Sean’s alarm went off at five the next morning. Groaning, he reached out and slapped the snooze button. He’d give anything to stay sleeping in his bed. But, he had work on his ranch and heifers to brand with Austin. Thankfully, Tammy had agreed to take his shift at the Tavern tonight. He was exhausted and way behind on sleep.

He sighed. He was working like a dog to save money for a ranch that he might not inherit once Christine was done. He contemplated turning off his alarm and giving up, but that was literally impossible for him to do. Not when his father’s words flooded back to his mind. The words that fueled him through the hard days.

Just wait. You’ll come back. Once you wear yourself out, you’ll come back.

He pulled off his blanket and stood. There was no way he was going to let his father be right about anything. He was going to do this, and he was going to be successful if it killed him.

After a shower and a cup of coffee, he snatched a doughnut from the bread box and grabbed his keys. If he was going to be up this early, then the dragon could get up. After he’d dropped her off at the motel, he’d gone to the Tavern to work a shift.

While he was there, he’d gotten a text from Austin saying Emma was having some contractions, so he couldn’t leave her. Which Sean understood. Besides, the bar had been busy that night, which was good for tips, but Sean hadn’t crawled into bed until after one.

Exhaustion wasn’t a luxury he was allowed. Not when he had so much to fix up around the ranch. Every dollar was vital. He couldn’t slow down now or anytime in the future.

His boots made a crunching noise as he quickened his pace and made his way across the driveway and over to his truck. Once inside, he stuck the key into the ignition and peeled out of his driveway. Twenty minutes later, he was pulling into the motel’s parking lot.

He turned off the engine and hopped out. Holding his cup of coffee in one hand, he slammed the driver’s door and headed inside.

Ava was sitting behind the front desk, trying to look like she wasn’t falling asleep. Sean walked up and tapped the counter.

“Not a morning person?”

Ava jumped and grabbed her heart. “You scared the crap out of me, Sean Petty.” She flicked her red hair off her shoulder and gave him a scowl.

Sean laughed as he held up his hand. “Sorry. Does George know you fall asleep on the job?”

She groaned as she covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know why he has me working so early. He thinks there’s going to be some surge of visitors and if we’re not open, he’s going to miss out on their business.”

“Eh, getting up early is good for you.” He smiled at her. Out of all the people in his graduating class, Ava was one who chose to stay. He wasn’t sure why. She was smart. But something happened with her family and she stayed behind when all her friends left.

She scoffed. “Are you here just to critique my work ethic?”

Sean shook his head. “Nope. I’m looking for Christine? The IRS dragon I dropped off yesterday.”

She tapped on the keyboard in front of her. “Yep. I remember.” Then she narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “Why do you want her?”

“Um, well, she asked me to come pick her up. This is the only time I had available. She’s auditing my Pop’s ranch. Guess her car broke down and she’s without a ride. Did she mention to you that I’d be giving her a ride?”

Ava’s expression softened as she nodded. “Yeah, she did. I’ll call her room.” Ava picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear. After two attempts with no answer, she glanced back up at Sean as she set the receiver down on the base.

“No answer. I guess you can try knocking.” She paused as she looked around. “She’s in room 103. Take a left and go down the hall.”

Sean pushed away from the counter and nodded. “Got it.” He followed Ava’s directions and soon was standing outside of room 103.

He raised his hand and knocked. After waiting a minute with no response, he tried again. Finally, the sound of locks turning caused him to take a step back. The door opened a sliver and Christine emerged. She looked half asleep as she met his gaze.

“Sean?” she asked. Her voice was groggy. “What are you doing here?”

He tried to ignore how adorable she looked with her hair tousled. As she opened the door, he saw that she was wearing the same silk tank top as yesterday that peeked out above the towel she’d wrapped around her body. Her legs looked as if they went on for days. Pulling his gaze up, he focused on the reason he was here. And that definitely was not to get distracted by her smooth skin.

“I’m here to pick you up. You wanted a ride and I said I’d give you one.”

She drew her brows together and glanced behind her into the dark room. “It’s five-thirty.”

Sean swallowed. She needed to get ready. Fast. He was already so behind. “You need to get moving. I’ve got things to do.” He waved his hand toward her, hoping that would help her move faster.

She stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“I wait for no woman. Come on, we’ve got to go.”

She groaned as she pushed the door open. She muttered something under her breath. It sounded like insufferable cowboy, but he wasn’t sure and decided to just ignore it. He didn’t have time to justify her comment with a response.

As he took a step toward her, she grabbed his cup of coffee from his hand and took a drink.

“Hey,” he said, moving to grab it back.

“If you want me up this early, then you need to caffeinate me.” She took another long drink before she handed it back to him.

He growled as he followed her into her hotel room. “There’s a few things you never do to a rancher and one of them is drink his coffee.” He walked over to her bed and sat down. Besides the covers being moved, there was nothing else in the room.

She stared at him.

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Why don’t you just come in.” She scoffed as she ran her hand through her hair. With each passing minute, she looked more and more awake.

“I’m just making sure you don’t crawl back into bed.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Christine roll her eyes and limp over to the bathroom. Now alone, he studied the room. The sound of water running filled the silent air.

Five minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom wearing the same things she had the day before.

“This is a new walk of shame,” he said, nodding toward her wrinkled business suit.

“It’s the my-car-broke-down-and-my-luggage-is-still-in-it walk.” She made her way over to her shoes and slipped them on.

He nodded. “We can go grab it on our way to the ranch. I called Thomas last night. He owns the town’s tow truck. Anyway, he’d said he’d pick up your car today.”

“Thanks,” she said as she straightened and grabbed her purse and briefcase that were resting on the ground.

Sean stood. “Ready to go?”

“Yep.”

She opened the door and he went through it. She followed him out to the hall and shut the door. They passed by Ava who had her chin propped up and eyes closed. Sean tapped the counter causing her to jump again.

She whipped her eyes open and glared at him. “Good bye, Sean Petty,” she said as she waved her hand in his direction.

“Have a great day, Ava!” he said as he walked through the automatic doors and out into the crisp morning air.

He passed by Christine who was studying him. “You know her?” she asked as she followed behind him.

“We went to high school together.” He walked over to the passenger door and pulled it open. Christine hesitated as she grew closer, but then climbed inside. He shut the door, rounded the hood, and hopped into the driver’s side.

“Oh. That’s nice,” she said as she stared out the windshield. “Did you guys like. . . date?” She emphasized the last syllable as if she wasn’t sure if she should say something or not.

“Date Ava?” Sean laughed. That would be like dating his sister. But when he looked over at Christine, he almost wanted to say that it was true. She had a confusing expression on her face. So what if he’d dated Ava? Why did she care? “Naw, in her dreams maybe,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows. He shifted his truck into first gear and drove away.

“Oh. I just detected some chemistry there,” she said.

From the corner of his eye, he could see her cheeks redden. What was with her today?

“I grew up with most of the single women around here. If I dated them, it’d be like dating my cousin.” He shook his head. “Not for me. Curse of living in a town where the population is less than a thousand.”

He could feel Christine’s stare on him. He wanted to turn and meet her gaze. What was she thinking? That he was a loser? Maybe. Or that only someone who was crazy would voluntarily live in a place with a tiny population. But she didn’t understand. He loved this town. And he loved his job. Maybe it was time she started seeing what Moose Falls was all about.

He made his way down the highway that led to Austin’s farm. He’d bring her to see Emma. She had a way of calming anyone. Besides, if he was going to convince Christine to be objective when she started the audit, she needed to learn what kind of people she was investigating.

“Do you mind if we stop somewhere before we get your luggage?” He glanced over at Christine, who turned to look at him.

“Sure. Where?”

Sean settled back in his chair as he rested his wrist on the steering wheel. “You’ll see. I want to introduce you to a few friends. I have a feeling you just might hit it off with one of them.”

Christine nodded. “They won’t mind that I’m wearing day old clothes?”

Sean laughed. “Even in day old clothes, you’re better dressed than half the people in this town. I think Emma will be just fine with what you are wearing. Besides, she’s pregnant now. I’m sure she’ll have some clothes for you to borrow if you want.”

“Emma?”

“Yeah. She’s married to my buddy. I’ve been working at his ranch until my cousin leaves my grandpa’s ranch. It’s helping me save up money for repairs. Anyway, Austin and Emma got married last year. He needed a wife to fully inherit his ranch, so he asked Emma to marry him for the weekend.” He slowed at a stop sign and then took a left. “But as those stories always go, they fell in love.”

“Wow. That’s crazy. Sweet but crazy. I couldn’t imagine getting married if it wasn’t for real.”

Sean turned to look at Christine. For the first time since meeting her, she didn’t seem like the dragon. Instead, she was a woman who was simply doing a job. And then his stomach churned at the thought of his livelihood disappearing because of what she was there to do, and the desire to protect himself grew stronger.

“Yeah. Someday I’ll meet the future Mrs. Petty. But right now, it’s just not in the cards for me. I work too much to try and start a family. No matter how much I want to.” The emotion in his voice surprised even him. He’d always known he was going to get married. And kids? It was a no brainer. But he’d always figured that was a future task for him. He hadn’t realized—until he allowed himself to slow down and think about it—how much he wanted it. And how soon.

Clearing his throat, he flipped on his blinker and turned down Austin’s driveway. Three minutes later, he pulled up to the house and turned the engine off. “Come on,” he said, nodding toward Christine.

She widened her eyes as she looked out the window. “Isn’t it too early? Will they be up?”

Sean laughed. Only in the mind of a city girl. “Yeah. Emma and Austin will be up.” He hopped out of the truck and waved toward the orange streak against the horizon. “And probably pretty angry that I’m so late.”

Christine unbuckled and climbed down. “Really? Wow. And I thought I got up early.”

“Yeah. No. Not rancher early.” He made his way across the lawn and up the front steps to the door. He waited for Christine to join him.

Once she was next to him, he turned the handle and stepped inside. “We’re here.” He called, stepping out of the way so that Christine could follow after him.

“We?” Austin called from the kitchen. He appeared in the doorway with his eyebrows raised. “And you’re late.” He made his way down the hall and extended his hand toward Christine. “You are?”

Christine met his gesture. “Christine Jordan. Or as Sean likes to call me, The Dragon.”

Austin snorted. “Really?”

Sean shrugged. “Hey, tell him why you’re here.” He met her gaze and nodded toward Austin.

Her eyes widened as she glanced in the direction he’d motioned. “I’m with the IRS.”

“She’s auditing my Pop’s farm,” he said, shoving his hands into his front pockets. In those five little words, all the feelings of frustration came rushing back to him. She was here to take away his farm. Something he’d been working like a dog to save.

“Oh.” An uncomfortable look passed across Austin’s face. “I’m sorry.”

The air became awkward around them. The need to get out of the room caused Sean to clap Austin on the shoulder. “Ready to get out of here?” Right now, he needed to work and not think.

Austin nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” He stepped toward the staircase. “Em?” he called.

A few seconds later, Emma appeared at the top of the stairs. She had on her bathrobe. “Yeah?”

“This is Christine. She’s with Sean. Can she hang with you while we go brand some cattle?”

Emma smiled down at them. “Sure. Come on up.” She waved her hand toward Christine. “I’m getting ready and with this giant stomach, it takes me ten times as long.”

Christine hesitated, her gaze falling to Sean. He nodded and motioned for her to move. “Go ahead. I know it looks like she could devour you, but she won’t.”

“Whack him for me, Austin.”

Austin turned and punched him in the shoulder.

“Ouch,” Sean said, moving away to rub his shoulder.

Christine held up her hands. “I’m going before this turns into a brawl.”

Sean nodded. “Probably a good idea. I’d wipe the floor with him.”

Austin raised his eyebrows. “Them are fighting words.”

Christine was halfway up the stairs, so Sean turned and stuck out his hand. “Truce?”

Austin nodded. “Truce.” They shook, and then Austin waved toward the door. “Let’s go get this done.”