Incessant banging crashed through Gwen’s head. It jerked her awake and made her head throb. “I’m coming,” she muttered, her voice gravelly, her mouth dry like someone had stuffed a wad of cotton in it.

When she sat up and opened her eyes, the sun stabbed her, slicing through her head, all the way to the base of her skull. It took a moment for her vision to adjust to the glare streaming through the window and to remember where she was. Ah yes, the bed-and-breakfast in Temptation. She couldn’t remember how she got there. The last clear memory she could recall was sitting at the bar in the Ugly Stick Saloon and raising her paddle.

Her stomach roiled and she pressed a hand to it to keep from losing whatever was left in it.

More banging was followed by Mona shouting, “Gwen, wake up! I have Dalton with me.”

Dalton. Oh dear Lord. Her son.

“Coming,” she called out. Her words were barely above a whisper. Clearing her throat, she tried again, “Coming.” This time the sound rang through her head and she winced.

One foot on the floor at a time. She stood and swayed, finally gaining her balance. That’s when she noticed she wasn’t wearing anything but her bra and panties. “Just a minute. I’m not decent.”

Mona’s chuckle echoed through the door. “I want all the details.”

So did Gwen. She had no memory of undressing and her skirt and jacket were neatly folded over the chair beside her bed.

Grabbing the skirt and shirt she’d worn the night before, she pulled them on and buttoned the blouse. Wrinkled and smelling of alcohol, she hurried for the door, twisted the knob, yanked it open and was hit in the belly by the full force of an energetic little boy.

Despite the stabbing headache and her queasy stomach, she knelt to wrap her arms around the love of her life. “Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun spending the night with Uncle Grant?”

“Yes!” He hugged her tight and then stepped back. “We stayed up late, and made s’mores, and popped corn, and watched movies. It was the best! Can we do it again tonight?”

“I don’t think so, baby. We don’t want to wear out our welcome.”

“Grant had as much fun as Dalton. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts bugging me to have kids.” Mona winked. “I’d love to see a couple of little Grants running around the beauty shop.”

“Or little Monas.” Gwen straightened and winced. “Ouch.” She pressed a hand to her temple. “Did I do what I think I did last night?”

“If you mean by getting totally shitfaced and blowing five thousand dollars on a cowboy, then yes.” Mona grinned. “What I want to know is what happened when he brought you back here.”

Heat rose up Gwen’s neck into her cheeks and all the way out to her ears. She smoothed her hands over her son’s ears and whispered, “You and me both.”

Mona laughed out loud.

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s not funny.”

“I can’t believe you drank as much as you did.”

“I can’t believe you let me bid on Angus.”

“Honey, until you raised that paddle, I had no idea that was the way the wind was going to blow you.” Mona crossed her arms “So, when’s your first date?”

Dalton scurried off to find his favorite matchbox cars, leaving Gwen alone to stand up to Mona’s scrutiny.

“There’s not going to be a first date, or any date.” Gwen glanced around the room. “I must have been really toasted. How did I get to my room last night? I don’t remember walking up those stairs.”

“You probably didn’t. Angus must have carried you up them.”

Gwen pressed a hand to her breast, her pulse still galloping. “Angus?”

“Yes. He brought you home because I told him there was no way I could get you up to your room when you passed out.”

Gwen moaned and squeezed her eyes closed. “Will this nightmare never end?”

“I don’t know. Angus is kind of dreamy. If I weren’t completely crazy about Grant…”

Gwen opened her eyes and glared at Mona.

Mona held up her hands. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to poach. Grant keeps me plenty happy.” Mona glanced around the room, her brows rising at the twisted sheets. “You sure you don’t remember anything from last night?”

Her shoulders sagging, Gwen scrubbed a hand over her face. Even her skin hurt. “Nothing.”

Mona walked to the dresser and lifted a sheet of stationery. “Uh, sweetie, your cowboy left a message.” She handed the paper to her, her lips twisting in an apparent effort not to grin. “Seems he’s ready for that first date.”

Gwen focused on the words written in a masculine scrawl across the page.

First date. Today at noon. Rafter M Ranch. Let me know if I need to come get you.

Signed with a bold A, the message was clear, concise and completely insane. Gwen glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was already eleven o’clock. That gave her exactly one hour to shower, take something for her splitting headache and get out to the ranch. “I can’t do this.”

“Oh, you can, and you will.” Mona turned her around and aimed her for the bathroom. “You have just enough time to get ready. I’ll stay and keep an eye on Dalton while you pull yourself together.”

“It will take a lot more than an hour to pull myself together.” She shoved the paper at Mona. “Call him and tell him I won’t make him go through with this.”

“No way. You said it yourself. Dalton needs a male role model. Angus is a good man, no matter that he dropped you like last week’s garbage. He’d never hurt a kid.” Mona put her hands behind her back, refusing to take the sheet. “Put your own insecurities aside and do it for Dalton.”

Gwen pouted. “I’m not insecure. I’m the owner of a financially stable and growing business. You don’t get that far if you’re insecure.”

“Yeah yeah blah blah. You’ve wasted three minutes arguing.” Mona waved her hand. “Go.” She gripped Gwen’s arm, ushered her to the bathroom door and gave her a firm push to get her across the threshold. “I’ll pick out your clothes.” Her friend closed the door between them.

“I’m not going,” Gwen said to door.

“Uh-huh. Shut up and get wet,” Mona called out.

Grumbling, Gwen switched on the shower and stripped out of last night’s clothes, wondering if Angus had taken advantage of her while she’d been out of it. She didn’t feel any different. Her thighs weren’t aching from making love and her pussy wasn’t throbbing from a good fuck.

She shook her head, immediately regretting the movement. No, Angus wouldn’t take advantage of a woman. His parents raised him to respect a woman’s body. And boy, had he shown some real respect for her desires when he’d made love to her all those years ago. She should be glad he was such a gentleman, but part of her was disappointed. Maybe he wasn’t even attracted to her anymore. Then again, Gwen wanted to be fully conscious and aware when they made love.

If they made love.

No no no.

Turning the temperature to cool, Gwen stepped beneath the shower’s spray and let the water wash down over her heated skin.

Any idiotic idea of getting back together with Angus should be washed right out of her mind. She had a great life, just she and Dalton. It was full and complete the way it was.

Well, almost. Dalton did need a male role model so that he’d learn what it was to be a good man.

Ah hell. She had to go through with this, if only for the benefit of her son.

Angus might have dumped her all those years ago, but he was still a nice man and would be the right influence on her son. She could put up with four lousy dates. It would tide them over until her application for the mentoring program went through. Then she’d have another male figure for Dalton to bond with.

Hopefully, he would be interested in sports and the outdoors.

Ten minutes later, wearing a large towel, Gwen stepped out of the bathroom, her hair pulled back into a smooth ponytail. She’d applied just enough of her own makeup to conceal the dark shadows below her eyes. There was no disguising her bloodshot eyes, but a pair of sunglasses would serve the purpose.

“Here.” Mona shoved a hanger at her. “You’ll have to wear these. I can’t believe you came to Temptation without a single pair of blue jeans.”

When Mona had invited her to come down for a girls’ night out, she hadn’t thought much about what she was packing. She’d thrown in the first outfits she laid her hands on from her closet. Her nerves had been a little jumpy at the thought of going to Temptation. Mona always came up to Dallas to visit, knowing how Gwen felt about returning to the scene of her heartbreak.

Mona had been adamant that it was time for her to get out there and date again. Gwen would never have suspected she’d be going to the Ugly Stick Saloon for the Annual Cowboy Auction or that she would end up spending a sizeable chunk on her old flame. If she’d had any inkling, she might have brought a pair of jeans. Oh hell no, she wouldn’t have. Gwen would have found some excuse to give her friend, on why she couldn’t go to Temptation at all.

The only reason she’d agreed to go to the cowboy auction was that Mona had reassured her that it was ladies only, with no men but those on the auction block.

Having known how much Angus didn’t like crowds and that wild horses couldn’t have dragged him onstage to be auctioned off like one of his prized studs, Gwen felt relatively certain she wouldn’t run into him.

Boy, had she been wrong.

Dressed in soft charcoal-gray slacks and a silk cotton blouse, Gwen stepped out of the bathroom, feeling more like the cool, calm, collected business owner, not the young college co-ed she’d been the last time she’d gone on a date with Angus. And this wouldn’t be a real date. She’d have Dalton with her. With her son in the picture, she wouldn’t be tempted to touch or kiss Angus.

Not that she would be tempted without Dalton in the picture. Angus was a chapter long closed in her life.

Dalton appeared in front of her, his eyes wide, eager. “Aunt Mona says we’re going to a ranch with horses. Do I get to pet a horse? Can I ride one? Are they very big?”

Her head still throbbing, Gwen touched the top of her son’s head. “Yes, we’re going to a ranch, I don’t know about petting or riding a horse. You’ll have to ask the ranch owner about that. And yes, horses can be very big.”

“I hope he lets us ride. Tyler has his own horse. Can I have a horse?”

“We don’t have a place to keep a horse, Dalton.”

“Then can I have a puppy?” Her son stared up at her, his big hazel eyes filling her heart. “You promised I could have a puppy.”

“Yes, I did. When we move into a real house with a big fenced yard. Puppies need room to run and play.”

“So do little boys,” Mona reminded her.

Gwen frowned. “I know. I haven’t had much time to house hunt lately, and what I’ve seen hasn’t been right. I want it to be perfect.”

“Sweetheart, no house is ever going to be perfect. You just have to find the one that’s close enough.”

“Yeah, I guess I am being too picky. Most of the homes in Dallas seem to look alike. I guess I want something like the little house I grew up in here in Temptation.” She smiled, remembering the three-bedroom, white clapboard cottage with the wide front veranda and sage-green shutters hanging beside the windows. Her mother had planted flowers in the front garden and in pots on the porch, adding bright splashes of red geraniums, pink petunias and yellow lantana. Nothing said home like that little house with a big heart. She missed it and she missed her parents. Her eyes misted.

Mona patted her face. “Hey, you’re going to a ranch, not a funeral.”

“Did someone die, Mama?” Dalton asked.

“Oh my, look at the time.” Gwen grabbed her purse and Dalton’s hand. “We have to get going or we’ll be late to the ranch.”

Distracted from his question, Dalton raced for the door. “I want to ride a horse and pet a cow. Do you think they’ll have puppies?”

Mona walked Gwen out to her car and held the door for Dalton as he crawled into the backseat and buckled his seat belt. “Be good for your mama and do everything she tells you.” Mona leaned in and kissed Dalton’s mop of dark-auburn hair. “Love ya, kid.” She shut the door and looked over the top of the car at Gwen.

Gwen swallowed the lump in her throat. Mona had been there for her when her parents were killed in a car wreck. She’d been there in the hospital room when Dalton was born. Dragging her back to Temptation had all been an attempt to bring Gwen out of her shell and back into the world of mixing and mingling with people her own age. “Thanks for caring.”

“Ah, honey. I love you and Dalton, and only want the best for you. Go have a good time on your date with Angus.”

“For Dalton,” Gwen said out loud, steeling her heart against more damage. At a good place in her life, she refused to put herself up for heartache all over again.

“Mom, you should have seen Angus’s face when they called out his name as the next cowboy for auction.” Colin laughed for the hundredth time that morning, riding on Angus’s last nerve.

His humor had long since worn a hole in Angus’s reserve of patience. Having been up since dawn, mucking stalls, feeding and exercising horses and taking care of the chores that had to be done before noon, he didn’t have time or the desire to talk to the brother who’d deserted him at the Ugly Stick Saloon the night before.

“I’m sorry,” his mother said. “When you boys put up such a fuss over my ultimatum, I guess I was a little angry. I didn’t think Audrey would jump on the chance to add another two cowboys to the lineup on such short notice. But it’ll all work out in the end.” She smiled brightly.

“So you’re not going to sell the ranch?” Angus asked.

Her smile slipped into a straight line. “I didn’t say that. I meant every word I said yesterday. If you three don’t get your lives together and make a go of finding someone to love, I’ll sell this place and move to Florida. You two had better get crackin’ because you have less than two months to make it happen.”

Angus bit hard on his tongue. His mother had every right to do whatever the hell she wanted with the ranch. Legally, it was hers. “Fine. Since you put me up for bid and had me down for four dates, the least you could do is make lunch. My date will be here in…” Angus glanced at the clock, “…oh hell. She’ll be here in fifteen minutes. I need a shower.”

“I also meant what I said about not cooking or cleaning for you.” His mother pivoted and left the room. She hadn’t been kidding. That morning, she’d cooked eggs, bacon and grits for one, and made only a single cup of coffee in the coffeemaker.

Too frazzled, by his decision to go through with his dates, to cook, Angus made a very dissatisfying cup of coffee that tasted more like pond sludge and burned a piece of toast for his own breakfast.

His plan for Gwen’s first date had been to take her on a picnic. He knew how to dress up and take a lady out to one of the high-class restaurants in Dallas, but he hated wearing a tie and hated more sitting for hours in a place he wouldn’t feel comfortable. After seven long years, he’d be uncomfortable with Gwen anyway. He didn’t have a clue how to start over with the woman he’d known so well, and he suspected he didn’t begin to know the woman she’d become.

Now, he had to come up with something to feed his date. He was starting to rethink his picnic idea. “Damn.”

Colin laughed out loud.

“You.” Angus pointed at Colin. “I need two sandwiches pronto.”

“What do I look like? Your maid?”

“I don’t see you doing anything to save this ranch.”

“I’m working on it.”

“With Molly O’Brien?” their mother asked from the other room.

“Sorry, Mom,” Colin called out. “Molly and I are just friends.”

“Didn’t she purchase four dates with you last night?” Angus asked.

Colin laughed. “Yeah, but like I said, we’re just friends, and she needed a man to help her do some work on the little rental house she’s refurbishing in town.”

“I thought they were supposed to be dates,” Angus grumbled.

“She told me what she needed, and promised to provide home-cooked meals if I provided the muscles.” Colin grinned. “I’ve got four great meals in my near future.”

“Right. In the meantime, make sandwiches.” Angus snapped his fingers and pointed to the refrigerator. “And while you’re at it, be thinking about how you’re going to meet the woman of your dreams if Molly isn’t the one. You heard Mom; we have less than two months.”

Two months to find mates and to get their brother back in the state. Angus needed to have a talk with Colin about what went down between the two of them. Somehow they had to patch things up or they’d lose the ranch.

Quickly ducking into the shower, Angus washed the hay out of his hair and the manure out from beneath his fingernails. He got the feeling he could scrub all day and not measure up to the woman Gwen had become. When she was sober. She’d worn an expensive skirt suit, and those had been diamond earrings in her ears. Leaving him behind had been a good thing. Whatever she was doing with her life seemed to be working for her.

So why did she come back to Temptation? And why did she purchase four dates with him? Seven years was a long time.

Whatever reason she had, Angus didn’t care. He refused to get any more involved than the four dates he was obligated for. No touching, holding hands or kissing.

Hell, last night should not have happened. He should have taken her to her room, dumped her on the bed and left immediately. Instead, he’d stuck around and kissed Gwen like there weren’t seven years since the last time. Now all he could think about was how soft her lips still were, the scent of honeysuckle in her hair and the way her breasts pressed against her shirt with each breath she took.

He’d stayed with her to make sure she didn’t get out of bed and stumble outside and down the steps. After she’d fallen into a deep sleep, he’d lain longer, drinking in the vision of the woman she’d become, all soft curves, long legs and toned muscles.

He turned the shower water to cold and stood beneath the spray until he shivered and all desire had been effectively chilled. It was self-defeating to think of making love to Gwen. She’d left him seven years ago without so much as a goodbye kiss or note. No forwarding address and no phone number.

Hoping she’d call him when she got to College Station, he’d waited by the phone every evening, praying for it to ring. It hadn’t. His plan to go to look at a horse in the college town where she’d gone to school had fallen through when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. His entire life went on hold then.

All of Angus’s focus went to caring for the ranch and his mother during and after her surgery. He’d gone with her for every round of chemotherapy, as determined as she was to beat the illness. He couldn’t stand to lose another one of his parents so soon after the first. Theirs had been a tight, loving relationship.

Almost a year passed when he finally felt his mother was stable enough to leave without worrying himself or her. He’d gone to the college town where Gwen went to school, hoping to find her, only to discover he’d missed her graduation by a week. She’d moved out of her apartment and hadn’t left a forwarding address with her landlord. The fact she hadn’t left a forwarding address or phone number told Angus she was cutting all ties. She wasn’t interested in being found.

His heart aching, Angus went home and got on with the rest of his life just fine without Gwen in it.

Angus stepped out of the shower, dried off with a big, fluffy towel and strode across the hallway to the bedroom that had been his since he was born. He had only left the ranch when he’d gone to college and for the three years he’d worked in Dallas at a high-powered architectural firm. He still worked for the firm on a contracting basis, having set up office in his father’s old study. Angus had modernized the room with a computer, high-speed satellite Internet and his drafting table standing in one corner. Though he’d given up a chance at the major projects and advancing in his career, he still used his skills, added value to the corporation and kept up with changes in the field.

If he and his brothers didn’t live up to his mother’s demands, he’d have to move all of his things. Maybe even go back to Dallas and work full time for the corporation where he might be another warm body in a cubicle. Or he might earn a chance at eventually leading one of the major projects. Though, his desire to scratch his way to the top had been trumped by his desire to work with the animals on the ranch.

And what would he do with the horses? He’d built a profitable horse breeding and training facility he didn’t want to give up. It was one of the purest pleasures he got out of life. Working with the horses calmed him and reminded him what was important in life. He understood the horses and they seemed to have an equal understanding of him.

Some of his clients called him the horse whisperer. He laughed at the moniker. Anyone could work with horses if they had the patience. Angus felt more comfortable with the big animals than he did with people. They didn’t squander his love, they returned it. He liked working as an architect, but he was more passionate about working with the horses.

Pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a blue chambray shirt, he ran his fingers through his damp hair and jammed his feet into his boots. The sound of tires crunching on gravel made his heart beat faster and he turned to stare out the open window.

A sleek champagne-colored Cadillac pulled up the drive.

This was it. Once again he considered talking her into selling back her bid, but he needed to save every cent he had to purchase even a portion of his family ranch. He might ask to take on additional contracts at the corporation in Dallas. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t give him the funds fast enough. Perhaps he’d be better off taking on a full-time job with a respected company to encourage the bank to lend him the money needed to purchase the property or a portion of it.

The horses were his, purchased with the money he’d earned through his architectural contracting and his quarter horse breeding program. But finding a place he could keep all thirty animals wouldn’t be easy on short notice. If the ranch sold fast, he might have to sell all or part of his herd.

Cinching his belt buckle, he left his room and strode out to the porch.

“She’s punctual.” Colin leaned against the porch railing, his gaze on the car pulling to a stop in front of the house.

“Sandwiches?” Angus asked.

“I made two.”

“Out of what?”

“Are you seriously going to get picky?”

Angus frowned, his gut clenching. “Just answer.”

Colin shrugged. “The usual. Bread, lettuce, tomato, mustard.”

“And?”

With a cringe, Colin’s gaze slid to the corner of the porch. “We’re going to need to make a grocery run to town.”

“What else is in the sandwiches?”

“The only lunch meat in the refrigerator was a package of bologna.”

“Damn it.”

Colin glared at him. “I did the best I could with what we had.”

The car door opened. Realizing in that second that it was too late to slip into town for groceries, Angus grit his teeth and prayed this date would end as soon as it started.

He couldn’t be that lucky.

A long, slim leg encased in charcoal-gray trousers swung out. Another followed and Gwen stepped out of the vehicle, her hair pulled back in an artful twist, displaying the long, slender neck Angus had loved kissing. She wore four-inch high heels and large, round sunglasses on her pale face.

After closing her door, she turned to the rear door of the vehicle.

Angus squinted, wondering what she was doing.

Then two little legs dressed in pint-sized blue jeans appeared below the edge of the car door. When Gwen closed the back car door, a little boy stood beside her with a shock of thick auburn curls and a grin the size of Texas.

Angus couldn’t mistake the kid for anyone else’s. The little boy looked so much like Gwen it hit him like a punch to the gut.

Colin laughed. “Holy crap. She’s got a kid.”

Angus didn’t see anything funny.