Cowgirl Makes Three / Her Secret Rival. Myrna Mackenzie

he said. “And not follow my instincts. You understand what I mean?”

      How could she not when he glanced down to where her fingers were still curled around his arm? The very sight made her long to slide her hand higher, up his arm, down his chest. Instantly she let go of him.

      “People can get hurt,” he said. He meant her. Somehow she knew he meant her.

      “I won’t.”

      “Because you’re strong?”

      No. She wasn’t that strong. “Because I know what happens when a woman lets a man have power over her. I’ve done it before. My father. My husband. The results were disastrous, so I’m pretty much done with men.”

      “Pretty much?”

      She frowned. “I’m getting there. I want to be completely done, but I’m only human. I still feel desire.”

      Noah groaned. “I really wish you hadn’t said that.”

      “Why?”

      His answer was to swoop in and kiss her. Just once…and once was not enough. Not nearly. Her lips stung, burned, ached. She barely resisted the urge to press against him and return the kiss. In fact, she was leaning into him when she caught herself. And saved herself by quickly picking up her oil wrench and slipping beneath the car.

      Fiddling with the car, she fought to calm herself. “Now I’m done,” she said.

      “With the oil change?”

      “With men.”

      “Good. I’m holding you to your word. I don’t trust myself not to touch you again, so I’m just going to have to trust you.”

      Don’t trust me, Ivy thought. But hadn’t she just told him that she was strong?

      Be strong. Be smart, she thought as she yanked on the wrench and removed the filter. I will, she promised. Because if she just stayed away from Noah, banked her paychecks and let the hourglass run out, nothing could happen. Right?

      Chapter Five

      NOAH WAS IN THE KITCHEN finishing breakfast with Lily when a car pulled up in front of the house. Mary Sue Morris, who ran the flower shop in town, emerged, wearing a slinky dress that this ranch had never seen the likes of before. Half a minute later she knocked on the door. Had she been one of the women who had criticized his parenting skills?

      Marta opened it just as Noah moved away from the window and into the living room. “Mary Sue,” he said with a frown. “Problem?”

      Her cheeks turned bright pink. “Oh. No. I’m just—I’m looking for Ivy. She was in town the other day, and…well, I need to get to know her better. Is she around?”

      Yes. He’d seen her come out of her house a few minutes ago wearing those jeans that fit her long legs and curves perfectly, a white shirt, and a pale blue scarf at her throat that made him want to untie it with his teeth and kiss the tender skin that lay beneath. Darn it, he could not be this way about a woman who would leave, a woman who hated ranching and a woman who was afraid of his child. And yet he was aware of her. Constantly. The sensation of her in his arms, his lips on hers drove him crazy. Constantly.

      He glared. Mary Sue smiled at him brightly. What in hell was that about?

      “Ivy’s working.” His voice was gruff.

      The woman shrugged. “That’s perfectly okay, Noah. It’s been so long since you and I talked, anyway.”

      They had never really talked. And he certainly didn’t want to talk now, especially if she was going to bring the conversation around to Lily and his deficiencies as a father.

      “It’s probably time for Ivy’s break,” he grumbled. “I’ll find her.”

      “Oh…okay. I’ll walk with you.”

      His frown didn’t seem to dissuade her, and as she ran to keep up with him, the darn woman kept talking about how much she’d always wanted to live on a ranch. She kept giggling, which made Noah walk faster.

      Still, when he found Ivy cleaning out the horses’ stalls, the whole ordeal of listening to Mary Sue giggle was totally worth it. Ivy looked at her dirty clothes and at Mary Sue’s slinky dress. Her perfect model’s blue-violet eyes widened. Clearly she hadn’t been expecting this.

      Noah performed the introductions—Ivy didn’t seem to have a clue who Mary Sue was—and then he leaned against a nearby railing to see what happened next. He remembered what Ivy had said about the women of the town not liking her, and despite her protestations that he shouldn’t interfere, he wasn’t leaving until he was sure that Mary Sue would behave herself.

      “Well…here you are,” Mary Sue said.

      “Here I am,” Ivy agreed, her brow furrowed in concentration. “Can I help you?” she asked the woman.

      For a second Mary Sue looked flustered. “You’ve been away awhile. I thought we might get reacquainted.”

      By rights Noah should be upset that Mary Sue was interrupting the work day, but his curiosity about why the woman was here when Ivy had intimated that no one liked her trumped his irritation.

      “It’s break time. Go. Talk,” Noah said, even though work time hadn’t started that long ago.

      His comment sent Ivy’s eyebrows arching, but it brought a look of relief to Mary Sue’s face. “Maybe we could talk at the house. It’s such a nice house,” she said, looking at Noah.

      He glowered.

      “No,” Ivy said quickly. “I don’t live there.”

      Noah knew that Ivy’s objection had as much to do with Lily as it did with her status and the fact that she had never been inside the house. He also knew that Lily and Marta were playing behind the house.

      “It’s okay, Ivy,” he said, and she got his meaning right away. She still didn’t look comfortable, but she went.

      That was that, except…for the next few days women kept showing up at odd times. Noah considered barring them from the ranch during work hours, but something stopped him. In his mind, he saw Ivy prepared to stand outside until dawn throwing a rope so that she wouldn’t be a burden on the roundup. He remembered that her father had tied her to the ranch and…she had lost her child. She was alone in the world, while he still had his little girl. Trying to put himself in her place…losing Lily…he knew the pain would kill him. Nothing would stop it.

      But maybe something new, some female friendships would help a little. So, much as he hated this flood of women invading his world, Noah made sure that Ivy’s breaks coincided with their visits, and if the visitor stayed a few minutes longer than usual, he didn’t say anything.

      Ivy, however, protested. “Make sure you yell at me when fifteen minutes is up. I have work. You’re paying me,” she whispered when she passed him on her way to escort another woman to the house.

      “What exactly do they talk about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

      She shook her head. “Nothing. The weather. The ranch, and…nothing.”

      But there was an evasive, almost angry look in her eyes. Noah remembered how Mary Sue and the others smiled at him so brilliantly. All of them were, he realized, single. An unpleasant suspicion began to form, one that grew even more the day Sandra Penway came to visit.

      “It’s good to see you, Noah.”

      He glanced toward Ivy.

      “And Ivy,” Sandra said, but she wasn’t smiling.

      “Sandra.” Ivy nodded. She didn’t look any happier than Sandra.

      “How is Lily? Where is that little cutie? She’s just a doll. She’s just an angel,” Sandra cooed. “Let’s go see her together, Noah.”