CHAPTER ONE
Thirteen Years Ago...
ARIZONA KING LOVED a man she could never have.
For one, he was twenty-nine years old, and she was eighteen. For another, he was in love with another woman.
She hated that woman.
That woman back in Texas who had his heart.
That woman he was pining over even as he worked on her daddy’s ranch in Pyrite Falls, Oregon, the middle of dadgum nowhere.
She’d never felt anything like this before, not even when Billy Maddigan told her he thought she was pretty in fourth grade. And Billy had been quite a catch around Four Corners Ranch.
Not that the pickings were overly abundant at the ranch.
At least not outside the four main families and ew, gross. No.
Women liked her brothers, and she never wanted to hear a blasted thing about that. The Garretts and McClouds were like family as well, and she couldn’t imagine ever entertaining a naughty thought about any of them.
But Micah...
He made her heart hurt.
He had eyes that were blue like the sky and hair as dark as the earth. Or maybe as dark as her favorite cow.
That might not be super romantic, but cows were often a reference point for Arizona, as Four Corners, and specifically King’s Crest, her family’s portion of the broader operation, had a hell of a lot of cows.
But today she wasn’t going to think about that woman, Lacey, who had broken up with him before his move out to Oregon, and who had left him—in his words—pretty messed up. Today, she was focusing on the fact that they were out riding the range together and it was a beautiful, glorious day out on the ranch. And he was even more beautiful than the day itself.
She felt free out here. And it was good to get away from the house for a while. Good to get away from their parents, all the associated drama in the King household.
This was what she loved.
A beautiful view, a great horse. And a beautiful man.
She knew that she was pretty. She also knew that he seemed unaffected by that.
Though, he did seem to like spending time with her.
“You’re doing a great job,” she said. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him what she knew to be a pretty flirtatious smile.
“I’m hardly a greenhorn, Arizona. Though I appreciate your approval of my skills.”
“Well, you knew the terrain out here. It’s a little bit different.”
She was given to understand that the terrain he was used to traversing out in Texas was much flatter compared to the mountainous rugged spaces in Oregon.
“I got the hang of it pretty quick.”
Such a man. Couldn’t take a compliment if it meant having to admit he hadn’t known everything from day one.
He circled his horse around so that he was facing her, and her heart jumped up in her throat. She was used to cowboys. She was around them all the time. But the thing was... She loved cowboys. Everything about them. The way they wore their hats, the way they wore their jeans, the way those jeans fit their asses and thighs.
She liked their cocky swagger, she liked every damn thing about a cowboy. Most of all this one. He had a square jaw with dark stubble across it, and piercing blue eyes that made her feel like she might be transforming into one of the flighty, feminine Sullivan sisters from the ranch next door. They meandered around talking about Jane Austen and shit like that. Arizona wasn’t a romantic.
He made her feel like one.
Which was a real shame.
You couldn’t be a romantic and be a King. There was no way. There wasn’t a single ounce of romance in her blood, just like there wasn’t a single ounce of it in her home.
He made her wish that maybe...
Well, he made her wish all kinds of things.
“I’ll race you to the edge of the pasture,” she said, spurring the horse on and giving herself a head start. He let out a whoop and went on after her. And she laughed, exhilarated, her hair flying in the wind. And when she reached the edge, she hollered in triumph, but then he was right there. Right there, on the back of his horse.
She grinned at him, and he reached out and wrapped his hand around her arm. His hands were rough. From all the work that he did, and it was so easy for her to imagine them trailing over her bare skin. They looked at each other for a long moment, and she thought her heart was going to gallop straight out of her mouth. Then he dropped his hold on her and jerked away quickly.
“Better get back to work,” he said.
“I suppose so,” she said, sounding breathless, and it wasn’t from the physical exertion.
She’d seen it, though. Right in that moment. He had looked at her and there had been...heat. And she knew she was a little bit too young for him, and she knew that he still had all those feelings for Lacey. But he had feelings for her too. In spite of it all. When she went to bed that night, she dreamed of him.
She loved him.
So fiercely. All these months of their friendship building like had bloomed into something more. He made her feel things that she’d never felt before. He made her want things she’d never wanted before. And it wasn’t about sex—well, not strictly. Though that was definitely a part of it.
He made her feel like maybe, just maybe, she could find a way through that outer shell that surrounded her heart and find a way to care for someone. Really care for them.
She saw him everywhere. All around the ranch, and in her dreams. Sometimes she worried she was the one putting herself in his path. But then she noticed he did it just as much.
Like one warm August night when she was out at the lake.
The moon was bright, and she was on the swing that hung over the water. She loved to come out on nights like this. It was her favorite.
“Arizona.”
It was his voice. She knew him. They had spent hours talking. And she had told him so many things about herself. He made her feel emotions that she never had before. Emotions her father had always discouraged.
He made her want to open herself up. Be raw. Be honest. He made her want to be different than she was.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Came to find you.”
He walked over to her and took her hand, and she couldn’t breathe. She was still up on the swing, watching the moon glitter over the surface of the lake. And then he slowly lifted her down from the swing, like she weighed nothing. And she was so close to him that she could hardly breathe. She put her hand flat on his chest, stretched up on her toes. And then he brought his head down to meet her. He kissed her.
Her first kiss.