Montana Cowboy Romance (Wyatt Brothers of Montana #1) - Jane Porter Page 0,1

a great start. Too soft, he mentally added to the earlier concerns of too pretty, too glossy. She’d never survive life on the ranch, and what he needed was a pragmatic, level-headed woman, who didn’t mind isolation or hard work.

He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Perhaps something had happened on the flight. Maybe she’d just gotten bad news. “Everything okay?” he asked gruffly.

She nodded, smiling unsteadily. “Yes. Everything okay at your end?”

“Yes, now that you’re here. Let’s go find those bags of yours.”

They didn’t talk much as they waited at the baggage carousel for her suitcases and the silence felt awkward. Joe shifted his weight from foot to foot, trying not to read too much into the silence, thinking it was inevitable there’d be some initial awkwardness. She was here in his world; he was responsible for her.

Joe considered the different things he could say and finally asked about her flight. She said it was fine. He struggled to think of something else to say. “Was the plane crowded?”

“Every seat filled,” she answered, before adding, “but it’s a small plane.”

He nodded. More silence stretched, and it felt heavier and even less comfortable than before.

Sophie excused herself to use the ladies’ room and when she returned he noticed she’d put some makeup on, covering the traces of her earlier tears. She was so pretty she didn’t need makeup, but he took the mascara and whatever else she did to be a sign that the tears were behind her.

Her suitcases arrived a few minutes later and he tucked the smaller roller bag under his arm, pulling the two big cases through the terminal doors to the street. “Wait here while I drive the truck around,” he told her. “No sense dragging you and your bags through the parking lot. It’s pretty dirty from the melting snow.”

“You just had snow?”

“It’s pretty much gone now, but it’s made everything muddy. I’ll be right back.” And then he was off, walking quickly, wanting to put distance between them so he could regroup before they were trapped in the car for the next forty-five minutes.

*

Sophie watched Joe Wyatt walk away from her, her stomach doing mad panicked somersaults, one after the other. What was she doing? What was she thinking?

This was insane. She wasn’t impulsive, wasn’t prone to mad adventures, and yet here she was, and it was definitely crazy. She didn’t know this man. She was in the middle of nowhere, and she was going to get in his truck? Drive to an even more remote nowhere?

He could be an ax-murderer.

He could chain her up in a basement—

Sophie stopped herself, queasy.

She needed to calm down, fast. She’d done her research. She’d made calls, talked to ranchers, business owners and everyone liked the Wyatts; Joe, in particular. Everyone described them as honest, hardworking, trustworthy. The oldest son, Joe, might be a bit gruff and standoffish, but he was a man of integrity, with neighbors uniformly describing him as a good man.

But what did that mean?

What did she really know?

She should go. She should get on the next flight out of Bozeman and head home. She didn’t need to marry now. There’d be other opportunities later. Maybe.

And just like that, she pictured Leo, who was supposed to have married her, and the gorgeous, wildly expensive wedding dress which had briefly hung in her closet, and fresh shame and hurt burned through her, just as hot and fresh as it had been when Leo had betrayed her.

For a moment, Sophie couldn’t breathe, her chest squeezing tightly with endless pain.

Worse, Leo was now part of her family. Leo would forever be part of her family. If she returned to her family in California.

She didn’t have to return home, though, if she ran back into the airport. She could jump on a plane and go anywhere. She could get a job in a different city… have a different life… a new life.

A big black truck pulled up in front of her and shifted into park. The driver door swung open and Joe climbed out and came around to meet her on the curb. His eyes met hers beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. He was taller than she’d expected, bigger, with broad shoulders, long legs, and a disarmingly square jaw.

“You okay?” he asked, eyes narrowing, expression grim.

He struck her as hard. Resolute.

Nothing like Leo, and that was good. Leo was a salesman—literally, VP of sales with his family’s company, Brazer Farms—and he was all