Hidden Treasure by Melody Anne Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to see her all dressed up and ready to ranch. Not that he had any faith that the clothes would suddenly change her, make her an instant cowgirl. But in the space of a few minutes, he was thinking that city girls might not be so bad after all.
    No. He had no business thinking that. Sure, he might want to play with the city girl, but at the end of the day he wanted her long gone from his neck of the woods — far away, with only memories left from her stay in Montana.
    She was on his land, dammit, and he would get it back. No matter what it took, he was going to have her on the first plane out of Sterling that he possibly could. Still, the two of them might just have to play a little bit before that one-way flight.
    Taking his time about it, he found her and Peggy at a rack of Wrangler jeans. “I think these will be a perfect fit,” Peggy was saying as she pulled out a pair that looked as if they would be show Brielle’s fine ass to perfection.
    He joined the conversation enthusiastically. “I agree.”
    “Colt may act like an ass,” Peggy said, echoing one word of his thoughts, “but he does have good taste when it comes to clothing. You should listen to him.” Her sugary-sweet sales voice had Colt in yet another of his patented grins.
    Brielle’s enthusiasm didn’t match Colt’s.
    She was soon being pushed from one rack of clothes to the next, and her arms were laden with things she knew she’d never wear again after she left this benighted place. She didn’t want to even think about the money she was about to spend on clothes that she would have scoffed at before today. Heck, she was still scoffing today.
    When she finally made it to the changing room and slipped into a pair of the jeans and a button-down shirt, she felt itchy and uncomfortable. She was used to silk and cashmere, not cotton and polyester. She’d never get used to this new life. But if she wanted to earn the respect of the men working for her, she needed to fit in to their world a little better.
    Even if it would kill her budget. She hoped her father would mellow out before too much longer, and maybe, just maybe, let her have access to her trust fund again. Maybe she’d better quit ignoring his calls if she hoped for that to happen. This shopping trip wouldn’t make the slightest dent in the money she had sitting in her frozen bank account.
    Just the thought of her old platinum credit card made her want to cry. There was a time she hadn’t had to think about the cost of anything. Now, a fifty-dollar pair of jeans was making her break out in a sweat.
    One thing she was learning from all of this was that she should be a lot more grateful for what she’d had. Not everyone lived the way she used to live, and not everyone was just handed everything. But that was probably one of the lessons her father wanted to teach her and her brothers.
    Slipping into the boots that Colt had picked out for her, she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror and grimaced to see herself in such an outfit. No way could she pull this off. She just wasn’t made to be a ranch girl. She was made to live in the city in a nice safe condo where someone else did the yard work. That was just who she was. The sooner everyone in her life accepted that, the sooner she could get back to the real world. Her real world.
    “Come out, Brielle,” Colt said. “I know it can’t take that long to change, not even for a princess.”
    She glared at the curtain separating her from Colt, but she had no doubt he would barge in on her if she didn’t comply. The sad thing was that the thought of him sharing the small dressing room with her wasn’t as horrifying as it should have been, not after that burning kiss. She feared she’d be replaying that several nights in a row in her dreams.
    “I’m coming. Keep your pants on.” She pulled the curtain back and stepped out. “I don’t see how you people can deal with these clothes. My toes feel as if they’re being