Free Rodeo Sweetheart by Betsy St. Amant Page A

didn’t know what this “it” was. Sam had yet to tell him why she was on that steer last night—a fact Ethan planned to remedy in a few short minutes.
    He eased out of bed and slipped into his running shoes,careful not to disturb Daniel. His cousin had returned to the cabin earlier in the evening, griping about how the girls he’d been flirting with earlier in the week had already gone back home, their vacation over. Daniel had crashed in his bed and immediately started snoring.
    Ethan shook his head at Daniel’s sleeping form and crept out the front door, wincing at the loud click. He waited, but Daniel didn’t make a sound from inside. With a relieved sigh, he turned—and bumped straight into Jeffrey’s broad chest.
    “Dad!” Ethan gulped, hoping his surprise didn’t show on his face. To Jeffrey Ames, being unprepared was an indicator of weakness. No matter that his dad was skulking around the cabin porch in the dark—it’d still be Ethan’s fault for being startled. He straightened his shoulders and lowered his voice. “What are you doing?”
    “Coming to wake you up to talk.” Jeffrey gripped Ethan’s elbow and led him down the stairs and around the corner of the cabin. The grass squished under their shoes. “What progress have you made with the Jenson girl?”
    “Sam?” Ethan’s heart raced and again, he hoped his dad wouldn’t notice. He’d definitely have to work on his poker face when it came to Sam—at least until logic overtook his emotions.
    “Sam, Pam, whatever. I haven’t seen you all day. What do you know? What have you been doing?” Jeffrey crossed his arms.
    Ethan recognized the pose—the businesslike, get-it-done posture that Jeffrey took on regardless of the cost. His dad wanted answers, and he wanted them now. “I’ve been with Sam all day. Like you wanted me to be.”
    “Has she mentioned anything that could be useful for our cause?”
    Ethan winced, remembering the ignited handshake in the barn, Sam’s melodic laugh and the way his eyes stayed drawnto her all day as if they’d been taken over by a magnetic force. “Not yet.”
    “Well, you need to step it up. We’re running out of time.”
    “Already? We’ve only been here three days.”
    Jeffrey shook his head impatiently. “Business waits for no man, you know that. Your mother is afraid Ms. Jenson will hear about that highway relocation before we can make our offer. If she does, she’s more likely to discover our intentions of building the strip mall—and then she’d never sell to us. We’re having enough trouble convincing her to sell under the pretense of keeping the property exactly as it is. We have to move fast—before Sam realizes why we’re here, and before Ms. Jenson decides not to take an offer. She’s wavering because of her daughter.” Jeffrey scoffed. “Something about so many memories here.”
    “What do you want me to do? I can’t make up reasons to offer less money.” Ethan quickly replayed the events of the past two days for his father, omitting the details of Sam’s secret riding plans. No use in sharing private, personal matters with Jeffrey. The man didn’t have a personal bone in his body. “Maybe we should just offer them a fair price. We’d still make money off the deal when the highway comes.”
    “Are you crazy? After spending time on this ramshackle place, the last thing I’m going to do is offer more money.” Jeffrey brushed at his forehead and the moonlight caught in the reflective face of his watch. “We’re going to have to go a step further.”
    “What now? You want me to date Sam instead of just trying to be her friend?” Some tiny, twisted part of Ethan’s psyche hoped his father would say yes. Not that Sam would ever agree. She probably only fell for real cowboys—men who smelled like sweat and earth instead of expensive cologne.Ethan brushed away the pinch of rejection at the idea. This was business. He didn’t need romance.
    Especially with a woman with