Page 1 of Wrangled and Tangled (Raven Peak Ranch #1)

T here’s somethin’ about a man in dark wash jeans and leather chaps that fucks with the chemistry of my brain. Which means I most certainly shouldn’t be at the rodeo. Not with all these cowboys looking fine as hell and my libido pounding at the door.

Lucy cheers along with the lively crowd as she grabs my hand, pulling me up the metal stairs to find seats. She’s my sister, my best friend, and the only reason I’m here. Her boyfriend, Levi, is one of the social media managers for the arena.

Lucy usually sits with the gaggle of girls waiting for the riders to notice them. They’ll sit there and look pretty, waiting for one of them to offer up a fun night. She waves as we make our way past them, and they return the wave with more enthusiasm.

She begged me to come tonight–bribed me with cotton candy and free beer, more accurately. She’s been lonely without Levi since he’s been traveling with the rodeo, though she won’t come out and say it.

Women sit up straighter when we pass, pressing their chests out and smiling at me. Nodding my hat their way, I smile and continue behind Lucy.

“One day, Spencer,” she leans over to whisper in my ear once we’re seated. “You’re gonna find someone, and all these poor ladies will be very disappointed.”

“That day doesn’t have to be today,” I smirk, looking at her speckled cheeks. Her deep green eyes squint, perfectly manicured brows dipping in toward each other. She slaps my thigh and shakes her head before looking down at the arena. “You promised me beer.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” she says, still looking at the metal fence in a ring serving as a barrier between bull and spectator. When she spots her boyfriend, she whistles loud enough to turn the crowds roar to a whisper, and heads swing our way.

Tucking my neck so the brim of my hat covers my face, she hollers, “Do your thing, baby!”

Peeking out from under my hat, I can see Levi’s bright, wide smile and wave to Lucy as she melts beside me and conversations gradually start up again.

“Tell me why I came out with you again?” I sigh, rubbing my fingers over my wiry mustache and beard. My daughter would have jumped at the chance to come to the rodeo with her aunt. Briar lives to see Lucy out in the wild.

“Because you love spendin’ time with your sister,” she quips, “and because I can get you free beer.”

Snapping my fingers and holding my empty hands out, we look at each other, and she laughs, slapping her hands in mine. “Okay, I’m going, I’m going.”

Jumping up from her seat, she walks down the bleachers to where Levi is waiting at the bottom for her to wrap herself around him.

They’re cute together, and lord knows she deserves some good in her life.

With both of our parents passing right before her graduation, she’s been looking for someone who feels like home.

I, on the other hand, have no intentions to date anyone.

I don’t have the time anyway. Between my daughter, the garage, the ranch…

I can’t ask anyone to get jumbled in that mess.

I’ve got a routine down, balancing all of my responsibilities and lending a helping hand at the ranch.

Even without all of those things, the dating pool here in Goldspur Ridge is pretty slim at my age.

I know thirty-four isn’t old, but a small town like this doesn’t have an abundance of available people running around, especially for a dad with a teenage daughter.

Though Lucy says I’m picky, and Briar says I’m too stuck in my ways.

Either way, starting a relationship while running a business isn’t for everyone.

It doesn’t help any that the garage was almost in financial ruins when Granddad died the year prior.

Lucy hasn’t ever wanted anything to do with Goldspur Gears–she’s not opposed to running a garage, the ranch takes up most of her time, and it’s where her heart is, along with the rest of our family.

The two of us have things pretty much under control now, I help out on the ranch when I can, and she doesn’t mind doing all the tax stuff for the garage in return.

It took us nearly all year to get the garage back on track, repairs to the equipment, and a full office renovation.

Now, you’d never know it was almost just another shell of memories for some big corporation to come in and tear it down for a strip mall.

“Fresh from the ice bucket,” Lucy’s cheery voice pulls me from my thoughts. She has two beers in her right hand, cotton candy dangling from her fingers, and in her left hand she’s got a cherry soda and a tray of nachos on her palm.

“Damn, we just ate,” I remark, eyeing her nachos with loads of cheese, jalapenos, and meat.

“It’s the rodeo, plus, beer makes you hungry, and I hate to break your little heart but, cotton candy ain’t gonna cut it,” she nods with a hmph and sits down, pulling one of the nachos from the pile and shoving it in her mouth.

“Easy, killer,” I laugh, “I thought those were for me.”

She rolls her eyes and shoots me daggers, “So it’s okay for you to eat again, but not me?”

Fuck me, she’s in a particularly sassy mood tonight.

“I relent,” throwing my hands up in mock surrender, she purses her lips and nods as the announcer comes over the speakers to start off the show.

Taking a long chug from my first beer, I let the taste linger before shoving a piece of blue cotton candy into my mouth and letting it dissolve on my tongue.

The first performance of the night pops off, complete with fireworks, and the crowd shoots to their feet. The ambiance is infectious. It’s hard not to join in with their stomping and hollering as competitions begin.

Most people come to see the bull riders and their eight seconds of fame. I’m not saying what they do is easy. I know I don’t have the guts to do it myself. There’s something about watching a person being bucked on a Bronco that captivates my attention.

The horse in itself is a master of muscle.

Watching them buck and writhe while their rider does their damndest to hang on, it’s a sight.

Women are up first, and I think they might give the men a run for their money tonight.

Their thighs squeeze the belly of the horse, and their grip is tight on the riggin’.

The buzzer sounds, and another rider emerges from the chute, horse jumping and kicking. Dirt and dust fly from the arena as the rider stays on for a full eight seconds, and the crowd goes nuts.

The smell of beer and earth invades my nostrils, and I holler along with the rest of ‘em. The woman hops off the horse, arms thrown up in the air in victory. Her vest is patched with too many to count, which means she’s most likely sponsored by many corporations within the rodeo circuit.

I’ve downed both beers and eaten all the cotton candy Lucy bought. The nachos are long gone, and with the lull in action, she disappears to get more.

The crowd roars again, and women jump up and down as Lucy returns.

Standing so she can slide by–and so I can peek at the arena to see what all the hubbub is about–a man dressed in dark jeans, brown chaps, a light blue button-down shirt, and a dark brown hat waves his arms in the air as the crowd’s volume grows to almost deafening.

His nearly black hair is tied into a low knot at the back of his head, and his smile is so bright against his golden skin. He’s handsome, that’s for sure, but I don’t follow the circuit any longer to really know who he might be.

Women scream, stomping their feet as he passes them by, winking in their general direction.

“That’s Heath Macabe,” Lucy says with an eye roll. “He’s the current Buckin’ Bronco champ.”

“Ah,” I say with a nod and raised brow.

“He’s also a slut,” she crosses her arms and sits down, chugging her own beer. I can sense there’s a story there, but I’m not gonna ask.

“Slut shamin’, little sis?” I joke, sitting down with her and bumping her shoulder.

“Wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t so damn arrogant,” she grumbles, looking up at me with fierce eyes.

“What’d he do to you?” I don’t care if he’s the president of the damn rodeo. If he did something to my Lucy Loo, I’ll kill him.

She shakes her head, sighs, and drops her shoulders. “Not me, Levi.”

“Okay…” I wait on her to tell me whatever it is she’s got circling her brain. When she doesn’t elaborate, I twist back around to where the men riding broncos have started. After a few entries and one injury, she leans over and whispers in my ear.

“Heath told Levi’s boss some bullshit lie about him stealin’ rodeo funds to feed a habit he doesn’t even have.”

Whipping my head her way, searching her face. I shake my head. “What kinda habit , Lucy Loo?”

“Nothin’ true,” she says, waving me off.

“Lucy,” I warn, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“Spence, it’s nothin’, swear.”

She avoids the conversation by talking to the people beside us, striking up conversation so she can evade my concern. If Levi ropes my sister into something dangerous, I’ll fucking kill him.