The Dutton name carried weight in Montana, but on the Yellowstone Ranch, one person held the key to John Dutton’s heart: his youngest daughter, Guest. Fierce, witty, and impeccably styled, she easily bridged the gap between luxury shopping trips in town and tearing through the trails on horseback. To the rest of the world, she was off-limits—John’s most protected treasure.

Stiles had heard the rumors in the bunkhouse before he even finished unpacking his bag. The cowboys talked about her like a legend: green eyes, light blonde hair, and a sharp tongue that could put a grown man in his place faster than a bucking bronco. As a newly hired hand sleeping on a narrow cot in the barracks, Stiles knew better than to look her way.

That was the plan, anyway—until he was mucking out the stalls late one afternoon and heard the soft click of expensive leather boots against the stable floor.

Guest walked in, heading straight toward her favorite horse, completely unaware that the new recruit was watching from the shadow of the next stall.

Stiles wiped off his brow with the back of his glove, leaned against his pitchfork, and decided to risk his newly minted job with a lopsided grin.