McKettrick's Luck. Linda Lael Miller

      

      A classic tale of a new generation of cowboys staking claims to their land—and the women they love…

      Like his celebrated ancestors, who tamed the wilds of Arizona, Jesse McKettrick’s Indian Rock ties run deep. The Triple M Ranch is in his blood, along with the thrill of risk. But with his land at stake, this world-class poker player won’t be dealt into Cheyenne Bridges’s gamble—despite the temptation she brings.

      Cheyenne grew up in Indian Rock and left its painful memories behind to become a self-made woman. Now her job is to convince Jesse to sell his property. Jesse’s not the kind of man Cheyenne could ever forget, but he’s too wild and dangerous for a woman committed to playing it safe. Yet sparks of attraction fly, tempting Cheyenne to lay it all on the line for the passion she sees in Jesse’s eyes.

      Praise for the novels of #1 New York Times and

      USA TODAY bestselling author Linda Lael Miller

      “Miller is one of the finest American writers

      in the genre.”

      —RT Book Reviews

      “A fine conclusion to Miller’s latest trilogy. Animal lovers will enjoy the creatures that make up a delightfully integral part of the story.”

      —RT Book Reviews on The Creed Legacy

      “Only Linda Lael Miller can write the kind of romance that melts your heart and makes you want to shout Yippee ki-yay!”

      —Single Titles on Creed’s Honor

      “Miller excels at creating extended-family dynamics

      in an authentic Western small-town setting

      and richly populating her stories with animal

      as well as human characters.”

      —Booklist

      “Ms. Miller’s characters and their intense emotions

      are what make McKettrick’s Luck such a winner.”

      —Single Titles on McKettrick’s Luck

       “Miller’s ability to bring a cast of characters to life

      is on full display here…. The veteran romance author doesn’t disappoint in her sizzling love scenes

      and fine sense of place.”

      —Publishers Weekly on McKettrick’s Luck

      “A true winner, McKettrick’s Luck takes the pot!”

      —A Romance Review

      McKettrick’s Luck

      Linda Lael Miller

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      My Dear Readers,

      Welcome back to the Triple M ranch! McKettrick’s Luck is the first of three books starring the modern McKettrick men, Jesse, Keegan and Rance, and the intrepid women who love them. I’m so delighted these cowboys are back in print. Be sure to look for Rance’s story in McKettrick’s Pride, coming in March from HQN Books, followed by Keegan’s story, McKettrick’s Heart, in May.

      Jesse McKettrick is Indian Rock, Arizona’s bad boy—a poker-playing, heart-breaking horseman who happens to be a kink in Cheyenne Bridges’s plans to buy and develop a piece of prime land. Cheyenne has a history with Jesse—she’s loved him since her teens. He, on the other hand, barely knew she was alive. Trouble in Indian Rock!

      With love,

      To Pam and Jon Reily, with love

      Contents

       CHAPTER ONE

       CHAPTER TWO

       CHAPTER THREE

       CHAPTER FOUR

       CHAPTER FIVE

       CHAPTER SIX

       CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

       CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

      CHAPTER ONE

      MCKETTRICK LAND, Cheyenne Bridges thought stoically, as she stood next to her rented car on a gravel pullout alongside the highway, one hand shading her eyes from the Arizona sun. A faint drumbeat throbbed in her ears, an underground river flowing beneath her pulse, and she remembered a time she could not have remembered. An era when only the Great Spirit could lay claim to the valleys and canyons and mesas, to the arch of the sky, blue as her grandmother’s favorite sugar bowl—a cherished premium plucked from some long-ago flour sack—to the red dirt and the scattered stands of white oak and Joshua and ponderosa pine.

       It had taken Angus McKettrick, and other intrepidly arrogant nineteenth-century pioneers like him, to fence in these thousands of square miles, to pen their signatures to deeds, to run cattle and dig wells and wrest a living from the rocky, thistle-strewn soil. Old Angus had passed that audacious sense of ownership on to his sons, and the sons of their