A Cowboy To Kiss

THIS COWBOY WON’T QUIT

Jake Scott welcomed the invitation from Kenzie Grant’s father to visit their ranch in Idaho. It was a chance to help out an old family friend, and to see Kenzie again. But judging by her frosty reception, his old friend wasn’t informed—and isn’t amused. The stunning little spitfire that dogged him around when they were kids has grown into a fabulous force to be reckoned with. And he’s in her crosshairs.

It’s tough to tell which she resents most—his advice on eco-friendly ranching methods or just his presence. Either way, he’s got her riled. Just not in the way he’d hoped. How can he convince her that working together could be the best thing for the ranch…and for them?

“I have a job to do.”

“Well, do it and leave,” she told him.

Jake shrugged. “I can’t. You refuse to cooperate.”

“Fine, be stubborn.”

“I’m not. It’s just—”

“Just what?”

Kenzie was spitting mad now, he could tell…and she looked more adorable than ever.

“Jake Scott, you drive me crazy.”

He couldn’t help the smile that came from somewhere deep within him. She sounded exactly like that feisty girl with the heart of gold he’d fallen for all those years ago. “Kenzie Grant, I sometimes believe that’s my whole purpose in life.”

She let out a throaty little groan and then abruptly disappeared inside the farmhouse. Next, the porch window they shared was slammed shut so hard the lamp beside his bed bounced off the table and landed on the floor, shattering the bulb.

“So not my finest moment,” he muttered and looked up at the starry night sky and prayed.

Dear Reader,

The Grant family, comprised mostly of women, is at it again in this story of childhood rivals. Jake and Kenzie have been trying to outdo each other ever since they first met on his family ranch in Montana, when she was still carrying around a doll in her back pocket and he was dreaming of rodeos.

Now that they’re all grown up, that rivalry hasn’t stopped. Matter of fact, it gets stronger when Kenzie learns Jake has been called in to help her turn the family ranch into a more “natural” enterprise.

What?

I love writing about a character who has developed his or her own set of rules to live by, and seems to be doing quite well, until someone arrives and upsets the applecart. It always makes for a fun story with lots of soul-searching for each character. Who has to change the most or compromise the most to gain what they ultimately want…true love?

I hope you fall in love with Kenzie and Jake as much as I did while writing about them. Writing an entire story is such a personal experience, one that always amazes me. A character comes up and taps me on the shoulder and says, “It’s time you told my story, and it’s a doozy!” How can I refuse? I can’t, so I begin, and what ends up on the page is me channeling that character. It’s something I love to do, and hope you love to read.

All best,

Mary

www.maryleo.com

Facebook: maryleoauthor

Twitter: @maryleoauthor

A Cowboy to Kiss

Mary Leo

www.millsandboon.co.uk

USA TODAY bestselling author MARY LEO grew up in south Chicago in the tangle of a big Italian family. She’s worked in Hollywood, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley. Currently she lives in San Diego with her husband, author Terry Watkins, and their sweet kitty, Sophie. Visit her website at maryleo.com.

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For Louise (Watkins) Stover, my sister-in-law

July 1939–October 2016

Louise introduced me to high tea and taught me that three hours of shopping in one store was just the beginning. The laughter and love we shared on those fun excursions will never be replaced or forgotten. Louise accepted this city girl on her farm with no questions asked, and gave me a love of rural life that I would not have experienced if she hadn’t welcomed me into the family. Thank you for your patience and all those superb family dinners. Every time I write a story about a cowboy, I’m reminded of those inspirational days on her farm in Quakertown, PA.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

“You can’t be a cowboy. You’re a girl,” ten-year-old Jake Scott stated as if everyone on the entire planet already knew this fact. Then he rolled his eyes and climbed up the side of the wooden horse corral, his cowboy boots slapping each rung with a loud thump while his small hands expertly grabbed hold, having done this many times before.

When he arrived at the top, he perched himself on the thick rail, swung his feet over it and stared at the three horses his dad had recently purchased. They were taller than most of the other horses he’d ridden, and their height scared him as he watched them prance around the large space in a tight formation. His dad had promised that the brown-and-white paint would end up being his, once the animal was trained, of course. At the moment, Jake couldn’t even imagine getting anywhere near the young stallion without his dad close by. The horses had only recently been separated from their moms and were easily spooked in their new surroundings.

“Haven’t you ever heard of a cowgirl?” Kenzie Grant countered as she deliberately followed him up the side of the corral, shoving her dumb doll into her back pocket. She never went anywhere without it. Even took it to the roundup. Who brings a doll to a roundup?

As far as Jake could tell, this girl tried her darnedest to irritate his normally easygoing self. Ever since she’d arrived at the ranch with her family of mostly girls, Kenzie had been a constant thorn in Jake’s side. Her brother didn’t pay him much mind, and her sisters mostly stayed at the house. But Kenzie seemed to stick to him like glue.

There was no getting rid of her. She followed him around all day like a lost baby goat, mimicking his cowboy ways, trying to learn something that no girl, especially a girl who wasn’t even nine years old yet, could do as good as a boy.

“Aw, cowgirl’s not even a real word,” Jake said. “Not really. At least not from where I come from, and I come from Montana, where cowboying is a man’s world.”

“Then what are you doing playing cowboy? You’re not a man. You’re just a kid, like I am.”

“I gave up playing a long time ago, not like you, who still carries around a stupid doll.”

“This doll’s not stupid. She’s smart. And for your information, this is a cowgirl who runs her own ranch...just like I will when I grow up. Don’t you know that kids can be anything they want to be? Don’t you have any imagination at all, Jake Scott?”

Kenzie pulled herself up on the top rung, carefully swung each leg over the side, then sat down right next to Jake. Kenzie was tall for her age, and strong, stronger than Jake liked to admit. Plus, she was smart as a whip and could usually figure out even the toughest tasks Jake tried to stump her with.

Kenzie Grant was just plain annoying.

“Sure I do. Like I can imagine myself riding that palomino with the flaxen mane and tail until I’m an old man.” He nodded toward the horses, wondering if this newly declared cowgirl even knew which one was the palomino.

“Horses only have a life expectancy of twenty-five to thirty years. You’ll hardly be an old man when it dies.”

“Who said?”

“My dad, and he knows a lot about horses. He used to raise them, which is exactly what I’m going to do when I grow up. I’m going to raise horses, and run a ranch, my own ranch, with cattle and a bull. We might even grow some potatoes. Idaho is the potato capital of the world.”

She stretched out her arms to make her point. Who cared about a dumb ol’ potato anyway?

Nobody, that was who. Especially nobody who lived in Montana.

“There you go again. Making no sense. That’s not a ranch. That’s a farm. Ranchers don’t grow anything but livestock.”

“I can grow anything I want, and I can do anything I want. All you want to do is ride some ol’ horse. You’re just jealous ’cause I’m going to be a rancher...a rancher who does it all. Now who’s stupid, Jake Scott? I don’t want to talk to you anymore today.”

Then she twisted herself to get back down the side of the corral.

“So what happens tomorrow? Are you going to talk to me tomorrow?”

He suddenly didn’t want her to go. For all her orneriness, he liked having her around. His two brothers were a lot older, so they didn’t pay much attention to him, and his mom and dad were too busy with ranching to ask more than a million “did’ja” questions every day... Did’ja brush your teeth? Did’ja help clean out the stalls? Did’ja finish all your chores...

“We’re leaving tomorrow. Don’t you know anything?”

“Then I guess this means we won’t be talking at all.”

“What do you care? I’m just a dumb cowgirl.”

She climbed all the way down, then jumped off the bottom rung and ran off leaving him alone. He wanted to run after her, and turned to do it when he spotted her brother, Carson, coming up to meet her. Jake liked her brother, Carson. He could ride a horse better than any kid he’d ever seen and Jake had hoped that Carson would teach him a few tricks. That probably wouldn’t happen now that he’d told Kenzie all that silly stuff about her being a dumb cowgirl. He knew perfectly well that some girls were even better at ranch work than boys. He just didn’t want to admit it to Kenzie. She was only eight years old and he’d bet his new boots she was brave enough to ride that palomino his dad had brought home.

He was simply too shy to admit it...and much too shy to admit he liked hanging with her, even if she did carry around a stupid doll.

Chapter One

Kenzie Grant had only one thought on her mind when she walked out the front door that morning: frozen semen.

The way she had it figured, it was her best shot. She’d tried other forms of semen and they simply didn’t take or the specimen would be rendered useless before she’d even had a chance to use it.

Semen was funny that way, she thought, just as unpredictable as the stud who provided it.

“Are you confident this will work?” she asked her younger sister, the only doctor Kenzie trusted with their future. Coco wore a straw cowgirl hat over her short-cropped dark hair, a deep blue T-shirt, stretch jeans, and high work boots that laced up the front. Kenzie never could understand why anyone would prefer those to slip-on Western boots, but Coco rarely wore anything that didn’t lace up. She was the tallest of the four sisters, exactly six feet tall in her bare feet, and usually carted around a Yorkie named Punky. Today, Punky had to stay home. Apparently he was busy keeping a tiny kitten company that someone had recently left on Coco’s doorstep. Among Punky’s many virtues, he was an excellent babysitter to just about any creature in need, and that included cats of all sizes.

“At this point, it’s your safest bet,” she told Kenzie, her gaze on the Teton Mountain range off in the distance. It was a particularly beautiful morning in Idaho’s Teton Valley, the crisp blue sky dappled with billowy white clouds and the sun bursting through, sending rays of golden sunlight streaming down to the ground in columns of warmth. The temperature had finally risen and Kenzie had dressed for the part in a brown T, boot-cut jeans, her favorite tan boots and a wide belt held in place with the All-Around Cowboy buckle she’d won four years ago at the local ranch rodeo, the belt and buckle riding low on her hips.

Work gloves and her phone were stuffed in one back pocket, and a packet of spicy beef jerky in the other just in case she had to miss lunch, which had been almost every day last week. She was hoping this week would go easier.

Dora and Dolly, the family’s yellow Labs, sniffed the ground as they searched for any new scents that may have dropped from the sky overnight, happy to chase after whatever moved in the expanse of grass that surrounded the ranch house.

Never taking these perfect moments for granted, Kenzie pulled in a deep breath, drinking in the fresh, early morning scent that surrounded her. She only wished she had more time to enjoy these long lazy days like she’d had when she was a kid, when the hours seemed endless. She was hopeful that once the family ranch was lucrative again, an occasional lazy afternoon might be possible, but until then, Kenzie had no time for anything other than work and worry.

All ten of her mares were in various stages of estrus or heat, a situation she’d purposely planned for. Granted, the mares were as ornery as June bugs caught in a net, but once they were impregnated, they’d calm down. At least that was the idea. Now all she had to do was inseminate them, and with her sister’s help, next summer her mares would be part of the first annual colt auction on the Grant ranch. She hoped to double that count in twelve months’ time, and onward until she brought it up to about thirty or forty workhorses for sale each year.

She didn’t like to admit it, but full-time ranching was taking its toll. She knew it would be hard from having grown up on the family spread, but now that her dad had handed over the reins, Kenzie wasn’t so sure she wanted to handle them entirely on her own. Her parents now depended on her almost 100 percent, which was fine, but the burden of it sometimes weighed her down more than she ever dreamed that it would.

“Good, ’cause I’ve ordered the semen from a quarter horse ranch out of Canada. Their workhorses are known throughout the country as being some of the best stock,” she told Coco.

Coco gazed over at her, her eyebrows knitted together with concern. “I wish you had consulted me on this order first. I thought we decided on a distributor in Colorado. I’ve recommended them before to other local ranchers and they’ve been dependable with their deliveries. They’ve already done all the customs paperwork for you.”

“Sure, but what could be better than going directly to the source, right?”

“I’ve heard there could be problems with customs, causing major delays.”

But Kenzie wasn’t listening. She’d stopped walking, pulled her deep brown cowgirl hat down low to shield her eyes from the sun and stared at the white three-quarter-ton pickup. The truck was pulling the exact seventeen-foot horse trailer that Kenzie had lusted over just last month when she was in the market for a new one. The price tag had been a little too rich for her, so she’d had to settle for one that was used and half the price.

The thought flitted through her head that perhaps her dad had decided to splurge and had secretly bought it, but that thought was quickly dashed. She knew her dad would never undermine her financial plan for the ranch. He respected her decisions too much.

Still...

“Do you know what this is all about?” Coco asked, nodding toward the fancy rig heading for them.

“No, but maybe Mom does. Now that their anniversary is less than two weeks away we’ve been getting all sorts of weird things delivered to the ranch. Mom is getting more and more giddy over the ceremony. I’m so glad we were able to convince them to celebrate forty-five years with a real wedding celebration. Who knew they’d never had one?”

“I don’t think Dad’s excited about all the fuss, but this means so much to Mom that he’s coming around. He’ll do anything for Mom, we all know that,” Coco said. “Her whole face lights up whenever she talks about any of the details. I’ve had so much fun helping her plan.”

“We all have. Just yesterday an older man arrived with four white doves. Mom wants them released during the ceremony. Did you know, they’re actually homing pigeons? Anyway, we did a practice run, and the birds squawked the entire time. It wasn’t pretty. Or rather, it didn’t sound pretty. You can imagine her reaction.”

Coco nodded. “She must have been annoyed.”

“She was. The man apologized and assured her it had never happened before and would never happen again, but Mom thought it was a bad omen. It took all day for Dad and me to convince her that their wedding ceremony isn’t doomed. You know how she’s always felt about elaborate weddings. Nervous that something major will go wrong. Where she got that idea she won’t say other than it’s just a feeling. Of course, it didn’t help that Kayla’s first and second weddings were disasters. And Carson’s wedding was strange, at best.”

Their mom and dad had gotten married at the courthouse in a simple ceremony with no guests. She had insisted it be held that way and had always associated a big wedding with a catastrophe.

“Exactly, and with the Grant track record, who can blame her?”

Their sister Kayla had left not one but two separate grooms standing at the altar, and their brother, Carson, had planned a fancy church wedding with a woman who had already dumped him.

“Callie and Joel’s wedding turned out okay,” Coco reminded her.

“Except for Great-Uncle Peter streaking through the back of the church in his birthday suit during the vows, everything else went off beautifully.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about Great-Uncle Peter. Will he be coming?”

“Yes, and Great-Aunt Beverly promised to keep a tight rein on him this time.”

“Isn’t she the one who tried to do a pole dance during the reception, and I had to treat her when she slid too fast, fell over and bonked her head?”

“Yes,” Kenzie answered, remembering Great-Aunt Beverly circling the pole with her undies showing, singing “I’m an Old Cowhand.” “Mom might be right.”

“So, I wonder what this is? Maybe Mom and Dad want to ride in on special horses? White Arabian horses to go with the white doves, maybe?”

Kenzie snickered and shrugged. “Who knows? She’s been springing these changes on us for the last couple of weeks. She’s also thinking of handing out white helium balloons to everyone to be set free once Mom and Dad say ‘I do.’ For someone who doesn’t believe in elaborate weddings, she’s really all in for this one. I’ve stopped trying to second-guess what she’s thinking up next. I just go along with everything. It’s simpler.”

As the rig came closer, Kenzie’s stomach began to feel queasy, like the bacon and eggs she’d downed in a hurry that morning weren’t sitting well. Or perhaps it was the instant coffee she’d made in the microwave before her mom put on a pot?

It didn’t help that the dogs seemed skeptical of the intruder as well, their tails still as they sniffed the air for any strange scents.

“That’s a Montana plate on the front of the truck. I can’t believe she had to go all the way to Montana to find a horse. Something else must be going on,” Kenzie offered.

“I know the Scotts are driving in for the wedding. Maybe Jan and Fred decided to show up early?”

Henry Grant, their dad, and Fred Scott had served in Vietnam together, and had a long-standing friendship. The two men would do anything for each other, and over the years, the Grant family and the Scott family had spent time on each other’s ranches. For the most part, those visits had been fun, but there was one member of the Scott family Kenzie never wanted to see again. One cowboy she hoped would stay home on the family ranch where he belonged.

The screen door behind them squeaked open, then banged shut. “Right on time,” Kenzie’s father, Henry, said.

“Dad knew about their early arrival and didn’t tell us?” Coco asked her sister. “I would have changed some of my commitments around. As it is, I can’t stay. I’m already late for my next appointment.”

“I think there’s something more to this than just an extended visit from Jan and Fred. When have they ever stayed longer than a few days? And why would they bring along some horses? No. Something’s up, and I’m getting a bad feeling about it.”

Kenzie glanced back at her mom who’d stepped out on the porch to join their dad. “I better make up another batch of bacon, and throw on some more flapjacks. Prob’ly drove all night and they’ll all be as hungry as a bear.”

“Why are the Scotts here so early, Dad?” Kenzie shouted back to her dad.

She couldn’t imagine why he hadn’t told her, especially since it now appeared as if they’d be staying on the ranch. The guesthouse hadn’t even been cleaned out yet. Kenzie had planned to have it done by the end of the week. It was on the top of her priority list, along with several other critical items. She’d been storing some combustible supplies in the guesthouse to keep them away from the livestock. She intended to move them to one of the sheds. Plus Carson had been promising to move all his equipment to his own shed at his rented house for weeks now. The timing of their arrival couldn’t be worse.

“Ain’t the Scotts, at least not all of them. Just one,” her dad finally said in that raspy morning voice of his.

Coco raised an eyebrow and caught the look of concern on Kenzie’s face. “What’s wrong? You look sick.”

Kenzie pressed a hand to her stomach and ignored her sister’s question.

Instead, she asked her dad, “Which one? I mean, which Scott?”

The words jumped from her mouth in a rush of adrenalin. There was only one member of the Scott family who got under her skin, one Scott who annoyed her to distraction and caused her blood to boil. Over the years, their rivalry had grown into a full-blown war. The last time they met up Kenzie was sixteen, and somehow that conniving, underhanded Jake Scott had managed to get her to kiss him. She hadn’t kissed a boy before that, and Jake knew it as soon as their lips met.

He’d laughed.

Right there in the middle of the kiss, he’d up and laughed.

It was possibly the most embarrassing moment of her life, and because of it, she’d stopped visiting the Scotts. And Jake, thank you very much, never showed up on the Grant Ranch after that. So it couldn’t be Jake Scott inside that pickup. It just couldn’t. She’d made it as clear as sunshine that she never, ever wanted to see or talk to him again as long as she lived.

“I’m not exactly sure,” he told her with that fatherly tone he took on whenever he didn’t want to be questioned further.

“I’ve got to run,” Coco said after she glanced at her watch. “Call me with the details. Sounds like our dad has something up his sleeve... Who knows? Maybe it’s a surprise for Mom for their anniversary. Think positive.”