Home on the Ranch: Oklahoma: Defending the Rancher's Daughter / The Rancher Bodyguard. Carla Cassidy

big for a woman to run alone.” It sounded like an idle observation but Zack knew Jake was subtly staking a claim. “I’ve gotten real close to Kate since I’ve been working here.” Staking a claim and perhaps warning off any competition.

      Zack leaned against one of the fence posts, pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped it across his forehead. “As far as I’m concerned, getting close to Katie is kind of like getting too close to a wildcat. She can appear nice and calm, but you never know where she’s going to claw your skin off.”

      Jake laughed, obviously pleased by Zack’s reply. “I’ve always liked a bit of a wildcat in my women. There’s nothing finer than gentling a wildcat.”

      At that moment the sound of an approaching horse caught their attention. Sonny Williams rode toward them. As he reined in and dismounted, he nodded to Zack. “How you doing? Ms. Sampson told me you’d hired on.”

      “Doing good, Sonny.” Sonny had worked for Gray for years, so he was no stranger to Zack.

      “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you worked for that fancy business with your dad and your brothers and sister.”

      “I quit that a month ago. I’ve been kicking around for the last couple of weeks trying to decide what I want to do with my life. Smokey mentioned to me that Katie had lost some men after Gray’s death, so I figured I’d sign on and do some honest work here until she can hire on more men and I can decide exactly what I want to do.”

      “Right now we can use all the help we can get.” A frown tugged at Sonny’s weathered features. “Things have been tough around here. I still can’t believe Gray is gone.”

      The frown lifted and he looked around. “Well, it looks like you men are on top of this job. I’ll just leave you to get back to work. Don’t forget tomorrow Doc Edwards is going to be here to tag all the new calves. I’ll need all hands to help with the process.”

      With a nod to all three men, Sonny remounted and headed in the opposite direction from where he’d come, and Zack and the others got back to work.

      The men worked on the fencing until the sun began to set, then knocked off for the day. Zack and George let Jake, Mike and Brett use the facilities first as they intended to head into town. It was Friday night and payday and Sonny had distributed the checks an hour before.

      George and Zack showered after the other two had left, then ate a quiet meal. After cleaning up, George settled in one of the chairs in front of the television and promptly fell asleep and began to snore.

      Zack eased down into one of the other chairs, his mind sorting through his impressions of the men he had met so far. It didn’t take him long to become bored with his thoughts and slightly irritated by the blare of the television.

      He got up and drifted outside. Dusk had fallen and night shadows crept across the ground. He leaned against the building and looked toward the main house. The porch light was on and he thought he saw a figure seated in one of the two chairs on the front porch.

      Katie. He wondered how many nights in the past year she and Gray had sat side by side, just like he and Gray had years ago. It somehow didn’t seem right for her to be sitting there all alone.

      As he walked toward the house he told himself he was only going to ask her about the list of employees he’d requested from her. It had nothing to do with the fact that she looked so lonesome in the encroaching darkness.

      She stood as he approached and once again he was struck by her physical presence. She was a good four or five inches shorter than his own six feet, but she gave the impression of being taller.

      She’d obviously showered and changed since he’d seen her earlier in the day. She was clad in a blue sundress that bared her tanned arms and did amazing things to her eyes in the illumination from the porch light overhead. The scooped neckline revealed just a hit of cleavage and a new tension settled into Zack’s gut.

      “Evening, Zack.” She sank onto the chair.

      “Katie.” He swept his hat from his head. “I was wondering if you’d had a chance to get together that list of employees for me.”

      “I’ve got it inside.” She seemed disinclined to get up again. “Why don’t you sit for just a few minutes?”

      He hesitated. He’d told himself he’d walked up here to get the list, then go back to the bunkhouse, but there was a wistfulness in her voice, a softness he’d never heard before. It intrigued him. He sank into the chair next to hers, once again feeling unbalanced by her.

      The anger she’d displayed at the hospital when she’d told him to get out of her sight had been pure Katie, so familiar it was almost comfortable.

      This softer, almost vulnerable Katie disconcerted him. He wasn’t at all sure he trusted it. “Friday night and you don’t have a hot date?” he asked.

      “I haven’t had a hot date since I left college behind,” she replied. “What about you? No town hottie waiting for your company?”

      He grinned. “I’ve been gone for so long I don’t think I know any of the town hotties anymore.” Zack would never admit to her just how long it had been since he’d been out with a woman. For the past year work had consumed him, leaving no time for personal relationships of any kind.

      For a few minutes they were silent. It wasn’t a restful, peaceful kind of silence. Zack had learned long ago that there was little restful or peaceful about Katie Sampson.

      “This is the time of the evening I miss him most,” she said, her voice soft and low. “In the hours just after supper and right before bedtime. I never knew a house could be so quiet.”

      He set his hat on the porch next to his chair. “As I recall, you never seemed particularly fond of silence,” he said dryly. He tensed, knowing she might see his words as bait.

      He saw the flash of her white teeth as she smiled at him. He’d noticed that smile earlier in the day when it had been directed at Jake. It was a beautiful smile and completely unexpected.

      “I suppose that’s your way of telling me I was always making noise when I was younger.” She leaned deeper into the chair. “I suppose I’m willing to admit that I was a bit of a handful when I was younger if you’re willing to admit that you were an arrogant, egotistical, overbearing pain in the neck.”

      He bristled at her characterization of him. “I’ll admit half of that is true.”

      “Gee, let me guess which half you’ll admit to,” she replied. She released an audible sigh, one that spoke of weariness.

      For a long moment neither of them spoke. Zack was normally quite comfortable with silence, but this one felt thick and charged with an energy he couldn’t define.

      “Did you find out anything this afternoon?” She broke the silence.

      He leaned back and directed his gaze toward the bunkhouse in the distance. “Not really. George and Mike seem like decent men. Brett doesn’t seem like a decent man and Jake seems to be developing a major crush on you.” He turned to catch her surprised expression.

      She laughed, a deep, sexy sound that shocked him. He realized it was the very first time he’d heard her laugh. Odd, that in all the years he’d hung out here, he’d never heard her laughter before. And never would he have expected it to be such a pleasant sound.

      “Now you’re going to have me questioning your investigative skills,” she said. “Jake has certainly been a godsend since Dad’s death. He helped me take care of the arrangements for the funeral and has been a comfort, but there’s certainly no romance there. He’s just a good employee.”

      Maybe she didn’t see any romance on her end, but Zack knew with a man’s instinct that Jake’s interest in Katie had nothing to do with him being her employee.

      “What are you going to do with the list of names I’m giving you?” she asked.

      “I’ll