Stick in the Mud Meets Spontaneity (Meet Your Match, book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the property. The ranch-style house was older, but appeared in good condition. The barn, on the other hand, had seen better days. The wood had aged to the point that it had buckled away from the posts in some places, leaving large gaps and holes. But against the backdrop of the mountains and shrubbery, it had an antique charm that a new building could never compete with. Sam decided she liked the barn just the way it was. She liked the ranch. And so far, she liked the family—especially one cowboy in particular.
    “Watch out!” Kajsa jumped from the fence, and Sam glanced behind her to see the horse barreling toward her. Colton snagged her around the waist and jerked her away before the horse crashed into the fence where she’d just stood. A sharp pain pierced the heel of her right foot, causing her to latch on to Colton’s arm to keep her balance.
    “Oh, wow, that hurt.” She tried not to grimace.
    “You okay?” said Colton.
    She tentatively put weight on her foot again, but quickly lifted it when she felt another stab of pain. “I think my heel slipped off my sandal and landed on something sharp. I’m pretty sure it’s still in there.” She let her sandal drop to the ground and lifted her foot to find a gnarly goat-head sticker jabbed in her heel. She quickly pulled it out and placed her thumb over the large drop of blood oozing from the hole.
    “Kajsa, be a sweetheart and ask my mom for a Band Aid, will ya?” said Colton.
    “I have one in the glove compartment in my car,” said Sam.
    Kajsa nodded and darted toward the car, leaving Sam still latched on to Colton’s arm, feeling silly. “You must think I’m one of those high-maintenance girls who wears high heels to rodeos just so I can look pretty.”
    “The word ‘prissy’ never entered my mind,” he said with a half smile.
    Sam lifted her thumb from her heel. It still oozed a little blood, but she didn’t care. She could clean her sandals later. She dropped her foot and wriggled her toes back into her sandal. “I think I’m good now.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yep.” Time to go before she stepped on something else and embarrassed herself further.
    Sam released his arm and hobbled across the dirt drive, her heel still throbbing like she’d been stung by a wasp. Kajsa was in the car, apparently still searching for the elusive first-aid kit. Sweet girl. Instead of oohing and ahhing over the new mustang, she was wasting her precious five minutes helping Sam.
    “Will you be driving Kajsa every day?” asked Colton as he walked beside her.
    Sam opened her door and said, “I’m okay, Kajsa,” before turning back to Colton. “No. I’m just filling in while Cassie’s gone. You’ll see Sunshine the second come and go for the next two weeks and that’s it. So enjoy my bright and happy car while you can.”
    “I like the touch of neon.” He nodded toward her steering wheel.
    “Me too,” agreed Sam. “It’s incredibly soft. You should get one for your truck.”
    “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Is that a tennis ball over your gear shift?”
    Sam nodded. “A souvenir from one of my roommates. We gave each other going away gifts at the end of the year. I got the steering wheel cover from the dancer, that ball from the tennis player, the charm from the jewelry designer, and a cute headband at home from the knitter, who also happens to be studying zoology—go figure. I’m just grateful she didn’t give me a dead bug from her bug collection.”
    Colton leaned against her car and casually folded his arms. “What gift did you give?”
    “A bottle of dish soap.”
    One of his dark eyebrows lifted in question. “Do you like washing dishes or something?”
    “Hate it,” said Sam. “One night I dragged all of them to the store, bought several bottles of dish soap, and sneakily dumped them into a fountain on the corner of an intersection. Within twenty minutes bubbles were everywhere, even crossing the street. From that point on I got nicknamed the