The Rancher And The Baby. Marie Ferrarella

      

      WRANGLIN’ WITH THE RANCHER?

      Cassidy McCullough can’t remember a time when rancher Will Laredo wasn’t a huge (albeit handsome) pain in her backside. In this small Texan town, their bickering is almost legendary. When they rescue a baby during a flash flood, however, Will and Cassidy suddenly find themselves temporary guardians of a child…together.

      Will has a hard time holstering his temper around Cassidy. Now they’re both responsible for a lost baby, and darned if they can’t stop arguing. The only way to make it through is to declare a cease-fire. And Lord help them both if that happens…because then Will might just discover he’s falling for his enemy.

      “Stop being so agreeable… That’s not like you.”

      That damn sexy smile of Will’s was back.

      “Maybe it is,” he contradicted.

      She didn’t like these new rules. “You’re just messing with my mind,” Cassidy accused.

      Will inclined his head. “If you say so.”

      She clenched her hands in her lap, curling her fingernails into her palms. She was doing what she could in order to ground herself.

      His smile told her that he was enjoying this, enjoying getting under her skin, getting in the last word, because, she reminded herself, that was the way Will Laredo was built. You can’t change the spots on a leopard, she insisted. Even a leopard with a very sexy smile.

      Especially a leopard with a very sexy smile.

      The Rancher and the Baby

      Marie Ferrarella

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MARIE FERRARELLA is a USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Award–winning author who has written more than two hundred and fifty books for Mills & Boon, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, marieferrarella.com.

      To

      Michael & Mark,

      who were once my

      younger brothers,

      but through the

      miracle of creative math,

      are now my

      older brothers

      Contents

       Cover

       Back Cover Text

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Extract

       Copyright

       Prologue

      “Mind if I cut in?”

      Instantly pulled out of her mental wanderings—a defense mechanism she employed when whoever she was with was boring her out of her mind—Cassidy McCullough looked up, focusing on the man who had just tapped her dance partner’s shoulder.

      Not that she really needed to.

      Despite the fact that he had been absent from Forever for the better part of four years, she would have recognized that voice anywhere.

      It popped up in her nightmares.

      Will Laredo.

      Will had been her brothers’ friend for as far back as she could remember—until his estrangement with his father had taken him to parts unknown, simultaneously bringing peace to her own corner of the world.

      As she looked back, it felt as if her peace had been far too short-lived. Especially since, for reasons that were beyond her understanding, all three of her brothers liked this six-foot-one-inch, dirty-blond-haired irritant on two legs—which was why Cody had not only invited him to his wedding, he’d made Will one of his groomsmen.

      To her surprise, Ron Jenkins, her fawning partner on the dance floor, seemed all too ready to acquiesce to Laredo’s casual query. Under normal circumstances, she would have celebrated getting a different partner—but not this time.

      Ron might be willing, Cassidy thought, but she damn well wasn’t.

      “He might not mind,” Cassidy retorted defiantly,