A heartwarming story of a cowboy who comes home to the family ranch for a wedding filled with surprises…
Million Dollar Cowboy
Cupid, Texas #5
Lori Wilde
Releasing March 28, 2017
Avon Books
New York Times Bestselling Author Lori Wilde returns to Cupid, Texas with a heartwarming story of a cowboy who comes home to the family ranch for a wedding filled with surprises…
The illegitimate son of a Texas ranching dynasty, Ridge Lockhart left home ten years ago with one goal: to become more successful than the father who never accepted him.
Mission accomplished, but now he’s back at the Silver Feather Ranch for a wedding—three days of best man duty until he can hightail it out. Then he spies Kaia Alzate, and suddenly leaving isn’t quite so appealing.
Kaia Alzate grew up the daughter of the ranch foreman, servants to the mighty Lockharts in the mansion. Back then, she followed Ridge around like a puppy. Now, she’s fighting the attraction she feels for this sexy CEO. She’s determined not to make a big mistake—but when Ridge takes her in his arms she’s stunned…could he be the man she’s waited for all along?
The illegitimate son of a Texas ranching dynasty, Ridge Lockhart left home ten years ago with one goal: to become more successful than the father who never accepted him.
Mission accomplished, but now he’s back at the Silver Feather Ranch for a wedding—three days of best man duty until he can hightail it out. Then he spies Kaia Alzate, and suddenly leaving isn’t quite so appealing.
Kaia Alzate grew up the daughter of the ranch foreman, servants to the mighty Lockharts in the mansion. Back then, she followed Ridge around like a puppy. Now, she’s fighting the attraction she feels for this sexy CEO. She’s determined not to make a big mistake—but when Ridge takes her in his arms she’s stunned…could he be the man she’s waited for all along?
At this distance, with the
width of the landing strip between them, he hadn’t gotten a clear view of her
face, but his initial impression was that she was more pretty than beautiful,
while her body language exuded a come-sit-by-me friendliness that drew him. She
was curvy enough to let him know that she enjoyed a good splurge meal now and
again, but she was also healthy and fit. Her skin was tan and supple, her eyes
soft and bright, her teeth straight and white. She took good care of herself.
But it was the way she
carried herself that totally wrecked him. Confidence mixed with humility. She
had an authentic stride full of wholehearted openness. The last person he’d
known who’d possessed that special combo was Archer Alzate’s kid sister, Kaia.
He hadn’t seen Kaia
face-to-face since she was sixteen and she had attended his and Archer’s
graduation from the University of Texas. But two years ago, Archer called him
to tell him that while working on her doctorate in veterinarian medicine at
Texas A&M, Kaia had been in a terrible car accident and fractured her
pelvis. Ridge had flown straight to College Station to see her only to discover
she was in a medically induced coma.
The waiting room had been
packed with her family and friends, and no one noticed him standing in the
doorway. After so much time away he’d felt awkward and misplaced, an outsider.
Not wanting to turn Kaia’s accident into a stage for his return, he’d slipped
quietly away without speaking to the family. But later he texted Archer to meet
him in the parking lot to get an update on Kaia’s condition. Archer gave him
the rundown, including the fact Kaia had such a high medical deductible he
didn’t know how she was ever going to afford to finish her degree.
Once Ridge knew she was
stable and going to pull through, he went to the business office, anonymously
paid the fifteen-thousand-dollar deductible toward her medical bills, and swore
Archer to secrecy.
Later, when she was out of
the coma, he sent flowers and a card and he’d gotten back a kind thankyou note,
and their correspondence had ended there. Archer kept his word and Kaia never
knew Ridge had come to see her or that he was the one who paid her deductible.
Ridge slipped off his sunglasses
for a clearer look at the provocative woman. From the back seat of the Tundra,
she extracted an oversized present wrapped in gold foil. The package was so big
and the backseat so small. How she’d managed to cram it in?
She tossed her head, a
triumphant smile on her face, and turned in his direction. Their gazes met
across an empty desert.
For a split second, his
heart stopped.
Her obsidian eyes arrested
him, a mysterious color that suggested hot summer nights and low, deep-throated
whispers. Ripples of recognition jolted his nervous system, both shocking and
exhilarating. He knew her.
Kaia Alzate.
Freakadilly circus, he’d
been lusting after little Kaia Alzate. Hot for the girl he’d once dubbed the
Braterminator.
Ridge coolly slipped his
sunglasses back down over his eyes. She’d pestered the hell out of him and
Archer when they were kids. Tagging along everywhere they went, tattling if
they stepped out of line, and generally being a run-of-the-mill
pain-in-the-ass. He might have hidden his eyes from her, but he couldn’t hide
the goose bumps spreading over his skin, pushing an insistent heat into his
bloodstream as he watched her from behind the safety of the polarized lenses of
his aviator Ray-Bans.
Her snapping black eyes
sparkled with glee, as an enthusiastic grin split her mouth wide. She had
recognized him too, and she looked more than happy to see him.
His gut dove the way it
did whenever he’d practiced a stall in pilot training, spinning, whirling, and
hurtling headlong toward the earth.
Thank God her hands were
full because he had the distinct impression that if she’d been empty-handed,
she would have come flying across the tarmac to hug the stuffing out of him.
He didn’t mean to do it,
told himself he wasn’t going to do it, but damn if he couldn’t help sliding his
gaze over her body. After all, she had no idea what his eyes were doing behind
the sunglasses.
Thank you, Ray-Bans.
She moved toward him, arms
strapped around the oversized present. Stopped. Cast a glance over her shoulder
at the main house. Swung her gaze back to him. She wanted to come over, but
didn’t seem to know what to do with the package.
He kept his face
unreadable, but gave her a respectful nod. I see you, but no need to rush or
gush or make a fuss.
Deliberately, he turned
away, telling himself it was to chalk the plane’s tires, and it had nothing to
do with the fact his chest was tight and his head fuzzy. And a smile he could
not stop was pushing across his face.
He was happy to see her
too. So happy it freaked him out.
Once the chalks were in
place, and he reined in his galloping pulse, Ridge raised his head, ready to
dish up a slick greeting.
But she was gone.
Yay. Great. Perfect. He’d
avoided her exuberant hug. Good work.
Why then, did he feel so
bummed?
A sweet and sexy romance between childhood friends and soulmates. I liked Ridge and Kaia as a couple and her family was great. I loved the family legend about how only the women in Kaia's family know when they find their soulmates and I hope we get to see the rest of her sisters find theirs. Overall an enjoyable read, but the relationship between Ridge and his family is complicated and not fully resolved. Hopefully these issues will be addressed in future books with Ridge's brothers.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
Lori Wilde is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 70 works of romantic fiction. She is a two-time RITA award nominee, a four time Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice nominee and has won numerous other awards. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Texas Christian University and holds a certificate in nursing forensics. An animal lover, Lori is owned by several pets, and lives in Texas with her husband, Bill.
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