Her Second Forever
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JoAnna Sims
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Harlequin⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
HarlequinPrologue
“Mack.”
Cowboy Colt Brand’s head bobbed up and down as the bright Montana morning sun beat down on his bare arms.
“Hey, Mack!” Colt raised his voice a notch higher, thinking that his companion couldn’t hear him. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A miniature horse, an alpaca and a giraffe all walk into a bar. The bartender asks, what can I get you fellas to drink—” Colt paused to chuckle to himself before he continued “—and the alpaca said...”
Colt squinted and looked up to the left as if the sky would hold the words he was searching for in his mind. “Well, shoot, Mack! I forgot what the heck the alpaca said.”
A quick siren behind him made Colt glance over his shoulder. Colt swore at the unwanted interruption, but wanted to reassure his companion. “Just keep calm and let me do the talking, Mack. I’ve been to this police-harassment rodeo before.”
“Colt!” The police officer had pulled up beside him and had rolled down the window to his squad car. “Where in blazes are you goin’?”
“Home to Sugar Creek Ranch.” Colt flung his hand forward toward the horizon.
“You’re headin’ the wrong way.” The police officer who also happened to be a longtime friend yelled, “Pull over!”
“Tell me one thing I’m doin’ wrong, Jimmy! Just name it!”
“Just pull over,” the officer snapped.
Grudgingly, Colt followed the order and pulled over to the side of the road. He sighed in frustration while he waited for Jimmy to park his squad car behind him. On his way out of the car, Colt heard Jimmy say into the radio pinned to his uniform, “Tell Chief I found him.”
Hands on his hips, his eyes hidden behind his mirrored sunglasses, Jimmy stood on the side of the road and frowned at him. “Darn it, Colt. I’ve got a heck of a lot better things to do with my time than chasing you all over God’s creation! I done told you not to get caught drivin’ under the influence again, didn’t I?”
“I wasn’t driving! He was.” Colt pointed to Mack.
“You’ve already been warned time and again that you can’t operate a conveyance under the influence—not a tractor, not a lawn mower, not a snowmobile and not even if that conveyance has four legs!” Jimmy pointed to Mack. “Riding that there horse drunk on this here highway ain’t no different than driving a car drunk.”
“How can you say that I was driving when I didn’t even have my hands on the reins?” Colt had been resting his hands on the saddle horn. He held up his hands in the air for his friend to see while Mack dropped his head down to nibble a blade of grass pushing through the asphalt.
“That don’t make it no better, Colt. And who’s horse is this? Did you steal this horse?”
“I won him fair and square in a poker game and now I’m taking him home,” Colt mumbled, his head bobbing downward. He sure was tired.
“I’m sorry, friend, but I’m going to have to take you in this time.”
“Come on!” Colt grumbled. “How will Mack get home?”
“I already put in a call to your brother Gabe to bring the horse trailer.” Jimmy dropped his chin and looked at him over the brim of his sunglasses with somber eyes. “Now, I promise you that this don’t give me no pleasure. I can’t let you off with a warning this time. I’ve got my orders. So climb down off of that horse—I’ve got to arrest you.”
