Wearing the Rancher's Ring. Stella Bagwell

was in the area and thought he should say hello. He didn’t even know that Mom was dead. When she passed, I had tried to locate him, but never had any luck. I honestly think he uses aliases just to keep the bill collectors and bookies off his back.”

      “Learning that Arlene was gone must have been a shock for him.”

      Shaking her head, she lifted her gaze back to him. “No. You can’t shock a person who doesn’t care, Clancy.”

      “I’m sorry, Olivia.”

      She gave him a brave smile. “See, I’m pretty much without a family. So I’d rather hear about yours. How are your brothers?”

      “They’re all doing well. Evan is a detective for the sheriff’s department now. Rafe is foreman of the Horn and Finn manages our horse division. Bowie has been in the marines for close to seven years now. We thought he was getting out last year, but he re-upped for another stint. I think he’s still trying to decide what he wants to do with himself.”

      Finished with her food, she laid her fork aside. “Do any of them have families?”

      “Rafe. He married a nurse and has a baby daughter, Colleen. They live in the ranch house, too, so they’ve livened up the place.”

      “That’s nice. But I’m surprised to hear that only one of your brothers has gotten married.” Her gaze wandered across his face until their eyes met. “Especially you.”

      “Why do you say that?”

      “When I thought of you these past years, I always pictured you with a wife and at least two children. What happened?”

      He shrugged. “I never found the right person. And you? Do you ever think about trying marriage a second time?”

      She hoped her smile didn’t reveal any of the sadness she was feeling. “Mark turned out to be the wrong person for me. But I still hope that someday I’ll find the right man.”

      “I have no doubt you’ll find him, Olivia.”

      * * *

      A half hour later, after they finished dessert and coffee, the two of them left Bonito’s and Clancy headed the truck out of town, toward Olivia’s place.

      The night had grown colder and bits of icy precipitation dotted the windshield. Throughout the drive, Olivia sat huddled in her coat, staring pensively ahead.

      Spending the evening with him had been hard on her, Clancy decided. He’d not wanted or expected it to, but it had and that bothered him greatly. He’d not asked her to dinner in order to put her emotions through a meat grinder. Actually, if anyone had asked him why he’d invited Olivia to join him this evening, he wouldn’t have been able to give them a sensible answer. Except that seeing her that morning in the Grubstake hadn’t been enough. He’d wanted more time to talk with her, to make certain that the attraction he’d once felt for her was dead and gone.

      What a damned fool notion that had been, he thought grimly. All through dinner, he’d hardly been able to keep his eyes off the woman. With a black dress hugging her curves and her dark hair waving upon her shoulders, she’d looked like a sultry vision. Time had matured her face into beautiful curves and angles and shadowed her eyes with smoky sensuality. Now all he could think about was taking her into his arms and making love to her.

      When he pulled to a stop in front of her house and shut off the engine, she immediately unsnapped her seat belt and reached for the handbag resting on the floorboard near her feet.

      “Thank you for the flowers and the delicious dinner,” she said somewhat stiffly. “It was very nice, Clancy.”

      Her proper and polite response made him want to curse out loud. All during their evening, he’d felt her measuring her words, guarding her every reaction to him. The only time he’d seen a genuine emotion out of her was when she’d tearfully ran from the table. And she’d ended up apologizing for even that reaction.

      “You’re welcome,” he told her.

      He unbuckled his seat belt with the intentions of helping her out of the cab, but she quickly reached across the console and placed a deterring hand upon his forearm.

      “There’s no need for you to walk me to the door. I know the way.”

      Suddenly it was all too much and before he realized what he was doing, his hands were locked around both her wrists.

      “Yes, the trail to your doorstep is easy to find. But do you know your way back into my arms?”

      She drew in a sharp breath while her eyes grew wide with disbelief.

      “Clancy.”

      The moment she whispered his name, his gaze focused on the moist curve of her lips and he suddenly decided he couldn’t wait on her answer. He drew her forward until her upper body was pressed against his and his lips had covered hers.

      He half expected her to draw back or try to resist him in some way. But he was wrong. She leaned into him and opened her mouth willingly beneath his, and as he deepened the kiss, his brain went haywire. The only commands it could follow were the urgings of his body telling him to keep kissing her over and over.

      His senses were so lost, he didn’t know how much time had passed before one of her hands fluttered against his chest and she eased her lips away from his. The loss of their soft warmth was a shock to his senses and Clancy opened his eyes to see her face was a picture of astonishment.

      “Olivia, I—”

      Before she could finish, she turned away from him and jerked the door latch. “I’m going in!”

      Even though she’d not mentioned him joining her, Clancy practically leaped out of the truck and rounded the cab so that he could help her to the ground.

      Once she was standing next to him, he continued to hold on to her elbow. Cold wind whipped across the hood of the truck and spattered them with bits of snow, but Clancy barely felt it. His body still felt like a roaring furnace. “I think we need to talk about this, Olivia.”

      “What is there to talk about? Nothing. This is it. I’m not going to go out with you again,” she said flatly.

      With his hand still on her arm, he urged her toward the house. “Let’s go inside and get out of this weather.”

      Thankfully, she didn’t protest. Instead she turned and made a dash for the house with Clancy following close on her heels. Once they were inside, she stopped in the middle of the living room and began removing her coat. Clancy quickly stepped forward to help her and for a moment, as he lifted the coat from her shoulders, he wondered how it would feel to always be privy to her closeness, to know that each night of their lives she’d be lying by his side, warming his body. Or would he constantly be wondering how soon it would be before she left him again?

      “I can make us more coffee if you’d like a cup,” she suggested.

      She was still trying to be polite and keep a cool distance between them. The idea was ridiculous and annoyed the heck out of Clancy, especially after she’d kissed him with such feeling.

      He handed the coat to her. “Who are you trying to fool, Olivia? Me or yourself?”

      She tossed the garment over the arm of the couch, then turned a confused look on him. “What are you talking about?”

      He shook his head. “You just kissed me like you wanted to set me on fire. Now you act like we ought to sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss the weather.”

      She closed the small space between them and he could see hot color staining her cheeks, but whether it was from anger or embarrassment, he had no way of knowing.

      “It might as well be the weather, Clancy. Because that kiss—well, that was a onetime thing. Just chalk it up to old memories and leave it at that.”

      Amazed by her response, he asked, “Leave it? Just like that?”

      Her