Free Second Chance Ranch: a Hope Springs novel (Entangled Bliss) by Cindi Madsen Page A

assho— Jerk.”
    A tiny bit of sympathy for the girl crept in. Sadie had dated a couple of jerks—enough to understand how they could make it seem not worth trying again. Even though it was one of the hardest decisions she’d ever made, she’d turned down Royce’s proposal because she’d wanted to follow her singing dream, and she was trying to keep her priorities straight, the way she’d always promised herself she would. But admittedly, she hadn’t realized what she’d had when she dated him. She’d had no idea how many guys out there only called when they wanted sex, never thought of anyone but themselves, and cheated on girls because they could—luckily she’d learned that lesson secondhand, through one of her roommates in Nashville.
    Sadie’s best relationship—probably the best she’d ever have—was definitely all those years ago, and she’d taken it for granted. She wasn’t sure if it was incredibly unfair, or if she was incredibly lucky that she got to experience love like that at least once in her life.
    Royce was obviously working to keep up a crabby exterior, but she knew the truth about the good guy underneath it. She thought about the brief moments when the softer Royce crept through, wondering if she could coax it out full-time if she tried.
    “Plus we’re only here for the first half of the summer,” Eli said, pulling her out of her thoughts and effectively reminding her that it was only a matter time before she’d go back to Nashville. Getting close to Royce only to leave again wouldn’t be fair to him or to her still-cracked heart.
    She smiled at Eli, though, happy he’d put it that way, instead of implying he could just use Addison for that long. “You never know. If you like her, I say go for it. But only if you’re going to prove to her that not all guys are jerks.”
    “That’s another problem. I might prove the opposite.”
    Sadie studied him for a moment and then shook her head. “Not buying it. Secret’s out—you’re a nice guy.”
    “Yeah. That’s how I ended up here.”
    It was almost like he wanted to tell her why he was there, but then Addison and Mark came in, and the moment was ruined.
    Royce came in and inspected the stalls. They’d done the best they could, but Sadie held her breath, knowing it wasn’t perfect and wondering if he’d tell her she didn’t do a good enough job.
    “Looks good.” He finally turned to her. “Any problems?”
    She glanced at Addison—not that she was such a problem, but Royce had said she needed to be strict. Was this when she brought up the swear jar? Addison’s eyes widened.
    Sadie slowly peeled off her gloves, letting the girl stew for a moment. “Nope. No problems.”
    “Then time for lunch.”
    As Addison walked by, Sadie whispered, “I’ll let the swearing slide this once. It won’t happen again.”
    The girl’s eyes narrowed—apparently, warning or not, the girl wasn’t letting go of her bitterness—and then she followed after Eli and Mark.
    Sadie picked up the horse brush.
    “What are you doing?” Royce asked.
    “We barely got done with the stalls, so I haven’t had a chance to brush down Chevy yet.”
    “It can be done later. Come eat.”
    “It’s okay. I’ll just skip lunch.” Sadie reached up with the brush, but then Royce was right by her, gently gripping her elbow. As minor as it was, the contact was still enough to make it hard for her to keep air moving in and out of her lungs. She could feel each one of his callused fingertips on her bare skin, radiating little spots of heat.
    “You can’t skip meals. Is that what you normally do? You’re so scrawny I’m surprised you can even lift a pitchfork.”
    Her jaw dropped. She thought they had a truce—that they were going to stop baiting each other and be nice. Only his face made it seem like he didn’t realize he was insulting her. There was almost… Was that concern in his eyes?
    He let go of her arm and stepped back. “Just eat a