a special occasion. From the looks of the place, the entire town had turned up to watch The Great Roundup. With all the buzz Autry had heard about the show in the ten minutes he’d been in the Ace in the Hole, he was excited to watch. Cowboys competing for a million bucks? Hell yeah. That was his kind of TV. The Jones family might be millionaires, but they were cowboys at heart. Autry’s first memory was of being on the back of a horse. And the first gift he’d ever gotten? A “piggy” bank in the shape of a stallion. Money and horses were two hallmarks of the Jones family.
The baby’s mother returned and held out her arms for little Jackson. “You’re a peach,” she said to Walker.
Walker, a peach? Autry couldn’t help himself. He laughed.
Hudson grinned. “Trust me. If peachhood got Walker and me, you’re next. You’re here.”
“I’m immune,” Autry said.
“Sure, bro,” Hudson said with a knowing nod. He glanced toward the tables. “Bella’s waving us over to our seats. Our rib platters arrived.”
Autry glanced at their table—two entire tables away from the brunette beauty. Way too far.
“Let’s all go sit down,” Walker said, nodding at his wife, Lindsay, who sat next to Bella. “I’m really glad you’re here, Autry. We barely got to talk at the weddings. After the show we’ll all head over to Maverick Manor for a nightcap.” Walker clapped Autry on the shoulder, then followed Hudson across the room.
The bartender placed the two beers Autry had ordered on the bar. “Be right there,” Autry called.
Beers in hand, he wove his way through tables and the standing room–only crowd. There was no way in hell he could resist meeting this woman. Just as there was no chance in that same hell they’d have anything other than a few amazing weeks together before he jetted off to Paris. If she was game, what was the harm in letting something happen between them for twenty-one delicious days? And something would happen. The closer he got to her table, the more her brown eyes and her unenhanced pink-red lips drew him in. He had to know her. Well, on a superficial level.
“Hello,” he said, nodding at the brunette and the blonde beside her. “Here you go,” he said, handing a beer to each woman. “Autry Jones, at your service.”
“I knew you had to be a Jones brother,” the brunette said. “I’m Marissa Fuller and this is my friend Anne Lattimore. Thanks for the beers. That was very thoughtful.” She smiled and took a sip, then set down the glass and looked around. Not at him.
Huh. Where was the flirtatiousness? Where was the fawning? Where was the sidling up to him and pressing herself against him like most women did?
“Are you in town visiting your brothers?” Marissa asked, taking another sip of beer.
He nodded. “For three weeks. I’m used to Tulsa, so Rust Creek Falls is a nice change.”
“Are you staying with Walker or Hudson?” Marissa asked. “I’ll admit, sometimes I drive by Walker’s house just to look at it. It’s amazing. A mansion made entirely out of logs.”
He smiled. “A log mansion for Walker and a beautiful ranch for Hudson. I visited both homes after their weddings back in May and June. But I’m staying at Maverick Manor.”
Surprise crossed her pretty features. “For three weeks?”
“I like room service,” he said. The truth was that he wasn’t close enough with either brother to feel comfortable staying with them that long. And he did like room service. Besides, Autry had gotten so used to luxury hotels that anything too homespun would feel...wrong and claustrophobic.
She laughed. “Don’t we all.”
Her smile had him so captivated he almost forgot where he was. But then the lights dimmed and he noticed Walker waving him over. “Autry, I’m gonna eat your share of the ribs,” his brother called.
Marissa glanced at Walker and laughed. “Better get over there before there’s nothing but a plate of bones.”
“Nice to meet you, Autry,” Anne said. “And thanks for the beer.”
He. Could. Not. Make. His. Legs. Move. Away.
“Uh, buddy, you’re blocking my view of the TV,” a man said, and Autry snapped back to attention.
“Sorry,” he said to the guy. He smiled at Marissa and her friend and headed over to his seat.
Autry glanced back at Marissa shortly after, but instead of ogling him with a sexy look on her face, letting him know she was up for meeting later, she was chatting with her friend.
Well, well, he thought, biting into a succulent rib with the best barbecue sauce he’d had in years. A challenge had just presented itself. And challenge was Autry Jones’s middle name.
* * *
Hmm, Marissa thought as the credits began rolling on the two big-screen TVs. The man was in town for three weeks. Might be nice to go out to dinner or a movie with a very good-looking man, a nice change of pace from watching ET and Frozen for the thirtieth time in her parents’ family room, then cleaning up errant popcorn kernels.
“There’s Travis!” Anne said, as the cowboy’s handsome face filled the screen. They were showing a promo video he’d shot last month in Rust Creek Falls, talking about his love of horses and his fiancée. Then there was Travis and Brenna on horseback, riding along with the other contestants to the “canteen” where the host, Jasper Ridge, a middle-aged cowboy all in black with a black handlebar mustache, awaited. The Ace in the Hole erupted in cheers.
Jasper explained the rules—the last cowboy or cowgirl standing would win one million dollars. Whoa boy. That was a lot of money. The contestants would be paired for some challenges, but each was competing on his or her own. So alliances could be made, but it might not get the contestants anywhere but tricked and eliminated. Marissa watched as the twenty-two contestants were introduced in little snippets. There was the Franklin family—widowed Fred and his twin sons, Rob and Joey. A grizzled cowboy named Wally Wilson in his late sixties. A fortysomething divorcée named Roberta and a handsome former soldier, Steve, with a prosthetic leg. Marissa’s attention was snagged by one contestant in particular—a sexy blonde rodeo star named Summer Knight.
From just the first five minutes it was clear to Marissa that Summer had a huge crush on Travis. She kept trying to sidle up to him, but Brenna, never one to sit quietly by, sidled right up between them, nudging Summer away. Marissa had to smile. And it was clear that the divorcée, Roberta, was very interested in the war hero, who was at least a decade younger. From the way Steve looked at Roberta, the man was smitten with her, too.
The host, Jasper, explained how the main challenges would work—contestants would be paired in teams and the events would involve everything from building a lean-to to cow roping to hay-bale racing. The winning contestant in each challenge would receive immunity for the next one, and after the day, one contestant would be eliminated.
Marissa sipped her beer while the contestants made “immunity” bracelets of braided leather and beads and put them in a carved wooden box with much ceremony. Then the group set up a tent camp and built a community fire in front. Finally it was time for the first challenge, freeze branding cattle, and Travis and Brenna were paired together. When neither was eliminated at the end of the episode, everyone cheered.
Suddenly an even bigger cheer erupted in the bar, folks standing and clapping. The Ace in the Hole was so crowded that Marissa couldn’t see what was going on. She turned to Anne. “What are we missing?”
Anne shrugged, and they both glanced around. A crowd had formed by the door. Marissa craned her neck. She could just make out a pink cowboy hat. Marissa knew of only one woman who wore a pink hat.
“It’s Brenna and Travis!” someone shouted.
As word spread across the Ace in the Hole that the hometown stars had shown up, everyone started clapping and wolf whistling.