Protecting The Colton Bride. Elle James

      “Mother, I’m not interested.”

      “Sweetheart, your father’s health isn’t what it used to be. He’s a very sick man.”

      “I know. I was out there last month. We had a lovely visit.”

      “Honey, you can’t keep slaving away in the tornado-infested center of the country. I can’t stop worrying. And you can imagine all the stress your father is under.”

      “I’m sorry, Mother. But you and Daddy can manage your ranch in California. You don’t really need me there. However, the Lucky C needs me here. I have important work to do, and I don’t need care packages, cards and letters begging me to come home. I’ll be home for visits. That will have to be enough.”

      Her mother clucked. “Oh, darling, I didn’t want to have to tell you...”

      A sense of dread slipped over her. Her mother only used that I-hate-to-stick-it-to-you-but-I-will-if-I-have-to voice when she was about to drop a bomb on some poor unsuspecting sales clerk who displeased her while shopping. Only this time, the bomb would fall on Megan.

      “Your father is on the line, and he has something to say to you.”

      Her hand tightening on the cell phone until her knuckles turned white, Megan sucked in a deep breath and said, “Hi, Dad. What is it you wanted to say?”

      “I have an auctioneer coming out tomorrow to look at your horses.”

      Megan’s heart plummeted to her knees. “Daddy,” she said. “I’ve only just started putting money away for the horses. It will take me years to have what I need to pay you for them.”

      “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but if I can’t go out to Oklahoma to talk some sense into my daughter’s head, I can damn sure get her to come to me. The Triple Diamond Ranch is your legacy.”

      “Daddy, it’s your legacy. You and Mother never wanted me to help with it. Now I want to make it on my own.” She’d left the rich debutante lifestyle behind after she’d lost her fiancé and nearly lost her life. Megan had no intention of going back.

      Her father snorted. “You do not have to work for others when you have servants who can do all that for you.”

      “But, Daddy, you don’t understand. I love working with the horses. And I’m good at it.”

      “You’re a woman. You shouldn’t be working around animals big enough to crush you.”

      “Those horses are big enough to crush the men I work with as well as me. The thing is, Daddy, I know when to get out of the way.”

      “Damn it, Megan, you are our only child. I want to know when I die...” He coughed. “I want to know you will be here to take over the reins. You need to come home, settle down, get married and have children to shoulder your obligation to your heritage.”

      “I’m sorry, Daddy, but I have to live my life the way I want to, not the way you dictate.”

      Her mother’s gasp echoed over the line.

      “Very well,” her father said in a steely voice. “If you’re not home in one week and actively looking for a suitable spouse, I will sell all of your beloved horses to a glue factory.”

      Blood drained from Megan’s head, and her stomach flipped. “You can’t do that. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they should be with us. The horse-breeding program at Triple Diamond Ranch is one of the best. You can’t condemn them to a glue factory or even sell them just because you want me to come home.”

      “I can and I will. If you care about the horses, show you care about your legacy and the future of Triple Diamond Ranch. One week, Megan.”

Chapter 3

      Daniel tossed all night. When he actually fell asleep he dreamed of Megan, her hair flying out behind her on a runaway horse. He chased her. For a long time she was just out of reach. When he finally caught up with her, he snatched her off her horse and into his arms. Then they kissed. The kiss turned into more and suddenly they were in his bed, making love.

      Daniel jerked awake, hot, sweaty and more aroused than he’d ever been in his life. All stemming from a kiss that shouldn’t have happened.

      Before dawn, he rose from his solitary bed in the cabin close to the breeding barn and pulled on a pair of jeans, a shirt and his boots. He couldn’t go back to sleep knowing Megan would be in his dreams, lying naked in his sheets. Everything about that image was wrong.

      He’d be lucky if she even showed up for work today. And if she did, she’d probably come only to turn in her resignation.

      By the time the sun came up over the horizon, Daniel had fed the horses, checked on his studs and prize mares and stacked twenty bags of feed in a corner of the barn. With his pulse still pounding and blood burning through his veins, he snapped a lunging rope on Rider’s halter and walked him out to the arena.

      Daniel twirled the end of the rope and clucked his tongue. Rider started at a walk, more interested in an easy pace than actual exercise.

      “Come on, boy. You need this as much as I do.” Daniel continued twirling the loose end of the rope. He clucked his tongue again and tapped the horse’s hindquarters with the rope.

      Rider stepped up the pace and trotted around the circle, tossing his black mane in protest.

      The monotonous circling calmed Daniel and the horse, and they settled into a rhythm of walking and trotting. Fifteen minutes passed before a voice called out.

      “Daniel!”

      Daniel’s hand tightened on the rope. Rider immediately came to a halt.

      Heat rose up his neck and into his face as Daniel turned toward the voice.

      Megan leaned over the arena’s metal fence, her arms folded over the top rail, lines etched across her smooth forehead.

      Though he was happy Megan had returned, Daniel couldn’t erase his concern over the content of his dreams, and he worried his thoughts would be easily discernible in his eyes. Without meeting her gaze, Daniel nodded. “Good morning, Megan,” he acknowledged, gathering the rope until he held the horse on a short lead.

      The normally reserved and always confident young woman chewed on her lower lip, and her brows puckered. “We need to talk,” she blurted.

      His stomach knotting, Daniel braced himself. “Yes, we do. Let me take care of Rider first. Then we can talk uninterrupted.”

      “Okay,” she said, biting on her lower lip again, driving Daniel nuts with the nervous movement that only drew his attention to the mouth he’d kissed so hard the day before.

      He opened the gate to the arena and led Rider through.

      Megan closed the gate and trailed behind Daniel and Rider, following them into the barn.

      Not certain what he was going to say, Daniel chose to concentrate on the horse, putting off the talk as long as he could, hoping he could say something that would make sense and put things back on an even keel. He liked Megan. A lot. And he didn’t want to lose her over something as stupid, and inconsiderate, and completely unforgettable as a kiss.

      Holy hell, he couldn’t even come up with an apology when he wasn’t at all sorry he’d kissed her. He’d be sorry only if she left because of it.

      After grabbing a brush, Daniel stalled by running the brush over Rider’s back.

      Megan fetched another brush and took the other side, working quickly, her strong hands smoothing over the horse’s sides, meeting Daniel over the horse’s hindquarters. She stared across the animal’s rump and said, “Daniel, I have to quit.” Then she spun and paced away from him.

      “Won’t you at least give me the chance to apologize properly?”