie clutched her chest. “Aww, that is so sweet. Did he ask you out on a date?”

“As a matter of fact, he did and I accepted.”

It figured. Airhead Ken was definitely Sunny’s type.

“So he’s your steady boyfriend?” Sophie asked.

“No. I don’t really do steady boyfriends.”

Reid could feel her gaze burning a hole into the side of his face, but he refused to glance over—just like he’d refused to look at her since she’d climbed into his truck. He might not understand women, but he was smart enough to know the ones he needed to stay away from.

Sunny Whitlock was a woman he needed to stay away from.

Far away from.

From what he’d heard, she was as flighty as his sister. She moved around a lot, had never been in a serious relationship, and didn’t have a job—at least not a real job. She painted country landscapes and lived off her brother’s money.

That brother just happened to be Reid’s boss.

Hallie Holiday might run the Holiday Ranch, but Corbin Whitlock owned the large spread. While he stayed out of ranch business, there was little doubt he’d step in if one of the ranch’s employees was messing around with his little sister. Corbin was a fair man, but he wore blinders when it came to Sunny. She had bamboozled him and all the other Holidays into believing she was this sweet little ray of sunshine. But having grown up with his sister, Reid knew trouble when he saw it.

He needed this job. Not only because it paid well, but also because Wilder was a nice place to live. The townsfolk had welcomed him and Sophie with open arms. The high school football coach, Jace Carson, had made Sophie his kicker and given her lots of encouragement. Mimi and Darla Holiday were constantly bringing them casseroles and pies. And once Corbin and Belle’s house had been completed, Corbin had moved his old mobile home to the ranch for Reid and Sophie to live in so they wouldn’t have to continue to live in Reid’s small travel trailer.

The Holidays were good folks. Reid wasn’t going to screw up the heaven-sent situation he’d landed in because of a little sexual attraction.

And as much as he wanted to deny it, hewassexually attracted to Sunny.

But what man wouldn’t be?

She was a stunningly beautiful woman with a mane of strawberry blond hair and deep chocolate brown eyes that any man would be happy to drown in. When she’d sat down next to him at the Holidays’ Thanksgiving feast and turned those pretty eyes on him, he couldn’t even string two words together . . . until she’d punched him hard in the arm and knocked some sense into him. At first, he’d thought it was her way of being friendly. After all, she had two rough and tumble brothers. But when she continued to do it all through the meal, he’d decided she was just a little crazy.

Beautiful, crazy women needed to be avoided at all costs.

“Reid?” The way Sunny said his name made his gut tighten. “Umm . . . do you think you could maybe not tell my brother exactly what happened.”

“Please, Uncle Reid,” Sophie pleaded. “Don’t tattle on Sunny. Nobody was hurt.”

He kept his gaze on the dirt road that led to the Whitlocks’ house and refused to notice the way Sunny’s wet jean skirt had inched up her tanned thighs. “But they could have been. And I don’t keep secrets.” He glanced in the rearview mirror at his niece. “And don’t think you’ve gotten off, Soph. You’re in big trouble for taking my truck without permission.”

Sophie released a frustrated groan he’d heard at least a hundred times in the last few months and shot him a belligerent look. He wanted to say something else, something fatherly and wise. But he wasn’t fatherly and he certainly wasn’t wise where kids were concerned. Now if she had been a cow or horse, things would be different. He could handle any animal on a ranch.

Teenage girls?

Not at all.

Holding in his own groan of frustration, he pulled in front of Corbin and Belle’s house before jumping out. When he came around the front of his truck, Sunny was waiting for him. Again, he refused to notice the way her wet shirt clung to her full breasts or the outline of her pebbled nipples.

---