Page 1 of The Rancher's Unrequited Love

The Librarian and Her Unrequited Love

by Marian Tee

Part One

ETHAN BLACKWOOD HADgrown up in other people's shadows his entire life. With their parents having died early, he and the twins only had each other. And while he would die for his older brothers any day and vice versa, it didn't stop him from looking forward to leading a life separate from them, if only to get away from the constant comparisons.

Unlike Aidan and Thornton, who had been born gifted in every way, Ethan was a terribly late bloomer. For most of his high school years, he had been this awkwardly tall and lanky boy beset with respiratory problems that kept him from getting involved in any sports. And while no one in town had been foolish enough to bully Ethan over it - this would've been suicidal, considering most of them either directly or indirectly worked for Ethan's family - the look of pity in their eyes said it plainly enough.

When compared to his more accomplished older brothers, Ethan would always be found lacking, and it was this that had him packing his bags as soon as he graduated from high school.

In England, Ethan - with the help of his mother's side of the family - was finally able to enjoy a life away from the twins' overwhelmingly large shadows. Free from other people's judgments, Ethan sought help for his respiratory problems, which turned out to be nothing but a psychological manifestation of his childhood trauma. Once this was taken care of, Ethan then focused on building his strength and stamina; he devoted hours each day to manual labor at his cousins' horseranches, and in a matter of months was as ruggedly muscular as his older brothers.

When Ethan finally flew back home, he was no longer the insecure boy he was once was, and no one was happier to see Ethan's growth than the twins themselves. They had always believed that Ethan had it in him to stand toe to toe with them, but men being men, they had been unable to effectively put their feelings into words.

And now that Ethan was back in the fold...

The twins invited the whole town to celebrate Ethan's homecoming, and it was on this fateful night that Guilia came back to his life.

GUILIA SANTOS' BIGGESTregret was being born on the wrong side of the tracks. From the moment she became old enough to understand the difference between rich and poor, she had lived every moment of her life with envy that eventually fueled her ambition.

She dismissed her Mexican mother as an idiot, with the older woman ridiculously content working as a housekeeper for the wealthy assholes that came up to Jackson Hole every vacation. Her mother was a hopeless case, but Guilia was determined to be different. Guilia knew she was meant to go places, and it was why she had set her cap on Travis Jones, whose father owned a modeling agency.

Guilia knew she had what it would take to become a supermodel, but she also knew that she would have to toil a couple more years before getting the jumpstart she needed. She craved for success,and if she wanted it right now, she would need to use Travis to expedite things.

She had seen the way Travis looked at her every time she served him at the local clubhouse, and she didn't even have to expend much effort in seducing him. Her plan was simple: make Travis fall for her so that he'd get her foot in the door with his father.

And at that time, because she had thought herself so damn smart, Guilia had believed the plan would work.

But it didn't.

The world turned out to be dirtier than Guilia thought, and she had ended up fucking Travis, his father, and later on, Travis' friends and his father's friends...and sometimes, she had to fuck them all at the same time.

She had been sixteen then, a nobody.

A year later, she wassomebody,a girl whose face was plastered on every magazine cover, a girl who had everything she once dreamed of, and as she made it to the top of the world, Guilia simply wished she was dead.

IT WAS ONLY ON A WHIMthat Guilia had come to attend the Blackwoods' party, and she found herself relishing the nasty looks she got from the other girls. They all thought her a gold-digging bitch, and that was fine with her. She would rather have them hating on her than let them realize the truth.

After grabbing a flute of champagne from one of the servers, she headed straight to Ethan Blackwood to say hi. His time in England had clearly done him good; she remembered seeinghim in high school, and he had been so pale and thin in those days. Now, he was just the opposite. He was all tanned and sexy, and simply oozing with charm as all the girls flocked around him.

Guilia only had to clear her throat for the other girls to clear the way for her, but one in particular seemed to hold a grudge against Guilia. She stuck her foot out at the most opportune time, causing Guilia to lose her balance.

She started to fall.

That bitch!

But instead of suffering an embarrassment, she fell straight into Ethan's arms instead.

Looking up, Guilia intended to tease Ethan about staying true to his British side by acting like a knight to her damsel. But when her gaze met his, and she saw the look in his eyes—-

Ethan was startled when Guilia suddenly jerked away from him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Guilia said stiffly. "Nice party, by the way."

Ethan hadn't any time to answer since Guilia had already spun on her heels to walk away.

What the hell?

---