Cowboy Stole My Heart (A River Ranch Novel)

by Soraya Lane

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  Copyright Page

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  For all my wonderful readers out there—thank you for being on this journey with me.

  Chapter 1

  SAM MENDES pushed through the crowd, holding his hand high in the air as he waved to the fans he’d spent the last hour talking to. No, make that three hours. He’d been booked for a two-hour event, and then he’d spent the rest of the time patiently listening to people tell him about their horses and ask him the same questions he’d been answering almost daily for the past year.

  “Sam!”

  He cringed and forced himself to turn, dialing a smile. He’d been so close to reaching his car …

  “I’m Lila,” a pretty brunette said, holding out her hand. “You’re a hard man to get close to, for all the wrong reasons.”

  He laughed. “I’m not sure I understand.” Was she trying to hit on him?

  “I’m from Star PR,” she explained. “I watched you get mobbed back there, and if you had someone with you, a publicist for instance, we get to be the bad guy and tell everyone you need to get going.” Lila laughed. “It means you’d get home faster, and your fans wouldn’t think any less of you.”

  He nodded. “And here I was thinking you were going to ask me out for a drink.”

  She passed him a card, her smile fixed, her eyes warm. She was friendly but professional. “Seriously, if you ever want assistance, call me. You’re at the stage in your career when you should be thinking about building a team to work with.”

  Sam nodded and turned around, pushing the card into his pocket, doubtful that he’d ever get around to calling her. He was more interested in scaling back on his commitments, not growing them. His rental car was waiting nearby, and he strode across the concrete to get there. He’d been traveling for a month now, a different event every few days to promote his new book and show horse owners exactly how to put his advice into practice, and he was more than ready to get home. He missed his ranch, his dog, and his horses. Hell, he missed just working on his own with horses, quietly out the back of the King family ranch where he’d first started to realize he had a knack for dealing with equines that any sane person would have given up on.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, brushing out the dust that was still lodged there from working in the arena and having horses cantering around him. Sam checked his watch. If he wanted to make his flight he was going to have to drive fast, and there was no way he wanted to hang around the airport waiting for the next flight back to Texas if he missed this one.

  He settled into the driver’s seat, punched in the GPS so he didn’t take a wrong turn on the way there, and plugged his phone in to charge. It’d been turned off since earlier in the day, and he switched it on, seeing he had new messages. He hit voicemail and started to drive, the monotone voice telling him he had three to listen to.

  “Hi, Sam, it’s Phil again. We’re looking at booking another multicity book tour and we need to know if you’re interested and when you’re available. Call me back.”

  Sam shook his head. They were like vultures. As soon as his books and training clips had started to do well, everyone had suddenly wanted a piece of him, and although the attention and money had been exciting to start with, he’d soon realized that quietly working long days under the sun was what he liked doing best. He wanted to be working horses, not talking about how to do it. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful; hell, he’d only been able to buy his own ranch because of all the success, but he needed a break. He wanted to plant his boots in the dirt and work with the animals he loved for a while, wearing his favorite jeans and an old shirt, the sun in his eyes, and his only company the horse he was working or the dog trailing around after him.

  He hit delete and the next message started to play.

  “Hey, Sam, it’s me. Just checking you’re okay, but I guess now you’re famous you don’t have to check in with your little sister and your nieces anymore, huh?” He grinned as he listened to Faith. He’d definitely been a crappy brother lately. He’d call her once he’d checked in for his flight. “I drove past and put milk and juice in your fridge, and there’s bread and some other stuff on the counter. See you soon.”

  When he hit delete this time he was still smiling. He needed to spend some time with his sister and those damn gorgeous little twin girls of hers.

  “Mr. Mendes, it’s Walter Ford here from River Ranch.” Sam sat up a little straighter, listening to the man’s deep, southern drawl and recognizing the name. “I know you’re a busy man, but Nate King speaks highly of you, and I’d like to make you an offer. We need someone here to do some work with our horses, someone with your kind of expertise. There’s a stallion here that, frankly, only a man like you should be dealing with. Money’s not an object, and I’ll have an offer letter waiting for you. But I need to hear from you by tomorrow evening, otherwise I’ll find someone else for the job.”

  Sam pushed play to listen to the message a second time. Walter Ford wanted him to swing past for a visit? He would ordinarily have said no, he didn’t do much work on individual ranches anymore for private clients, unless Nate or Chase King needed a hand with an unruly colt or filly, and that was more of a favor, but this had piqued his interest. As an adult he’d never crossed paths with the Ford tycoon, but as a kid? Hell, he’d never forget the day he was playing at the King family ranch, home to his best friend Nate, and Sam’s unofficial second home growing up. Walter had pulled up in his big Bentley, the shiny black car catching Sam’s eye the moment he’d seen it. Ford had stepped out, with a little girl, but she’d run off to see the ponies and Sam had hung around to gape at the car. He doubted Walter Ford had even noticed he existed back then.

  Now the man in question had called him personally, and it made him grin. A couple years earlier, he’d never have imagined a man like Ford dialing his number and needing anything from him. Hell, a few months ago he’d have flatly said no to the job, because he’d been too damn busy building his brand and touring the country sharing his horsemanship techniques. But right now, he wanted to get back to working with horses rather than talking about working them, and he was curious about this stallion. Maybe it was the kind of job he needed to take to get some of his passion back.

  He’d stop by on his way from the airport, it was only an hour from his ranch and was hardly out of his way. It’d be stupid not to see what Ford had to offer him.

  * * *

  Mia Ford sat with her feet dipped in the pool and stared into the water. She wriggled her toes and watched the perfect blue water ripple in a tiny whirlpool around her, pink toenails like smudges of color as she moved her feet.

  The sun was warm on her shoulders and she shut her eyes for a moment, blocking her thoughts, pushing everything away and trying to enjoy the simple feel of the warmth of the day and the light breeze pulsing past her.

  She sighed and opened her eyes, replayin
g her latest disagreement with her father through her mind again. He didn’t approve of her most recent equine purchase, and she was terrified he was going to sell her stallion out from underneath her.

  She’d fought tooth and nail to buy the horse, refusing to take no for an answer and determined to outbid whoever else was trying to buy him, but she wasn’t stupid. Without her father’s money she’d never have had the chance to own him, and she hated being indebted to him over something that meant so much to her. Especially when he was still so vocal about his disappointment in her choosing a career she loved over one in a big city law firm since she’d returned home from Europe.

  “Hey, Mia.”

  She turned, smiling when she saw one of her brothers standing behind her, hands shoved into his pockets, cap pulled low over his brow.

  “Hey yourself,” she said to Tanner, pulling her legs out of the water and standing up.

  “Thought I’d better swing by before I left.”

  She nodded, embracing her brother and laughing when he squeezed her too hard and lifted her clean off her feet. He was tall, well over six feet, and he dwarfed her as she stood in front of him.

  “How long are you away for this time?” she asked.

  Tanner shrugged, running a hand through his too-long hair when it brushed his eyes. “A month I think. Depends how well I do.”

  Mia grinned at him. He always did well. He’d fast become the state’s top bull rider, and she was fairly certain he’d be in the running for being the best in the country if he kept going the way he was. She worried about him a lot, but telling her brother to give up bull riding would be like him telling her to give up horses, so she never bothered to tell him how dangerous it was or how badly she wished he’d choose a different career. Since she’d come home it had been nice spending time with him, and all she cared about was that he was happy.

  “Good luck,” she said. “Knock ’em dead, and don’t come back until you have another big fancy title belt to show me.”

  Tanner laughed at her and held his hand up in a wave, shielding bright blue eyes from the sun. “I heard the old man talking earlier about someone coming to help out with the horses. He mention it to you?”

  Mia slowly shook her head, panic rising. Why would he do that? Why did her father always have to try to micromanage everything in his life, including his daughter? She sucked back a breath.

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  “That horse whisperer guy, Sam Mendes,” Tanner told her. “Something about having him come by the ranch to discuss working here for a bit. I think Dad’s convinced that damn stallion’s going to kill you, if he doesn’t get someone to help with him.”

  A shiver ran through Mia that had nothing to do with her bare wet legs. Sam Mendes was coming to their ranch? She might not have been back home for long, but she’d have to be living under a rock not to know who the famous horse trainer was. “Thanks for the heads up.”

  She waved to Tanner and then headed back inside her house. She’d built her own place, well away from the main ranch house, and it was the complete opposite of the big house she’d grown up in. Her place was small and ultramodern, with a flat angled roof and glass engulfing every side. She had views of the ranch from every room, as well as out to her pool, and there was nothing about it she didn’t love. Whereas her family home had been filled with period pieces and exquisite, expensive antiques that her father loved, her furniture was minimalist to match her white walls and high ceilings. The house was perfectly matched to her, and some days she found it hard to leave.

  Mia changed into tight cream riding breeches and a T-shirt, grabbed her phone, and stopped to give her cat a scratch under the chin. “See you later, little man.” She dropped a kiss to his fluffy black head, smiling at his big yawn, eyes still half shut as he put up with her petting. She’d rescued him from an old barn on their ranch only months earlier, and already he was basking in the luxuries of being a house cat.

  She ran down the path that led from her home to the stables, looking forward to seeing her horses before finding her father and demanding to know what he’d done, and why exactly he thought she needed the help of Sam Mendes. It wasn’t that she was opposed to spending time with the gorgeous horseman, but she’d have preferred a heads up first.

  She slowed to a walk and took her phone from her pocket, searching his name and pulling up his photo on Google. She hardly needed reminding of what he looked like, but it was a good excuse. She remembered him from the time she’d spent at the King family ranch as a girl. He was five, maybe seven years older than Mia, and she’d watched with awe as he’d ridden around the place bareback, always going at a hell of a speed. As a young woman, she’d been one of hundreds of adoring fans at one of his local events when he’d first started out, but their paths had never crossed.

  She sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. Working with him one-on-one would be amazing, a dream come true for her professionally, so long as he understood how important the stallion was to her. Her horses were her life, and she wasn’t about to let anyone come on to her ranch and tell her that horse was a lost cause. Horse whisperer or not.

  Chapter 2

  SAM pulled up outside the Ford ranch house and turned off his ignition. He rubbed his chin, the stubble prickly, and he wished he’d gone home first and made the trip out the next day. It’d been a long day and the flight from California had been delayed by an hour.

  He stretched when he got out, pushing his door shut and taking a look around. The house was as impressive as he’d imagined it would be, with garages to both sides and a huge oak door that he was making his way towards. The house was big, even by Texas ranch standards, and from the looks of the trees and hedges surrounding the entrance and leading around to a big garden, the Fords had full-time help.

  He raised his fist to knock, imagining living in a place as impressive, as he rapped on the solid timber. His house wasn’t exactly modest, but he doubted anything in the state rivaled Walter Ford’s home.

  “You must be Sam.”

  He lowered his hand and turned. A pretty blonde was standing a few paces away, her hair up in a high ponytail and dressed in riding attire. The tight breeches fit her like a glove, and her dusty black riding boots told him she’d probably already been out riding for the day. She was girl-next-door gorgeous and then some. Her blue-green eyes were warm as she stared at him.

  “That’s me. I’m looking for Walter,” he said.

  “I’m Mia,” she said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. “Walter’s my father.”

  Sam nodded. So this was probably the little girl he remembered from years ago, except she was all grown up now; she’d obviously graduated from borrowing ponies and had horses of her own. He hadn’t expected her to be so cute, not to mention the fact that she actually looked like she’d been getting her hands dirty instead of relying on grooms.

  “Your father left a message for me. He made it sound kind of urgent that I come out and take a look at a stallion, as well as working some of the other horses you have here.”

  Mia’s smile was friendly, hand raised to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched him. He noticed that her eyes matched the color of the bluest ocean, her smile reaching all the way to make them sparkle. She was as pretty as a college cheerleader, but with a maturity in her gaze that told him she probably wouldn’t appreciate the comparison.

  “My father thinks everything he wants requires urgent attention. He doesn’t like waiting,” she explained dryly. “I’d really appreciate your help with the stallion, but I’m not so sure I need help with the rest.”

  He nodded. “So he’s not here to meet with me?”

  “He’s about as interested in horses as he is in…” she smiled and held out an envelope to him that had his name scrawled across the top. “I can’t even think of anything to compare it to. He tolerates them because I love them, but he’d prefer to get rid of any animal that isn’t at the top of their game and start over. He’s more in
terested in what he calls the money makers, so in his eyes only top grade ranch horses are required here.”

  Sam took the envelope and slid his thumb beneath, gliding it open, curious about Mia and what she had to say. “And you? What do you think?” Walter Ford was serious-kind-of-money wealthy, and Sam knew that men like him had to be ruthless to be so successful. It didn’t surprise him that the old man wasn’t the sentimental type, but his daughter was obviously cut from a different cloth.

  “I think that all animals’ lives matter, and I sure as hell don’t think you give up on a horse just because they’re not behaving perfectly after humans have ruined them. But then what would I know, huh?”

  Sam smiled, guessing he’d have disliked her old man anyway, if he’d been there to meet him. He’d straddled two worlds all his life; one as a poor kid trying to look after his sister and protect her against their dad, and the other as the best friend of super-wealthy Nate King, which meant he’d been surrounded by his friend’s wealth since he was little. It had opened his eyes and given him perspective, but he never felt comfortable in the world of the rich and famous. He preferred to keep his boots firmly fixed on the ground, no matter how much money he happened to be earning.

  He glanced at the letter and realized it was a formal retainer offer. Two grand a day for however long he needed to be at the ranch, but an expected one month minimum duration. His eyebrows lifted at the generous sum. It was probably open for negotiation, too, but he wasn’t motivated by money on this job. He’d make his decision once he’d seen the animal that needed his help.

  Sam glanced at Mia. She was standing still, expectantly, probably waiting for him to say something. He smiled as he gazed past her for a moment at the big, dominating oak trees that flanked the long drive in to the property, wondering if he should have just driven straight back out the way he’d come. He looked back at her.