Page 5 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

Except, perhaps, the glare of the psychotic-looking woman standing next to her.

With wild, graying hair and a locked-in frown, she narrowed a look at Emily. “I was here first,” the woman said, taking possession of the hand strap over Emily’s head.

Emily responded with a death stare of her own but moved farther down the crowded aisle. There were no seats. No straps left. So, she braced herself, holding her humiliating box, which she was sure everyone identified for exactly what it was.

As the train began to move, someone tapped her shoulder.

“Please. Take my seat,” said the man standing suddenly beside her—a cowboy wearing a black Stetson who had just vacated the seat near her.

He was—plainly stated—beautiful, with the most striking hazel/green eyes she’d ever seen. Eyes that matched the rain-damp, deep blue denim shirt he wore under his sheepskin jacket.

“Oh. Thank you… that’s very—” But before she could finish, a teenager with blond dreads jumped into that open seat and immediately lost himself to his phone.

The cowboy looked… chagrinned? Annoyed? No, maybeshockedwas the word. As if he couldn’t fathom such rudeness.

“Kid,” he said to the boy. “I was offering that seat to this lady.”

“Huh?” the kid said, not bothering to look up.

“I said—”

“It’s my seat now.” The dreadlocked kid glared up at him with a challenging grin.

She actually saw the cowboy’s impulse to physically change the kid’s mind, but she shifted her box in her arms and stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Let him have it,” she said, and the kid gave a shoulder roll of victory. “I’m not going far. And someday, he’ll get it,” she said loud enough for the boy to hear, “but by then he’ll no doubt be fat, middle-aged, and wretchedly alone and wondering what happened to his sad, lonely life.” The boy froze in his scrolling and scowled but was definitely dug in. “But today isn’t that day,” she went on, turning her attention back to the cowboy. “And he’s definitely not worth ruining your day for.”

“Not so sure about that, actually,” the stranger said.

Emily shook her head and smiled at the man as the train rattled on, ducking through deep underground tunnels and speeding past mysterious doorways and walls so close one could almost touch them. “It was a lovely thought, though,” she said. “Thank you. I can’t honestly remember the last time anyone offered me a seat on the subway. Rainorshine.”

“Well, now, that’s a real shame,” he said, his western drawl making an appearance. “Where I’m from, it’d be a given. Not that we have subways. But still.” His jacket was sparkling with drops of rain and his shirt was damp, stuck to his rather… clearly… muscular chest with which she found herself nearly at eye level.

Curious, she asked, “Where exactly is this mythical place where men are still chivalrous? Which is, I’m afraid to say, quite politically incorrect.”

He laughed a little. “Montana.” His voice was deep and a little gritty as if he hadn’t talked much in a while.

“Montana? You are a long way from home.”

“Another universe. Pardon my saying so, but you don’t sound like you’re from here either.”

“No, you’re right. London, originally. But I’ve been here a bit. Wait. Don’t tell me I still have an accent,” she said with a straight face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“I’m kidding. It’s all right. I’m quite used to it. But I rather consider myself a New Yorker now. So, I do apologize for the weather. It must be spoiling your sightseeing.”

“Not at all.” A tiny frown formed between his brows beneath the brim of that hat. “From the looks of that shoe, your day’s going a lot worse than mine.” He gestured at her broken shoe and didn’t have to even mention her bedraggled appearance or the box in her arms.

She shifted her weight onto her one good shoe. “Oh, that? Honestly, that’s the least of it.” She laughed because the alternative seemed ridiculous.

“That bad, huh?”

“On a scale of one to ten?” she said. “Perhaps a minus twenty.”

“Ouch. Sorry.”

She shrugged. “That’s all right. Your kind—if neutralized—gesture did make it slightly better, though.”

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