Her Hidden Falls Anti-Hero Cowboy Read online

  Her Hidden Falls Anti-Hero Cowboy

  Hardman Brothers Ranch Romances

  Taylor Hart

  Basically add in Kent

  Copyright

  All rights reserved.

  © 2019 ArchStone Ink

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. The reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form whether electronic, mechanical or other means, known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written consent of the publisher and/or author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This edition is published by ArchStone Ink LLC.

  First eBook Edition: 2019

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the creation of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  To my dad—Chad—the original cowboy hero in my life.

  He would never say he was a hero—but his love and care and support in my life has meant everything to me.

  His example of how a man should treat his family, love his wife, and care for his daughters has given me hope and light and the ability to believe I could soar at anything I do!

  Thank you, dad! I love you!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Her Second Chance Prodigal Groom by Taylor Hart

  Her Protector Billionaire Groom by Taylor Hart

  Also by Taylor Hart

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Ryan Hardman didn’t want to talk about her. The ‘her’ that his best friend and business partner seemed to have some sick fascination with. The ‘her’ that he’d never really stopped thinking about. The ‘her’ that, Alan referred to as the one that had ‘gotten away.’

  Alan sat in one of the cozy, red leather chairs their company had purchased only three months ago. The ones that symbolized Vincere Real Estate was a mogul in the commercial world now. “Calm down, I’m not here to talk about Charlotte.”

  "Really?" Ryan didn’t believe him. Lately, all Alan wanted to do was ask questions about Charlotte.

  The sides of Alan’s lips turned into a deep scowl. “I’m not."

  "You’re not?”

  “I’m not.”

  Ryan picked up the baseball on his desk and tossed it back and forth between his hands. "Will wonders never cease?"

  "Where have you been?"

  Ryan relaxed. This was the game they played. "Out."

  "And you couldn't call and leave a message."

  Ryan shrugged. "I got the deal done, and then I took some some R and R.”

  Alan pinched the tip of his nose. "We're a partnership." He released his nose. "You don't get to go on your adrenaline junkie missions without reporting in."

  Ryan put the ball down and gave a mock salute. "Yes, sir."

  Alan let out a deep breath. “How does it feel to be completely and utterly accountable to no one?”

  Ryan pulled his face into his closer smile. The smile that always got people to sign the documents. “It feels good.”

  Alan snorted. “Yeah, you’re such an island.”

  Ryan easily kept the fake smile on his face. He got the job done. That’s what counted.

  Alan broke eye contact and picked at his thumbnail. It was an act of avoidance. Ryan knew Alan’s every move and twitch—every ounce of his nonverbal language. That's what happened when you were stuck in a cave with someone for eight months. “What are you not telling me?”

  Alan tucked the side of his lip up and met his eyes. “Okay, it’s not about her, but it is about Hidden Falls.”

  The air seemed to stick in the back of his throat. Ryan leaned back in the red leather chair that complimented Alan’s. He coughed. “You said you had it handled.”

  Alan quit resisting the smile and his lips stretched. A small, throaty laugh escaped. “I do have it handled. I told her mother that I would be happy to oversee the sale, but she only wants to deal with Vincere Real Estate if you're the one who does the deal, personally.”

  Ryan thought of Charlotte’s mother. She’d always been stubborn. “You know I can’t do that.”

  Alan’s smile disappeared. “I hate asking you—”

  “Then don’t.”

  Alan shook his head. “You know I wouldn’t, but—”

  “We don’t need Hidden Falls. There’s plenty of other prime property.”

  Alan’s voice was quiet. “No. You know there’s not at the moment, and I didn’t want to tell you this…”

  The sinking pit in Ryan’s gut went deeper.

  “The builder won’t carry our note any longer.”

  The news sharpened Ryan’s senses. He shot to his feet. It couldn’t be. Not after everything they’d gone through to make Vincere something that mattered. “On this building?”

  Alan gave a quick nod. "We have thirty days to pay the note or they foreclose."

  Ryan scrubbed his face, the neglect of two days making the movement rough and short. “I thought Bill was a man of his word.”

  Alan shrugged and stood. “We knew it might be an issue when we bought the place.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Alan let out an exaggerated sigh and moved to the door. “Yes, you did. Oh, wait, maybe you were out rock climbing or bungee jumping or whatever hyped up death challenge you picked that week.” He clutched his hand into a fist. "I swear, I think you want to get yourself killed sometimes."

  “Look, this isn’t Afghanistan. I don’t have to sit through a lecture.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  Ryan pointed at him. “Hey, I’m seeing your stupid therapist. What more do you want?”

  Alan snorted. “What I want is for you to go to South Carolina and put this deal together. Then I think we should be able to refinance and pay Bill off.”

  Every part of Ryan wanted to escape, run, bolt. He picked up the ball and squeezed. "Fine, I guess that's what I'm here for—plug and play."
<
br />   Alan gave him a tired look. “I know you haven’t been home since—”

  “Don’t call it that. L.A.’s my home now.”

  Alan took a breath. “Okay, I know you haven’t been back there.” He paused. “Since you left, but you don’t even have to see her. Just do the deal and come back.”

  “Have you ever been to a small town?” Ryan shot back.

  Alan shrugged. “Don’t act like you’re the only one that crap has happened to. I was there too, remember?”

  Ryan ignored the rub. “I can’t do it.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  Alan bit his lower lip. “What do you want to do, Ry? Lose everything? Walk away? We don’t have a lot of options. People are counting on us.”

  “I told you I couldn’t ever go back there.”

  Alan let out a long sigh. “Yeah, you told me that, and I pushed this whole thing forward anyway.”

  “And that’s on you.”

  “Yeah, it’s on me because I knew I could count on you.”

  “Well, you know what they say about people that assume things.”

  Alan snorted. “You need to quit living with all this…this guilt.”

  Ryan shrugged. “We live in different worlds my friend.”

  Alan narrowed his eyes. “No, we both live in the same world, you just don’t realize that we are heroes. Living, breathing heroes.”

  “Whatever.”

  The way Alan let out a long breath and rolled his eyes made Ryan know he didn’t want to fight about this right now. He focused on Ryan. “The news expose is coming out in a few days. They weren’t sure on an exact date.”

  This caught Ryan’s attention. “They’re not giving up on the expose?”

  “Would you?”

  Ryan rubbed his eyes. “Have you talked to Richard about it?”

  “The expose?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He doesn’t want to talk about it, either. Frankly, the way the two of you are so tight-lipped about everything just makes it worse.”

  Ryan stared at his hands. “So the government is finally declassifying it?”

  “Yep.”

  Ryan let out a harsh laugh. “Awesome.”

  Alan’s lips curled into a tight pinch. “You act like we didn’t complete the mission. We did.”

  Ryan held his eyes. “Was it worth it?”

  Alan exhaled and shook his head. “I think after years of torturing yourself, it’s time to let it go.”

  The pit of Ryan’s gut flared in anger. Ryan blinked and tried to shove away the demons of the past and focus on their current financial situation. “Whatever. Look, you should go, Alan. I’ll stay and hold down the fort. Promise. No adrenaline junkie hiatuses.”

  Alan laughed, but it wasn’t a funny ‘you’re hilarious’ kind of laugh. Instead, it was a laugh that came out hard, reflexive, purposeful. “I wish I could do this, but Mrs. Talon said there’s some kind of festival this weekend. She wants you to go to the festival and then discuss the deal with her there. We can have it done on Monday at the title company. I’ll call Richard. He’s home for the week. He can meet you in Hidden Falls.”

  Ryan gripped the back of his chair and felt the stitching pull. He let it go. “I told them I wasn’t ever coming back.”

  “I know.”

  Ryan turned to look out the high rise window. A dark storm of black clouds edged forward, and the light from the sun was instantly covered. “I'm not this guy.”

  “What guy is that?”

  “The guy that goes back.”

  Alan shrugged. “You need to try to find something. You need to try to be…happy or something.”

  Ryan tossed the ball between his hands for a few seconds. Then put it down. “I don’t think happy is in the cards for the majority of people in this life, Alan.” He cocked an eyebrow. “How are things with Kerri, anyway?”

  A frown deepened the creases in the edges of his eyes. “It’s fine. We’re fine.”

  Ryan knew it wasn’t fine, but he wouldn’t push. “That’s good.”

  Alan hesitated. “Well, I’ll have Candy plan the trip.”

  For a second Ryan’s thought’s flitted to Candy. The new blonde secretary had legs she made even longer with her high heels. He’d meant to talk to Alan about her last week. She’d made it abundantly clear she would be more than his secretary if he wanted. “I don’t like her. You should stay away from her.”

  Alan paused and let out another laugh. “How come the list of people you don’t like seems to get longer and longer?”

  Ryan swerved back to him. Candy would keep trying until she found someone to get her promoted. “Partner, you have a hard time seeing who people really are.”

  Alan lifted an eyebrow and stood. “I guess it's a good thing, for you, that I do."

  Chapter 2

  Charlotte could tell he wanted to ask her out by the hard swallow he took, his Adam’s apple popping out.

  Her mouth went dry, and she bit into the side of her lip. Maybe she could have a fake heart attack or let the box cutter “accidentally” slice her wrist. Or . . . but she didn’t act fast enough.

  “So, have you ever been up to the falls when the leaves are changing?” Joe took a half-step closer.

  “Well . . .”

  Joe wasn't a bad looking guy—tall enough, dirty blond hair, square build. Charlotte tried to ignore the way Star, her best friend since the sixth grade, pointedly turned on her heel and marched toward the pile of inventory boxes at the back of her bookstore. “I . . .” her voice faltered.

  Joe closed the gap between them. He took her hand. “I know I work with your ex, but I know what he is. I’ve always appreciated the fact you never let him win. He never . . . got your soul.”

  The moment went slow and sticky. He did not just say the word “ex.” “I—I don’t—” It wasn’t that Charlotte didn’t like Joe. Other than the fact he worked for Nathan, “her ex,” as he’d pointed out, he was fine—a foster kid that had moved to Hidden Falls in the eleventh grade. Kind of shy. Very quiet. He’d recently moved back to Hidden Falls after finishing law school. He’d taken a job as city attorney, working with Nathan. Pretty much three strikes against him there. Enough reason not to go out with him. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t want to date anyone. Period.

  Joe gently squeezed her hand. “We could take Sam with us and just go up and get away for the afternoon. I was thinking we could stop at a restaurant on the way home.” He cleared his throat. “We wouldn’t have to tell Nathan. I mean, if you didn’t want to.”

  The moment clicked back to real time. She slipped her hand out of his. “It wouldn’t work, Joe. I’m—I’m at a place where I don’t want to date and it wouldn’t be good for Sam.” She added with more gusto, “This past year has been hard for him.” True. All of it true.

  The hope in Joe’s eyes vanished. He took a step back. A line creased between his eyes. “I see.”

  “I’m sorry.” Charlotte’s heart pounded. All she wanted was for Joe to leave, to walk away. To hear the ding of the chime signaling he was finally gone.

  Joe blinked then pushed his glasses back on his nose. The gelled lines of his hair seemed to keep him together. “I guess I should never say that Nathan didn’t ruin someone.”

  A flush of emotions whirled inside of her, vacillating between anger and humiliation and pain. “He didn’t ruin me,” she said in a controlled, quiet tone.

  Joe took a step back and the edge of his lip turned down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean . . . Of course he didn’t.”

  Charlotte reached for the empty box of book inventory she’d been unloading for the past twenty minutes. She brushed past him to the back of the store and made sure she kept her head up and her shoulder’s back. “Nice seeing you, Joe. I’ll let you know when that book comes in.” Of course, he probably didn’t want the rare book he’d been asking after for over a week. She hadn’t realized his true intention, but she’d already
found a first edition copy of Dante’s Inferno, so he was getting it. She’d made it standard for all of her “rare book” customers to front a retainer fee for her time. She’d learned quickly that being a business woman and a single parent meant she couldn’t afford to squander precious hours and not get paid.

  Joe didn’t respond, but the ding signaled his departure.

  Charlotte stopped, her hand shaking, the box instantly feeling like a heavy, leaded cannon in her hand.

  Star’s arm hugged her shoulders. “You did good, Char. Don’t worry about it.”

  Charlotte let out something between a half-sigh and a half-laugh. Star had been helping her faithfully for the last two hours, and she was grateful for her help, but she couldn’t accept the compliment. “No, I didn’t, but I stood my ground.”

  Star hesitated then took her box, chucking it into the small kitchen at the back of the store. She shook her head and her platinum blonde a-line cut bobbed emphatically. Star pointed her manicured, painted nail toward Charlotte. “Joe Watkins just asked you out. He has more nerve than I thought. Nathan would flip a brick if he knew.”

  Her pulse began to slow. She laughed, thinking about what Nathan’s reaction would be if he found out Joe had asked her out. He did not like people tampering with, what he considered, his toys.