Almost Fired by the Cowboy - Natalie Dean Page 0,1

coordinated effort to ruin his family.

Granted, they didn’t look particularly conniving at the moment. It looked like Teddy was teaching Silas the “proper” way to make a grilled cheese, and Elizabeth was laughing lightly at the lecture. Mom and Frenchie were just outside the door, washing something he couldn’t see with a hose, seemingly having a great conversation.

In some very small way, he understood it. All three of the women, as different as they were, were quite pretty. They’d been around enough for him to observe some of their quirks and personalities, which made sense when matched up with his brothers, in a way.

There was the Frenchie girl, who was bright and animated and was always trying to draw something. He saw how she brought his brother Solomon out of his shell, coaxing him to have more fun and not dedicate his whole life to the job. Also, Sal had been there when they’d chased the girl down, and she had an edge to her. Something strong enough to stand up to Solomon when he was so sure that he was right.

Then there was the mechanic, Teddy. She was actually fairly useful on the ranch, back when she’d worked there on weekends, and she still occasionally helped them out when they needed it. She was a bigger girl, with curves that were evident even through her mechanic’s uniform. It was easy to see why Silas couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, especially considering that he’d never dated anyone after his disastrous first relationship in college.

And then there was… Elizabeth.

She was the one that Sal had to deal with the most often, and she was the one that he always tried to avoid. She was cold, direct, and demanding. She told people, rather than asked, and he only ever saw her smile when she was talking to Sterling or other people in her little cluster of revolutionists. She rubbed him the wrong way, and he thought it would do her well to be warmer toward him, considering his family was employing her. But that same steel is probably what made her bring Sterling to life. Sal had always gotten along with the younger twin in his family, but the guy had been about as directionless as a dead lily pad in a river. His sudden drive would have been an improvement, if he wasn’t busy using it to be a thorn in their father’s side.

Maybe Sal was even jealous. He’d dated plenty, occupying his weekends with fling after fling. Never going very far beyond some kissing and light canoodling. Sure, he’d been tempted plenty of times, but then his mother and all she had taught him would pop into the back of his head, and all of the rushing blood stopped rushing and left him with a sinking stomach.

Would he like to date someone long-term? To be as contented and excited as his brothers seemed about their gals? Sure. Maybe. It looked nice. But of all the girls he went on dates with, there was never really a connection. They were just soft, pretty women that were nice to kiss, but that was about it. The way his brothers looked at their loves, he could tell that they really felt something toward their partners. Even if it was making all of them sound insane.

But then Silas looked over his shoulder, catching Sal’s gaze and the tension in the room ramped right up.

“Hey,” the older twin said slowly. “How’re you?”

It was an olive branch, Sal could tell that much, but it just made him angry. It was easy for his older siblings to pretend they were some knights in shining armor, saving fair damsels from the big bad corporation, but they were delusional. They were caught up in their own egos, imagining that they were grand heroes.

“Save it,” Sal said, turning on his heel and heading back to his office to try at that email again.

They were definitely a house divided, but he didn’t see it fixing itself anytime soon.

2

Nova

Nova was so excited that she was totally nauseous.

It wasn’t the best reaction, but she was so unused to good things happening to her that she felt like her blood was racing in her own veins. It was her first day on her new job, and it was a job that she’d worked so hard towards that also paid well.

Which, basically, was an impossible combination.

And yet there she was, following behind her tall, commanding employer as the vet gave her a full