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CHAPTER 1
Adrian Landry knew he should have brought a date to the Burnett’s roundup ball. Since his divorce two years ago, women seemed to think he was an open target – a billionaire in need of companionship. And Norma Jean Radcliffe had set her sights on him. All night she’d been flirting, buying him drinks, and laying her hands on him.
Problem was he knew her type of woman and wanted nothing to do with her. And yet, his manners insisted that he not act rude.
There was safety in numbers, so he did his best to remain in a crowd of men, talking cattle, horses, rodeos, and the current price of beef on the hooves.
The man next to him snickered. “Adrian, you’re one lucky son of a bitch.”
“Yes, I am,” he admitted, wondering what brought this up.
Five years ago, Adrian won the Powerball. As a broke, about-to-lose-his-ranch cowboy, he’d stopped at a convenience store, and on a whim, bought a ticket. At the time, he’d thought why the hell not?
The next day when he heard on the news that someone in Callahan County had won the Powerball, he remembered he’d purchased a ticket. To his complete disbelief, he discovered the one little stop had changed his life forever.
First, he made the Kissing Oaks Corporation. Then he’d informed his brothers they were all going to college. They wouldn’t receive their part of the money until they held a college diploma in their hands.
Next, he’d paid off the debts the ranch had incurred and even brought in a man to help him make the Kissing Oaks Ranch successful. And the man had helped him turn their inheritance into one of the richest spreads in Texas, right up there with the Burnett Family Ranch.
Finally, he’d let Laurie Brown convince him they were ready to marry. It seemed logical, but sometimes logical and practical didn’t go together. And love? He’d been fooled by that emotion.
Now he knew better than to believe in that nonsense.
“Why am I lucky?” he asked the man.
“First, you win the Powerball, and next you have beautiful women throwing themselves at you.”
“That’s not luck,” a man standing next to him in a custom tuxedo that looked like western wear said. “That’s the power of money. Women can smell a rich man a hundred miles away. Adrian, here, is covered in the scent and they’re on the hunt to catch him any way they can.”
Adrian laughed. “You’re right. I’ve already been caught once. She hooked me big time. But I’m older and wiser and way more jaded now. Once burned, twice shy.”
The men nodded.
“Yes, but the sweet perfume of money is a potent attraction,” the man in the tuxedo said. “Look at the gaggle of women standing over there staring at you. You’re a wanted man.”
Adrian was about to walk away. He didn’t like to talk about his personal life or be the center of attention, and since he’d won the lottery, people tried to attach themselves to him. It was hard to know if people were his friends or just lured by the money they knew he had.
“Saw your interview in the Rancher’s Magazine,” Travis Burnett said. “Good information.”
“Thank you,” he replied, remembering how the reporter kept asking questions about his personal life and how he’d side-stepped most of them.
“Sorry to hear about you and Laurie,” Joshua Burnett said.
What could he say? His ex-wife had found she didn’t like being married to a cattleman. She’d expected a life of luxury and traveling the world in a private jet. But he had a ranch to run. A business. He was determined to be successful. And that meant working long hours.
So she’d found refuge in another man’s arms.
Half a million dollars later, she was out of his life for good. But now he was back on the meat market and women wanted to latch onto him and drag him to the altar.
One thing Laurie did was make him very aware of how easy it would be to fall prey to a pretty face and a woman’s well-rounded curves.
“Thank you. But what these women don’t realize is that I’m off the marriage market. I’m done.”
The men chuckled.
“How many of you have ever said that?” Mr. Smartass in a tux asked. “I’ve certainly said it a number of times and then a pretty woman walks by and I’m a goner.”
Cameron Burnett shook his head. “I’ve watched my cousins meet women and fall in love. As for me, I’m trying to build my own business. I’m looking to find a piece of property and turn it into a place where people can spend their vacation time. Sort of an exclusive B&B for the wealthy.”
