Skylar's Outlaw. Linda Warren

      Kira stopped rubbing her eyes. “’Kay. Is Georgie coming back?”

      “Not today, precious.”

      “I wanna play with Georgie.”

      “Maybe tomorrow.”

      “And we’ll have some chocolate pudding when you wake up.” Gran kissed Kira. “I love you.”

      “Love you, too.” Kira rested her head against Sky’s shoulder again and all her motherly instincts kicked in, feelings she thought she would never have. But the moment she’d first held her baby, her whole personality seemed to change. Kira depended on her, needed her. Sky had never had full responsibility for another person and at first it had overwhelmed her. Now it was natural.

      She stroked her daughter’s red curly hair, hair just like her own, as were her blue eyes. Very little of Todd was evident in Kira, and Sky was grateful for that.

      Slowly, she made her way up the stairs to their bedroom. Kira really needed her own room, but Sky was afraid she wouldn’t hear her if she needed her during the night. Besides, it was just the two of them, and probably always would be.

      After she gave Kira some children’s liquid Tylenol and settled her down for a nap, Sky planned to have an up-close-and-personal meeting with Mr. Cooper Yates.

      And this time he wasn’t ignoring her.

      WITH A KNOT in his gut, Cooper watched Cait and Maddie drive away. He strode into the barn, his jaw clenched. The redhead had called a family meeting and he knew exactly what it was about. She wanted to get rid of him.

      If he knew Cait and Maddie—and he did, since he’d worked side by side with both—he couldn’t see them going along with such a plan. But they were sisters, and owners of High Five. He was just the hired hand. A cowboy.

      He threw a saddle over his brown-and-white paint, Rebel, and tightened the cinch. The horse did a quick side step and reared his head. Cooper had just bought and broken the gelding, which was still fidgety. But he’d settle down.

      The calluses on Cooper’s hands rubbed against the leather strap. He was a working man—work kept his demons at bay. Cait had understood that. So had Maddie. But the redhead wanted him gone, and he wondered if she’d get her wish. It didn’t matter to him. He didn’t know if he could continue to work for the woman, anyway. Maybe it was time for him to move on.

      To what?

      Dane Belle had given him a job when no one else would. High Five was his home now and the redhead wasn’t getting rid of him. Besides, he was on probation and couldn’t leave the county. He was here to stay. Once he made that decision the knot in his stomach eased.

      But not for long.

      The redhead was coming his way.

      CHAPTER TWO

      “MAY I SPEAK WITH YOU, please?” Sky was determined to be polite, using her best manners, as Gran would want her to.

      “It’s a free country.” The deep drawl came from the other side of the horse, and the man made no move to look at her or to acknowledge her presence.

      She gritted her teeth, but his insolence wasn’t going to cause her to lose her temper. “We have to work together so could you please look at me?”

      He lowered the stirrup, raised his head and glared at her over the top of the saddle. For the first time, she noticed his eyes were a deep green, not brown as she’d thought. Green and cold as a frozen pond. She actually felt a chill and wrapped her arms around her waist.

      “I’m guessing you want to talk because the meeting with Cait and Maddie didn’t go your way.” His voice was as cold as his eyes. Even so, it had a gravelly intone that would be attractive if it hadn’t been delivered with such an edge.

      She bit her lip as fiery retorts zinged through her head. The cow dogs lay at his feet, but they were looking at her almost as if they were waiting for her next words.

      She took a step closer, surprising herself at her calmness. “No. It didn’t go my way. I find it very hard to work with you when it’s crystal clear you don’t like me.”

      His jaw tightened, as did the chiseled lines of his lean face. “Like you’re crazy about having an ex-con on the property.”

      “Okay. I’ll admit I have a problem with that.” She tugged her fingers through her frizzy red curls. God, it was a humid day, and her hair was a mess. Not that the man on the other side of the horse noticed. And nor did she want him to. Focus. “But Cait, Maddie and Gran are on your side, so let’s make this work.”

      The dogs rose to their feet, and she knew that was a signal the man was about to mount his horse. She grabbed the reins so the animal couldn’t move. The horse moved nervously and tried to rear its head, but she held tight. Her heart ricocheted off her ribs from the anger blazing in his eyes.

      But she didn’t back down, though it was hard not to. The man stood at least six foot two, with a whipcord body and broad shoulders. Faded jeans and a pearl-snap shirt molded his muscled frame. He pulled his worn and dusty Stetson low so it hid most of his brooding expression.

      She had a split second to get her words out before he exploded. “We have to run this ranch together, and you might as well accept that. If you have something against me, just say so and we’ll talk it out. But High Five comes first and we have to put our differences aside. I’d appreciate your cooperation. And Gran would like it if you’d have your meals at the house as you did before.”

      His eyes seared hers like a hot iron as he jerked the reins from her hand. Without a word he swung into the saddle, spurred the paint and shot out of the barn like a rocket, the dogs following.

      At his high-handedness, she freed the padlock she’d had on her emotions and kicked at the dirt. “You low-down, sorry bastard! You son of a bitch!”

      “Girl, where did you learn words like that?” Rufus, Etta’s husband, came through from the corral, leading his horse.

      She gulped a long breath. “Sorry, Rufus. I was letting off steam.”

      Rufus was in his seventies, tall, lean and slightly bowlegged. He’d spent every day since he was a kid in the saddle, except for the years he’d been in prison.

      “Cut the boy some slack.”

      “I was just trying to do that, but he ignored me once again.” She frowned. “Why does he dislike me?”

      Ru tipped back his hat. “Now, girl, that’s a mighty powerful question.”

      The old tomcat that lived in the barn darted out and scurried across bales of hay stacked in a corner. The sweet, pungent scent of alfalfa reached her nostrils. That smell always reminded her of home, of High Five.

      “Could be he took his cue from you?”

      She brought her gaze back to Rufus. “What?”

      “You never hid how you felt about him.”

      “Oh.” What was it with the elders on this ranch? They were on a spear-Skylar campaign, making her aware of every lousy fault she had.

      Ru patted his mare, Dixie. “You never felt that way about me, did you?”

      Her eyes flew to his clouded ones. “Of course not. I’ve known you all my life and you’re part of our family.”

      “I killed a man, though.”

      “You were trying to keep him from murdering his girlfriend. You never meant to hurt him.”

      “But I drank a lot back then. Etta didn’t like it. I went to bars, too. Etta didn’t like that, either, but I kept going. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so quick to hit the guy if I’d been sober. One swing from my fist and he was dead.” Ru flexed his right hand. “Sometimes in life those bad breaks happen. Prison woke me up, and