Casanova Cowboy


 
 
 Casanova Cowboy
 The Montana Men Series Book 2
 Jamie Schulz
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 Zackary MacEntier’s cheerful gaze traveled over the small sea of people flooding his best friends’ backyard meadow. Unable to hold back a smile, he admired the women in the crowd, wondering if he’d see any new faces. A little spark of hope warmed his insides as he took in their beauty and the possibility that he might find an interesting woman today—one he hadn’t already dated. 
 Yeah, he thought with more than a little self-deprecation, good luck with that. He doused the tiny flame inside him—knowing the possibility to be next to impossible—but continued to appreciate the scene, nonetheless.
 Zack MacEntier loved women; he’d never denied that, even to himself. He loved everything about them, from the scent of their satiny skin to the silkiness of their hair, to their big eyes, wide smiles, dainty toes, and everything in-between. He also loved getting to know their personalities. From smart and sassy, to sweet and witty, they drew him like a bee to honey, and he’d anticipated his fascination with the fairer sex would never change. He’d spent most of his adult life with more than a few different women, and he had never expected to ever want to limit himself to just one.
 Yet, standing under the huge white tent amid the guests at his best friend’s wedding, second thoughts about life-long bachelorhood once again assailed him. 
 Uncomfortable with his thoughts and looking for a distraction, he shifted his booted feet as he took in the familiar faces from their little town of Meriton, Montana. Many of his ex-girlfriends were in the crowd, and oddly, it pleased him to see they’d moved on to better men than him. However, the tightness in his chest wouldn’t leave him. He knew those romantic relationships had ended because things had gotten too close for his comfort—as did the ladies he’d broken it off with. Despite that, most of them were still his friends. For the longest time, he’d seen no reason to change that or to look for something more in his life. Now, at the ripe old age of thirty, something inside him seemed to have changed.
 He sighed and took a sip of the drink in his hand. Had he really wanted it that way—to be single and alone forever? Not since high school had any woman made him crave more, and until recently, he hadn’t thought twice about it.
 Zack’s gaze switched back to the bride and groom. Cade Brody danced with his new wife Addie, and Zack had never seen his friend happier. There was a brightness…a glow…a something that shimmered around them both. Warmth and happiness lived in their eyes and smiles, which made Zack yearn for the same kind of bliss.
 “Cade’s a lucky man,” Aaron Monroe, one of the town’s paramedic-firefighters and another of Zack’s good friends, said. Just like Zack, Aaron was considered one of Meriton’s most eligible bachelors. At six-foot-three, Aaron was built like a Mac truck, but he had a gentle heart…unless provoked. He was also well-liked by the ladies and, despite only moving to town almost two years ago, he had his fair share of ex-girlfriends around town, too.
 “Yeah,” Zack agreed, “very lucky.” 
 Cade had found Addie by pure coincidence, and their tale sounded a bit like a stereotypical country song. At the time, Cade had been roaming far and wide to avoid any contact with his twin brother Cord. Zack wasn’t entirely sure what had set the brothers on separate trails almost six years ago, but he had a suspicion it had been a woman. Whatever the case, Zack was glad to have them both together and acting like brothers again.
 “Any chance she has a sister or three?” Aaron asked with a hopeful grin.
 “Or maybe some cousins?” That question came from another firefighter, Hawk Hawkins—his real first name was as much of a mystery as his past.
 A murmur of interest came from the six men standing with Zack, admiring the bride and groom as they twirled around the dance floor. 
 Zack shrugged, eyeing the crowd once again. “All I know is she’s an only child.”
 While he spoke, his gaze fell on his sister, Emily, who stood with their mother on the opposite side of the dance floor. Janice grinned as she watched the bride and groom, but his sister’s eyes were drawn in Zack’s direction. The expression on her face caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise. She wasn’t staring at him with that longing look on her face. It only took a second to realize her attention was focused wholly on the man at his side, and Zack’s protective brother instinct went on high alert.
 He glanced at Aaron as the others groaned at the lost opportunity of Addie’s relations, but quickly bounced to other topics about ranching, firefighting, and the fall roundup. Aaron seemed oblivious to Emily’s interest, and Zack hoped it stayed that way. He liked the man, but his reputation with women was almost as bad as Zack’s. That wasn’t the kind of man he wanted for his sweet, vivacious, and all too trusting sister. He’d have to keep an eye on her whenever the firefighter was around.
 Emmy might be the older sibling by a couple of years, but Zack wasn’t about to let her be taken advantage of by anyone. 
 Putting that new problem out of his mind for now, Zack went back to pondering his bachelorhood.
 What did he have to offer a woman, anyway? All he knew was ranching and he enjoyed it, but the ability to work the land and the animals he loved was on the verge of ruin. He had no one to blame but himself as far as the disaster on his family’s ranch was concerned. Luckily, he’d been able to keep it to himself so