One Lonely Widower. One Woman with a Secret. One Night That Changes Everything…
Rohn Lerner is a successful Oklahoma rancher. He’s old enough to know what he likes, and still young enough to enjoy it. But losing his wife five years ago wore him thin. He’s not ready to date, but he needs someone to share a meal with as badly as someone to warm his bed.
Bonnie Martin fled her Oklahoma home years ago, leaving behind her abusive father, and Rohn, the lost love she never forgot. Now she’s back to settle her father’s estate, but she has no idea that she’s about to bump into Rohn or that they’ll fall for each other all over again.
“Johnson…sensitively paints a sweet and sizzling contemporary romance” Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Some days no matter what a man did nothing seemed to go right. Today at
the Double L Ranch was one of those days.
Rohn Lerner let out a sigh tinged with frustration as he found his three
ranch hands shooting the breeze by the barn instead of tackling all the chores
that needed to get done.
“Hey!” He strode toward the group.
“Hey, boss.” Tyler tipped his chin in Rohn’s direction. “What’s up?”
Tyler was usually the ringleader of the lazy hands so his what’s up particularly rubbed Rohn the
wrong way today. They’d know what was up if they weren’t so busy jabbering.
Rohn came to a stop as he reached the three young men. “The bull pushed
over the water trough again.”
Tyler glanced at the field where the bull was currently penned without
water. He scrunched up his face and looked back to Rohn. “Yeah, I saw that
before.”
Rohn’s eyes widened at the revelation. “Then why aren’t you over there
refilling it?”
These boys had been working for Rohn for enough years that they should
know what to do without him having to tell him.
Colton knocked his hat back a notch. “We’re fixin’ to get to it, Rohn.
Relax.”
“You’re fixin’ to get to it?” Being told to relax by an employee half his
age made Rohn’s blood pressure rise. “And when would that be, this getting to it?”
“We were going to head over right after lunch.” Justin, a couple years
older and apparently wiser than the other two, stepped in with his attempt to
soothe the situation.
“That bull is worth his weight in cash, so how about if he gets his water
before y’all get your lunch?” Rohn would really like to know when the youth of
this country had been taught that it was all right to talk back to their boss.
Probably about the same time they’d convinced themselves it was all right to
put off doing important tasks until later.
Justin gave a nod. “A’ight, Rohn. Sorry, but you know in this kinda
weather the hose bakes in the sun and we have to drain the hot water outta it
before we can fill the tanks. I just figured since we were going to scrub and
refill all the buckets after lunch anyway, we’d take care of it then instead of
wasting the water draining it twice.”
They had been through some pretty bad droughts lately in this part of the
country, and wildfires were always an issue in Oklahoma. Justin’s point about
saving water was a valid one, but Rohn was in no mood to concede that.
He cocked one brow. “Then maybe you outta finish all the watering now and
then take a late lunch.”
Tyler blew out a breath. “Somebody’s cranky today.”
“Today?” Colton frowned beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. “Try every
damn day lately.”
“Yeah?” Rohn lifted his brows high and hooked a thumb toward the drive.
“There’s the way out. Y’all feel free to hit the road and look for another job
whenever you want.”
Colton snickered. “Yeah. All right.”
It was Rohn’s own damn fault. He’d always been more of a friend to these
kids than a boss. He’d joke around and act like a buddy, but in his current
mood that last threat hadn’t been completely in jest.
Tyler turned to Colton and Justin. “Can you two go on over, right that
trough and start on the water? I’ll meet you out there in a bit and we’ll
figure out how to make it stay upright for good this time.”
Colton’s mouth dropped open. “Since when do you get to tell Justin and me
what to do?”
“Since I wanna talk to Rohn alone for a minute.” Tyler crossed his arms
over his chest, not backing down.
“Come on, Colt. Let’s go.” Justin tipped his head toward the field.
Colton continued to sputter. “But why should we?”
“So we can talk crap about Ty behind his back, that’s why.” With a grin,
Justin winked at Tyler and pivoted on the heel of one boot toward the pasture.
Colton shot Tyler a parting glance that expressed exactly what he thought about
the situation, but followed Justin.
Once they were gone, Tyler turned to Rohn. A crease furrowed the forehead
above his dark brows. “You a’ight? You need to talk?”
Rohn let out a snort. “What, are you a therapist now?”
“No, I’m your friend. And it wasn’t too long ago you pulled me aside to
talk privately when I was wrestling with some shit of my own. Remember?”
That all had been barely a couple of months ago. Back when Rohn had been
dumb or desperate enough to listen to Colton and ask his widowed neighbor Janie
out on a date. Rohn remembered that dinner with Janie, as well as the exact
moment he’d figured out that the woman already had feelings for Tyler.
That’s what Rohn got for taking relationship advice from a
twentysomething-year-old cowboy with little experience and no serious
girlfriend that he knew of.
Meanwhile, being twenty-four and dense as a lump of coal, Tyler had been
too young and stupid to realize how Janie felt until Rohn had explained it to
him.
Nope. Rohn hadn’t forgotten any of it. “Yeah, I remember. Except what you
were wrestling with was that a beautiful, smart, intelligent woman was in love
with you. So, I’m sure that shit
wasn’t all that difficult for you to get over.”
Tyler tipped his head. “I was miserable for a while, just the same, and
you stepped in and straightened me out.”
“Somebody had to.” Proven by the fact that since that conversation as far
as Rohn could see, the couple was not only together, but looking pretty serious.
If he wasn’t mistaken, Tyler was all but living at Janie’s. “So are you
officially moved in to her place yet, or just staying over there every night?”
Tyler opened his eyes wide. “Wait a minute. Is that what this crap mood
of yours is about? You’re upset I’m with Janie?”
“No, I’m not upset you’re with Janie.” Rohn shook his head, sorry he’d
said anything at all. “As long as you’re treating her right, I’m happy for her
and for you. That’s not it at all.”
“Then what is it?” Beneath the brim of his hat, Tyler drew his brows low.
“Nothing.” His love life, or lack of one, was one thing Rohn didn’t want
to discuss with a cocky twenty-four-year-old who had everything in the world at
his fingertips and his whole future ahead of him.
“Rohn, come on. Just spill it.” Tyler crossed his arms and leaned back
against the fence, as if he was willing to wait as long as it took.
Damn persistent kid. Rohn silently mouthed a cuss, but finally gave in.
“I guess I’m just kinda lonely sometimes, okay?”
Tyler threw his hands in the air. “That’s why I’ve been telling you to
come out with us. You ain’t meeting any girls here at the ranch.”
“And I told you I don’t want to meet girls
and I’m not going to find a woman of any substance at the bars where you yahoos
hang out.”
“Then set up one of those online dating accounts. They have them for
older folks now.”
“Older folks?” Rohn let out a snort as that hit him hard, like a punch to
the gut. “Great. Thanks a lot.”
How the hell old did these kids think he was, anyway? Rohn had quite a
few years left before he turned fifty. Enough years he felt justified still
holding on tight to his claim of being in his early forties. Okay, maybe he was
inching closer to his midforties, but
still.
“I’m not trying to insult you, Rohn. I’m just trying to give you some
options.”
“Well, no offense, Tyler, and thanks for trying, but I don’t like your
options.”
The kid had work to do still, and lunch to eat, but he didn’t seem to be
in any hurry to get going. Tyler stayed put, eyeing Rohn. “You know, if it’s
just sex you’re missing, there are girls you can call for that. . . .”
“Jesus, Tyler. Please stop talking.” Rohn scrubbed his hands over his
face, ignoring the dust and dirt he’d probably smeared all over himself.
“I’m serious. You can probably ask for any age woman you want, too, if
you don’t want a girl who’s too young.”
Letting out a laugh at the ridiculousness of this surreal conversation,
Rohn still couldn’t help but ask, “How the hell would you know about any of
that?”
Rohn had no doubt this former playboy had never had to hire a
professional in that area. Before settling into a relationship with Janie,
Tyler was the type of guy who would never have come home from a rodeo or a
night out on the town without a willing recipient of his affections in his
passenger seat.
Sure, over the years Tyler had probably spent a small fortune buying
drinks for women before he got a little loving in return, but to outright pay a
prostitute for sex? No way. Rohn couldn’t see it happening. Not for Tyler and
definitely not for himself.
“I planned my brother’s bachelor
party. The place I hired the stripper from also offers girls who provide other services, if you know what I mean.
I have the phone number—“ Tyler reached to pull his cell phone out of his jeans
pocket.
Rohn threw up one hand to stop him. “No. Enough. I don’t want the number.
Not now. Not ever. Okay?”
The dead last thing Rohn needed was Tyler putting some stupid idea into
his head about paying a woman to have sex with him. Worse, as the years of
celibacy since his wife Lila’s death started to add up to be more than he could
count on one hand, the idea didn’t seem as horrifying to him as it should.
He’d been lucky enough to love two women in his life. Bonnie Martin for
that single magical perfect summer after high school. And Lila, who’d been his
wife and best friend for the fifteen years they were married.
Rohn knew finding love again, a third time and at his age, was a long
shot. But that didn’t mean he was willing to explore the alternative Tyler had
suggested.
“Okay, but if you change your mind . . .” Tyler let the suggestion hang
in the air.
This conversation had gone on for too long already, and all it had done
was make Rohn more agitated. He’d gone from cranky to being both appalled and
needy. As crazy as it seemed, talking about strippers and hookers had woken up
his long suppressed sex drive.
“a moving story about second chances and rediscovered love that will delight fans” RT Magazine
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