Cole gripped the steering wheel of his truck as he approached a section of the road with skid marks in the dirt. He pulled to the side of the road and hopped out, half expecting to see a dead deer in the field.

He scratched his head. There were no deer tracks in the dirt, but there were other tracks. Cole leaned over and examined the large feline tracks set a healthy distance apart. He had never personally seen a mountain lion but had heard of sightings in the area. Cougars typically kept their distance from humans. Having a mountain lion in the area would explain why the family of eight or ten deer who migrated down to lodge from time to time had recently been down in their numbers.

Cole grabbed a bright yellow vest from the back seat and slipped it on before stepping a few feet farther into the brush to see where the tracks headed. Mountain lions didn’t have great sight and he wouldn’t want to be mistaken for prey. Deer blended in with their surroundings. He ran through the forest service’s recommendations in his head; look big, wear bright clothing, do not run or speed walk, never turn your back to the cat, avoid low-light times like dusk or dawn, stay away from a cache or kill.

By the tracks, it appeared like the lion was heading away from the lodge and barn. Cole would have to warn his staff, the camera crew, and Maggie to be vigilant. Maggie. He blew out a long breath as he hopped back into his truck. This could either be an amazing reunion or she could throw her chef’s hat in his face and yell at him for tricking her into coming, but he hadn’t actually tricked her.

Silver had recommended Maggie from the start and had no idea Cole had any interest in her. When he really thought about it, Silver may have had an inkling after their last conversation, but she had agreed that Maggie was the perfect person for the job, no matter Cole’s ulterior motives.

This week would be telling. If Maggie wanted to be with him, then he would get it out of her. If not, well, he didn’t have a plan for that because he couldn’t imagine his life without her. He found it interesting how just a few weeks ago Maggie meant no more to him than a friend of Pineapple’s. Now she was everything.

He found Kelly, the receptionist and family friend at her desk searching something on the web.

“Hi, Kelly. Has anyone arrived yet?”

“They all have,” she said with a shrug.

“They have?” he said with surprise. “I wasn’t expecting the film crew for a few more hours.”

He’d hoped to have some alone time with Maggie. He didn’t want the film crew to witness their first encounter, especially if Maggie wasn’t happy to see him. The last time he saw her, she had given him a ride to the hospital. That alone demonstrated her forgiving and caring nature by how she offered to take him to the hospital to see his father after she had discovered how he had deliberately deceived her. It had all been to get her to like him, but it backfired. He prayed that she would not only forgive him for this second round of mischief but fall for him.

“Is Maggie in her room?”

“You mean your room?” Kelly yawned. “She didn’t feel comfortable in there and stomped back out.”

That wasn’t a good first sign. “Where is she now?”

Kelly scratched her head with her pen. “I gave her the key again, because it seemed like she might stay in there after all, but then she never came back in. Last time I saw her she was swinging on the bench.”

Cole hurried back out to the side of the building to the swing. He cursed. Where could she have gone? A thought came to his mind when he looked up at the surveillance camera pointing down at the sidewalk. The entire perimeter was under surveillance. He ran back inside to his office and brought up the past hour’s feed on his computer. He stopped the rewind at the point where Maggie first came outside. He freeze-framed on her face for a few seconds before continuing. He smiled when she took particular interest in the film crew. He turned up the volume and rewound when he caught something about a dame. They weren’t talking about Maggie, were they?

He clenched his jaw as he listened to their conversation. But then Maggie’s phone call to her friend somehow lightened his spirit to where he no longer felt malice for the film crew. Although that wouldn’t stop him from kicking them off his property before they could set up their cameras in the morning. He had a rock-solid contract and, with the evidence of the video footage to prove their intent, he could now say goodbye to the crew without any serious consequences.

Cole continued watching the footage until he found his answer to where Maggie had gone. The video clearly showed her mounting Lilly and riding away. He locked up his office and sprinted to the stables. A wave of fear flowed down his spine when he found Lilly pacing back and forth in front of the barn.

He ran to his truck, grabbed a loaded gun from the locked rack, and sprinted back to the stables. He got Lilly inside and saddled up Spirit, his fastest horse. He jumped into the saddle and galloped up the trail. He was only a few minutes in when he heard the voice of an angel and noticed a campfire off the trail about a half mile farther up.

* * *

Maggie held her palms out to the fire and sang out one of her favorite Christmas songs to calm her nerves. Her instinct a few minutes ago had been to run, but she knew that wouldn’t be smart. The one thing she remembered from elementary school safety class was to never run from a dog when walking to or from school.

She had no idea where she was or even if was headed in the right direction. The one thing she thought would help would be to build a fire. A fire would keep the wild animals at bay and hopefully someone would see her fire and come soon. If not, she would start walking again when her fire died down. For now, she’d sit and eat her dinner; she was starving.

As she pulled her sandwich from her bag, she heard the magical sound of horses’ hooves galloping toward her.

“Maggie!” a deep familiar voice rang out as Lilly came to a stop in front of her campfire and a man jumped off his horse.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. “Cole?” The attraction hadn’t waned with time. She had to plant her feet in the dirt to not throw herself into his arms.

“You’re surprised to see me,” he stated. “Is that a good surprise, or a bad surprise?”

His low, sultry voice slowly heated her core. She couldn’t resist; she threw her arms around him and gave him a hearty squeeze. “Considering I thought I might not make it back to camp before being attacked by a wild animal, I’d say it’s a good surprise.”

“I’m impressed with your wilderness skills.” He pointed to the fire. “How did you get it started?”

“By rubbing sticks together,” she said with pride.

“Really?” he said, taking a seat by the flames and examining her fire.

She laughed. “No. I have an emergency kit in my backpack with matches.”

“I’m so relieved you’re okay.” He shook his head. “When I saw those cougar tracks—”

“Cougar tracks!” she screamed. “So that is what I saw on the road! I thought so.”

“Wait. You saw the cougar?” He held up a hand. “That mountain lion would have heard your car coming and stayed away. It isn’t easy for a walker to come up on a cougar without the cougar knowing it and fleeing. The fact that she crossed your path while you were driving scares me. This is strange behavior. I wonder if she’s sick?” He pulled at his hair. “This isn’t good. When these big cats are sick or injured, they’ve been known to ignore their fear, come into our space, and attack an easy prey. The kids! I need to cancel the camp.”

Maggie could hear the terror in Cole’s voice and wanted to help soothe him. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She bent down and dug through her bag. “Here. Have your favorite sandwich, then we’ll reassess.”

She handed him the mozzarella, prosciutto, pesto, and plum tomato sandwich she’d picked up at the international market on her way to the ranch. He needed it more than she did. He took the sandwich from her, examined it and smiled before handing it back.

“Thanks, but I don’t eat mozzarella. I’m allergic to milk.”

“But I thought?” She stopped and held up a finger for him to give her a minute to think.

“The sandwich was for Gracie. It’s her favorite.”

Maggie’s head spun. She had misread Cole from the beginning. Her affection for him not only deepened, it overpowered her. “I’m starting to think you might not be such a bad guy.”

He placed his hand over hers, sending shooting sparks up her arm. “Does this mean that your opinion of me has improved?”

She slowly batted her lashes and smiled. “You could say that.”

“I’m glad you’re here with me Maggie.”

“And what about Jackie?”

“Right.” He scrunched his face as if in pain. “Josie, actually. She wasn’t happy I called her Jackie all evening at the auction.”

Maggie laughed, but felt uneasy that it didn’t seemed resolved with Josie. “So, what’s the scoop with Josie?”

“She’ll be here in two days. For the afternoon. She wanted to be here all week, but there was no way that was happening. This is an important week for me.”

Maggie’s heart sped at the notion that Cole might be more than a hired hand on this ranch. Whatever he was, one thing was for sure, he had no interest in Josie.

She threaded her fingers through his with a smile. When he winked back at her, she released a sigh of contentment. “Why is this week so important to you?”

“These kids mean the world to me.”

Her heart melted, but she needed answers because she was falling hard for this guy. “About that.” She raised an eyebrow. Her excitement grew with the possibility that her happily ever after had a real chance of becoming a reality. “I have a few questions. I’ll put another log on the fire and you can explain to me why we’re both here.” As she leaned over to throw another log down, she heard a rustling behind her.

Cole threw up his chin as he readied his gun. “Maggie,” he said calmly, but she read the fear in his eyes as he looked over her shoulder at something. “Don’t move a muscle.”

Her adrenaline spiked. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer as the loud bang of a gunshot echoed through her eardrums, leaving her with a muffled ringing sound reverberating in her ears as she collapsed to the earth. Her pounding heart told her that she hadn’t died, not yet.

Cole slowly turned her over and ran his hand down her face. “Are you okay?” His voice waved through the air like a cry under water.

She nodded. “Do you know CPR, in case my heart stops?”

“I think I can figure it out,” he said, lowering his face and gently opening her lips with his.

If she had the energy she would have laughed. “Thanks not what I meant,” she whispered as their breath mingled.

“Are you sure?” he said through their intertwined lips. “Because I feel like in this position we can navigate anything life throws at us.”

Her body ached to have him kiss her deeper. She wanted to know if this was real and if her dreams really had come true. “And what would the rancher think of you shooting a mountain lion on his property and kissing his chef?”

He released her lips and sat up, resting into his elbow. “I’d say, he has a hunting license and was protecting the woman he loved.”

Cole loved her. The world suddenly made sense as she soared above the precipice of the tallest mountain with the freedom of an eagle. She blinked her lashes, “I was hoping you’d turn out to be the rancher, but that only happens in fairytales.”

“And I’d say, kiss her again so this beautiful princess can turn your ugly self into a prince.”

She reached up, ran her fingers along his cheek to the back of his neck, and pulled him down to her as she drank in his milk chocolate eyes. “I promise to catch you when you fall, if you promise to clear the lions from my path.”

“Done,” he said, sealing his promise to her with the passionate kiss she’d been longing for since he’d strolled into her kitchen looking like the titanic protector he proved to be.