Night Hawk. Lindsay McKenna

up, “I would love Zeke to have a mate! I’d love having puppies around here. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

      Groaning, Talon shook his head. “Mom, you don’t know what you’re asking. Zeke’s breeding is as a highly aggressive guard dog. He’d throw puppies just like him and most people don’t know how to deal with that kind of energy and focus. They wouldn’t make good house pets, believe me.”

      “Maybe,” Cass suggested, giving Sandy a warm look, “get him a male puppy friend? Someone he can bond with, then?”

      Talon shrugged. “I’ve seen combat assault dogs out in the field when another male dog comes around them. They chew the hell out of them and damned near kill them. They’re very territorial. Zeke will be the same way.”

      Sandy frowned. “Do you think he’d kill a little male puppy, Talon?”

      “I don’t know, Mom. He might. I was never in villages where there were scruffy mutts around he could interact with. Zeke’s focus was on chasing Taliban down in the valleys and up into the mountains.”

      Kai gave Sandy a kind look. “Do you want a dog of some kind?”

      “We used to have a beautiful golden retriever when Talon was growing up. Goldy was her name. My first husband, Gardener, had bought her as a pup for me on our first wedding anniversary. Goldy just doted on Talon after he was born. And I love all animals, so yes, I think I’d love to get another golden retriever.”

      Talon put his head down, paying attention to the food on his plate.

      Kai smiled gently and touched Sandy’s hand. “Maybe it will happen someday.”

      Cat chimed in, “I’d love to have a second dog around here, Talon. Zeke always goes with you, wherever you are. He’s your dog. Couldn’t we have a general dog that just hangs around, licks our hands and is happy to keep us company? And he could stay with Sandy. I don’t see a dog hurting her recovery.”

      Talon gave everyone a distressed glance. “Maybe. It means I have to take time out of my schedule to get Zeke familiarized with another dog in order to see how he reacts to him.”

      Cat gave him a happy smile. “That would be wonderful! I’d just love to have an ordinary dog around here, someone you could go riding with.” She glanced at Sandy. “Why, maybe even have that dog stay in your bedroom at night when you sleep. Keep you company.”

      Sandy glowed. “I’d like that a lot. Goldy lay on the rug at the end of our bed. And in the morning, she would wake us up by licking our hands or faces or whatever she could reach.” She smiled fondly over those memories.

      Gil could tell that Talon had lost the battle and the war. His boss was grimacing as he ate, saying nothing, keeping a low profile. It was obvious Talon wanted to please his excited wife, her eyes shining with the possibility of a puppy in the house. And Talon’s mother looked at her son with the same expectation and joy. Talon was gruff, but the women in his life ruled him. And maybe, Gil thought, that’s what love did to a man. It made him want to keep the woman he loved happy. In this case, Talon had two women to keep smiling, for different reasons.

      “Maybe,” Talon grunted, “I’ll get Zeke around some dogs in the coming weeks when I get a chance. I’ll see how he reacts. If he seems okay with them and isn’t too territorial, then Mom, you can have your puppy.” And then he looked at his wife. “One dog,” he warned Cat. “You and Mom are gonna have to share it. Okay?”

      Cat grinned happily. “Fine with me. Sandy? You okay with that?”

      “More than fine,” Sandy agreed, giving her son a grateful look. “Thank you, Talon.”

      * * *

      IT WAS GIL’S job to get Kai settled into the ranch routine. On Saturday morning, he got up at six o’clock. He opened his bedroom door and saw Kai’s door still shut across the hall. Usually, on Saturday, everyone was up by seven getting breakfast. He heard some noise out in the kitchen and thought Cass was up, preparing the breakfast for the family and wranglers. As he walked across the living room, his heart shrank. It was Kai. He halted for a moment and stared at her.

      Kai was wearing a bright orange long-sleeved tee that complemented her auburn hair. Gil felt his lower body stir as his gaze moved down to her fine butt and those long legs encased in a pair of Levi’s. She had on a pair of work boots, not cowboy boots. And she was busy dumping some cereal into a bowl at the counter. Mouth tightening, he had to make this work. He was her boss, regardless of their jaded past with each other. Last night at the table, she’d patently ignored him. Of course, he’d ignored her, too. Gil didn’t blame her for her reaction to him. He could feel a lot of rage simmering just beneath the surface of Kai and it was all aimed at him.

      “Morning,” he growled, long before he reached the kitchen. Gil didn’t want to scare the hell out of Kai. He saw her jerk her head in his direction. Those beautiful dove-gray eyes of hers widened in surprise. And that soft mouth he had never forgotten about compressed. And then her fine, arched brows drew downward.

      “Morning,” Kai muttered defensively. She turned her back on him, pouring the cereal into her bowl.

      Gil needed to eat something before he started the day. And whether he liked it or not, he headed into the kitchen and worked around Kai. Already, her posture had gone from relaxed to tense. Her shoulders had come up, as if expecting a blow. Pain drifted through him. It was the last kind of reaction he wanted from her. But he’d earned it in spades. Moving past her, he walked over to the cupboard where all the dry cereals were kept and opened it.

      “You finding everything you need in here?” he demanded brusquely, hauling down a box.

      “Yes.”

      Her voice was clipped. Gil winced internally. He set the box on the drain board, a good three feet away from Kai. He saw a dark blue neckerchief around her slender neck. She wore no makeup, but being on a ranch didn’t invite cosmetics and wearing perfume. Still, her profile was clean and beautiful. Grabbing a bowl from another cupboard, he watched her pour milk into the bowl. Her hand trembled ever so slightly. He could feel the tension amping up between them. It was up to him to try to smooth things over the best he could.

      “Need sugar?” He pointed above her head toward another cupboard. “Cass keeps a sugar bowl up there.”

      “Thanks.”

      Gil took his huge bowl, twice the size of Kai’s, and poured half a box of the cereal into it. Today was going to be a work-heavy day and he needed the extra calories. He watched Kai retrieve the sugar bowl. When she was done with it, she pushed it a little in his general direction. Well, she might be pissed as hell at him, but she wasn’t beyond decent human thoughtfulness. A part of him breathed a sigh of relief. He watched her pick up the cereal bowl and go to the table and sit down. Thank God, she sat at one end. He’d sit at the other, giving her all the space he could.

      * * *

      KAI SAT AT the end of the table where Sandy had sat last night. Her stomach was tied in knots, literally. All her hunger had fled when Gil had unexpectedly arrived. She had hoped to avoid him, but here he was. Trying to ignore his recently shaven square face, those hard, intelligent blue eyes meeting hers, she’d felt an emotion that had just floored her: desire. Of all things!

      After sitting down, she quickly started eating, knowing that today Talon expected her to make an assessment on all the machinery. They had talked last night during dessert. He wanted her opinion on every piece of equipment, what it would take to get it up and running. She had her job cut out for her today.

      Watching covertly, she gazed at Gil’s broad shoulders and long, powerful back. Why couldn’t she get the past out of her memory? How she’d felt that masculine power, felt his tenderness despite his size and weight. Never would Kai have thought a man could be as gentle, as loving, as Gil had been with her.

      Tears burned in her eyes and Kai made a soft, frustrated sound in her throat, forcing herself to eat quickly. She had to get out of here! Get as far away from him as she could. But