Page 3 of Forbidden Cowboy

Scoffing.

But never ogling.

She’s loyal to our father and continues the centuries-long feud between the Wildes and Foxes.

I elbow my youngest sister. “Jade, three o’clock.”

Both our gazes slide down to the committee agenda. My sister undoubtedly sees a whole lot of mumble-jumble. She attends meetings for the gossip. I’m here to volunteer to rebuild the kissing booth after a scorned lover burned it to the ground last year. The kissing booth raises barrels of money each year for the end of high school’s grad trip.

“This might be a record.” Jade plops down beside me. It’s too humid for her flared denim and Aztec geometric coat. At least her standard ponytail will give her neck a cool breeze in the crowded town hall. “Spotting that Wilde off the family ranch.” She nods in Levi’s direction.

I steal a glance. I mean, if she’s looking, I can look, too.

He removes his midnight-black Stetson. His thick waves of dark hair look like a mane I’d like to run my fingers through. He lowers his incredibly taut body onto one of the rickety folding chairs. Can it even hold the king of muscles?

“Must be something on the agenda he wants to bitch about.” Jade’s plain, short, and chipped fingernail skims her agenda.

“He attends the rodeo every year.” I don’t know why I feel the need to defend him. Possibly to stop stirring the coals between our families.

I also might be staring, but so is everyone else. Who would even notice lil’ ol’ me?

Jade clicks her tongue. “He does minimum appearances and hides away with his cattle.”

“Coming from the one who never leaves the ranch.” Josie folds the edge of the agenda in an inch-wide crease before flipping over and repeating to create an accordion pattern.

“I leave the ranch.” Jade flips over her paper to continue her search.

“O-Kay.” Josie pinches one end of the agenda. She’s now transformed it into a fan and waves it back and forth by her face. “It’s hotter’n a blister bug in a pepper patch.”

“I’m not a stuck-up stubborn asshole who solely pops in when he wants something. Ah-ha!” Her finger practically jams through the page. “Now I got you, you oversized, egotistical dick.”

Josie chokes and quickly uses the fan to hide her coughing spell. “It’s already too hot in here to be talking about a Wildes di—”

Jade holds up a warning finger. “Don’t you even go there.”

Josie laughs. “Go there. Down there.” Her elbow digs into my side. “Get it.”

I catch a glimpse of the couple in front of us rustling at the implications.

I lower my tone. “Josie, watch your words. Jade, be nice. His wife skipped town, and he already endures enough gossip.”

Jade’s head snaps in my direction. “I’m talking about Hart Wilde.”

“Oh.” My mouth drops open as I scan the room for the eldest Wilde brother. My gaze jumps to a halt beside Levi. Was Hart there the entire time? Or had he walked in beside him? Sat beside him? The whole time and I missed it? No way. But Josie’s curiously arched eyebrow suggests it’s true.

What is the matter with me?

“I don’t care what Levi does,” Jade snaps.

“You shouldn’t care what Hart does either.” Josie likes to stir the pot. All pots. Any pot that gets a rise out of anyone.

“He’s been a thorn in my side since school.” Jade takes our sister’s bait—lock, stock, and barrel.

“Thorns blossom into roses.” I draw a heart around the kissing booth segment of the program. I spent the last few weeks designing a new and improved kissing booth to present to the committee. “We don’t know the Wildes.”

Jade talks over me. “Spreading a rumor, I slept with him. Yeah right. Like I’d sleep with a Wilde.”

“I’d fuck a Wilde.” The couple in front of us shuffles again at my sister’s crude words.