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anyone, did I?”
    “Avery, every single person at that bar knew why you were drinking so hard. You didn’t have to say anything. It’s a small town. Even people who weren’t in the bar last night know.”
    She had one thing right. Gossip in this place was a real bitch.
    “That’s nobody’s business but us Corbins,” I informed her. “Stay out of it, and if you overhear anyone in town dishing about it, you can tell them I said to stay the fuck out of it.”
    “Pretty defensive,” Paisley said. “That tells me your family’s in pretty deep.”
    “Just stop.”
    “Why? Why would you want me to stop talking about it if I have a solution?”
    “Solution?” I scoffed. “What the hell do you think you’re going to do to solve this?”
“Only money will solve this,” Paisley said. “And that’s what I’m offering.”
    I forgot to breathe for a moment, my mind whirling. Was she really serious? It didn’t help that she was still naked — albeit holding a sheet in front of her — as she proposed this.
    “It’s a lot of money, Paisley. I don’t think you can offer me something like that.”
“Bullshit I can’t,” she said, jutting her chin out at me, making me blink away yet another image of her as a defiant little girl. “I know it’s a lot of money — I don’t know how much, exactly — but guess what? I have a lot of money.”
    “Your father has a lot of money,” I corrected her.
    “It’s the same thing.”
“I don’t think any of my brothers will go for you loaning the ranch the money,” I said. “If you say you know what’s going on, then you’ll know the bank is trying to take the ranch because we can’t repay the loan right now. What makes you think we’ll be good for it?”
    Paisley smiled. “I didn’t say anything about loaning you the money.”
    “Then what are you even talking about?” I didn’t know if it was my poor, hungover head that was this fuzzy, or if Paisley was playing coy on purpose. It was probably a little of both. I had no idea what was going on.
    “I’m telling you I’d give you the money …”
    “No. No way. The loan idea was bad enough. Not one of us — not even me — would accept the money with no intention of paying your father back. That’s just not happening, Paisley. It’s unrealistic. What would even be in it for your father?”
    “You mean, what would be in it for me,” she corrected.
    “What would be in it for anyone giving away tens of thousands of dollars for no good reason?” I asked, throwing my hands up in the air.
    “I’d tell you if you just let me finish.”
    “By all means.” At this point, I was genuinely curious as to what insane thing was going to pop out of Paisley’s mouth next. It was almost as good as television.
    “What I’m proposing is a merger, of sorts, on a couple different levels,” she said. “I recognize that your family’s ranch has fallen on hard times, but I’ve always respected that you Corbins have kept doing things the traditional way. That’s how the Summers Ranch is being run, too, and there are too many big players in the game now. Little ranches — and even medium-sized ones like ours — are getting edged out by all the wrong people. Merging our ranches will give your family’s ranch a shot at surviving.”
    “But what will it give the Summers Ranch?”
    She still had that strange little smile on her face. “More land. More cattle. More resources. And a husband for me.”
    I was certain I’d misheard that last part. “Pardon?”
    “The merger, Avery. It all makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? What better way to consolidate our strengths and eliminate our weaknesses than by getting married and merging the ranches?”
    Whatever was making so much sense to Paisley was creating a dull roar in my ears.
    “So what do you think?”
    I shook my head slowly, trying to rid myself of the roaring noise.
    “Oh, don’t be a baby, Avery. People get married for all the wrong reasons all the