The cowboys of the T-Lazy-A and the M-L Connected just don’t see eye to eye. In fact, they hate each other. So when Hank Collins rides up to the waterhole to find an M-L Connected rider floating on his side of the pond, his hackles naturally rise. And when that rider challenges him to a bout of fisticuffs ... well, what red-blooded cowboy could turn down such a dare? There's only one problem: Hank quickly becomes all too aware that his opponent isn't just physically fit, but downright arresting. What's a cowboy to do when the man who's caught his eye rides for the wrong brand?

Riding for the Brand

“Big talk from behind a gun,” the cowboy said, crossing his arms and glaring up at Hank. “Let’s see you back up them words in a fair fight.”


Hank considered the proposition. Nobody could say Hank Collins ever backed off from a fight—and he’d had a right frustrating day with those fence rails. Now, to find a blamed M-L rider poaching on his waterhole. Well, it just naturally raised a man’s hackles. Hank gestured with his pistol, backing the other man away from the pinto, where he’d stashed his clothes and weapons.


“I reckon you need a lesson,” Hank said. “Maybe after I beat some sense into you, you’ll stay away from our waterhole.”


The big galoot’s foot came down on a rock, and he flinched. “M-L’s got just as much right to that waterhole as you T-Lazy-A coyotes.”


Hank swung to the ground, keeping his pistol pointed at the cowboy’s middle. “Like you think you got a right to our cattle, too, huh? Reckon that’s why the boss put up that fence.”


Chapter 2