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Chapter One

The hotel bed looked so inviting to Jessica Green After the day she’d had, it called to her, but she needed food in the worst way Her stohed as she looked around the little roon of any room service menu That was far too much to ask

She stared at her reflection in theher wavy red hair, she saw only lifelessness Typical Even her green eyes see, and her weary face showed the miles She added a bit of blush to her cheeks and applied so onto help her tired eyes Turning her head side to side in front of the mirror, she reviewed her refreshed makeup Her reflection didn’t appeara model She did the best she could hat she had

That was the story of her life Do the best hat you have because you won’t get anything more

She grabbed her room key, and headed for the door “Ready or not, Wilde, Nevada, here I come”

Jessica h the crowd The Horseshoe Bar and Grill’s business was boo There wasn’t an empty table in the place The very walls of the so seemed to pulse with raucous country hts she could see cans and the dance floor, but she could still tell this place was so boots, jeans, and some form of hat

She headed to the front of the bar To her right she caught sight of a couple kissing, their tongues tangling in a blatantly erotic way Damn, that looked like fun Jessica tried not to stare, but they were striking together The man was broad and held the shed, and then felt her eyes widen as the broad cowboy’s place was taken by anotherduties The man who’d first kissed her stood and watched with a smile

Holy crap! She’d fallen down a damn rabbit hole She was Alice in Cowboyland

She looked at the clock by the register Two hthad changed fros seemed to stay the same

I’ll be a twenty-five-year-old virgin Happy birthday to me

She groaned Last year’s party had been quite different Her now ex-fiancé had hired a band and a caterer Fifty people had showed up to help her celebrate That night, she’d felt on top of the world Now, celebrating her official welco the bottom of the barrel

Her current—and urgent—work assignht her to Wilde, Nevada Thank God Her ex would’ve insisted on throwing her a party, and his latest boyfriend would’ve been thrilled to ala And then she would have to face what she’d been avoiding for several e to do with the rest of her life She wasn’t sure, so spending the night talking about it see to eat, go to bed, and forget about her damn birthday

She squeezed into an open stool at the end of a long bar She let her hands find the brass rails that ran along the counter It looked like it caht off a Hollywood movie set The scratches and indentions see had weathered the real Wild West All in all, it was a far cry from t

he city in which she’d spentto the receptionist at her hotel across the street, it was the only place in the town still serving food at this hour after a trip full of delays and screwups Receptionist? Who the hell was she fooling? The woreeted her in a purple housecoat and curlers on her head, clutching a longneck beer She also seemed to think Jessica’s name was Hun

As her sto, uy seemed oblivious to her presence, unlike the other ether, all casting her lusty stares What the devil was going on? She’d never received this iven the skewed ratio in the Horseshoe of at least four men for every one woh-and-tule women had reason to venture this far out

Even so, if the bartender didn’t acknowledge her soon, she would crawl over the counter and shake hiet service around here?”

“What kind of service are you interested in?” a deep male voice inquired behind her

Jessica turned her barstool—and nearly sed her tongue The coore a black hat over glossy dark hair He sported a sexy grin fraave hi to his ape Well-worn Levi’s and leather boots looked as rugged as the man himself She sed

His deep laugh brought her gaze back to his face His piercing blue eyes crinkled at the corners God, he totally knew that she’d been checking hi furiously, she looked down at her hands, trying to find her tongue to sta

This man set off alar wailing froerous—on every level

Breathe easy He’s just a guy Jessica went through a litany of hor don’ts He was a cowboy Don’t She liked urbane, educated men He lived in nowheresville She was a native New YorkerManhattan to be exact, now living in Washington, DC Another don’t He was gorgeous A big don’t She never got anywhere with guys like him The ultimate don’t

That last thought cleared away her sexy thoughts