Count on a Cowboy by Patricia Thayer Page A

watching Trent. He looked amazing on his large roan gelding. The way he took charge and sat with such ease. He took off after a wayward calf, and quickly returned, with the little guy running back to his mama.
    After another hour, they came upon another small herd, and Ricky and Mike went after them, and shuffled them back into the herd. Even she got to help, when Raven took off after a few cows. Though she was a little frightened at first, it was exhilarating to feel the power of the horse under her.
    “Hold on to the horn, Brooke,” Trent called to her. “Let the horse do her job.”
    Brooke followed Trent’s instructions and it wasn’t long before Raven gathered her lost cows and brought them back to the fold.
    Once the cows were on the move at a steady pace, they drove the herd their two-mile trek toward a closer pasture with fresh grass.
    * * *
    T RENT SMILED AS he watched Brooke. She’d done a better job than he thought. In the past two hours, she’d been able to not only stay on her horse but keep the strays close. “Good job, Brooke.”
    “I didn’t help that much, but thanks for letting me come along. It was so much fun.”
    He was surprised at her excitement. Most women wouldn’t enjoy riding drag at the crack of dawn. “You did a lot. You handled Raven almost as if you were an experienced rider.”
    “Thanks for that, but I have a lot to learn about horses.”
    “It all takes practice.”
    She relaxed in the saddle as their horses moved in a slow, steady rhythm behind the herd. “Not sure where I’ll be able to use my new talent. I have a feeling in my new position at the hotel, I’ll be working a lot of overtime.”
    “It’s a shame you have to stay inside so much.” He glanced at the pretty woman beside him, and felt a strange tightness in his chest. “Maybe you’ll come back to visit your sister.”
    When she looked at him, her expression was doubtful. “I’m not sure she even wants me here now.”
    “You might be surprised. I think Laurel would be thrilled to know she has a sister.”
    “I’m not so sure. Laurel doesn’t even know me, and I’m asking a big favor of her, to come and meet a mother she didn’t know existed.”
    Trent could understand where she was coming from. “I don’t see why you think that’s your fault. Your mother kept that secret from you, too.”
    * * *
    T HE RIDE BACK to the barn took another hour, and Brooke enjoyed every minute of it. She knew she’d be sore tomorrow, but this time out in the beautiful country, with Trent, was worth it.
    She was acting foolish, letting this Colorado cowboy turn her head, but what would it hurt? A lot if she let herself care.
    The years growing up with Coralee, she’d seen her mother make bad choices with men and get hurt sometimes, and often it had been physical abuse. Some of those men were scary, so Brooke knew to stay clear of them. She always found some place to go, like the library, while Coralee was entertaining her gentlemen friends, as she would call them.
    Most were anything but gentlemen. More than one of those awful men had tried to come after her. By the time Brooke was a teenager, she’d let her mother know that she’d run away if she brought any more men home.
    Coralee’s bad luck with men kept Brooke from having a boyfriend, or even dating. Besides, with school and her jobs she’d been too busy to have time for anything else. At twenty-eight, she had zero experience.
    She glanced at the handsome Trent astride his large gelding. Her stomach did somersaults. Now she realized what she’d been missing. A big strong man who wanted to be with her, to share things—kisses, problems and an intimate relationship—with. There was that strange feeling in her stomach again. Okay, Trent was out of her league, but maybe she could find a nice guy when she returned to Las Vegas.
    Even she got lonely.
    * * *
    L ATER THAT DAY , Trent had cleaned up, and dressed in new jeans and a collared shirt for his trip into