Surviving Love (Montana Wilds Book 1) by Willow Summers Read Free Book Online Page B

in an old western, the softness of his lips grazing her knuckles. He winked, a smile lighting up his face, before he turned.
    “Kissing my hand doesn’t make you a cowboy—”
    Sara cut off as she realized that the stint in the Special Forces was to fulfill the G.I. Joe calling. That his life on the ranch wrangling cows did make him a cowboy. He was knocking out all his dreams one by one.
    “You’re still just as much of a goof!” she yelled after him, forgetting for a minute she wasn’t a rambunctious preteen.
    He turned and bowed with a flourish before darkness swallowed him up.
    “What was that all about?” Christie said as she and Sam walked up.
    “Since when does Mountain Man Mike have a sense of humor?” Sam’s expression was befuddled as he watched the spot where Mikey had disappeared.
    “We were just reliving the good ol’ days. We were a couple of weird kids, I’ll say that much. We didn’t care that we were nerds because we had each other.” She shrugged. “Back to real life, though.”
    Christie grabbed an imaginary train whistle and tugged. “Toot, toot! All aboard.”
----
    M ike could barely feel his legs. It felt like he’d just jumped out of a plane without a parachute with his eyes closed. He had no idea when he’d smack into the ground.
    He knew she’d be here, of course. He’d heard of the split—his mom still talked to hers. He’d heard of her fiancé picking someone else. Sara had been the laughing stock of their family for years. The man she’d been engaged to was some piece of trash. Gambling addiction with the debt to prove it, no drive, no prospects, no future. She’d kept them afloat through it all, shedding her dreams when she should have shed the man.
    And then he’d dumped her. She’d bled for the man, and he just tossed her aside. What a dick.
    When Mike had heard all this, he knew he had to call her. She’d been on his mind off and on his whole life, constantly popping up randomly, begging him to remember. Hearing, though, that she’d be making a horrible mistake—said her parents—and quitting her high-powered job to become a nobody in some dude ranch, Mike knew exactly where she’d go. She’d always loved Montana; she’d head here first.
    After that, it was just a matter of keeping his ears open. With her skill set and age, not many larger establishments would use her. Why should they? There were stacks of applications from people with ranching or hospitality experience. So when he told Jake to keep his eyes open, as soon as the golden ticket came in, Mike made sure she got brought on.
    And here she was. Ho-ly crap .
    Did no one think to mention her beauty? His brothers had seen her occasionally, though probably never stopped to say “Hi”, but they’d seen her. Could they not have mentioned, in passing , that the girl was a knockout? Deadly curves, soft brown hair to the middle of her back, large, almond-shaped eyes in a delicate face. He’d got a hard-on the second he’d seen her.
    She looked sad, though. Her shoulders hunched, her eyes constantly strayed to the side as thoughts pushed into her head unbidden—her ex had done a number on her. She’d had expectations, and he’d let her down.
    Still, she was free. She’d get over this. She’d realize that the little girl Mike had once known was still in there, tough and ready for anything, dragging Mike around by the collar to experience anything and everything she could. She’d always been a fire starter, and once this sadness evaporated, she’d see that her ex-dickhead had done her a favor.
    Mike trudged toward the parking lot with his hands stuck deeply in his pockets. He spied Jake’s truck, the gruff man just opening the driver’s door.
    “Can I hitch a ride back?” Mike asked. It wasn’t often guests went back to their cars after their initial check-in, so the ranch didn’t waste the energy to light the way. But this was the wilderness in Montana—using a flashlight was expected.
    Jake