Cathy Mcdavid - Aidan - Loyal Cowboy

Home Is Where The Hart Is…

Aidan “Ace” Hart left Flynn McKinley heartbroken when he put family duty above her feelings. Then one night, the old passions were reignited and now Flynn is about to get something she’s always wanted—a child to love.

Ace takes his responsibilities very seriously. Running Thunder Ranch and his busy veterinary practice leaves little time for a personal life. That’ll only get worse now that he’s spending every spare minute with Midnight, the champion rodeo stallion he hopes will save the ranch from financial disaster.

Flynn refuses to marry Ace and be yet one more “responsibility” to him. She wants Ace to want to marry her! And until he admits he loves her, she’s determined to raise her baby alone….

Flynn bumped elbows with Ace. “Quit being such a guy and admit it.”

He laughed. “Okay, you got me. I like helping people. And animals. Even fluffy little kittens.”

She lifted her gaze to him and said softly, “I bet you do like kittens.”

“Babies, too.”

Her heart flip-flopped.

This wasn’t good. If Flynn expected to guard herself from the temptations Ace Hart presented, she couldn’t go all mushy inside just because he said baby in that silky voice of his.

She was strong, she could resist.

And she might have succeeded if he didn’t reach up and brush a lock of flyaway hair from her face. The sensation of his fingers brushing her skin sent shivers coursing through her.

Steady, girl.

He leaned in, and her willpower flew out the window. He was making it hard to resist him.

Dear Reader,

I’m absolutely thrilled to be kicking off Harlequin American Romance’s newest continuity, Harts of the Rodeo. This series has all the elements that fans of romance love to read about and we Harlequin American authors love to write about. A small-town setting, complicated family dynamics, dark and difficult pasts, unplanned pregnancies, single parenthood, secret children, substance addiction, a string of thefts, rodeos, handsome, sexy cowboys—naturally—and last but not least, a magnificent bucking horse, Midnight, who resides at the center of each story.

My hero, Aidan “Ace” Hart, is like a lot of men. He believes it’s his job to carry the responsibility for his family’s horse breeding business on his shoulders alone. Ace’s loyalty to his family, while admirable, jeopardizes his relationship with Flynn McKinley, the girl next door, Ace’s one-time sweetheart and the soon-to-be mother of his child. On top of everything else, he must rehabilitate Midnight, the unmanageable stud horse he and his mother purchased in the hopes of rescuing the family from the brink of financial danger.

Be sure and check out next month’s book, Colton: Rodeo Cowboy by C.J. Carmichael, which features my hero Ace’s younger brother Colt, his love interest, Leah, and continues the exciting story of Midnight, the horse destined to unite the Harts.

Warmest wishes,

Cathy McDavid

P.S. I always enjoy hearing from readers. You can contact me at cathy@cathymcdavid.com.

Aidan: Loyal Cowboy

Cathy McDavid

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cathy makes her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, near the breathtaking McDowell Mountains, where hawks fly overhead, javelina traipse across her front yard and mountain lions occasionally come calling. She embraced the country life at an early age, acquiring her first horse in eighth grade. Dozens of horses followed through the years, along with mules, an obscenely fat donkey, chickens, ducks, goats and a pot-bellied pig who had her own swimming pool. Nowadays, two spoiled dogs and two spoiled-er cats round out the McDavid pets. Cathy loves contemporary and historical ranch stories and often incorporates her own experiences into her books.

When not writing, Cathy and her family and friends spend as much time as they can at her cabin in the small town of Young. Of course, she takes her laptop with her on the chance inspiration strikes.

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Aidan: Loyal Cowboy

To all the people who made this book possible. First, the five lovely and talented ladies who are my co-authors in this continuity—C.J. Carmichael, Roz Denny Fox, Shelley Galloway, Marin Thomas and Linda Warren. Your creativity amazes me, and I am truly honored to share this continuity with you.

It’s true that behind every good author is a good editor. I’ve been fortunate to work with Kathleen Scheibling since I started writing for Harlequin. I can’t thank you enough, Kathleen, for all the opportunities you’ve given me and all the faith you’ve placed in me. Writing books for Harlequin isn’t just my job, it’s my passion and a dream come true. I’m also delighted to have worked with Johanna Raisanen on this and the previous continuities. There isn’t a more conscientious, more charming, more intelligent editor. Just how lucky can an author get?

Last, I must give a nod of appreciation to Walter Farley, author of the Black Stallion and Island Stallion series. The books I discovered in third grade led to a lifelong love affair with horses and, ultimately, Aidan: Loyal Cowboy.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

Mid-March in southeastern Montana was no time of year for a bucking horse auction. And yet, better than a hundred people had driven as many miles or more, braved ice-covered highways and trudged across acres of gray-brown slush, all in search of a bargain.

Ace Hart among them.

He stood with seven other potential customers, appraising the coal-black stallion and contemplating his finer qualities, which, at first glance, appeared in short supply.

The horse, slightly underweight for his intended use and a bit on the rangy side, had backed himself into the farthest corner of the pen. Ears flat, head stretched forward and nostrils flaring, he stomped a front hoof in the wet, mucky ground, flinging clumps of mud into the air. The customers took the horse’s warning seriously and maintained a respectful distance, some of them scratching notes on the back of their bidding numbers for reference when the auction started.

Normally Ace would pass up a potentially aggressive horse like this one, outstanding bloodlines or not. But the animal’s eyes, alert, inquisitive and highly intelligent, told Ace what he needed to know better than the AQHA registration papers taped to the pen railing.

This was no ordinary horse and no ordinary stallion.

The Midnight Express, or just plain Midnight as he was once known on the rodeo circuit, had been born to buck, his purpose in life to unseat any cowboy with nerve enough to ride him into the arena. Most of those rides had ended with the cowboy eating a face full of dirt.

No more.

If Ace purchased Midnight—make that when, he’d already decided the horse was his—he’d use Midnight exclusively for breeding purposes. Ace wasn’t the kind of business manager or big-animal veterinarian to risk injuring a valuable investment.