His By Any Means. Maureen Child

him—just as it had the night of the rehearsal dinner. The same night J.D. died.

      That night, he’d really noticed her for the first time. They’d met in passing of course, but on that particular night, there had been something different about her. Something that tugged at him. Maybe it had been seeing her long, amazing hair loose, cascading down her back in beautiful shimmering waves. Maybe it had been the short red dress and the black heels and the way they’d made her legs look a mile long. All he knew for sure was when he’d caught her eye from across the room, he’d felt a connection snap into place between them. He had started toward her, determined to talk to her—then J.D.’s heart attack had changed everything.

      She wasn’t wearing party clothes today, though. Instead, she wore baggy slacks, a sapphire-blue pullover sweater and her long, dark blond hair was pulled back into a braid that hung down between her shoulder blades. She had wide blue eyes that were bright with unshed tears and a full, rich mouth that tempted a man to taste it.

      If he hadn’t seen her in a figure-skimming red dress at the party—a dress that remained etched into his memory—Sage never would have guessed at the curves she kept so well hidden beneath her armor of wool and cotton.

      He hadn’t had much interaction with Colleen, since he and J.D. hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms, so Sage didn’t spend much time on Big Blue. But that night at the party, she’d intrigued him. Not only was she beautiful, but when J.D. collapsed, she had sprung into action, shouting orders like a general and taking charge until the paramedics showed up.

      She had been devoted to J.D., had earned the family’s affections—as evidenced by the way Marlene reached out to take the woman’s hand—yet through it all had remained a bit of a mystery. Where was she from? Why had she taken a job working for a grumpy old man on a remote, if luxurious, ranch? And why the hell did he care?

      “Colleen do something to you?”

      He glanced at Dylan. “What?”

      “Well, you’re staring at her hard enough to set her hair on fire. What’s up?”

      Irritated to have been caught out, Sage muttered, “Shut up.”

      “Ah. Good answer.” Dylan just smiled, shook his head and leaned forward to ask Chance something.

      Sage let his gaze slide carefully back to Colleen. She bent her head to whisper something to Marlene, and he watched that long, silky braid slide across her shoulder, baring the nape of her neck. Soft blond curls brushed against her skin and he suddenly had the urge to touch her. To stroke that skin, to slide his fingers through her hair, to— He cut that thought off as fast as he could and scowled to himself.

      The only possible reason she had for being here was if she was mentioned in J.D.’s will. Sure, J.D. had needed a nurse over his last few months, with his health failing, but such a beautiful one? Was that why she’d taken the job of caring for the old man? Had she been hoping for a nice payoff someday? Maybe he should spend a little time looking into Colleen Falkner, he thought. Do some checking. Make sure—

      “You’re looking at her again,” Dylan pointed out.

      Glaring at his brother and ignoring the smile on the man’s face, Sage grumbled, “Don’t you have something else to do?”

      “Not at the moment.”

      “Lucky me.”

      “I just think it’s interesting how fascinated you seem to be by Colleen.”

      “I’m not fascinated.” Much. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and told himself to stop thinking about her. How could the woman have gotten to him so easily? Hell, he hadn’t even really talked to her.

      “Not what it looks like from where I’m sitting.”

      “Then maybe you should sit somewhere else.” He wasn’t fascinated. He was...interested. Attracted. There was a difference.

      Dylan laughed shortly. True to form, Sage’s younger brother was almost impossible to insult. He was easygoing, charming and sometimes Sage thought his younger brother had gotten all the patience in the family. But he was also stubborn and once he got his teeth into something, he rarely let it go.

      Like now, for example.

      “She’s single,” Dylan said.

      “Great.”

      “I’m just sayin’,” his brother continued, “maybe you could leave your ranch once in a while. Have an actual date. Maybe with Colleen.”

      Sage drew his head back and stared at his brother. “Are you running a dating service I don’t know about?”

      “Fine,” Dylan muttered, sitting back in his chair. “Have it your way. Be a hermit. End up becoming the weird old guy who lives alone on an isolated ranch.”

      “I’m not a hermit.”

      “Yeah? When’s the last time you had a woman?”

      Frowning, Sage said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I get plenty of women.”

      “One-night stands? Nice.”

      Sage preferred one-night stands. He didn’t do commitment, and spending time with women who felt the same way avoided a lot of unnecessary hassle. If his brother wanted to look for more in his life, he was welcome to. As for Sage, he liked his life just the way it was. He came and went as he pleased. When he wanted a woman, he went and found one. When he wanted to be left the hell alone, he had that, too.

      “Now that you mention it,” he said quietly, “I haven’t noticed you busy developing any serious relationships, either.”

      Dylan shrugged, folded his arms across his chest and said, “We’re not talking about me.”

      “Yeah, well, we’re done talking about me, too.”

      Then the office door opened, and lawyer Walter Drake stepped inside and announced, “All here?” He swept the room with a sharp-eyed gaze and nodded to himself. “Good. Then we can get started.”

      “I don’t know if I’m ready for this,” Dylan grumbled.

      Sage was more than ready. He wanted this day done and finished so he could get back to his ranch.

      After settling himself behind a wide oak desk, Walter, an older man who looked like the stereotypical image of an “old family retainer”—handsome, gray haired and impeccably dressed—picked up a stack of papers and straightened them unnecessarily. That shuffle of paper and the rattle of the window panes as a cold wind gusted against it were the only sounds in the room. It was as if everyone had taken a breath and held it.

      Walter was clearly enjoying his moment in the spotlight. Every eye in the room was on him. Once again, his gaze moved over the people gathered there and when he finally came to Angelica, he gave her a sad, sympathetic smile before speaking to the room. “I know how hard this is on all of you, so I’ll be as brief as possible.”

      Sage would be grateful.

      “As you all know, J.D. and I knew each other for more than thirty years.” Walter paused, smiled to himself and added, “He was a stubborn man, but a proud one, and I want you all to know that he took great care with his will. He remade it just a few months ago because he wanted to be sure to do the right thing by all of you.”

      Scraping one hand across his face, Sage shifted in the uncomfortable chair. He flicked a quick glance out the window and saw dark clouds rushing across the sky. April in Wyoming, he mused. It could be sunny in the morning and snowing by afternoon. And right now, it looked as though a storm was headed their way. Which only fed the urge to get back to his ranch before the bad weather hit.

      “There are a lot of smaller provisions made to people J.D. thought well of over the years,” Walter was saying. “I won’t be reading them aloud today. Nor will I make mention of other estate business that will be handled separately.”

      Sage