Once outside, Daniel led Avery toward the truck he’d bought for the cross-country drive to Montana. The sunshine put a small dent in the cool fall air as he tried hard not to think too much about the woman walking beside him. He kept close enough that he could respond and protect her should it be necessary. But not close enough to touch.

With the same alertness he’d needed on patrol he scanned the surroundings. He didn’t expect sniper fire so close to town, but he currently had a hip that throbbed like a son of a bitch because he’d overlooked the probability once before.

She smelled like lemons.

Reaching out a hand to open the passenger door, his hand closed over hers on the handle. Both froze, he’d swear both of them stopped breathing, neither looking at the other. Just like that, it wasn’t just his hip that throbbed.

“Sorry,” she murmured, pulling her hand out from beneath his. Her hand didn’t feel as soft as Sadie’s had, but he experienced a definite response at the friction of flesh sliding against flesh. Then she looked up at him, her mouth curving slightly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a gentleman opening doors for me.”

“I’m no gentleman.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” she asked, her cheeks turning bright red.

Daniel tried, and failed, not to notice her ass when she turned and climbed into the truck. He stood there a minute, his hand curled tight on the open door, and considered his options. He knew he had no business getting tangled up with any woman, let alone a widow and one with trouble following her. But, damn, that surprising and teasing question, followed by her obvious embarrassment for her honesty, appealed to him. He shut the door and walked around to the drivers’ side.

“I need to stop at Ruby’s,” he said, naming the bed and breakfast where he’d stayed the night before. “To pick up my gear. It won’t take long. I only have a duffel bag and I didn’t bother to unpack much last night.”

She said nothing until he parked in front of the place, got out and came around to open her car door. “I’ll just wait here.”

“No.” He held still when she turned her head to stare at him. “I’m assigned to protect you. I can’t do that if I’m inside and you’re out here in the open.”

“I hardly think anyone will do anything in daylight and in a public place.”

“I’m not willing to take that chance.” He held out a hand to assist her down. She turned back to face the windshield. “I once held position for three hours, in the middle of a sandstorm, watching for an enemy convoy. I can outlast you.”

“I’ve lived in Eagle Rock my entire life. The minute I step out of this truck and walk up those stairs with you, gossip will fly around this town faster than a bullet. I understand you’re doing your job and I appreciate both you and Hank looking out for me.” She turned her head and pinned him with a distressed look. “For that reason I can’t believe you want to attract any more attention than I do.”

Daniel had the feeling she meant more than simply walking into the bed and breakfast with him today. Which was probably his dick thinking for him. Still, he got her point and it raised yet another protective awareness where this woman was concerned.

He took her hand, put his keys in the center of her palm, folded her fingers over the metal, and closed his fingers on hers.

“Keep the truck locked. Don’t open it for anyone until I come back.”

Stepping back, he closed the door, stared at her through the window until he heard the click of the locks. Turning on his heel, he hurried up the stairs.

It didn’t take long to shove everything into his duffel. Years of military experience had taught him to keep things orderly and to a minimum. He did take the time to slip on the holstered gun Hank had given him from the Brotherhood Protector’s arsenal, covering it with a lightweight jacket. He struggled against impatience – and looking out the window to insure Avery was safe - as he paid his bill, sidetracking comments and questions from the clerk. Finally, he walked outside, and, after stowing his duffel in the truck bed, heard the snick of the locks.

When he settled behind the steering wheel, he glanced over. Avery had both hands pressed to her mouth, as if to keep the screams trapped in her chest. She rocked in the seat – not far as the seat belt limited movement.

“To hell with it.”

Not caring if anyone saw them, he released her seat belt as he slid over a little so he could wrap his arms around her. She was small, and so very fragile, trembling in his arms. It surprised him, given her earlier caution, that she didn’t fight his embrace. But she didn’t cry, something he was grateful for even as he admired her restraint. His hazy memories of his mother included her screaming like a banshee whenever things didn’t go her way.

“It’s okay,” he crooned. “It’s just a delayed reaction.”

It took her less than a minute to regain control. Her body stilled the instant her hand grazed the edge of his shoulder holster. Slowly she pulled free. Refusing to defend the choice of wearing the gun, or apologize for holding her, he settled behind the steering wheel and started the engine.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m sorry, I’m not used to breaking down like that.”

“I don’t think you’re used to being run off the road either.”

“I just want to go home. I need to go home.”

He put the truck into gear. “Tell me how to get there.”

During the drive, she said little more than giving him directions. It didn’t bother Daniel. Instead he concentrated on observing and committing to memory his surroundings. He scanned the horizon, awed by the mountains rising in the distance, along with the snatches of wildlife he spotted in and out of the lush green forests they drove by. Earlier Avery had mentioned having lived here her entire life. Daniel couldn’t imagine what that was like. He also wondered how different his life might have been had he lived in a place like this, an open and wild place that invited you to run free. A place where you were still friends with people you’d known in elementary school. Friends who looked out for you, did what they could to help you.

Even hire a stranger to protect you.

He braked to a stop short of the sign for the Circle C Ranch. The sign, and the post it hung from, had seen better days.

“I need some intel,” he said. Met with silence, he glanced over, saw she stared at him.

He could see faint remnants of the fear she’d overcome while struggling to keep her truck from careening over a ledge. He recalled the look in her eyes when their gazes had met in Hank’s office, hot and aware. She hadn’t hesitated to accept the offer of his protection. He remembered that while she’d trembled in his arms, she’d not completely fallen apart.

It took every bit of willpower he possessed to resist the temptation of reaching for her. More than being gorgeous, there was something about her, a fragility paired with a warrior strength that called to him. He also knew he could, and would, do nothing about it.

She deserved better. She deserved more than a banged-up, ex-Army Ranger in her life.

“How are we going to explain my sudden appearance on your ranch?” he said. “And I need to know about the people you have working there. The people you come into contact with on a daily basis. And as much detail as possible about the layout of the ranch.”

“First and foremost, there’s my son, Cole. He’s four. I have two hired hands. Carl and his wife Esther have been a part of the ranch for as long as I can remember. Carl and my dad were friends. Esther and my mom? Well, I’ll say whenever all of us were together they were civil to one another.” She shrugged. “Not sure why, even as a child I knew better to ask.”

“What about your parents?”

“My dad died five years ago. That’s when the ranch came to me. Mom didn’t want anything to do with it. She moved to Arizona to be close to her sister. She came back for a few weeks when I had Cole.”

“And the other ranch hand?”

“Randy’s twenty, no, that’s right, he turned twenty-one last month.” She smiled a little. “I remember because I told him to take the next day off since I knew he’d be celebrating with his friends. He’s been working here a year or so. He flunked out of college, apparently not for the first time, and his parents refused to pay his way any longer. He stopped in one day to see if he could earn a little traveling money by doing some chores. He’s not the brightest kid in the world, but he has a strong back and doesn’t argue when you give him a job or instructions.”

“Does he live on the ranch?”

“Part of his pay is to have the use of a one room cabin about a mile and a half from here.”

“And Carl and Esther? They live close?”

“They have two acres along the west boundary, given to them years ago by my dad. They’re getting older, I see it in both of them every day, more so with Carl. I don’t know what I’m going to do when they’re not around anymore.”

Daniel had a low level pull of envy. Nothing she talked about came remotely close to the kind of upbringing he lived through. “Does their place butt up against the Ridgeway property?”

“No, he’s along the east side of my land.”

“That’s all then? Everyone who works and lives on your ranch?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward and while her lemon scent teased his senses and made his mouth water for a taste of her, he couldn’t miss the fierce, protective gleam in her eye. “I know you’re working for Hank, and believe me, I’m thankful. But I’m asking, no I’m telling you, whatever happens, whatever has to be done, you will always put Cole’s safety ahead of mine.”

“I’ll do everything I can to keep you both safe.”

“He comes first. That’s non-negotiable.” She sat back, nodded in the direction of the ranch. “Can we go now? Cole’ll be home from school soon.”

“School?” he asked, vaguely horrified. “At four?”

“He spends too much time with adults. I enrolled him in a pre-kindergarten program so he can be with other children.”

Daniel put the truck in drive and navigated around a hole that reminded him of the terrain following an IED explosion. “So, it’s just the two hands and yourself running the ranch?” He shook his head. “How the hell do you do it all?”

“There’s a lot that’s had to be put off because something else was more important. We have twelve, no thirteen cattle now, three pigs, some chickens and four horses. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, I’m trying to establish the breeding business so tending them, babying them according to Carl, takes up most of my time.”

The house came into view. It was what Daniel imagined was a fairly typical ranch house. A two story home with a wide porch on the front, complete with a couple of rocking chairs. It could use a paint job and one window on the second floor only had one shutter. The yard was small but well-tended, including late blooming flowers, he thought they were pansies, in pots on the porch, some kind of ground cover he couldn’t identify lining a path and drooping rose bushes along the side of the house. In the near distance he could just make out the barn, also in need of a painting along with a corral and a fenced-in area that held the chickens and pig. He braked to a stop in front of the porch. He didn’t know squat about ranching, but he could provide some free labor on renovations or improvements while he kept an eye on Avery.

“You haven’t said how we’ll explain my appearance in your life,” he said, stopping her exit from the truck. She sat frozen, her back to him. “Look, I know damn good and well I don’t look or act like any kind of ranch hand.” She turned back to face him, her gaze narrowed. “And I don’t have any experience with the kind of life-long people in my life like you do. But, I’d bet money those same people are going to be curious and want to know why the hell I suddenly showed up.”

“You look just fine,” she said, and then bit down on her bottom lip as she lifted her hands, let them fall back onto her lap. Once again he saw her gaze swing to the left. “I’m no good at lying.”

“Why don’t we say I’m an old boyfriend from college who stopped it to catch up?”

“No one will believe that.”

“Why not?”

She shifted to look out the passenger window. “Everyone will be more likely to believe you’re an old friend of Brad’s. We’ll say you’ve been overseas in the military and when you came home, stateside, you came out here to see him.” She shrugged. “I invited you to stay a few days.” She opened the door and stepped out. “I’ll show you the inside of the house now.”

Through the windshield, Daniel watched her climb the steps. She stopped and glanced back, a small frown creasing her forehead when she realized he hadn’t followed. Reluctance warred with possibilities at the idea of being alone with her in the house, a house that had bedrooms within easy reach. Hell, he scrubbed a hand over his face, there were floors, walls, and countertops he could imagine where the two of them could fuck like honeymooning newlyweds.

He grabbed up his duffel and went to the porch. “Are you sure about having me stay in here?” he asked once Avery had opened the front door and stepped inside.

“Makes the most sense given the story we’ll tell everyone.” Then she surprised the hell out of him by walking back to where he waited, standing close. Her eyes were warm and stayed steady on his. “I trust you, Daniel. I can’t explain it, to you or myself, and I’m not going to spend time trying to. I’m just going with it.” She stood a moment longer and then, with a small smile, turned around.

He took note of a central living room, containing a sofa and a wide cushioned ottoman in brown leather. “The kitchen is through that door.” She pointed at a doorway to the right. “There’s a door there that leads to the mudroom and then out to the back door, which is the one we use more often than not since it leads to the barn.” She turned to the left, and began climbing the stairs.

“This is my son’s room.” She gestured to her right. Daniel peeked in, saw a room bright with sunshine and the clutter of cars, trucks and colorful plastic bricks. “And mine.” She pointed across the hall. “You’ll have to share a bathroom with Cole.”

“No problem,” he said, looking away from her closed bedroom door. He followed her down the short hall, walked into the room she’d entered. The bed was covered in a simple spread of navy blue, without any of the decorative pillows he knew most women liked. Tables on either side of the bed each held a small lamp, along with a paperback novel on one. A single dresser, painted white to match the iron of the bed, stood in a corner.

The scent of antiseptic cleaner couldn’t erase the lingering stink of booze, tobacco and cheap perfume. It reminded him of his childhood.

“I’ll give you some time to settle in.”

Daniel’s hand shot out to wrap around her arm, stopping her retreat. He respected the strength of her work-necessary muscle even as he wondered what her skin felt like beneath the cotton of her shirt.

“Whose bedroom is this?”

“Brad’s.” She swallowed as shame rose in her eyes along with the color on her cheeks. But, unlike earlier in Hank’s office when he knew damn well she’d been lying, she kept her gaze steady on his. “This is the bedroom where Brad slept.” She freed her arm from his grip. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to change and check on the horses.”