Second Chance At The Ranch. Maxine Morrey

of a smile before she dropped her eyes. Nick cast a private glance at Pete whose brief nod in return told him everything was good.

      Nick wished he could be as sure as his brother. Something about Hero Scott already bothered him, although she’d only been there five minutes. The last thing his brother, or any of them, needed right now was some diva model swanning around and expecting to be waited on hand and foot. Typical that the first thing she did was check her phone for service, he thought, wondering just how many selfies she had taken in the car.

      Nick stole another glance. This woman was certainly different from her sister, with none of the ease and openness that drew people to Juliet. He already thought of Juliet as a sister. But Hero? That act of cool aloofness she had going on already had him rubbed up the wrong way. He’d seen that moment of hesitation before she took his proffered hand as his mum introduced them. He guessed it was pretty unlikely she’d had many dealings with men who worked the land to make their income. More likely she surrounded herself with alphabet celebrities and wealthy hedgefunders, with the occasional titled aristocrat or two, just to mix it up a bit.

      After seeing that everyone had a drink and assuring them all that dinner wouldn’t be too long, Gill soon began talking weddings again with the girls. Nick took a seat next to his dad, and kept his gaze purposely diverted from the supermodel.

      ***

      Dawn was breaking as Hero sat in one of the rocking chairs on the large wraparound porch of the house. She’d slept well, surprisingly for her. Not being a great sleeper, she had expected to toss and turn as she usually did, but after a soothing shower and in the homely comfort of the Websters’ guestroom, she could barely remember her head touching the pillow last night. But thanks to jetlag, her body was totally out of sync so after half an hour of lying awake early this morning, thoughts racing, she’d got up, done her teeth and make-up and then pulled on an easy-to-wear maxi dress she’d been given by one of the designers – which one exactly escaped her memory – before walking quietly down the stairs and heading outside. The air was still cool at this time, and it felt fresh and clean. Hero tried to remember the last time she had smelled air like this, and failed. Streaks of orange, purple, and blue mixed in the sky as the sun tentatively poked its head above the horizon. She sat and watched, for once not thinking about the next item on her schedule. Here, she had no schedule. She repeated that thought and smiled. The patter of a dog’s toenails caused her to look up and her smile became wider as the collie, Biscuit, scooted up to her and laid his head in her lap.

      ‘Good morning to you too!’ she said, her voice even softer than it usually was in deference to the still sleeping household. The collie wriggled, his tail beating faster and faster at the attention.

      ‘Biscuit, stop bothering the guests.’

      ‘Oh, he’s really n…’ Hero looked up as she spoke, her hand still stroking the collie’s head as he gazed up at her with adoring, bright blue eyes. She faltered as she realised the request had come from Nick Webster. Something about this man unsettled her and had done since the moment they’d met. The smile he’d given her as they were introduced yesterday was the last she’d seen from him, at least the last in her direction anyway. Then, as now, he had a detachment about him.

      Hero cleared her throat. ‘He’s not bothering me at all.’ She tried to smile but suddenly struggled with something she could usually do on cue for camera, feeling self-conscious and awkward. Nick said nothing.

      ‘I…’ Nervously, she cleared her throat again. ‘I always think it would be nice to have a pet. But I know it wouldn’t be fair to an animal with the amount of travelling I do.’

      ‘He’s not a pet. He’s a working dog.’

      ‘Oh. Oh yes, well, of course. I didn’t mean …’ Hero trailed off, suddenly unsure what she meant.

      The dog turned and sat down, his body pushed as close to Hero as he could get it, relishing the attention. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nick give a shake of his head.

      ‘I guess he heard you were a celebrity too. As you can imagine, we don’t tend to get a lot of those around here.’

      ‘I’m not a celebrity,’ Hero replied.

      Nick tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. ‘Sure you’re not. I’m making coffee. Do you want one? Biscuit, come here.’

      The dog padded over quickly to his master.

      ‘I don’t want to put you out.’

      Nick shrugged. ‘I’m making coffee anyway. One more is no big deal.’ He turned and walked off down the porch, disappearing into the kitchen.

      Hero took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she’d been taught in her Pilates class. It was supposed to help you relax, but right now it wasn’t really helping anything. Nick Webster’s presence seemed far stronger than any relaxation techniques she’d learned. And she had no idea why. Yes, he was tall, and good-looking and that dark shadow of stubble on his jaw this morning did nothing to diminish that fact. In truth, it only enhanced it. But so what? It wasn’t like Hero didn’t mix with good-looking people very often. Her world was practically made up of beautiful people, and none of them had ever caused the tight, fluttery feeling in her stomach before. And certainly, none of them had made her stumble over her words like a teenager before. She took another breath and began to feel her pulse rate slow. His comment about celebrity floated in her head, as did the slight disdain she detected in his voice as he’d said it.

      Pushing herself up off the chair, she turned and followed the way he’d gone. As she got to the door, she hesitated. Inside she saw Nick crouched down, grinning as he ruffled the dog’s fur up and down and Biscuit thumped his tail in delight.

      Not a pet, huh?

      Hero gently rattled the door handle a little more than she needed to, alerting Nick to her presence. He stood quickly, picking up the dog’s empty breakfast bowl as he did, transferring it to the dishwasher.

      ‘Coffee’s there.’ He pointed to one of the two sunny yellow mugs now sat on the worktop. ‘I didn’t know if you took sugar or not, but it’s there on the side if you do.’

      ‘No. Thank you.’

      ‘Guessed not, but thought I’d ask anyway.’

      ‘Do I look like a no-sugar coffee drinker then?’ she asked a moment later, feeling the need to fill the silence.

      Nick picked up the other mug and took a sip of the steaming dark liquid before answering.

      ‘I imagine you don’t consume any calories you don’t have to.’ His eyes met hers.

      ‘Well, I … there is a certain amount of being aware of that,’ she replied.

      He raised his eyebrows briefly in reply as he looked away.

      ‘What does that mean?’ Hero asked, already knowing she was going to regret asking.

      ‘I didn’t say anything,’ Nick replied, puzzled.

      ‘Well, no. Not out loud but it’s very clear you’re thinking something.’

      ‘I don’t know what it’s like in your world, but out here, men are allowed to have their own thoughts.’

      ‘That’s the same anywhere.’

      He did the expression again.

      ‘Clearly it can’t be a very strong opinion if you don’t want to share it. I get the impression you’re not the type to keep your views to yourself.’ Hero’s voice was low but there was no doubting the annoyance behind it. What was it with this man? Why was she allowing him to get under her skin like no one else she’d ever met?

      He gave a brief smile, but Hero doubted its sincerity. ‘Well, then I guess that shows just how much you know me.’ He drained the last of his coffee and transferred that, too, to the dishwasher. His apparent domestication felt at odds with his character – as far as Hero had been able to actually make that out. ‘Come on, Biscuit. Time to work.’