The Front Runner (Gold Rush Ranch, #3)

by Elsie Silver

For all the women who’ve been told they should smile more. Fuck that noise. Frown all you want.

I don’t love Dr. Mira Thorne. I barely even know her. I’m just fascinated though—inexplicably drawn to her. And I’m too damn accustomed to getting what I want to let it go.

Shaking my head, I marvel at how the more confused she is about me, the less I am about her.

My eyes are fixed on her puffy lips. The way they moved as she said it’s real. I know in my heart, in my soul, that it is, too. And I’m about done with pretending it’s not.

Stefan Dalca is relentless.

“I guess you’re a lucky girl because I want you, too. I have since the first day I laid eyes on you.”

“You have beautiful hands. Almost as beautiful as your mind and heart. Sometimes I find myself staring at them while you work, so elegant and strong all at once. Hands that heal. Hands that save lives.” His voice drops. “Hands that belong in mine.”

The fact of the matter is, I’m not ashamed of Stefan Dalca. At all.

But most of all, there are days where it feels like I don’t know where I’m going, because I have no idea where I came from. The only thing that’s certain about where I’m going is that Mira will be with me when I get there. I’ll make sure of it. I’m playing for keeps.

“I sleep. I work. I workout. I run the farm. I obsessively check on Loki. I try to keep my sister on the straight and narrow. And then I either spend my free time with you or thinking about you. You’ve put a spell on me. You’re all I think about.”