Page 11 of Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy

Eva glanced back at the booklet and the piece of paper she’d shoved between the pages caught her eye. Her Secret Santa assignment, which she was supposed to keep completely secret so she probably shouldn’t have that piece of paper sticking out like that.

She pulled it out of the book and the typewritten name that had been revealed when she’d unfolded her draw had her stifling a groan.

Linc.

Darcy would have been easy. Either Olivia or Poppy a breeze. But what the hell did she get a person like Lincoln Wilder?

The man who wore nothing but jeans and plain dark-colored henley shirts—short-sleeved for summer, long-sleeved with a plaid jacket when it was cold.

What did he even enjoy besides making the occasional smart-mouthed remark? And she was supposed to make the gift meaningful so a gift card was out. She supposed an ugly sweater could be considered meaningful since the guy could sure use a laugh. And something fun and colorful in what appeared to be an otherwise black and white and boring existence.

From what she could tell all he did was work on the family’s ranch all day, eat dinner with the family at night, then go back to his cabin to sleep before doing it all again the next day.

That was it. Nothing else. She’d never seen him out with friends. Hell, he’d never even mentioned the name of another living soul.

Unless he had some secret life she didn’t know about— Nah. He didn’t seem the type. As hot as Linc was physically—all that manual labor had admittedly turned him into an impressive male specimen—he was not at all interesting enough to have a secret life.

She only hoped he was capable of following orders and doing the assignments she was going to give him. He should be good at taking orders. He was in the Army. But the strait-laced, rule-follower had better also have some serious Christmas skills up his sleeve because she had no intention of losing this challenge because of him.

Ugh. How did she get hooked up with him anyway? Probably because they were the only two not sleeping together like Poppy and Ethan, and Olivia and Wyatt were.

Of course, the old man could have paired her up with Darcy. The kid wouldn’t be much help but she also wouldn’t have gotten in her way or question her authority like Linc surely was going to.

“So, you and Linc are paired up, huh?” Olivia grinned, as if reading her mind.

Poppy broke into a wide smile at the comment. “I know. How fun is that?”

Eva narrowed her eyes at her friends. Were they playing matchmaker? Is that how this pairing came to be?

Had they cast Linc as the leading man in this cheesy Christmas movie that had somehow become her life?

But they were supposedly as surprised as she was by this challenge. That would mean it was probably William orchestrating the pairs. She had a Wilder man to blame. What else was new?

She glared at Poppy and Olivia, both propped up against the pillows in the big bed. “Just stop. The idea of Linc and me together as anything other than teammates for this ridiculous contest is…”

“Tempting?” Poppy suggested.

“Inevitable?” Olivia added.

“Insane,” Eva corrected with a frown.

And that was all she was going to say about the matter because it was the truth. She and Linc together? It would be a disaster.

Nope. Never gonna happen. But this challenge? That was definitely happening and they were going to win if she had her way.

She needed a plan. If only she could see what had been done for past Christmases she’d know what she’d be up against. How could she get that?

Maybe there were some family Christmas albums laying around. Wyatt didn’t have an Instagram. Did Ethan have one? And if so, did he post any Christmas pictures on his? She’d have to do some stalking but she wasn’t hoping for much.

Fuck it. Linc said he wanted to meet? She’d meet with him and then she’d make an unbeatable battle plan.

If she was going to be forced to play Wilder games, she was going to make sure she took the title of the reigning queen of Christmas in Bitter End.

Let the games begin.

ChapterSix

Linc pulled into his usual spot near the front door of the building that had become the place he hung his hat since getting out of the Army and moving out of his family’s home.

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