She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other. From the author of Teddy Andersen doesn’t have a plan. She’s never needed one before. She’s always been more of a go with the flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn’t seem to be going her way this time. Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it’s starting to change. Teddy’s used to being a leader, but now she feels like she’s getting left behind, wondering if life in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore. Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn’t know what’s harder: taking care of his family’s 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he has to admit that he can’t manage everything on his own. He needs help. His little sister’s best friend, the woman he can’t stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy''s the only option he’s got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he’ll never find what he needs. Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether or not to act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?

Autorentext

Lyla Sage

Klappentext

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • She thrives in chaos. He prefers routine. The only thing they have in common? How much they hate each other.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the highly anticipated next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small-town romance in which enemies turn to lovers when they’re forced to work together during one hot summer

“Another deliciously addictive romance . . . as sizzling as it is emotional and vulnerable.”—Elena Armas, New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception

AN ELLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Teddy Andersen doesn’t have a plan. She’s never needed one before. She’s always been more of a go-with-the-flow type of girl, but for some reason, the flow doesn’t seem to be going her way this time.

Her favorite vintage suede jacket has a hole in it, her sewing machine is broken, and her best friend just got engaged. Suddenly, everything feels like it’s starting to change. Teddy is used to being a leader, but now she feels like she’s getting left behind, wondering if life in the small town she loves is enough for her anymore.

Gus Ryder has a lot on his plate. He doesn’t know what’s harder: taking care of his family’s 8,000 acre ranch, or parenting his spunky six-year-old daughter, who is staying with him for the summer. Gus has always been the dependable one, but when his workload starts to overwhelm him, he has to admit that he can’t manage everything on his own. He needs help.

His little sister’s best friend, the woman he can’t stand, is not who he had in mind. But when no one else can step in, Teddy’s the only option he’s got. Teddy decides to use the summer to try and figure out what she wants out of life. Gus, on the other hand, starts to worry that he’ll never find what he needs.

Tempers flare, tension builds, and for the first time ever, Gus and Teddy start to see each other in a different light. As new feelings start to simmer below the surface, they must decide whether they should act on them. Can they keep things cool? Or will both of them get burned?

Leseprobe
Chapter 1

Teddy

Nothing said “Good morning” like the smell of stale cigarettes and spilled beer. Walking into the Devil’s Boot at night was one thing; honestly, it was one of my favorite things. But during the day, it was an assault on the senses. I could almost feel the ghosts of bad decisions clinging to my suede jacket (cream-­colored, vintage, covered in fringe, totally adorable yet badass).

So why was I walking into Wyoming’s dingiest dive bar at seven o’clock on a Sunday morning? Because my best friend had asked me to, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.

Emmy Ryder and I had been friends since birth—­almost literally. My dad started working on her family’s ranch when I was only a few months old and Emmy was only a couple of months older than me. My first memory is of the two of us jumping over one of the narrower parts of the stream that cuts through Rebel Blue Ranch. We went back and forth over and over again until Emmy slipped and fell into the water. I can still hear the splash and the clattering of river rocks that accompanied it. Her ankle swelled up like a balloon almost immediately—­even at five or six, I knew that that was not what an ankle should look like. I helped her out of the stream, and she leaned on me the whole way home.

We’ve been leaning on each other ever since.

Her fiancé, Luke Brooks, was the owner of the Devil’s Boot. He’d inherited it from his dad a few years ago, and he was actually kicking ass as its proprietor. Brooks had a lot of dreams for the bar. His biggest one was installing a mechanical bull—­no, I’m not kidding—­which is why I was about to spend my Sunday sifting through boxes and sweeping up layers of thirty-­year-­old dust and grime and God knows what else to clear the way for it.

I didn’t mind, though. Plus, I kind of owed him, considering I’d kicked him out of his and Emmy’s bed last night so she and I could have a sleepover.

Emmy and Brooks were standing at the bar talking with their heads close together. I’d left their house earlier to grab us some coffees and give them some alone time, which they’d probably used to have sex in the shower—­horny little shits.

Sometimes I wanted to get a spray bottle so I could squirt them—­you know, the way you do with a cat or a dog when it’s misbehaving—­when their public displays of affection got a little too intense.

But Emmy and Brooks were made for each other, and I loved them both. A lot. I loved Emmy more, obviously, but Luke Brooks had grown on me over the past couple of years. It was a beautiful thing to watch your best friend be loved in the way you know she deserves.

“Coffee’s here,” I said, announcing my presence.

Emmy turned to me. “Oh, thank god, you’re a hero.” She was wearing the tank top I got her for her birthday—­it said luke pillows right across her boobs—­and a pair of black leggings.

It occurred to me that I was overdressed for a day of cleaning out the Devil’s Boot’s second floor—­Wranglers, black tank top, and the jacket, obviously. But I liked clothes, the way I felt when I put together an outfit I liked, and I really liked this one. Clothes were like armor, and armor would be needed if a certain older brother of Emmy’s was going to show up today.

Not Wes. I loved Wes.

I handed over her cup, which she took gratefully. She curled her fingers around it and took a sip. The diamond-­studded gold band that now adorned her left ring finger glinted in the light. She looked at the cardboard drink holder I was carrying. It had two more cups in it—­an iced brown sugar latte for me and a black…