Her Rugged Rancher. Stella Bagwell

single, red-blooded man would be happy to accept her invitation. For the pie, if no other reason. But Noah wasn’t like most men. She expected if there was such a thing as a loner, he was the perfect example of one.

      A short distance away from the east side of the barn, the pines opened up to create a small meadow. After she turned Mary Mae in the pasture to join Casper, she fastened the gate safely behind her.

      “How do you water the horses?” he asked curiously.

      “In spite of what I just said about water being scarce, I found a small spring with a small pool not far from here on a ledge of the canyon wall. The horses can access it easily and the pasture fence includes it. I try to check it daily to make sure it hasn’t dried up.”

      “You’re fortunate.”

      Bella knew he was talking about the water supply, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was right in so many ways. After her divorce from Marcus, she’d not been able to see much of a future. Oh, she’d not given up on life by any means, but she’d certainly been bitter and disillusioned. Coming to the J Bar S, and living with her brother, had helped her get past the failure of her marriage. She might not have the family she always wanted, but at least she had a home of her own and a blossoming career as a lawyer.

      “Believe me, Noah. I realize that every day.” She turned toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go have a piece of pie and you can tell me whether I can cook or not.”

      * * *

      A few moments later, Noah followed Bella across a stone patio filled with lawn furniture and equipped with a fire pit. For entertaining her many friends, he thought. Most of them would probably be business people or folks connected to her law practice. He doubted a simple cowboy like him, who spent his days in the saddle, would be sitting under the shade of the pines, sipping summer cocktails.

      They entered a screened-in back porch filled with more furniture and potted plants and then she opened a door that took them directly into a spacious kitchen equipped with stainless-steel appliances and a work island topped with marbled tile.

      “Sorry for bringing you in the back way,” she said. “But it would’ve have been silly to walk all the way around to the front door.”

      It was silly of him to be in the house in the first place, Noah thought grimly. In fact, he felt like a deer tiptoeing into an open meadow. He was just asking for trouble.

      “I’m used to entering back doors, Ms.—uh, Bella.”

      She laughed softly. “Maybe one of these days you’ll tell me about some of those back doors you’ve walked through.”

      Only if he was drunk or had been injected with sodium pentothal, Noah thought.

      “That kind of confession might incriminate me,” he said.

      Her eyes sparkling, she laughed again and Noah felt the pit of his stomach make a silly little flip. Without even trying, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met. And her sultry beauty was only a part of the reason. The richness of her voice, the sensual way her body moved, the pleasure of her laugh and glint in her brown eyes all came together to create a walking, talking bombshell.

      “You need to remember that information shared between a lawyer and his client is private,” she joked, then pointed to a long pine table positioned near a bay window. “Have a seat.”

      He looked at the table and then down at his hands. “I think I’d better wash my hands first.”

      Pink color swept over her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Noah. I haven’t really lost my manners. I just wasn’t thinking. Follow me and I’ll show you where you can wash up.”

      They left the kitchen through a wide opening, then turned down a hallway. When they reached the second door on their right, she paused and pushed it open to reveal an opulent bathroom.

      “There’s soap and towels and whatever else you need. Make yourself at home,” she told him. “When you’re finished you can find me in the kitchen.”

      “Thanks.”

      She left him and Noah entered the bathroom. At the gray marble sink, he scrubbed his hands and face with soap and hot water, then reluctantly reached for one of the thick, fluffy hand towels draped over a silver rack. If his hands weren’t clean enough, they’d leave traces of dirt and manure on the towel. It would be embarrassing to have Bella discover he’d messed up her fine things.

      Hell, Noah, why are you worrying about a damned towel or tracking up the tile? And why should you be feeling like a stallion suddenly led into a fancy sitting room instead of a barn stall? Bella isn’t a snob. In fact, she acts as if she likes you. Why don’t you take advantage of the fact?

      Disgusted by the voice sounding off in his head, Noah hurried out of the bathroom. The sooner he accepted this payment of hers, the sooner he could get out of here and forget all about her and her warm smile and sweet-smelling skin. He could go back to being a saddle tramp. A man without a family and a past he desperately wanted to forget.

       Chapter Two

      When Noah returned to the kitchen, Bella was standing at the cabinet counter. The moment she heard his footsteps, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him.

      “I waited about pouring the coffee. It dawned on me that since the day is so warm you might prefer iced tea.”

      He removed his gray cowboy hat and Bella watched one big hand swipe over the thick waves. His hair was the blue-black color of a crow’s wing and just as shiny and she suddenly wondered if a thatch of it grew in the middle of his chest or around his navel. And how it might feel to open his shirt and look for herself.

      “The coffee would be good,” he told her.

      Clearing her throat in an effort to clear her mind, she said, “Great. Well, if you’d like, you can hang your hat over there by the door and I’ll bring everything over to the table.”

      He waited politely until she’d put the refreshments on the table and taken a seat, before he sank onto a bench on the opposite side of the table from her.

      Bella cut a generous portion of the pie and served him, then cut a much smaller piece for herself.

      “I’d offer to put a dip of ice cream on top, but I’m all out,” she told him.

      “This is more than fine,” he assured her.

      Even though he began to consume the pie and drink the coffee, Bella could see he was as taut as a fiddle string. Apparently he was wishing he was anywhere, except here with her. Strangely, the notion intrigued her far more than it bothered her.

      From what Jett had told her, he’d often encouraged Noah to find himself a woman, but the man had never made the effort. If Jett knew the reason why his foreman shied away from dating, her brother had never shared it with her. And she’d not asked.

      It would look more than obvious if she suddenly started asking Jett personal questions about his foreman. Still, she’d often wished an opportunity would come along for her to get to know more about the rough and rugged cowboy.

      Now, out of sheer coincidence, he happened to be sitting across from her, without anyone around to listen in on their conversation. She wanted to make the most of every moment. She wanted to ask him a thousand questions about himself. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to voice even one. She didn’t want to come across as a lawyer digging for information, any more than she wanted to appear like a woman on the prowl for a man.

      “So how do you like your new house?” he asked.

      Encouraged that he was bothering to make conversation, she smiled. “I do like the house. It’s comfortable and meets my needs. But I have to be honest, there are times the quietness presses in on me. After living with Jett and Sassy and three young children, the solitude is something that will take time for