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Little did I know it would be so much harder than I thought…and that Rose was wise beyond her years.
Chapter Nine
HUNTER
“I’ve got three different outfits, so whatever the date is, I think we’ll be prepared,” Winnie stated as we walked into the barn Wednesday morning. The production crew had been here since dawn, and judging by the mood that my brother Blayze was in, they were more in the way than he’d anticipated.
“Do they have to do these in the barn?” he asked as he walked up to me.
“Dad already told them they could, and they want the whole ranch feel.”
Blayze rolled his eyes, then gave me a once-over. “You polish up real nice, little bro.”
I shot him a dirty look. Before I could respond, something caught my eye—and I turned to see Kipton.
My breath caught in my throat as I let my gaze trail over the tight jeans, the cowboy boots, and the tighter sweater that showed off her curves. The barn was heated, so she wasn’t wearing a coat. Her body reminded me of those in the pictures that Solo, one of the ranch hands, had pinned up in the bunkhouse here on the ranch, where a lot of the hands lived. He called them pinup girls. Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth and, of course, Marilyn Monroe.
Kipton had that look about her. Classically beautiful. I remembered reading that after the Miss Montana pageant, something she’d never done before, she’d received several inquiries about modeling, which she’d declined. From the little she’d told me about her family, I knew she did the pageant solely for the scholarship money. Still…those damn pictures had kept me awake more than once while in bed.
“Hunter?”
My brother’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. He turned to see what I was staring at and chuckled. “Didn’t I warn you about falling for her?”
I shot him another dirty look. This one I assumed was more severe, because he held up his hands as if to say he surrendered.
“Kipton is my friend. But I can also acknowledge that she’s beautiful.”
Blayze nodded. “According to Bradly, she’s…and I quote…‘hot as hell and the most beautiful woman out of all of them.’”
Bradly was right, but I wasn’t about to admit that to my brother. “There are a lot of beautiful women here.”
He just shook his head. “I would stick around and watch, but I think I’ll call it an early day and go home to my wife.”
I hit him on the side of the arm. “Tell Georgiana I said hi.”
“I will.”
Kipton approached, a beautiful smile on her face, and said, “I’m not interrupting, am I?”
Blayze tipped his cowboy hat in her direction. “Perfect timing. I was about to get out of here before the cameras start to roll.”
“Smart guy,” Kipton stated with a laugh.
“Good luck to you both. I’m sure Georgiana will have the TV on, watching the broadcast.”
I cringed at the idea of my family watching the dates. I had practically begged my mother not to watch them.
Kipton and I waved off Blayze before he made his way around all the equipment and people that it took to make a live show go off without any problems.
“You ready?” she asked.
“I guess so.”
“The show has already started, I kicked it off a bit ago. They’re showing portions of recorded footage from the women’s first impression interviews right now.”
“How do they know which girls to show?”
“I asked that as well. There are only six in tonight’s drawing after they determined all twenty in the barn at once was too much. They’ll also show short clips of your interview from yesterday, as well.”
