Lone Star Daddy. Cathy Thacker Gillen

the shapely lines of her soft breasts.

      A jolt of pure heat went through him. Clint shifted in his chair, tempted to push the limits with her once again. “It’s bloomed into quite a business.”

      “And not just in Laramie County.” Rose stood and strode over to throw her empty bottle in the recycling bin. “I’ve even started supplying the upscale Fresh Foods Markets in Dallas on a limited crop-by-crop basis, which benefits everyone.”

      Finally seeing a way to steer the conversation where he wanted it, he stood, too.

      “Even the guys you’ve been dating?” Clint asked, determined to find out who his competition had been. And more importantly, just why they had failed to win a pivotal place in her life. He didn’t want to make the same mistake.

      * * *

      DECIDING SHE’D SPENT far too much time alone with the handsome cowboy, Rose fished the keys off her belt and headed for the barn entrance.

      As expected, Clint was right behind her. “Why do you care?” She threw the words over her shoulder.

      He overtook her at the doorway and stepped out into the dwindling spring sunshine. Thanks to daylight saving time, it wouldn’t get dark for another two hours, but the skies were still a clear blue and the temperature—which had been in the high eighties all day—was now dropping. Which meant a very pleasant star-filled evening ahead.

      She locked up. “I didn’t think you were into gossip.”

      He lounged casually beside her, one brawny shoulder propped against the red siding. “Call me curious.”

      Wondering how in the heck he could still look so darn good after being out in the field all day, she shot back, “Well, don’t be.” With five sisters and two parents prying into her love life, or lack thereof, she didn’t need any more questions.

      He ignored her subtle gibe and pressed closer. Determined, it seemed, to know everything about her. Even as she vowed to continue to keep him at arm’s length.

      “Then they were guys you’re involved with in a business sense.”

      “No. Not at all.” Rose pivoted and began strolling across the yard, toward her bungalow. “One was a cardiologist. Another a computer programmer. The third an insurance agent.”

      He fell into step beside her. “So what happened?”

      Resisting the crazy urge to tuck her hand into his, she kept on going. “None of them could handle the kids—even during the thirty-minute predate get-to-know-each-other sessions. And the triplets didn’t like the guys, either.” Rose sighed as she mounted the steps to the front door of her house. “And that clearly wasn’t likely to change.”