The Cowboy's Pride and Joy. Maureen Child

bed she sat on was huge and covered in a silky quilt in varying shades of green that made her think of the forest beyond the house. The mattress was so soft and welcoming, it practically begged to be napped on.

      “So how did your test go this morning?”

      “Aced it,” Claudia retorted quickly and then laughed with glee. “I’m going to be the best damn doctor in the country by the time I’m done!”

      “You will. And so humble, too,” Cassidy said, smiling at her sister’s enthusiasm. Since she was a child, Claudia had wanted to be a doctor, and now that she was taking premed at college, she was just unstoppable. Thanks to scholarships and the hefty salary Elise Hunter paid Cassidy, they wouldn’t have to worry about college expenses and Claudia could pursue her longtime dream.

      “So what’s it like in the Wild West?”

      Cassidy chuckled. “No stagecoach holdup if that’s what you mean. It really is gorgeous even though Elise’s son is kind of...” Hmm. How to explain that rush of attraction combined with the troll attitude?

      “Ooh,” her sister said, “I sense intrigue. Cass is interested in an actual living, breathing male.”

      “I’m not interested.” Okay, that was a lie, but she wouldn’t admit to it. Besides, interest and attraction were two different things, right? Interest would imply that she was looking at Jake Hunter as more than simply a great-looking man with a crappy attitude. Attraction was an involuntary biological imperative for the survival of the species and—oh for heaven’s sake, she sounded like one of Claudia’s professors.

      To her sister, she said, “I’m just here to get him to sign some papers and then first thing tomorrow I’m on a plane home again.”

      “Uh-huh. First thing tomorrow means you’ve still got all night tonight.”

      Yes, she did. Funny, but the thought of spending the night at the ranch hadn’t bothered her at all until she’d gotten her first look at Jake. Now, it was different. That buzz of sensation she’d felt just shaking his hand left her feeling oddly off-balance and she didn’t really enjoy that at all. Not that she would tell Claudia any of this, of course.

      “Is there some reason my baby sister is trying to shove me at a man she’s never even met?” Cassidy scooted off the edge of the bed and walked across the room to the window.

      “Because my big sister has been living like a nun for way too long,” Claudia countered. “You haven’t been on a date in like forever. Do you even remember what fun is?”

      Stung, Cassidy dropped onto the window seat, leaned against the cold glass and said, “I have fun all the time.”

      “Doing what?”

      “I like my job—”

      “Work is not fun.”

      “Fine. Well, I went to the movies just...” She had to think about that, and when she realized how long ago it had actually been, her scowl deepened. “Fun is overrated.”

      “Uh-huh.” An all-too-familiar sigh of exaggerated patience sifted through the phone. “I’m all grown up now, Cass. You can stop throwing yourself on the altar of substitute motherhood.”

      Her gaze locked on that amazing view, Cassidy let her sister’s words rocket around her mind for a second or two before she said, “Claud, I never thought of it like that.”

      “Oh sweetie, I know.” Claudia sighed again. “Cass, you’ve been great. You’ve always been there for me but I’m grown now—”

      “Yes,” Cassidy interrupted wryly, “nineteen is practically aged.”

      “—and I’m in college,” Claudia went on as if her sister hadn’t said a word, “and you should really start concentrating on your own life.”

      “I have a life, thanks.”

      “You have work,” Claudia corrected. “And you have me. And Dave. But our brother’s married with kids of his own now.”

      True. It had been the three of them for so long, it was hard to realize that her younger brother and sister were grown and didn’t need her hovering all the time as they used to. Especially Claudia. She had been only ten years old when their mother decided to follow her current “soul mate” into the sunset. So at nineteen, Cassidy had taken over. She’d been both mother and father—since their illustrious sperm donor parent had disappeared shortly after Claudia’s birth—and if she had to say so herself, Cassidy had done a great job of parenting. Maybe that was why it was so hard to stop.

      “Fine,” she said. “I promise I’ll find a life. Once I get home.”

      “Why wait? No time like the present to get started,” Claudia argued. “You’re on a ranch with a cowboy, for heaven’s sake. That’s a classic fantasy. Is he cute?”

      Cute? No. Jake Hunter was way too manly to be classified as merely “cute.” He was gorgeous. Or rugged. Or strong, masculine, gruff and all sorts of other really good words, but cute wasn’t one of them.

      “I didn’t notice,” she lied.

      “Sure.” Her sister laughed. “Anyway, my point is, relax a little. Enjoy yourself. Flirt. Consider it practice for when you get back home and I badger you into doing this for real.”

      Flirt? With Jake Hunter? Oh, Cassidy didn’t think so. First of all, he was her boss’s son. No way would she risk a great-paying job for a short-term fling—even if he were interested, which he probably wasn’t, considering the way he’d talked to her so far. But more than that, Cass wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl. She’d be uncomfortable and feeling all slutty so she wouldn’t even enjoy herself anyway, so what would be the point?

      God. Had Jake actually called her forthright? Her mind was spinning like an out-of-control carnival ride. And suddenly, she was done thinking about this.

      “Don’t you have another test this afternoon?”

      “See?” Claudia laughed. “You’re way too focused on my life. Time to find your own, Cass! Love you!”

      When her little sister hung up, Cassidy just stared down at her phone and thought about that brief yet involved conversation. Yes, maybe Claudia had a point, but in her own defense, Cass hadn’t exactly been shown the most shining examples of relationships in her life.

      Cass’s father had abandoned the family when Claudia was born, saying only that three kids were just too many. Her mother had moved from man to man always looking for her “prince.” But there were no princes, only frogs she continued to kiss in the hopes there would be a miraculous change.

      So instead of following in her mother’s footsteps, Cassidy worked, put herself through city college and made sure her siblings stayed in school. Eventually it had all paid off, of course. Dave was now a successful contractor with a wife and six-month-old twin boys. And Claudia was going to be the doctor she should be.

      But, Cass thought as she shifted her gaze back to the view outside her window, maybe she had allowed work and worry to completely envelop her. And maybe Claudia was right that it was time Cass found out if there really was more to life than work.

      Not that she would find that out now, she assured herself. “Good times do not start with a crabby cowboy no matter how gorgeous he is,” she said out loud for emphasis. “Besides, as you told yourself earlier, he’s your boss’s son.”

      Well, that should be enough to tamp down whatever lingering flickers of attraction were still burning inside her. She couldn’t afford to risk her job by giving in to a momentary flash of heat that might or might not mean she was really attracted to the grumpy man downstairs. Not that her boss, Elise, had ever been that much of a tyrant or anything, but why take chances?

      “Now that that’s settled,” she murmured, tossing her phone onto the deep green velvet