Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Brady Wild has focused on one thing this entire adult life: riding bulls. A three-time world champion, Brady’s body has taken a beating over the years and he knows he’s nearing the end of his impressive career. He’s had no time for relationships with his dangerous career but the minute he sees sexy single mom, Abbi Kastella, he knows it’s game over for his resolve to be single.
Abbi is a mom, first and foremost, and she’ll do whatever needs to be done to keep her daughter safe from the danger that’s chased them for half a dozen years. She’s finally been able to set down roots in Bitterroot Valley for herself and Daisy. She adores this community that has welcomed them with open arms, her new business is thriving, and she has a circle of friends that she loves and trusts. And don’t even get her started on the hazel-eyed, muscled up cowboy that makes her whole body tremble with need. Life is good in this little Montana town and Brady is showing her and her little girl what real love is supposed to be.
Despite Brady’s best intentions he can’t resist his blue-eyed siren, or the sweet little girl that has him wrapped around her little finger. But when Abbi’s past catches up with them, Brady quickly realizes that the secrets that Abbi’s been keeping from him are far worse than any damage his career could do to them. Will they lose everything before it even really begins? Or will love prevail so they can get started on their forever On the Wild Side?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
ABBI
Five Years Ago
“What am I supposed to do without you?” I can’t stop the tears that fall onto my cheeks. Nate has been in and out of sleep, and they tell me that he’ll likely slip into a coma soon, so I should say everything that I want to say now, while he can still hear me.
He’s on a ventilator, but he’s watching me with those big, brown eyes, and his hand tightens on mine.
“I’m so sorry this happened,” I continue and lean in to kiss his cheek. “It’s not fair. It’s not right.”
He squeezes me again, comforting me.
Nate is the sweetest man on the planet. He’s good and generous, and he doesn’t deserve this.
“I’ll take care of Daisy. Don’t worry about us. I promise we’ll be okay.”
His eyes suddenly look panicked, and I brush my fingers through his hair, doing my best to calm him.
“I won’t let her near our baby, Nathan. I will not.” He blinks, and I can see that he wants to talk, but he can’t.
“I know,” I continue. “We already talked about this, and everything is in place, so she can’t touch us. I’ll make sure of it. And I’ll make sure that Daisy always knows you. She’s still so little.”
Not even two years. Nate didn’t even have two whole years with his daughter before he caught pneumonia that devolved into a systemic infection, causing his organs to fail.
He isn’t going to get better. He isn’t going to leave this hospital.
And I want to wail at the injustice of it.
“I love you.” His eyes droop, and I can see that he’s so, so tired. “Thank you for five wonderful years. Thank you for being my best friend and such an awesome dad to our baby girl.”
He squeezes my hand once more, and then he’s asleep again, and all I can do is lay my head on the bed next to him and cry.
CHAPTER ONE
BRADY
“Come on, girls, it’s going to be a bitch of a winter.” I crack my whip and maneuver my horse through the snowy pasture, herding our cattle to a meadow closer to the barn, where we can keep an eye on these ladies during the coldest months of the year. Winter in Bitterroot Valley, Montana is a bitch, and it’s only early December, which means we haven’t even hit the solstice yet. We’ve already seen record snowfall this year, which tells us that it’s going to be a long, cold season.
And we need to make sure these girls make it through calving season in a few months.
“Storm’s moving in,” my oldest brother, Remington, yells out to me, and I tip my head back to look up at the sky. The wind has picked up, and the clouds have dropped and grown darker.
“Fuck,” I mutter and crack the whip again before I call back to him. “We’ll be down this hill in an hour!”
“Let’s hope the blizzard holds out that long,” Lucky, our senior ranch hand, replies. He’s got to be ninety if he’s a day. I swear, there’s never been a time when Lucky wasn’t old as fuck. And no one on this ranch knows what they’re doing better than him.
Which is saying something, because my family has owned this land for well over a hundred years. My father, leading us all up ahead, passed the reins on to Remington a few years ago. Ranching, cattle ranching, is in our blood. It’s who we are.
It’s what we do.
But shit, I think Lucky worked for my grandfather once upon a time.
I wonder if he’s a goddamn vampire.
When we’re about a mile from the pasture that the cattle will spend the winter in, the snow starts to blow harder. None of us, the humans or the animals, want to be out here in this, but it reinforces that it’s the right time to move the herd.
We might not be able to get to them in a few days, and they’ll have a better chance of survival if we can watch them.
With our heads down and our minds on the work, we get everyone safely into the fenced field in less than the hour that I predicted.
“I’ll get the water,” Bruiser, another of our men, shouts as he swings off his horse and hurries to the troughs to fill them with fresh drinking water for our cows.
Despite the troughs being heated to keep them from freezing, we’ll have to come out here several times a day to break up ice that’ll form on the top.
Montana is fucking brutal.
But damn if I don’t love her.
We work as a team to spread hay, and when everyone is settled into their new home, we lead the horses into the barn so they can warm up and rest. We all put in one hell of a day.
I take my time with my boy, Blackjack, giving him apples and brushing him well before I settle a blanket on his back and kiss his cheek.