A Rancher of Her Own. Barbara Daille White

had handed his reins to the other wrangler and walked up to join Pete. He nodded in the direction of the guests. “They’ve come a long way this week. And they’re talking about another visit to the ranch soon.”

      “Jed will be happy to hear it.”

      “I see Rachel got home okay.”

      “Yeah. Robbie, too,” he added, knowing Cole would ask about his and Tina’s son. He smiled. “Rachel’s all excited about her graduation.”

      “So I’ve been hearing. Sounds like it’s going to be a big production.”

      “Not nearly as big a deal as the wedding.”

      “The ladies are going to town with it, aren’t they?” Cole shook his head. “But that’s what it’s about, I guess. Lucky for us, we just have to get dressed and show up.”

      “Sounds like the voice of experience,” Pete said with a laugh.

      “That would be you, not me.”

      “Yeah.” Not such a great experience, as it turned out.

      He led the way to the barn.

      Not long after he’d hired Sharon, his divorce had come through. Marina hadn’t requested regular visitation with the kids. She hadn’t even wanted custody, claiming it would be better for him to have full charge, since she never knew when her schedule would take her out of the country.

      Her rise to fame had been the kind of overnight success story heard about only in the news. Well, now she was someone making that news, the latest glamour girl whose face and figure showed up on cover after magazine cover. And he couldn’t fault her for being happy about having the life she’d always wanted.

      Too bad she hadn’t bothered telling him she’d wanted that life before they’d married and started raising a couple of kids. Not that he ever had or ever would regret having Rachel and Eric.

      He loved his kids. And though his marriage had fallen apart, he sure as hell planned to hold his little family together.

      Inside the barn, Cole said, “I’ve got the order we picked up waiting in your office, all but a couple of items on back order.”

      “Some of it needs to go out to the supply cabins.” They went down the list together, discussing what should stay in the barn and what they should transfer. “Let’s load this up now, and you can take it out first thing in the morning.”

      Cole nodded. “Think you’ll be around, or are you going to be busy over at the hotel again? I’ve been hearing about that, too.”

      “From who?” he demanded.

      “Jed mentioned it. And he and Jane were talking about it over breakfast. With the renovations partially done, she said she intended to get some of her pictures taken.”

      “Tina’s still hoping to have everything finished up by late fall?”

      “Yeah. If she can push the contractors to move any faster. But that seems about as likely as pulling out the back teeth of a bull with lockjaw.”

      “I wouldn’t want her job dealing with them. You and the boys give me enough grief.”

      “Ha. And what about Jane?”

      “She’ll be done with her pictures soon, and I’ll be back here, where I belong.” End of story. He lifted a supply carton from the floor.

      “I’ll bring the truck around to the back,” Cole volunteered.

      “Sounds good,” he agreed, happy to change the subject.

      He didn’t want to talk about Jane. Despite all the strikes against her, he’d thought of her much too often. Worse, he was having a heck of a time getting images of her out of his head.

      Maybe he’d just stayed away from women too long.

      Since the divorce, he hadn’t dated or even brought anyone new around his kids. In fact, he’d pretty much kept himself to himself. He had no plans to jump into another relationship. But, for his kids’ sake, he couldn’t rule out the idea of marrying again someday. He just needed to find the right woman to make his family complete.

      No way was a smart-mouthed city slicker like Jane Garland the right woman to be a mom to his kids.

      And no way was she the woman for him...no matter how much he wanted her.

       Chapter Four

      June might be a great month for a wedding—if you liked weddings—but as he’d futilely reminded Jed, it was also a busy one on the ranch. Too busy to spend an afternoon or even a few hours playing assistant to a perfectionist photographer. Yet he’d returned for another day of taking Jane’s directions, and this time, he’d looked forward to that more than he should.

      She hadn’t stood still all morning. He wondered if she was as rattled as he was over that moment on the back porch.

      For the third time in ten minutes, he rearranged a table and chairs in the Hitching Post’s dining room.

      “That’s good,” she said. “A few more shots ought to do it.”

      “For this room?”

      “For the day. Tina and Grandpa should be back from the airport soon.”

      He nodded. Early that morning, Jed had told him they would be picking up his middle granddaughter and her kids.

      Jane started in on the routine that had become familiar to him by now, standing at one side of the room, then slowly covering the area, clicking the camera as she went along.

      The sound of her heels on the hardwood floor brought his attention to her leather ankle boots. Black leather, of course. From there, his gaze naturally went to shapely calves and then slim thighs. A long-tailed button-down shirt hid the rest of her curves. Unfortunately, that didn’t do a thing to rein in his imagination.

      He wanted to move closer, to undo that shirt one button at a time. At the very least, he wanted to get her talking again. He took a couple of steps forward just as she backed up, walking directly into him. Instantly, he realized how far his imagination had taken him and how quickly his body had followed. He hoped she hadn’t been able to notice.

      When she turned to face him, he racked his brain for something halfway intelligent to say. “We’d better hurry this up.”

      “Hurry?”

      “Yeah. With Jed and your cousins coming back, anyone could interrupt us at any time.” The thought of having anything to interrupt got him hot all over. Dang. He had to forget this crazy desire for her. Or do something to satisfy it.

      She stepped away. “Just a few more shots.”

      He laughed. “I’ve heard that one before.” He settled into a chair at a table for two near the wall. Maybe the space would help him cool down a bit. “Must cost you a fortune in film.”

      She shook her head. “This camera’s digital. That means it goes straight from the camera to the computer.”

      “Didn’t know you could do that,” he said.

      She must not have picked up on his teasing. Eyebrows shooting up in surprise, she glanced at him. “Come on. You’ve got a camera phone, haven’t you?”

      “Yeah.” He shrugged. “I’ve never used it to take a picture, and I don’t mind saying—”

      “—I’m danged proud of it,” she finished. “I could just hear that coming. But don’t tell me you don’t use a computer.”

      He couldn’t honestly say that but wanted to agree, just to see her reaction.

      “You would have to,” she went on. “You must deal with budgets and payroll