Free Cowboy Tough by Joanne Kennedy

taken a quick sample of what the Wild West had to offer.
    â€œYou have to try this shortbread.” Trevor gestured toward a plate of buttery cookies dusted with sugar. “It melts in your mouth.”
    â€œNo thanks.” She forced a smile and turned to Madeleine. She’d hoped the woman would show Trevor to the bunkhouse, but evidently that job was reserved for Cat. “I’m sure you’d like to see your room before dinner.”
    â€œOh, I’ve seen it,” he said. “Quite nice. The rustic decor’s a bit, well, forced , you know? Rather juvenile. But it’ll do.”
    Cat felt like she’d just cleared the biggest hurdle in a boot camp obstacle course. Maybe she’d been wrong about the bunkhouse. If it was okay with Trevor Maines, surely it wouldn’t be a problem for anyone else.
    â€œThe bucking horse motif is a bit over-the-top,” he said with a languid wave of his hand. “That bedspread, those curtains.”
    Bucking horse motif? Cat blinked. She’d checked out the Bull Barn, and it hadn’t had any kind of curtains at all. The bedspreads had been plain blue-ticked cotton.
    â€œI thought Mr. Maines would be more comfortable in the house, so I put him in Mack’s old room,” Maddie explained.
    â€œI take it the photographs are of your son?” Trevor asked.
    â€œThat’s right.” She tapped him playfully on the knee. “So you look out. Those bucking horses might get in your blood. They sure got into his.”
    â€œI can’t wait to meet him,” Trevor said, his bored tone belying the words. “He sounds so… rustic.”
    Cat felt something in her spark and flare. “From what I hear, he’s a very successful bronc rider,” she said. “It takes a lot of skill to get that far.”
    â€œWell, well, well.” Trevor flashed her a wicked smile and she heard the alarm bells again. “I think we’ve found the teacher’s pet.” The smile bent down into a sneer. “I hope that won’t affect the quality of our instruction.”
    â€œOf course not.” Cat laced her hands in her lap, trying to look prim and teacher-like. Was it that obvious that she had a crush on the cowboy? She forced a smile. “I promise, the teacher’s pet will be the one who’s the best artist. I’m sure Mr. Boyd is hardly Leonardo da Vinci.”
    Trevor tossed his hair and laughed. The sound made her grit her teeth, and she wondered how many times she’d have to endure it on this trip. A hundred spiteful retorts rose in her throat, but she only laughed along halfheartedly, hating herself for not standing up for Mack. She’d always believed in standing up for your friends, and while Mack wasn’t exactly a friend, he was something.
    Really something.
    And she’d better make sure he didn’t become anything more.

Chapter 10
    Cat returned to the bunkhouse to find Mack at the fire pit, constructing a dense nest of kindling. A slim figure stood beside him, holding a few sticks and twigs.
    A very familiar slim figure.
    It couldn’t be.
    â€œDora? What are you doing here?” Cat struggled to make her brain work. “You can’t be here yet. You land tomorrow.”
    Dora flicked her a tight smile, along with a fluttering finger wave loaded with adolescent irony.
    Cat set her fists on her hips. “How did you get here?”
    â€œInterstate 25.”
    Her tone made Cat’s heart sink. Her niece sounded as sour as she had the day of her mother’s funeral, when she’d refused to look at the casket or shed a single tear. She’d always been a sweet child, funny and loving, but on the day her mother died she’d turned into an angry little ghost of her former self. Cat had worried that her niece would burst into emotional flames at any moment—although at this point, a crying spell would be a good thing.
    Cat had hoped it was only the