Page 2 of Mad About Her Cowboys

“River, are you going to introduce me to my new nurse or not?” the doctor called from his office doorway. Both women chuckled before heading his way.

“He’s a big teddy bear,” River said, pulling the hair tie from her long, dark hair and running her hands through it. It fell around her slim shoulders, and Madison noted she looked thinner than the last time she’d seen her, a little over two weeks ago.

“I heard that,” he said, his lined face friendly, despite his feigned growl. With his white hair, dancing eyes and just a little extra around his middle, he reminded Madison of someone’s jolly grandfather—not hers. Hers was a cranky jerk, but Doc Walker was just the type to fit in this Rockwell-like town. Right now, he wore a light-blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms, but she could imagine him in a white coat, handing out suckers to good kids.

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Riv retorted. Madison liked their easy relationship and hoped she’d share the same with her new employer.

“Aren’t you late for family dinner?” he asked.

“Keep it up, and you’ll scare away your new nurse,” she said. “Then where will you be?”

“Same place I was before you came here,” he replied.

“I know how much you miss running yourself ragged and having piles and piles of paper and files everywhere, as well as making people wait forever to see you, but let’s try to make Madison feel like her job is important, okay?”

Walker shook his head and turned his laser focus on her. “Ms. Madison, welcome. I’m really grateful you could take over for River—so’s my wife, truth be told. You came highly recommended by River and your former employer, so I expect great things from you.”

“No pressure,” River murmured as Madison thought the same.

They all laughed.

“Okay,” he said, turning serious. “Let’s get this paperwork done, so we can all get home to dinner and you can get settled. Lodging is part of your work package. Since River is staying in the apartment upstairs for the time being, the office is paying for your stay at O’Keefe’s.”

“Thank you.” She could afford to pay for her own place, but she was thankful she didn’t have to, nonetheless. With that, she followed the other two into the small office where they proceeded to fill out all her forms. Tomorrow morning, she’d hit the ground running.

Chapter Two

She was here.

Connor Quist watched the curvy, long-haired woman follow River into the doc’s office. Madison Meade. He’d been waiting for her arrival ever since he’d heard River and Dr. Walker talking about her last week. Connor being here, across the street, was a coincidence though. He wasn’t being a stalker. He’d been heading to Leena’s to meet up with his brothers when he’d seen her car pull in.

It was fate; that was all. Sweet destiny. And despite his awful beginnings in life, Connor believed in providence, that certain things were just meant to be. Such as him hearing about Madison coming here, after he’d seen her at the wedding and fantasized about her later that night while alone in his bed. Such as being right here when she’d gotten to town. And such as knowing his brother, Franklin had an appointment with Doc this week. They’d all be there to meet her properly—okay, that last one was of Connor’s making. He’d arranged the appointment because he’d known when she’d start work in the medical office. He wished it was tomorrow, but he’d taken the first opening he could get. Knowing she was destined for the Quists, he just had to trust someone else wouldn’t try to snap her up.

His mouth watered as he studied her sweet, curvy figure, the streetlight gleaming off her shiny black hair that hung in curls to her lower back. Despite her generous, womanly shape, she was a tiny little thing. He doubted she’d come much higher than his pec when he held her. The muscles in his arms flexed at just the thought. Holding her. Loving her.

He swallowed hard. The hours between now and the mid-morning appointment late in the week would seem eternal. Lord, he wanted it to be time now. He wanted to be standing close enough to catch and memorize her scent, to see every small facet of her features, to make her smile at him. To claim her.

Most of all, Connor wanted that last bit—to claim her. Somehow, deep down, he’d known she was his the moment he’d heard she was coming back. He hadn’t been so enraptured by her for nothing. And it wasn’t because he’d lacked a woman for so long. He and his brothers had no problem heading into Gillette for some good times. No…this was something different.

Of course, she wouldn’t be just his. He’d share her with his brothers, who weren’t really his blood. They shared everything—it was the Daly Way, after all. But sharing with them was different. He’d always known that he and Franklin would have the same woman, that Edison and Neal would probably take part in the loving…until they went off to Cranston, attending the college nearby and finding their own woman to share.

Cranston was a lot like Daly, a community where ménage was the way of life. It was where they’d all grown up in the same foster family. Thankfully, there were enough high-powered, ménage-sympathetic people in politics in that area that officials had ignored that the second adult male in the household was far more than their foster parents’ friend.

“What the hell are you doing out here, just standing around?” Franklin asked, coming up beside him. Connor hadn’t even heard him approach. Franklin must have gotten tired of waiting for him to join him and the other two at Leena’s for their once weekly dinner out.

“She’s here,” he said, still staring at the door where Madison had disappeared.

“Madison?” Franklin asked, and when Connor glanced over, he saw Franklin’s attention trained to where Connor’s had been.

“Yeah. Fuck, she’s beautiful. Just as perfect as I remember.”

“I wished I’d seen her,” Franklin said after a huffed sigh. Connor was the only one who’d homed in on Madison at the reception.

“You were busy hitting on one of the bridesmaids,” Connor laughed. “I was scoping out our future.”

“You always were the responsible one,” Franklin quipped. “But how did you possibly know?”

Connor shrugged. “How did I know the four of us guys were meant to stay together? How did I know to move us here? To start our farm?”

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