One

      Amberley Holbrook wasn’t too keen on meeting new people; she preferred the company of her horses and keeping an eye on the stables where she worked. Normally her boss, Clay Everett of the Flying E, was happy to let her do what she wanted. But they had a guest on the property who had told Clay that he liked to ride. So as a courtesy Clay had suggested she stop by and introduce herself and offer to take the guest for a ride.

      This held little appeal for Amberley. First of all, the dude was from Seattle, and the last time she checked there weren’t any real cowboys from there, so that meant he was some kind of city slicker. Second...she and city slickers didn’t get along. She would be the first to admit that was all down to her and her lousy attitude, which was something her father had advised her to keep in check if she wanted to keep this job.

      Third...well, there wasn’t any third. Digging in her heels and refusing to do as Clay had asked certainly wasn’t an option. Amberley had packed more into her twenty-four years than most of her peers. She knew she needed to keep her job because she loved the horses she took care of and she certainly didn’t want to go back to her family’s ranch in Tyler, Texas.

      That was something her daddy had been sure to remind her of when she’d called him earlier and told him about Clay’s guest. She and her father were close. Her mom had died when Amberley was thirteen and she’d had four younger siblings to watch over. She and her dad had worked as a team to make sure everything on the ranch got done and her younger siblings, ranging in ages from four to ten, were taken care of. Sometimes her dad would say he cheated her out of a childhood, but Amberley never felt that way. She had her horse, Montgomery, and her family, and until she’d turned eighteen, that was all that had mattered.

      Amberley understood why she was nervous about this new guest. The city guy had rented a danged Ford Mustang to drive around in this rugged Texas landscape. She could see the sports car parked next to the guest house that Clay had assigned him.

      The Flying E was a sprawling ranch built in the heyday of Clay Everett’s Professional Bull Riding career. He’d been at the top of his game until a bull named Iron Heart had thrown him. Clay had had a few ups and downs, but landed back on his feet and started a new career as CEO of Everest, a company that provided ironclad cloud infrastructure to companies. Amberley was the first to admit she had no idea what that really was, but it made Clay a nice fortune and