LITMIR.BIZ

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There you are.”

      Jonas stepped away from the window to greet her. “This is a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you again today.”

      Folding her hands in front of her, she turned to face him. There was a humble look to her face, which he’d not detected earlier, and he could only wonder what had brought about the change. But then, he knew from experience that it didn’t take much to swing a woman’s mood.

      “Am I interrupting anything?”

      Nothing that she could know about, he thought grimly. Only Quint knew he was a Texas Ranger, and only Quint knew his reason for being on the ranch. Perhaps things might reach a point in the future where he would be forced to reveal himself to Alexa. But for the present, the less she knew, the safer they would all be. Nothing he did should bring danger to the family. He’d continue to ensure that.

      “No. I just stepped into the office to see about ordering a shipment of vaccines for the cattle. Quint says the herd in the west pasture is due to be worked.”

      She held her palms up in a helpless gesture. “I wish I could tell you more of the ranch’s schedule. But I’ve not been living here for the past five years. In fact, my family wasn’t expecting me to move back. I surprised them.”

      “Yes. Your brother mentioned last week that you suddenly decided to move back from Santa Fe,” Jonas informed her as he strode over to an old schoolteacher’s desk made of metal and Formica. Propping one hip on the corner, he gestured for her to take the chair in front of him. “Please sit. Hopefully the seat’s not too dusty.”

      She eased gracefully onto the wooden chair, then carefully smoothed her dress over her knees. Without bothering to look at him, she said in a quiet voice, “Well, I’m sure you must have guessed why I’m here.”

      Looking at her jolted him. Something about her reminded him of just how long he’d lived alone, of how long it had been since he’d imagined having children of his own.

      Tucking away all emotion, he said, “Actually, I haven’t. Do you have a question for me? A problem?”

      “No problem. Unless—” she lifted her face and looked at him “—you’ve changed your mind about staying in the house with me.”

      Her voice was stiff and halting, telling Jonas it must have cost her to come to him like this. He almost felt sorry for her. But just almost. He couldn’t warm up to people with superior attitudes, and that included beautiful women.

      “Why would I change my mind? When I’m given an order, I’m not in a position to change my mind.” He tried to smile, but his lips felt uncomfortable as they stretched against his teeth. Smiling was foreign to Jonas, and when he did smile it was usually for effect, not a reflexive action. “Look, Ms. Cantrell, I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. Maybe you just don’t like cowhands like me. Maybe they’re just a bit beneath your style to have one sleeping in the same house with you. I don’t know—I’ve only met you. But you can rest assured that I consider you a job and nothing more. Now, if you want me to stay in the house, fine. If you don’t, that’s fine, too.”

      She didn’t blink as he talked, but he did notice that her eyes darkened and her lips folded together.

      “You don’t have to be insulting about it,” she said.

      He shrugged. “You didn’t have to be, either. But you were.”

      Her head dropped, and she absently plucked at the soft fabric covering her belly. “Yes, I suppose I was a bit rude,” she admitted lowly. “And I’m sorry for that. And I…want to say—my attitude had nothing to do with you personally. I’ve not been myself here lately. For obvious reasons.”

      Jonas quietly studied her bent head as all sorts of questions drifted through his mind. The father. Her health. Her plans.

      “When is your baby due?”

      She lifted her head and looked at him with faint surprise. As though she’d not expected him to consider her personal plight.

      “Six weeks from tomorrow.”

      “Are you doing okay?”

      A wry grimace twisted her lips. “You mean, as an unwed mother?”

      He slanted an impatient look at her. “That’s not what I meant. I’m asking about your health.”

      Pink color swept across her cheeks. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m being so—defensive.”

      She thrust a hand through her black hair, then pushed to her feet. Jonas watched curiously as she began to meander around the stark, dusty room while he waited for her to say more.

      “My life has been uprooted, and now that my mother and brother are gone, I feel…sort of lost, I suppose. I can’t ever remember a time I was on the ranch without any family around. You mentioned that I might ask a male friend or relative to stay with me. Well, I don’t have any male friends—not around here. And the only relative is my grandfather Abe, and you’d have to place several sticks of dynamite beneath him to get him to leave his home for any reason.”

      His gaze took in the proud angle of her head. “From what you say, you’ve been living away from your family for several years now. You should be used to not having them around.”

      Pausing at one of the narrow windows, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “You don’t miss anything, do you?”

      It was his job not to miss anything, he thought. But she couldn’t know that. “I’m an outsider, Ms. Cantrell. It’s easy for me to look at things logically.”

      She sighed and turned her gaze back to the windowpane. “You’re right. I have lived for five years without seeing my family on a daily basis. But that was in Santa Fe. This is here and now. I’m not used to being on the ranch alone,” she reasoned. “I need time to reacquaint myself with everything.”

      This time the smile on his face came easier. “Have you stopped to think that your brother already understood you might feel that way? Maybe that’s why he didn’t want you to be alone in that huge house while he and your mother are away.”

      She reached up and passed a hand across her forehead, and Jonas thought he could see a tremble to her fingers. Clearly the woman wasn’t as independent as she’d first wanted him to believe, and the idea that she was willing to admit that she needed someone was all it took to soften him.

      Smiling gently, she turned to face him. “Yes, I suppose he did.”

      She strode over to where he sat propped on the edge of the desk and extended her hand. “Shall we start over? I’m Alexa Cantrell. Please call me Alexa.”

      He enfolded her soft little hand in his and felt his heart thump in a way that practically startled him. “All right, Alexa,” he said huskily. “I’m Jonas Redman. Call me Jonas.”

      Dimples bracketed her mouth as her smile deepened. “Thank you, Jonas. I’d be very grateful if you’d stay in the ranch house while my family is away.”

      “No, problem, ma’am. No trouble at all.”

      Yeah. Right. Who was he trying to kid? The woman was going to be trouble and then some.

      Chapter Two

      Is Mr. Redman going to be taking his meals here?”

      Alexa, who was sitting at an L-shaped bar at one end of the kitchen cabinets, looked up at the cook. Reena’s question had caught her off guard. Jonas’s meals were not something that had yet crossed her mind. Since she’d left the man’s office a few minutes ago, the most she’d tried to do was convince herself that their paths would rarely cross. “I don’t know, Reena. I suppose I’ll have to ask him. But don’t worry about it. If he does decide to take his meals here instead of in the bunkhouse, then he’ll just have to eat what Sassy and I eat.”

      Reena nodded. “I’ll

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