Home on the Ranch. Allison Leigh

      She sank her teeth into her tongue to keep from telling him what he could do with that particular compensation. Compensation they both knew was considerably less than she could have charged. “I’d like my time to be productive, too,” she said honestly. “I have no desire to spend unnecessary time under your roof.”

      “Well, there’s something we agree on, then.”

      Her fingers were curled so tightly against her palms that even her short nails were causing pain. “And here’s something else we’d better agree on.” She kept her voice low, in deference to Lucy sleeping downstairs. “Lucy doesn’t need the added stress of knowing you detest me, so maybe you could work on summoning a little…well, friendliness is probably asking too much. But if Lucy senses that you don’t trust me to do my best with her, then she’s not going to, either, no matter how well she and I got along when she was in my P.E. class.”

      “I don’t need you telling me what my daughter needs. I’ve been her only parent since she was born.”

      “And it’s amazing that she’s turned out as well as she has.” She winced at the unkind words. “I’m sorry. That was—”

      “True enough.” He didn’t look particularly offended. “She is amazing.”

      Belle nibbled the inside of her lip as thick silence settled over them. Should she have listened to her mother’s warning that she was getting in over her head? Not because of the skill she would require to work with Lucy—as her therapist as well as a tutor—but because of who Lucy was?

      Probably.

      She sighed a little and pressed her palms together. “Lucy is a great kid, Cage. And I really do want to help her.” That was the whole point of all this.

      Mostly.

      A muscle flexed in his jaw and his gaze slid sideways, as if he was trying to see the bedroom downstairs where his daughter slept. “If I believed you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here.”

      Which, apparently, was as much a concession as she was likely to get out of the man. For now, anyway. Fortunately, somewhere in her life she’d learned that a retreat didn’t always signify defeat.

      “Well. I guess I’ll hit the sack.” She was twenty-seven years old, but she still felt her face heat at the words. As if the man didn’t know she’d be climbing into bed under his roof. She was such a head case. Better to focus on the job. The last time he’d come to her house—after she’d already refused Lucy’s case once—he’d admitted that he’d fired Annette Barrone because of her overactive hormones. Belle had assured him that he had no worries from her on that score.

      As if.

      “I went over and checked out the barn earlier,” she said evenly when neither one of them moved. “The setup is remarkable.” And another indication of his devotion to his daughter. Every piece of equipment that she could have wished for had been there, and then some. The hospital in town should only be so lucky. “I rearranged things a little. If that’s all right.”

      Now, his hooded gaze slid back over her face. And she refused to acknowledge that the shiver creeping up her spine had anything to do with his intensely blue gaze.

      “Use your judgment.”

      She nodded. “Okay, then.” The door to her bedroom was within arm’s reach. Not at all at opposite ends of the hall from his. “Good night.” She wished he would turn into his own bedroom. But he just stood there. And feeling idiotic, she unplastered her back from the wall behind her and went through the door, quickly shutting it behind her.

      A moment later, she heard the squeak of a floorboard, and the close of another door.

      Relief sagged through her. After changing into her pajamas, she crossed to the bed and sat on it, dragging her leather backpack-style purse up beside her. She rummaged through it until she found her cell phone and quickly dialed.

      A moment later, her sister, Nikki, answered with no ceremony. “So, are you there?”

      Belle propped the pillow behind her and scooted back against it. The iron-frame bed squeaked softly, as if to remind her that it had survived years and years of use. It was a vaguely comforting sound. “Yes.” She kept her voice low. The house might be sturdy, but the walls were thin enough that she could hear the rush of the shower from the bathroom across the hall.

      She stared hard at the log-cabin pattern of the quilt beneath her until the image that thought brought about faded. “The drive was hellacious in the rain.”

      “Well, we’ve heard Squire say often enough that Cage Buchanan doesn’t like visitors, so there’s not a lot of need for him to make sure the road is easy.”

      “I know.” Squire Clay was their stepfather, having married their mother several years earlier. She tugged at her ear. “Anyway, I know it’s late. You were probably already in bed.”

      “It’s okay. I wouldn’t have slept until I knew you hadn’t been beheaded at the guy’s front door.”

      “He’s not that bad.”

      “Not bad to look at, maybe. I still can’t believe you took this job. What do you hope to prove, anyway?”

      “Nothing,” Belle insisted. “It’s just a job to fill the summer until—” if “—I come back to the clinic.”

      Nikki snorted softly. “Maybe. But I’m betting you think this is your last chance to prove to yourself that you’re not a failure.”

      Belle winced. “Don’t be ridiculous, Nik.”

      “Come on, Belle. What other reason would have finally made you agree to that man’s request?”

      “That man has a name.”

      Nikki’s sudden silence was telling. That was the problem with having a twin. But Belle was not going to get into some deep discussion over her motivation in taking on this particular job. “Speaking of the clinic,” she said deliberately. “How are things there?”

      “Fine.”

      Now it was Belle’s turn to remain silent.

      “They still haven’t hired anyone to replace you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Nikki finally said after a breathy huff.

      “That’s something, at least.” And a bit of a minor miracle, given the number of patients the prestigious clinic handled. She still wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t because of the position her sister held as administrative assistant to the boss that Belle had been put on a leave of absence rather than being dismissed.

      “And I know you’re wondering but won’t ask,” Nikki went on. “So I’ll just tell you. Scott’s only coming in once a week now.”

      She wasn’t sure how she felt at the mention of him. A patient she hadn’t managed to completely rehabilitate. Briefly a fiancé she shouldn’t have completely trusted. “You’ve seen him?”

      “Are you kidding? I hide out in my office. If I saw Scott Langtree in person, I’d be liable to kick him.” Nikki paused for a moment and when she spoke, her voice was acid. “She comes with him, now, apparently. Has most of the staff in a snit because she’s so arrogant. Not that I’m condoning what Scott did, but from what people around here are saying about his wife, it’s no wonder the man was on the prowl for someone else.”

      Belle plucked at the point of a quilted star. “But you haven’t seen her?”

      “Nope. And I consider that a good thing. I’d have something to say to her, too, and then I’d have my tail in a sling at work, just like you.”

      Belle smiled faintly. Nikki was her champion and always had been. “Hardly like me. You’d never be stupid enough to fall for a guy who already had a wife.”

      “And you wouldn’t have fallen for Scott, either, if he