I'm done. Finished. Five years since that bull shattered my body and ended my career, I've been nothing but pain and regret wrapped in broken bones.Then she walks into my study.Sage Wilde—all sunshine curls and dangerous curves, hired by my daughter to write the story of my glory days. But this woman doesn't want to hear about my championships. She wants to know about now. About the man I've become since everything fell apart.She asks questions that crack me open... moreI'm done. Finished. Five years since that bull shattered my body and ended my career, I've been nothing but pain and regret wrapped in broken bones.Then she walks into my study.Sage Wilde—all sunshine curls and dangerous curves, hired by my daughter to write the story of my glory days. But this woman doesn't want to hear about my championships. She wants to know about now. About the man I've become since everything fell apart.She asks questions that crack me open. Looks at me like I'm still worth something. Touches me like I'm not just scars and surgical steel.At fifty, I thought I was done feeling anything but pain. This soft, sweet woman half my age proves me wrong with every breath, every glance, every innocent brush of her fingers that sets my blood on fire.I should send her away. Should protect her from the wreckage I've become.Instead, I'm going to claim her. Mark her. Show her exactly what this broken cowboy can still do when the right woman makes him remember he's alive.She came here to write my story.Now she's going to live it.I came to Texas to write a book about a legend.Duke Ironwood—rodeo champion, larger than life, untouchable. What I find instead is a man carved from shadows and stubborn strength, held together by pain and sheer will.He's twice my age, gruff as winter, and so damaged I can see the cracks in his armor from across the room. Everything about him screams danger—from his eyes to the way he moves like every step costs him.I should keep this professional. Should ignore the way my pulse races when he says my name. Should definitely not notice how his massive hands make me wonder what they'd feel like mapping every inch of my inexperienced body.But Duke Ironwood sees straight through me. Past my good-girl facade to the woman who's been waiting her whole life for someone to make her feel truly alive.He wants to show me things. Teach me things. Claim things no man has ever touched.I came here to capture his story on paper.Instead, he's about to write himself all over my skin.And I'm going to let him. less
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