by Joanna Sims
She stood upright, her fingers balled into a fist with her free hand, her fingers gripping the handle of the hammer until they hurt.
“Enough!” she said through gritted teeth. “Enough, enough, enough!”
Hunter spun around to face her just in time to see her toss her hat on the ground, yank off her wig, throw it down as hard as she could, stomp on it several times, then pick up her hat and plop it back onto her head.
Her breathing labored from the heat and her outburst, Skyler stared at Hunter while he stared back at her. They stood like that for several seconds, just staring at each other, before he asked, “Feel better?”
It took a moment for his question to register—it hadn’t been the one she had prepared herself to answer. She breathed in deeply and then laughed as she exhaled. “Yes. Much.”
Skyler knew that this wasn’t the end of the discussion between them. But Hunter’s willingness to keep focused on the job and ignore the fact that she had just pulled off a wig and stomped it into the ground was exactly what she needed.
“Good.” Hunter turned back to his task. “Now let’s get back to work.”
Dear Reader!
Thank you for choosing She Dreamed of a Cowboy, the fourteenth Harlequin Special Edition book featuring the Brand family.
She Dreamed of a Cowboy is a humorous, heartwarming book that features the once-in-a-lifetime love story of Hunter Brand and Skyler Sinclair. Former reality TV star Hunter Brand has forsaken his public fame to focus on his family’s expansive cattle spread, Sugar Creek Ranch, in Bozeman, Montana. Hunter is serious about his profession and his family’s cattle legacy. He’s a real cowboy doing real ranch work; and for the life of him, Hunter can’t figure out why his father, Jock Brand, agreed to have a tourist stay at Sugar Creek Ranch for the summer during a pandemic.
Skyler Sinclair isn’t just a cancer survivor—she’s a victor who beat a rare form of lung cancer. In remission now, Skyler takes the trip of a lifetime—a dream come true—to a working cattle ranch in Montana. The fact that her childhood crush, Hunter Brand, from the TV show Cowboy Up! will be her summer ranch guide only makes the trip feel more surreal and special. But, as Skyler soon discovers, her childhood dream doesn’t exactly match reality. Montana is beautiful but also hot and buggy; ranch work is exhausting and Hunter would like to ship her back to New York on the next available plane. Only Skyler knows something that Hunter doesn’t—beating cancer has made her tough. No matter how much the cowboy wants to send her packing, Skyler isn’t about to quit.
Falling in love with Skyler isn’t a part of Hunter’s plan—she’s a city girl who doesn’t seem to fit in with ranch life. But she is also quirky and sweet with an inner strength that is intriguing to Hunter. The way she sees the world—the way she sees his world—makes him begin to appreciate the simple beauty unfolding around him. Skyler is shocked to discover that the cowboy of her teenage dreams is actually interested in her, but the first moment their lips touch, Skyler knows that Hunter Brand is the man who is going to make all of her cowboy dreams come true.
This is one of my favorite Brand family stories and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Happy reading!
Joanna
She Dreamed of a Cowboy
Joanna Sims
Joanna Sims is proud to pen contemporary romance for Harlequin Special Edition. Joanna’s series, The Brands of Montana, features hardworking characters with hometown values. You are cordially invited to join the Brands of Montana as they wrangle their own happily-ever-afters. And, as always, Joanna welcomes you to visit her at her website, joannasimsromance.com.
Books by Joanna Sims
Harlequin Special Edition
The Brands of Montana
A Match Made in Montana
High Country Christmas
High Country Baby
Meet Me at the Chapel
Thankful for You
A Wedding to Remember
A Bride for Liam Brand
High Country Cowgirl
The Sergeant’s Christmas Mission
The Montana Mavericks: Six Brides for Six Brothers
The Maverick’s Wedding Wager
A Baby for Christmas
The One He’s Been Looking For
Marry Me, Mackenzie!
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
Dedicated to my beloved father:
Even though you don’t read my books because of the naughty scenes, every hero has a little bit of you in him. I love you to pieces and I am so proud to be your daughter.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
Excerpt from Their Night to Remember by Judy Duarte
Prologue
“Do you realize that I am on the verge of answering a very important question that has plagued womankind for centuries?” Customer-service representative Skyler Sinclair tugged on the golden blond wig she had donned. The hair was thick and straight and cascaded down to the middle of her back.
Skyler spun around to face her father, her heavy mane of blond hair swinging around her shoulders in the most satisfying way. “Do blondes really have more fun?”
Chester Sinclair was standing just inside the front door of her garage apartment, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his brooding dark eyes a match for the frown on his face.
“Why the wig?” her father asked. “You’ve never been ashamed of your hair or your scars.”
“I’m not ashamed.” Skyler turned back to her reflection to adjust the wig a bit more. “I’m just not about to show up in Bozeman, Montana, looking like Skyler the Cancer Patient.”
“You are a cancer patient,” her father reminded her.
“Correction. I was a cancer patient. Now I’m a cancer victor!” She punched the air like she was a boxer training for a fight. “I’m a cancer-crushing badass, that’s what I am!”
In the middle of her tiny living room, Skyler planted her feet on the ground, hands on her hips, and lifted her chin like she was a superhero. After a second of holding the pose, she suddenly felt weak and dizzy, like her legs were going to buckle right out from underneath her. With a self-effacing laugh, Skyler folded herself into a nearby chair with a deep sigh. “Well, maybe not back to superhero status just yet.”
As he had been from the second she was first diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, Chester was at her side.
“You are a cancer-crushing badass.” Chester kneeled on one knee by the chair. “But you’ve got to be careful, Skyler. Don’t overdo it. You’re still so weak. Wait awhile, let all this virus stuff blow over and then go. It’s not the right time.”
“Time,” Skyler said in a wistful voice as she tugged off the blond wig to expose her own patchy strawberry blond locks. “Time is a funny thing, Dad. I used to think I had all the time in the world. Now I know that I don’t.” She met her father’s eyes. “None of us do. I always had an excuse why I didn’t have time to do this or to do that. I was forever putting things off because—” s
he shrugged “—let’s face it, I was too afraid to try.” She patted his hand to reassure him. “I’m not afraid anymore, Dad. Cancer taught me the most valuable life lesson. All we have is right now. The time is now. Not tomorrow, not next week or next year. Now. I can’t wait. I won’t wait. I can’t waste this second chance I’ve been given by beating this thing.”
“Montana is too damn far away.” Chester sat back on his heels with a grumble.
When the light-headedness subsided, Skyler pushed herself upright. “That was always one of my excuses for not going. Too far away, not enough money, not enough time. But you know that I’ve always dreamed of Montana.” Skyler heard an emotional catch in her own voice. “Always. I’ve dreamed of the horses and the mountains and the wide-open spaces. Fresh air. I’ve dreamed of what it must be like to camp out under the stars with a herd of cattle grazing nearby...” Her voice trailed off a bit. “The smell of a campfire. I’ve dreamed of that life ever since I was a little girl. Don’t you see? Montana isn’t going to be just being some unfulfilled wish on my bucket list. It’s going to be my dream come true.”
Chapter One
“I’m here now, so let me go,” Hunter Brand said to his father as he strode into the lobby of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport.
“Represent the family well, son,” Jock Brand reiterated for what seemed like the one hundredth time. “Remember that, like it or not, you represent Sugar Creek Ranch.”
Hunter hung up the phone, slipped it into his back pocket and then pulled the black bandanna he had tied around his neck up over his nose and mouth. How in the world had he managed to pull this summer detail? Babysitting a spoiled city girl who’d convinced her father to let her play cowgirl for a summer? Sugar Creek wasn’t a vacation spot for bored socialites; it was a multimillion-dollar cattle operation. They did real work on the ranch and Hunter couldn’t fathom why Jock had decided, seemingly out of the blue, to open the ranch to a tourist for the summer.
“Excuse me.” Hunter smiled with his eyes at the pretty young woman at the information booth. “Did a private charter arrive from New York City?”
Hunter thought that he detected a hint of sympathy in the young woman’s eyes when she pointed toward a baggage carousel where a slight woman with long blond hair was standing. The woman had a collection of suitcases, which looked like they were covered in vintage floral wallpaper, balanced precariously on a luggage cart. Her back to him, his tourist was staring up at a T. rex skull mounted at the center of the carousel.
“Thank you.” Hunter tipped his hat to the young woman.
While he walked toward his summer ward, Hunter took in the expensive cowgirl hat, boots and dark denim designer jeans that hadn’t seen a speck of dirt or work since their purchase. As he drew closer, the more irritated he became. The tourist looked like she could be snapped in half by a strong gust of wind. And then a thought popped into his brain. Maybe his summer wasn’t ruined after all; this woman wouldn’t be able to handle ranch work. Especially if he threw some of the tougher, dirtier, smellier jobs her way right off the bat—she wouldn’t last one week, much less an entire summer. He’d have her racing back to her posh life in the city before the end of the week. Who could blame him if he gave her the experience she said that she wanted?
It was with that thought in his mind that Hunter greeted the tourist.
“Are you Skyler Sinclair?”
The woman gave a little start and then spun around with a laugh. It was a sweet, tinkling, joyous laugh that he immediately liked in spite of his intention to dislike everything about her.
“Yes.” Skyler looked up at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling with a smile. “I am.”
For a split second that seemed like slow motion, their eyes met and held. Skyler was wearing a mask, which drew his attention wholly to her large violet-blue eyes. Lovely, wide, expectant eyes that appeared to be completely without artifice. Then those eyes widened with a flash of recognition.
“Hunter Brand.” Skyler said his name with a breathiness that stroked his ego in just the right way.
Hunter cringed inwardly. He had never met Skyler, but she seemed to know him. When he was a teenager, he had participated in a reality TV show, Cowboy Up!, and he’d never managed to live that down. After all these years, there were still fan clubs dedicated to him. God help him, he hoped Skyler wasn’t a stalker.
Skyler must have read the question in his eyes because, filling in the silence between them, she explained, “I saw your picture on the Sugar Creek Ranch website.”
Hunter wasn’t sure if he believed that was the whole story, but it was good enough for now.
“This is amazing.” Skyler pointed to the T. rex skull. “The nice woman at the information booth over there said that the Museum of the Rockies is open. Do you think I’ll have time to go there?”
“I don’t know,” he hedged. “There’s an awful lot of work that needs to get done at the ranch. You ready to head out?”
“Absolutely,” Skyler said enthusiastically, and he was kind of surprised that her apparent disappointment about the museum had dissipated so quickly. “I can’t wait to see the ranch.”
Skyler had to work to keep up with Hunter; some called her stature petite, but she was just short and her legs always had to work double time to match the stride of a taller person like Hunter. As she walked beside the cowboy, Skyler’s mind was whirling with giddy teenage-girl, fantasy-come-to-life thinking.
Hunter Brand!
Even with the bandanna covering the lower part of his face, she had recognized him instantly. Those eyes were unmistakable. She couldn’t believe that the Hunter Brand, her absolute favorite cowboy on Cowboy Up!, was the one to come get her from the airport. She had an entire wall of her bedroom dedicated to Hunter Brand and now he was pushing her luggage cart through the airport? How could her Montana adventure have started any more perfectly? It couldn’t have.
She couldn’t wait to video-chat with her best friend, Molly; Molly had also had a teenage fantasy about marrying Hunter. She was going to lose her mind.
Once outside, Hunter lowered the bandanna and Skyler was able to see his entire handsome face. Yes, he had aged from his time on the show and that age had done him good. The man had a beautifully chiseled jawline, a slight dimple in his chin, prominent cheekbones and a perfectly straight, strong nose. Golden skin, jet-black hair peeking out from beneath his well-worn cowboy hat and just the deepest sapphire-blue eyes. There wasn’t any other word that she could think of to describe the grown-up Hunter Brand other than hunk.
Hunter dropped the tailgate of his blue Chevy truck and began to toss her baggage into the bed.
“You brought a lot of stuff,” her companion said as he hoisted the largest bag into the back of his truck.
“I wasn’t sure what to bring,” she said, feeling a bit self-conscious over the sheer number of bags she had brought. It did seem excessive now that she was actually here.
Hunter paused and looked at her dead in the face. “For ranch work? Jeans, boots, hat, T-shirts, underwear and plenty of socks.”
“Check and check.” She made little check marks in the air with a self-effacing laugh.
“I’m not sure you quite understand what you’ve signed up for here,” Hunter said.
It didn’t take a genius to read the subtext: Hunter thought she was soft—a real pushover. She could almost hear an unsaid “little lady” hanging in the air between them.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me for one second,” Skyler said as she picked up one of her medium-size bags. “I can pull my own weight.”
Skyler grunted as she attempted to pick up the heavy bag high enough to get it into the truck bed. Unable to get the bag into the truck, and well aware of Hunter’s eyes on her, she pushed the bag against the tailgate and squatted down so she could get some leverage. But, even with the extra levera
ge, she just couldn’t get the darn bag into the stupid truck.
“Need a hand?”
Smug.
“Sure. If you want.,” she said quickly, trying to cover up how breathless she felt from this simple, mundane task.
With one hand, Hunter easily pushed the bag into the back of the truck. Hunter closed the tailgate with a smirk on his lips.
“Pull your own weight,” he said with a deadpan expression. “I can see that.”
“I didn’t say I could lift my own weight, now did I?” Skyler quickly clarified. “No. I don’t think I did say that.”
Once inside the truck, Hunter rolled all of the windows down to let the fresh air into the cab on the way to Sugar Creek.
“I get tired of wearing this mask,” she said. “I tested negative. How about you?”
It felt odd to say it, but she felt like it had to be said nonetheless.
“I tested negative a couple of weeks back and other than picking you up today, I haven’t seen a soul.”
“That must be why you drew the short straw and had to come to the airport to pick me up, huh?”
“I have marching orders to keep you safe while you’re at Sugar Creek Ranch. It’s a job like any other.”
“Do you mind if I take off my mask?” she asked.
“No.”
Gratefully, Skyler took off her mask and breathed in the fresh Montana air, unimpeded, for the first time in her life. She glanced over at Hunter; he had slipped the bandanna down from his face. And then she sighed. It was a long, happy sigh. She didn’t know if she was sighing because of the beauty of Montana, the freshness of the air or the handsomeness of Hunter’s profile.
Skyler held on to her hat so it wouldn’t get blown off and leaned her head out of the window with her eyes closed. She breathed in deeply as the wind rushed over her face, loving the smell of the Montana air.
With another sigh, she sat upright in the seat. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more beautiful view.”