Cal Hoke, an onsite pretty boy veterinarian at Riding Ranch in Stockton County, Oklahoma, has a secret he will never share with his ranch hand coworkers: he happens to be in love with the ranch owner, Pax Raulton. Straight and sexy Pax is a chiseled, handsome, aggressive businessman at Riding Ranch. For years he has raised and sold thoroughbred Palominos. Pax is a private man who minds his own business on the ranch. When he suffers a head injury caused by one of his prized horses, he spends days in recovery due to amnesia. Pax cannot remember a single detail from his past. Under Cal’s personal care and tender touch, Pax is provided with the help he needs to overcome his amnesia. As this healing process takes place, Cal learns Pax has a secret of his own, a secret that will change the two men forever. But something lurks in Pax’s history that he has forgotten, a dangerous and charmless someone with the potential to shred Pax’s world with ease. Is the bond between Pax and Cal strong enough to keep them together when the dark secret is exposed? Or will the two cowboys be forced to end their romantic ride together?

Stockton County Cowboys Book 2: Riding Cowboys

There were three bedrooms and a bathroom off the narrow hall at the top of the stairs. I assumed Pax was in his bedroom at the opposite end of the hall, and I was at its door in just a few strides. I consumed his meticulously tidy room with interest: queen-size bed with too many pillows; three double-paned windows overlooking the barnyard; a stack of battered paperback westerns by Ben Bridges, Chad Cull, and Neil Hunter on the hickory night stand; a waist-high, six-drawer dresser; but no Pax . I thought he must be with his two hands, helping them mend the broken fence in one of the distant fields, supervising their tedious but accurate work.


I know that I shouldn’t have gone into Pax’s room, invading my boyfriend’s privacy. Why did I do such a dirty deed when I had better morals? Why was I sneaking into his domain when—


Chapter 16