There are lines best friends shouldnât cross, but in Copper Ridge, Oregon, the temptation might be too muchâ¦
If practice makes perfect, Connor Garrett should be world champion of being alone. Since losing his wife heâs concentrated exclusively on his familyâs ranch. Until Felicity Foster needs a place to stay and Connor invites her to move in temporarily. Thatâs what friends do. What friends donât do? Start fantasizing about each other in their underwear. Or out of itâ¦
Since high school, Liss has kept her raging crush in check. But helping Connor rebuild his life only reinforces how much she longs to be a part of it. One explosive encounter, and sheâll discover that getting what you always wanted can feel better than you ever dreamedâ¦There are lines best friends shouldnât cross, but in Copper Ridge, Oregon, the temptation might be too muchâ¦
If practice makes perfect, Connor Garrett should be world champion of being alone. Since losing his wife heâs concentrated exclusively on his familyâs ranch. Until Felicity Foster needs a place to stay and Connor invites her to move in temporarily. Thatâs what friends do. What friends donât do? Start fantasizing about each other in their underwear. Or out of itâ¦
Since high school, Liss has kept her raging crush in check. But helping Connor rebuild his life only reinforces how much she longs to be a part of it. One explosive encounter, and sheâll discover that getting what you always wanted can feel better than you ever dreamedâ¦
Dear Reader,
I have a soft spot for a strong, wounded hero. I always have. I think in part because I always want to fix their pain. I write romance because I believe in the power that love has to heal, because I believe that no one has ever missed their chance at happily ever after. Even if they need a second chance at it.
Connor Garrett is desperately in need of a second chance.
If youâve met Connor in Part Time Cowboy then you know what a grumpy, surly, heartbroken man he is. From the moment I âmetâ him, I knew I needed to write his story.
I like a broken hero, and I love a story about friends discovering thereâs more between them. Brokedown Cowboy gave me a chance to play with two of my favorite themes.
Liss and Connor have so much history together, and no one knows Connorâs pain like she does. But sheâs also fully aware that what heâs been through means loving again will be a challenge for him. Luckily, Liss is up to the task.
I hope you enjoy Connorâs road to happiness as much as I enjoyed writing it (if youâre still in the store, you might want to buy a box of tissuesâ¦youâve been warned).
Happy Reading!
Maisey
CHAPTER ONE
CONNOR GARRETT WAS a grown-ass man. He knew there was nothing to fear in sleep. He knew the darkness of his room didnât hide anything more sinister than a pair of carelessly discarded cowboy boots, waiting for him to stub his toe on them in the dead of night during a sleepy trip to the bathroom.
He knew these things, just like he knew the sun would rise over the mountains just before six this time of year, whether he wanted it to or not. He knew these things as surely as he knew that an early-morning breeze tinged with salt meant a storm would blow in from the coast later. That unintentional run-ins with barbed-wire fences burned like a son of a bitch. That wooden barns burned and people you loved left.
Yeah, he knew all that.
But it didnât stop him from waking up most nights in a cold sweat, his heart pounding harder than a spooked horseâs hooves on arena dirt.
Because the simple truth was that Connor Garrett knew all these things, but his subconscious had yet to catch up.
He sat bolt upright in bed, sweat beading on his bare chest and his forehead. If this werenât standard procedure for his body, he mightâve been concerned he was having a heart attack. Unfortunately, though, he knew at this point that the racing heart, accompanied by chest pain, was just stress. Anxiety.
Damn lingering grief that refused to lessen even as the years passed.
He wasnât surprised when he woke up alone in bed, not anymore. It had been three years, after all. He wasnât surprised, but he noticed. Every time. Was acutely aware of how cold the sheets were on her side of the bed. It wasnât even the same bed heâd slept in with Jessie. Heâd bought a new one about a year ago because continuing to sleep in the bed theyâd shared had seemed too depressing. But it hadnât accomplished what he had hoped it might.
Because no matter how hard he tried, whether he lay down in the middle of the bed at the start of the night, or even on the side nearest to the window, he always ended up on