Taking a Risk…

by Nan Reinhardt

You know, as authors, we work hard to develop a brand that our readers come to expect. My

brand, as you all know is sweet, small-town romance with a tiny touch of sensuality. My characters kiss—often passionately. Sometimes, they end up in the bedroom, but the door is

firmly closed and what they’re doing in there is left to readers’ imaginations. Every so often, my characters get mad or frustrated and a hell or damn or a crap might come out—you know, everyday-people mild cussing.

I gotta tell you, though, the theme in Help Wanted, Cowboy was a calculated risk on my part. You see, in a sweet, small-town romance, having a virgin heroine who needed “a little favor” from the hero was taking a chance that my sweet romance readers might not like the story. Nurse Millie asks our cowboy hero Rory to “deflower” her—somehow she’s missed that experience as other life stuff took precedence over dating and relationships.

She hadn’t taken that step with anyone and it seemed as if when she did date, she always chose guys who wanted that one thing more than everything else she brought to the table. The more she dated, the more it became an issue for her, and the less she wanted to have sex. So she just hadn’t…yet. Friends kept telling her how wonderful it was, how much fun it was. They whispered among themselves and teased her gently if she asked questions. So finally, she decided that she’d find someone appealing, do the deed, and see what all the hoopla was about.

But she picked the one cowboy who wasn’t like all the other men she’d known. Bull rider Rory Pearson was a guy who was ready to fall in love and Millie Sparks knocked his socks off. When she came to him and asked him to show what “it” was all about, he wanted more. The attraction is very real, but Millie resisted falling in love until Rory wins her over with his gentle, kind nature, charm, and intelligence. He was the real thing and maybe, just maybe waiting for the real thing was the right thing.

I hope y’all enjoy Rory and Millie’s story. I added a little treasure hunt to the mix just to up the game for both Rory and Millie. Let me know what you think, okay?

A Montana bull rider temporarily working as a ranch hand. An OB nurse who wants “a

favor”. Two opposites thrown together. A treasure hunt adds to autumn magic. 

When a family emergency brings cowboy Rory Pearson home to Marietta, he hires on to

Juniper Falls Ranch for seasonal work. He’s hoping to explore an intriguing family

legend. Armed with research and his grandfather’s stories, Rory thinks he’s ready, but

nothing goes as planned. Then a sweetly sexy nurse propositions him.

Nurse Millie Sparks is tired of playing it safe. She’s been too focused on her education

and career and romance and adventure have passed her by. Staying on the ranch to care

for a patient with a tricky pregnancy, Millie’s interest in Rory is immediate. He offers to

teach her to ride, and she wonders if the lessons could extend to something else she’s

been hiding.

It’s a game of flirtation and fun. Feelings can’t be serious. But as the clock ticks down,

hearts interfere, and saying goodbye just got way more complicated.

Excerpt:

She took a deep breath. “Rory, are we gonna talk about our … our conversation this

morning or not?”

His lips twisted for a second. “I don’t think so. But I would like to ask you to go to dinner

with me in town on Saturday. I can make a reservation at the Graff or we can go to—”

She narrowed her eyes. “You want to go on a date?”

“Yep.” He began separating eggs pretty handily by passing the yolks from one side of the

shell to the other. Her mom always used a little tool that held the yolk while the whites dripped out the sides. “Oh, and we can start your riding lessons this afternoon. Del says we can use the round pen. We’ll start after lunch. Wear jeans and shoes with a heel.”

She huffed out a breath. “So no to the … favor then?”

The heated look he gave her sent a shiver right through her. He set down the egg he was

about to separate and gripped the edge of the granite counter. “I’m very attracted to you, Millie Sparks, and I think you’re attracted to me too. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have asked me for the”—he cleared his throat—“favor.”

She thrust her fingers through her bangs, frustrated that he’d caught her out so easily

because she was attracted to him. “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. Either way, I don’t want

to date you. All I need from you is one thing.”

“I don’t think it can be just one thing. At least not on my part. Go on a date with me.

What can it hurt? If we don’t click, then we could go back to exactly what we are now—two

people who work for the Fosters.” He shrugged.

How dare he! The punk! Using her own words against her. His utter lack of guile

unnerved her as well as the fact that he could continue mixing flour and eggs and egg yolks

while he was persuading her to do the one thing she’d told him up right up front she wasn’t

going to do.

“I think it would be better if we just … you know …” Irony at its best. Her previous

dating experience hadn’t prepared her to be the one who was … well, the aggressive half of the equation. She’d always dated men who eventually wanted this one thing, and now here she was offering it to a guy who wouldn’t give her what she wanted unless she agreed to date him. One of the things that made Rory Pearson so attractive was that he—they—would be temporary. He was going back on the circuit; she would be heading for a new gig after Beth gave birth. She didn’t have to find out that he left food in his fridge until it grew enough mold to make penicillin or that he never vacuumed under his furniture.

“Nope. Your request is”—he stopped mixing and eyed her up and down, his green eyes

glinting—“tempting. You have no idea how tempting. It’s all I’ve been able to think about this morning. But here’s the thing: I don’t know how to do clinical.”

Buy Links: https://tulepublishing.com/books/help-wanted-cowboy/#order

Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today bestselling author of sweet, small-town and cowboy

romantic fiction for Tule Publishing. Her day job is working as a freelance copyeditor and

proofreader, however, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a

time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten and is still writing, but now from the viewpoint of a wiser, slightly rumpled, woman in her prime.

Nan lives in the Midwest with her husband of 53 years, where they split their time between a

house in the city and a cottage on a lake.

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