Allison Collins - Falling For The Rebel Cowboy

AN UNLIKELY FAMILY

As a single mother overseeing the biggest merger in her company’s history, Francine Wentworth doesn’t have time for romantic entanglements, especially with a cowboy like Wyatt Sullivan. Tall and handsome with a rebellious reputation, Wyatt is the exact type of man Francine should avoid. But her heart melts completely when her four-year-old son instantly bonds with Wyatt and becomes his little shadow.

As the three spend time together in the Montana mountains, Wyatt shows Francine the beauty of a life beyond work. Yet as tempting as the idea of being with Wyatt is, what future could they have? Francine needs to focus on the merger and her life back in New York, but her heart and her son have other plans!

ALLISON B. COLLINS is an award-winning author and a fifth-generation Texan, so it’s natural for her to love all things Western. It’s a tough job to spend evenings writing about cowboys, rodeos and precocious children, but Allison is willing to do it to bring them all to life. She lives in Dallas with her hero husband of almost thirty years, who takes great care of her and their four rambunctious cats.

Also By Allison B. Collins

Cowboys to Grooms

A Family for the Rancher

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Falling for the Rebel Cowboy

Allison B. Collins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08476-5

FALLING FOR THE REBEL COWBOY

© 2018 Allison B. Collins

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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“I wish you were my daddy.”

Wyatt’s steps faltered, and the breath backed up in his lungs. He swore his heart squeezed tight. Me, too, bud. Me, too.

Then he wondered if Frankie had heard what Johnny said. How would she feel about that?

Frankie led the way to her suite, then opened the door. Wyatt followed her to Johnny’s room, and helped her get him settled for bed.

All tucked in bed, Johnny suddenly grabbed Wyatt’s hand. “Don’t leave.”

“You need to get some sleep, bud.”

“Just a little while? Please, Mommy? Can’t you both stay?”

Frankie looked at him, a question in her eyes.

“Sure.”

Frankie took off her shoes and laid down next to Johnny, gathered him in her arms. Wyatt pried his boots off, then lay behind her, and pulled them both close.

Is this what he wanted? A family? To be responsible for not just a wife, but a child...

Dear Reader,

Welcome back to the Sullivan Guest Ranch in Montana! This is the second book in my Cowboys to Grooms series with Harlequin Western Romance about brothers Nash, Kade, Wyatt, Luke and Hunter. Nash’s story was my first in the series—A Family for the Rancher.

This is Wyatt’s story—he’s my rebel cowboy. He left home at seventeen, an angry young man with a learning disability, roaring out of the ranch on a motorcycle. He’s back in Montana now after realizing this is where he needs to be, mending physical and familial fences with his dad and four brothers, and trying to put his past behind him.

Francine Wentworth is a top executive at her father’s company in New York. They are working on a big merger and want absolute secrecy, so they’ve come to the ranch for business meetings. Francine has brought her adorable four-year-old son, John Allen—I adore this kid! She’s torn between her job and having time with her son, but Wyatt shows her how to relax and have fun with both of them. And she even learns how to wrangle cows, too!

I hope you all enjoy returning to the Sullivans in Montana, and that you fall a little bit in love with Wyatt—as much as I did.

Happy reading!

Allison

Acknowledgments

The old saying “It takes a village” is absolutely true, even for writers who lead a solitary life, entrenched in the lives of their characters.

First and foremost, I couldn’t have written this book without my amazing friends and critique partners Suzanne Clark, Angela Hicks and Sasha Summers. Thank you for the countless hours of brainstorming, critiquing, texting, emailing, and for always being there. I love you, ladies!

Thank you to my wonderful editor, Johanna Raisanen, for believing in me and my cowboy heroes. It’s such a pleasure working with you!

I reached out to my Facebook friends to help name Wyatt’s horse. I loved the suggestion of “Deacon” given by Dan Hill. Thanks, Uncle Dan! Deacon is exactly what Wyatt would have named his horse.

As always, thank you to my husband for being my rock. You are the love of my life.

And to my readers, thank you for being a part of my journey as an author!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Angela Ackerman and Rebecca Puglisi, for giving authors everywhere—especially me!—the game-changing resources to delve deep into our characters and make them memorable. You know I’m your #1 fan!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Acknowledgments

Dedication

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

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Wyatt Sullivan stared at the beauty on the grass, glistening in the Montana sun. He knew each part of her intimately—he’d had his hands on every inch of her more times than he could count. With some pampering and TLC, he would get her purring beneath him again. After all, they didn’t make tractors like this nowadays.