Stay (Wild Creek Ranch Series Book 6)

Prologue

Ryder Wilson at nineteen was quite a handful. He and his twin, Ryan, were the heart throbs of Great Falls College, under Montana State University. However, being the quarterback of the college football team, Ryer had more female fans than his twin. Unlike Ryan who wasn’t interested in any of his female fans, Ryder was a bad boy. He indulged a few and went out with whoever caught his fancy. His extreme good looks, tattoos, his careless and cocky attitude gave out typical bad boy vibes which made all the girls go crazy for his attention. 

“It’s your turn to drive, Ryan,” said a lazy Ryder, strapping himself to the passenger seat of Ryan’s car. They both hated driving to and from college and usually took turns to drive. “Drop me off at the marketplace. I promised to help aunt Charlotte at her shop today,” said Ryder. 

“Good luck with it, dude. Don’t give your number to all the females who come over to the shop,” warned Ryan, making Ryder laugh. 

“Only the cute young chicks,” Ryder corrected his twin who rolled his eyes. He was a notorious playboy of Fordsville which was a small town where everyone knew everything and everybody. Fordsville was just a fifteen minutes drive away from Great Falls, Montana. Their granddad, Joe Wilson's home, Wildcreek Ranch was located at the far edge of Fordsville, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, at the base of the Continental Divide. It was a picturesque place surrounded by mountains, fields and forests with a clear sparkling river, Bearhead Creek, running through it. 

With their joint efforts today they were the biggest dairy producers in the vicinity. They were also into horse rearing and sales. Ryder and Ryan’s dad, Kendrick Wilson were four brothers. The oldest was Kevin Wilson who lived with his wife, Katherine Wilson and had three children, Russell, Rowland and River, all of whom were grown up and settled in Las Vegas. Next was their uncle Keith whose wife was aunt Ruth. They had twin boys Rhett and Rex who were five years older than Ryder and Ryan, as well as a daughter, Rihanna who was three years older than them. 

Rex, Rhett along with their dad, Keith Wilson trained the horses thoroughly before selling. Their dad's older brother, Kevin Wilson had just retired from manual work and preferred the accounts work instead. Their dad, Kendrick Wilson and his younger brother, uncle Kennedy looked into the animal husbandry part of their business as well as into the packaging of dairy products. Their mom, Helena Wilson was a vet and she kept a check upon all the animals on their farm and ranch. Ryder was studying finance while Ryan was into the graduate program in Animal Nutrition. Their younger sister, Renée was two years younger to them and had just returned home after graduating from her school in Helena. The youngest was uncle Kennedy and his wife aunt Charlotte. While uncle Kennedy looked into their family owned flagship hotel in Las Vegas, aunt Charlotte with a degree in Fashion Designing, owned a very popular boutique at the marketplace of Fordsville. Their children, Raine and Ronald were studying at the same boarding school as Renée was and came home during the vacations. 

“Just kidding dude! I’ll get myself a nice tee shirt to wear on our birthday. Are you coming or should I get one for you as well?” asked Ryder. With their twentieth birthday coming up they couldn’t be more excited.

“Get me one but not the same, please. I don’t understand why mom used to get us identical tee shirts to wear on our birthday,” groaned Ryan. Ryder laughed. 

“Maybe to confuse the guests. They couldn’t tell us apart,” chuckled Ryder and Ryan too joined in. Ryan drove over to the marketplace and parked outside their aunt’s boutique, Charlotte’s. 

“See you, later,” said Ryder as he climbed out and walked towards the shop. He pushed the glass entrance door and the cute bell positioned above it chimed to announce his arrival. The boutique was cosy and neat with clothes of different shapes and sizes hanging, mannequins with mind-blowing dresses, and the display windows focusing the colour of the week, cerulean. His aunt Charlotte looked up with a smile of relief on her face.

“Thanks Ryder. I was thinking you had forgotten about this. I’m getting late for the meeting. Will you be able to handle the customers on your own? My assistant is on leave today as well,” said aunt Charlotte. 

“Sure, aunt Charlotte. I’ve done it before. I’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” said Ryder. His aunt smiled and handed him the keys to everything and dashed out. Ryder sat down at the cash counter and started the computer. He had helped his aunt many times before so this was nothing new for him. With his easy charm, he could sell all the clothes in his aunt’s shop to the women clients. Therefore his aunt was always thrilled to have him around as it would increase her sales figures further. As for Ryder, he loved the attention and always got a gift from his aunt for the favour. It was a win-win situation for both!

After an hour he grinned at the amount of clothes he sold. Two gowns, three summer dresses, five tops, one jeans, five handbags and one wedding dress! Whoa! He should be a salesman in future. Ordering a box of pizza for himself, he was just about to take his first bite when his glance fell upon a young girl of about seventeen or eighteen, rushed into the shop and skidded to a halt right in front of him. Ryder’s mouth hung open seeing the most beautiful girl on earth standing in front of him! Her greenish-blue eyes were wide and her long blonde hair tumbled down her back as she excitedly drummed her fingers on his counter. Ryder looked at her beautiful white top that clung to her body like a second skin and her denim shorts that made her look hotter than ever. 

“Hey, Blue! Can you show me something exciting to wear to a party? Not a gown please,” said the most melodious voice on earth, making Ryder’s body tingle with excitement. Ryder was in a daze. He kept his pizza aside and got up from the counter.

“Sure, I have just the one for you,” said Ryder with a grin. He scanned through their collection and took out a beautiful turquoise dress that would match with her eyes beautifully. The soft crepe fabric was embellished with a string of tiny sequins around the neck to give it a special feel. Ryder chose an off white dress with a gathered skirt tied together with a bow of the same turquoise shade. 

“Try these. I think they would be perfect for you,” said Ryder to the girl who was waiting impatiently behind him. He handed the clothes to her and her eyes brightened up seeing them.

“Wow! They look lovely. Can I try them on?” she asked, looking around. “Where’s the trial room?” she asked.

Ryder pointed out towards the trial room and she dashed into it. Ryder waited for her to emerge, he wanted to talk to her more. What was it that she called him when she entered? Blue! Why would someone call him Blue? Curious and very very interested, Ryder stood leaning against the counter outside the trial room, waiting for the gorgeous creature to emerge. He might have looked too keen and silly but he didn’t care.

Finally, she opened her door and peeped out. “Hey, Blue! My zipper’s got tangled with my hair. Can you help me please?” she asked. A strange excitement coursed through his body as he stood straight and walked towards her with a lazy grin on his face. He noted that she was wearing the turquoise dress that he had chosen first for her. His jaws hung open seeing the way she looked! He would die and go to heaven if he said that he didn’t feel excited at the prospect of touching her. The gorgeous creature looked up at him shyly as she opened the door wider for him to enter the trial room. 

Ryder was already getting aroused by what he saw. The dress clung to her making her look so mature and se*y. Her creamy complexion glowed under the lights of the trial room, making her look almost ethereal. He walked up to her and stood behind her.

“Close your eyes, please,” she said breathlessly. Ryder grinned.

“How will I untangle this if I close my eyes, hmm?” asked Ryder, making her blush. His fingers touched her soft silky hair and he knew that he was in heaven already. Her eyes widened as a strange electric current shot through both of them simultaneously as their skins touched. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his jumpy nerves. He was the reckless and bad boy of Fordsville, someone whom all moms asked their daughters to stay away from, and here he was doing an innocent little job for an angel and yet getting more aroused than ever! 

“I’ll take both, Blue,” she said in her beautiful and melodious voice. That got Ryder’s attention. He noticed that she called him Blue for the third time already!

“What did you call me?” he asked curiously, his eyes connecting to her greenish-blue ones through the mirror.