Take Me, Cowboy Read Free

that in mind. But barring that, do you have any other suggestions? Because I think I’m going to be expected to wear something fancy, and I don’t own anything fancy. And it’s obvious that Mark and Daniel think I suck at being a girl.”
    â€œThat’s not true. And anyway, why do you care what they—or anyone else—think?”
    â€œBecause. I’ve got this new business...”
    â€œAnd anyone who brings their heavy equipment to you for a tune-up won’t care whether or not you can walk in high heels.”
    â€œBut I don’t want to show up at these things looking...” She sighed. “Chase, the bottom line is I’ve spent a long time not fitting in. And people here are nice to me. I mean, now that I’m not in school. People in school sucked. But I get that I don’t fit. And I’m tired of it. Honestly, I wouldn’t care about my brothers if there wasn’t so much...truth to the teasing.”
    â€œThey do suck. They’re awful. So why does it matter what they think?”
    â€œBecause,” she said. “It just does. I’m that poor Anna Brown with no mom to teach her the right way to do things and I’m just...tired of it. I don’t want to be poor Anna Brown. I want to be Anna Brown, heavy equipment mechanic who can wear coveralls and walk in heels.”
    â€œNot at the same time, I wouldn’t think.”
    She shot him a deadly glare. “I don’t fail,” she said, her eyes glinting in the dim bar light. “I won’t fail at this.”
    â€œYou’re not in remote danger of failing. Now, what’s the mystery event that has you thinking about high heels?” he asked.
    Copper Ridge wasn’t exactly a societal epicenter. Nestled between the evergreen mountains and a steel-gray sea on the Oregon Coast, there were probably more deer than people in the small town. There were only so many events in existence. And there was a good chance she was making a mountain out of a small-town molehill, and none of it would be that big of a deal.
    â€œThat charity thing that the West family has every year,” she mumbled. “Gala Under the Stars or whatever.”
    The West family’s annual fund-raising event for schools. It was a weekend event, with the town’s top earners coming to a small black-tie get-together on the West property.
    The McCormacks had been founding members of the community of Copper Ridge back in the 1800s. Their forge had been used by everyone in town and in the neighboring communities. But as the economy had changed, so had the success of the business.
    They’d been hanging on by their fingernails when Chase’s parents had been killed in an accident when he was in high school. They’d still gotten an invitation to the gala. But Chase had thrown it on top of the never-ending pile of mail and bills that he couldn’t bring himself to look through and forgotten about it.
    Until some woman—probably an assistant to the West family—had called him one year when he hadn’t bothered to RSVP. He had been...well, he’d been less than polite.
    Dealing with a damned crisis here, so sorry I can’t go to your party.
    Unsurprisingly, he hadn’t gotten any invitations after that. And he hadn’t really thought much about it since.
    Until now.
    He and Sam had managed to keep the operation and properties afloat, but he wanted more. He needed it.
    The ranch had animals, but that wasn’t the source of their income. The forge was the heart of the ranch, where they did premium custom metal-and leatherwork. On top of that, there were outbuildings on the property they rented out—including the shop they leased to Anna. They had built things back up since their parents had died, but it still wasn’t enough, not to Chase.
    He had promised his father he would take an interest in the family legacy. That he would build for the McCormacks, not just for