Page 7 of Forbidden Cowboy
I’d been hooked.
Instantly.
While my father prodded me and my brothers against befriending a Fox, I’d been sneaking away from the ranch every afternoon, sun or rain, to secretly climb trees and hike the ridge with the forbidden girl next door.
Until that day, the day everything changed between us. And it all started with the damn kissing booth.
“I propose a vote,” Josie mutters as if trying to disguise her voice. She’s another troublemaker that sly Fox is.
“There’s no vote.” Thomas wipes the beads of sweat from his forehead with a plaid handkerchief.
Jade lifts her hand. “All in favor of eliminating the kissing booth, a show of hands.”
My hand shoots up.
Hart slaps it down. “Hell no.” He points his Stetson at Jade. “The kissing booth stays.”
Hope raises her hand. “I second that vote.”
“There’s no voting.” Thomas’s voice hikes an octave, and he flips over his handkerchief to wipe behind his neck.
“Why don’t we vote and move on?” Rita suggests.
“All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be someplace else,” Grumpy Wayne says.
“No voting!” Thomas repeats louder.
“We’re voting whether the Wildes or the Foxes reconstruct it.” My brother’s booming voice ricochets off the walls. “All in favor of the Wildes, show of hands.”
My throbbing head feels like it’s going to explode. No wonder I don’t leave the ranch.
My eyes trail to the one person in this room they shouldn’t: Hope.
Fuck, she’s gorgeous. Long wavy hair as rich brown as the earth. Her tomboy figure has transformed into a helluva curvy woman. My fingers itch to slide under the thin material of her dress. But it’s her smile that gets me. She radiates sunshine, just like I remember. And those luscious lips. I hadn’t known how much I wanted to kiss Hope Fox until we stood across from each other at the fair kissing booth. It didn’t matter that there had been lineups shouting behind me. Or that all eyes had been on us. I’d only seen her, felt her, wanted her.
But Wildes and Foxes are all but outlawed in Rocky Ridge Creek. And it took one kiss with Hope to realize I couldn’t pretend with her anymore. I couldn’t hide our friendship or whatever the hell would transform after that kiss. And I sure as hell couldn’t be the man she deserved.
Those lips have taunted me for years, and now Thomas and the old birds think they’re pairing us up?
Hell no.
“Next topic is the sponsorship packages. We have Fox Lodge and the Wilde Ranch competing for the top package.
This is the reason my brother’s here.
Hart blabs his rehearsed speech, and Jade counters him. Their competition overtakes any possibility of getting in another word on the kissing booth topic.
I’m done.
Even Peggy-Ann is too distracted to notice when I pass. Thank the heavens. The last thing I need is for her husband having a beef with me.
The humid summer night hits me. Fresh-cut grass and the woody scent of cedar fill my nostrils. The town where I was born and raised, married my high school sweetheart, planned to raise my family, and never leave. Too bad my ex-wife had different plans—home sweet home.
I head to Bucky’s Bar for a nightcap. It'll be empty with practically the whole town at the fair meeting.
The Buckley Brewing Company has been brewing craft beer for generations. Meanwhile, the bar next door belongs to the Wards, who have been distilling whiskey just as long. We have some of the best booze around and another family feud.
I skip over the cobblestone sidewalk and cross the road to Bucky’s Bar. The neon whiskey and beer sign is smack dab in the middle of a row of businesses. Two-story buildings run both sides of the street with arched, ornate windows and decorative brick. Rocky Ridge Creek’s historic district is Downtown, surrounded by endless rows of craftsman houses.