Heartless: A Small Town Single Dad Romance

Rhett: Where you kids at?

Willa: Working on ruining our blood sugar. You?

Rhett: Jasper and I just pulled up. Wanna meet near Cade’s truck?

Willa: Sure, we’ll head your way.

Rhett: I’m supposed to tell you to be careful.

Willa: Of what?

Rhett: I think my brother’s words were: she’s clueless that a bunch of dumbass cowboys keep humping her leg when she walks past.

Willa: Cool, cool, cool. I’ll try not to trip while they do.

Iwasn’t lying when I told Luke we were getting all the sugar. Being around Cade makes me want to drink, but that’s not an option when you’re taking care of a child. So I lean on sweet, sweet sugar.

“I can’t decide which flavor I like better,” Luke announces from beside me as we weave through the crowd.

“Why choose? Cinnamon sugar and brown sugar don’t need to compete. Mini donuts are a win, no matter what.” I stick my hand out to Luke as we press into the thickening crowd. “Stay close, bud. It’s busy.”

Cowboys as far as the eye can see, right when I’ve realized I’ve only got eyes for one. Over a year of me making jokes to Summer about saving horses and riding cowboys, and I don’t even want the rest of them. I was fine until he took care of me. Held my goddamn hair up and rubbed my back.

I still refuse to accept that people normally do that for their employees. And the fact he did has me overthinking things something fierce because, if I’m being honest, getting turned down is a new phenomenon for me. And I’m a little bit pissed about it. A little bit embarrassed.

A little bit wounded because Cade is such a good man. I’d want more than just sex, and he doesn’t even want that. It’s a rough blow to what I’m realizing is my already fragile ego.

I’ve never considered myself self-conscious, but the other night Cade made some points I keep turning over in my mind. Things about myself I’ve never realized.

“There’s uncle Rhett!” Luke shouts up at me, knocking me off the winding path I got lost on in my mind.

Rhett’s hard to miss with his shoulder length hair and cocky grin, one that morphs into a wide smile when he hears Luke shouting his name and sees me getting dragged behind the boy.

“Hey, little psycho.” Rhett picks up Luke and tosses him onto his shoulders, giving him the best view in the house. He turns to me and nods his head. “Willa.”

“Hi.” I return his smile. I like Rhett Eaton. I especially like him for my best friend. It’s the worst when your friends date someone you can’t stand, but that’s not the case with Rhett. They’re perfect together, and I can’t wait to see their insanely beautiful babies one day. That is, if Summer will ever hammer down a wedding date. Because she’d never do things out of order.

“Hey, Willa.” Jasper pops up beside Rhett, several inches taller and looking like he wishes he were anywhere else but here.

I crane my neck back to meet his blue eyes. They aren’t bright and sparkly, they’re deep and dark, almost navy. “Good lord, what are they feeding you Grizzly boys? Somehow, I missed you being this tall.” He must be at least six foot four.

He smiles, but there’s something pinched about it. “Seems to be a thing for goaltenders these days. I’m lucky I fit the bill, I guess.”

His self-deprecating response reminds me of something I’d say—chalking my skill up to luck or my hard work up to genetics. The difference is, he’s an NHL player and I’m a bartender.

“Let’s head to the bleachers and get a good seat.” Rhett claps Jasper on the back and gives me a nod, and I follow him, Jasper hanging back closer to me. I feel like I’m being escorted by bodyguards. People get out of the way when these guys walk through.

They also stop and stare. Some even say hi.

When we turn up the bleacher steps, Rhett’s head swivels, scanning for a spot. Luke is still on his shoulders, pointing somewhere. Jasper moves ahead of me, long legs taking every other step. But when he glances back and sees me falling behind, he stops on a landing and then opts to take each step. He doesn’t say anything, but I know he’s acutely aware of us all staying together. It’s busy and these country boys are protective as hell.

Only proven further by the way Rhett moves down a row and Jasper sends me in first, opening one arm wide and gesturing me through before following behind me. When we’re seated, Luke is beside me and we’re flanked by two tall men.

Worse things have happened to me in my life.

Luke immediately tells Rhett how he’s going to ride bulls when he grows up. Rhett and I exchange a look, knowing that Cade would probably keel over if this ever really happened.

“Do you know much about this team penning stuff?” I ask Jasper, tipping my chin down to the ring.

He nods. “Yeah. I’m actually not bad at it myself. We all practiced a lot as kids.”

“Really?” My brow quirks.

“You don’t grow up at Wishing Well Ranch and not learn how to pen and rope and cut and toss a lasso.”

“Well, shit.” I lean back a little, wrapping my hands around one knee. “Color me impressed, Jasper Gervais.”

He chuckles, eyes crinkling at the sides—which does nothing but remind me of Cade.

That’s where the similarities end though. Jasper is quiet, but there’s a gentleness about him. He’s introspective. There are things that weigh on him. Years behind a bar has honed my eye for people who carry invisible weight. He strikes me as . . . sad, maybe?

“Do you know anything about it?” he asks, eyes focused on the big dirt ring. There’s a pen with a bunch of cows at one end and a smaller pen nearby.

“Not a damn thing. I ride fancy jumping horses.”

“Okay, so basically a team of three will ride in. Those thirty cows all have numbers on them—three sets of ten—and the judge is going to call a random number. Then they’re going to separate the three cows with that number out and herd them down into the smaller pen on the opposite side.”

I nod and turn my lips down. “Okay.”

Jasper huffs out a soft chuckle. “It’s the rider’s job to predict how they might slip away. Bet you’re thinking that doesn’t sound so hard. But cows are pretty smart, and they like to stick together. Trickier than they look.”

I laugh at that. The cows look pretty cute to me with their big wide eyes and round wet noses.

“You’ll see them in real action when Cade pulls the cows up in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh?” I tilt my head.

“Yeah. Did Cade not tell you? It’s like a big family get-together at the ranch. We work all the cows. Get them vaccinated, check them over for fall—even though Cade is out there checking on them almost every damn day. Then there’s a big meal. Music.” He shrugs, staring back out over the ring. “It’s fun.”

“That sounds fun. Too bad Beau is away.”

A smile tugs at Jasper’s lips. “Yeah. It’s never quite the same without the class clown. But I think Violet is coming back. I don’t think you’ve met their sister yet. You’ll like her. She’s a fancy racehorse jockey. But it’s a surprise for Harvey, so keep that on the down-low.”

I wink at him. “We’ll unite in our fanciness, then, huh?”

Rhett must have overheard us because he says, “Jesus. You and Summer and Violet all together is going to be terrifying. Toss in Sloane? It’s going to be a mess.”

Jasper freezes for the briefest moment. “Sloane is coming?”

“Yeah, Vi told me the other day. She’s picking her up at the airport.”

Jasper covers whatever that physical reaction was with a chuckle. “Yeah. That’ll be quite the combo.”

“Who is Sloane?”

“Our cousin,” Rhett says right as Jasper says, “Their cousin. My friend.”

“Dude. You’re my brother. She’s our cousin. Don’t be weird about this. We’re too old for that shit.” Rhett shakes his head.

“We’ve stayed in touch in the city. You know that. I’m not related to her. She’s a good friend.”

Rhett rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about your last name, Jas. You’re an Eaton boy, like it or not.”

Jasper’s cheeks flush a little and his lips curve up. “I like it just fine, little Eaton.”

My head flips between them as they snipe back and forth. “Good god. You guys are adorable together.”

“Sloane is really pretty,” Luke announces when he surfaces for air out of his giant bag of mini donuts.

“Oooh.” I nudge my shoulder at him. “Does someone have a crush?” The boy rolls his eyes but his cheeks flame.

I bite back the laugh threatening to slip out. Luke doesn’t need me making fun of him about this, no matter how badly I want to.

The guys poke at Luke’s little shoulders until his ears turn red.

“She’s pretty, Lukey. No one denies that. Right, Jas?”

A little tendon in Jasper’s jaw twitches, but he nods and smiles all the same.

“Look!” Luke points to the area behind the metal gates. “There’s Dad!”

And there he is . . . warming up and looking sexy as hell. Shoulders held tall. Black hat. Black shirt with silver snaps. Black chaps. Black boots. Even Blueberry matches him.

“I wonder if he has a favorite color?” I ask to a chorus of laughs.

“He looks like Cowboy Batman,” Rhett says.

“Ooh. I like Batman,” Luke agrees while nodding.

Jasper chuckles. “He looks nervous is what he looks like. I told him I could show him some mental exercises I like to do before a game, and he told me to”—his fingers pop up in quotations—“take my soy-boy-woo-woo shit back to the city.”

Rhett cracks up. But I find myself feeling a little defensive of him, even though I know they’re joking. Even that does sound like something dickish that Cade would say.

“He’s got this,” is all I offer back with a firm nod.

“Wonder if Blueberry will hold her own against these horses? She’s seriously outclassed with the fancy penning horses Lance hauls around,” Rhett wonders out loud.

I toss an elbow in Rhett’s ribs. “Hey! We cleaned her up! She looks beautiful. Stop picking on them.”

“I heard Dad tell Grandpa it doesn’t matter how much money Blueberry is worth because she’s the biggest bitch he’s ever ridden, and her mean attitude already makes her a winner.”

I drop my face into my hands, body shaking with barely restrained laughter.

“Jesus, Luke. You gotta stop eavesdropping on people,” Rhett scolds, but the big grin on his face kills the intimidation factor.

Jasper pulls at the brim of his hat again, and I’m pretty sure it’s to hide his misty eyes.

My gaze finds Cade again, sitting so tall, chin held so high. He oozes confidence, and I can’t help but wonder if he actually feels it.

A cowboy says something to him, and his head tips back on a full laugh, reins held in one hand while the other rests casually on his leg. It’s nice to see him having fun after years and years of being responsible.

I don’t regret my dare at all.

Do I wish I’d dared him to take off my bathing suit instead? Sometimes.

But he needed something for himself more than he needed that. Something where he gets to be Cade Eaton, the individual, and not just Cade Eaton, the single dad and tireless rancher.

I must have a stupid smile on my face as I stare back at him because I feel an elbow nudge against mine. “It’s nice to see someone looking at Cade like that. Defending him like that,” Jasper says. “Like they can see him for who he is rather than the man circumstances forced him to become.”

“Getting kind of deep for a rodeo,” I whisper, not wanting to involve Rhett in this conversation because it will just turn into a big joke.

Jasper shrugs. “Wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. Would be nice to see him happy.”

I nod because I agree. It is nice to see him happy. “Where would you be without him?”

Jasper continues staring out into the ring, watching the first team ride in on their horses. He sighs deeply, and without sparing me a glance, he says, “If not for the Eaton boys, I’d probably be dead.”

When Cade enters the ring, you wouldn’t know he hasn’t taken part in a rodeo in years—possibly decades. He looks like a king sitting on his horse. Thick, round shoulders and veined forearms. Like everyone around him should fall to their knees in his presence.

My core twinges at the thought of falling to my knees for Cade. I wish he were less responsible. That he’d shirk all those pressures and just take me.

I’d get off on watching someone as steady as Cade completely lose it.

The judge calls out the numbers of the cows from their table, and Cade and his team members assess the cattle. When a buzzer sounds, time starts counting down and the three men on horseback jump into action.

There’s something mesmerizing about watching Cade. He knows what he’s doing. So sure. So cool and collected. He’s insanely capable, and I’ve never found that as attractive as I do now.

Capable in the ring.

Capable at the ranch.

Capable around his house.

I can’t help but let my mind wander into the gutter, wondering if he’s just as capable in bed. I decide he must be. No man walks around unaffected by people’s opinions of him unless he knows he packs a serious punch.

It’s that quiet confidence that has me crossing my legs and squeezing my thighs together, gripping the edge of the wooden bench beneath me.

His forearms ripple in the sun when his gloved hands squeeze on the reins. The tendons in his tanned neck flex as Blueberry cuts and dekes, her head drawn low, eyes laser-focused on the cows trying to get past her.

She has a mean expression on what is normally a sweet face.

It’s hard to see Cade’s expression from under the brim of his hat, but I suspect it’s a mirror image of hers. All focus.

I’m not familiar with this sport, but I am familiar with other equestrian sports—enough to know that nothing about Cade and Blueberry looks outclassed.

They’re living proof that working a ranch every day is all the practice they need. Watching him work gives me goose bumps and has me brushing up and down on my arms, even though it’s warm out.

Before I know it, they have two cows squared away in the pen and just the one is left swerving around Lance.

Cade reaches forward and swoops a hand over Blueberry’s muscular neck before loping to his aid.

And I want to be that horse. I want his hands on me. His weight on my back.

It’s pathetic to be jealous of a horse—but here I am.

I need to get over this. Stat. Pining is not my MO. Especially not over a guy who doesn’t want me.

“Oh! There she goes!” Luke squeals and shoots out of his seat, pointing down into the ring where Blueberry cuts low, haunches braced as she spins, her mane trailing in the air she quickly left behind.

“Get ’er, Cade!” Rhett shouts, up on his feet too.

I watch Cade. He’s poetry in motion—smooth and balanced—as Blueberry heads off the cow and guides it straight into the pen with the others.

I don’t know how the scoring works, so I don’t know if it was good or not, but I’m impressed, and that’s good enough for me to shoot up and cheer with Luke. The little boy beams up at me, beyond excited for his dad.

“Wasn’t he good, Willa?”

“Luke, he was the best! And did you see Blueberry? She’s perfect! We did good.” We fist-bump, and I catch Rhett tossing a questioning look at me, but I ignore it. I don’t know how much Summer tells him, and I don’t need everyone and their dog knowing I’m head over heels for Luke and well on my way to being the same for his dad.

“Can we go back and see him?”

“Of course, we can. You guys coming?” I ask Rhett and Jasper.

“For sure,” Rhett says. “Let’s go give the old man some ass pats for putting on such a good show.”

“He’s probably going to need a massage tomorrow,” Jasper tosses back.

“Willa can do that for him,” Luke slides in casually.

And we all freeze.

Rhett looks like a goddamn dog with a bone. “Oh yeah? Have Willa and your dad been swapping massages?”

“No. Just beds.”

I make a choking sound, and Jasper holds a fist up over his mouth.

“I got a stomach bug and Cade gave me his room for one night so I’d be near a bathroom,” I explain.

“Yeah. But wasn’t he massaging you that night you guys danced in the kitchen?” Luke says it so innocently, but my eyes bug out all the same.

“It’s . . . that’s . . .” I stare down at Luke.

“What?”

I feel my chest flush as I wrap a hand around Luke’s shoulder and turn him away from his uncle, who is enjoying this far too much.

Moving my hand to cover Luke’s ear, I lean toward Rhett. “Watch it, Eaton. I know where you live.”

“Yeah? What are you going to do? Come over and drink a bottle of champagne on my back deck? Braid your hair and have a pillow fight with Summer?”

“I’ll braid your hair. Then I’ll cut the braid off and wear it as a necklace for you mocking me.”

He chuckles. “You’re vicious, Willa. I like that about you.”

I shake my head and turn away, trying and failing to restrain the smile on my lips.

We cut down the bleachers and follow the fence line to the staging area. The guys are still on their horses, but beers are cracked and they’re all chatting and chuckling.

The minute Luke catches sight of him, he surges forward. “Dad!”

Cade’s face breaks into the brightest smile as he reaches down and hauls his boy up into the tack in front of him. He gives him a tight squeeze, and my heart clenches in perfect synchronicity as my eyes fall to the swell of his biceps and the way they flex.

“Great work out there,” I say, offering a small wave to the other guys.

Rhett and Jasper stride in behind me, offering handshakes that clap with their force and back slaps that appear borderline painful.

“You all coming out tonight to celebrate our win?” Lance asks with a smile.

“Nah. Sorry, man,” Cade replies, with a brief nod toward the back of Luke’s head.

“I can take Luke,” Rhett offers. “I need a night in after traveling so much.”

Cade shakes his head, clearly not wanting to go out and using Luke as an excuse.

“How about you, Red?” Lance says, and I visibly flinch because I’ve come to associate that nickname with Cade. It somehow feels like that’s his name for me.

When I peek up at Cade, his jaw is set, teeth working with a grimace on his lips.

I wave the cowboy off. “Nah. I’m good.”

“It’s supposed to be your day off, Willa. You should go,” Cade bites out.

I rear back a little as I stare up at him. It feels like he just slapped me. Like he’s trying to pawn me off on someone else. But he doesn’t look pleased about it either.

He’s an awful lot of work some days, and the rush of annoyance at him has me shaking my head in disbelief.

It has me feeling reckless. A little spiteful. I’m not necessarily proud of this facet of my personality, but it’s here all the same. I get mad and I get even.

“Thanks for the permission, Cade,” I snip, watching Jasper fidget with the brim of his hat again while Rhett stares back with wide eyes. I turn to Lance. “Since the boss gives it his stamp of approval, yes. Let’s go out.”

He smiles back, giving off sweet, boy-next-door vibes. “Alright, cowgirl. Off we go.” He points one lanky arm in the direction of the trailers parked in the back.

I swallow a big gulp of dry prairie air and observe the way his body moves in the tack. Not my type at all.

Because apparently my type is a broody asshole cowboy whose handsome face I would currently like to stomp with the heel of my boot.

But then I’d want to kiss it better too.

It’s only when I walk toward Lance that I glance over my shoulder. Cade is still sitting on Blueberry and his eyes are laser-focused on me.

I wait for a beat. Hoping he’ll say something. Tell me to stay. Ask me to go home with him instead. I love it when he says home like it’s our home.

But he doesn’t.

So I go.