Rich, Rugged Ranchers

When the first note had arrived to her dressing room, Sophia hadn’t thought much of it. Her mind was on her mother’s chemo treatments … and kicking her legs high enough and in sync with the other dancers in order to keep her job. Two more notes had followed. After she’d received the third note delivered to the dressing room, her closest friend in the follies remarked, “Oh, wow, Sophia. You have yourself a stalker.”

It was then that Sophia had learned that propositions usually came to showgirls in face-to-face encounters with gentlemen backstage after the show. They weren’t typed out on unadorned, untraceable white computer paper.

The notes kept coming sporadically; there was no rhyme or reason to them. Sophia had gotten spooked on several occasions when she was sure there was one particular pair of eyes in her audience with deeper, more observant, more sinister motives than watching pretty girls dance, jiggle and tease on a glitzy stage. There were other times when she felt as if she were being followed home, although she’d never seen a soul. Her life had been one great big ball of fear. Fear for her mother, fear for her job, fear for her safety. She’d called the police once, and they’d taken a report noting her complaint, but they said no crime had been committed and Sophia figured she was pretty much on her own.

Until Gordon Gregory had come to her rescue, her grey-haired knight in shining armor.

Gordon felt he owed the Montrose women a great debt for saving his granddaughter’s life. Months prior, Louisa had taken in a wayward girl who had run away from her parents’ home in Northern California. She’d shown up in the alley behind the motel Louisa managed, high on drugs and beaten pretty severely from a mugging. The girl had been a runaway for certain and might have died on the backstreets of Las Vegas if Louisa and Sophia hadn’t taken her in and nursed her back to health. The frightened girl threatened to run again if they called the police. They hadn’t. Instead they’d talked to her for three days straight and gained her trust, making her see that she had hit rock bottom. But she still had a chance to save herself, and once she agreed to go home and make a fresh start, they’d learned that the misguided teenager was Amanda Gregory, granddaughter to Gordon Gregory, a wealthy oil magnate who had a home in Las Vegas.

Gordon was so grateful to Louisa and Sophia for saving Amanda that he’d offered to give them anything they wanted. The sky was the limit.

“We shouldn’t be rewarded for doing the right thing,” her ailing mother had told him.

After that, Gordon had become a friend. And when things got bad and the two Montrose women had really needed help, Gordon had intervened with his offer to take Sophia away from the Follies and any danger she might have been in, marry her and give Louisa the best possible health care. The older gentleman had principles and old-fashioned notions about marriage, despite his four failed unions and the big age difference. He’d insisted there would be no strings attached initially if Sophia was in agreement. He’d offered her time to adjust to the marriage and a safe haven from all her worries. At the time, with skyrocketing medical bills, a would-be stalker and an ill mother on her hands, Sophia had had no choice. Basically, Gordon had been the answer to her prayers. Sophia had even managed to convince her mother that she’d be happy with Gordon, but in truth, she’d wanted to give her mother peace of mind that her daughter would be well cared for if anything happened to her.

The marriage was to be a quiet affair. But the details of her marriage had been leaked to the tabloids, which naturally resulted in splashy front-page headlines. Sophia was not painted in a good light—the twentysomething gold-digging showgirl married to the aging oil magnate. At the time, Sophia had been out of options and her mother’s health had been foremost in her mind.

Sophia wasn’t always proud of her decisions. There were times when deep remorse set in. Her choices may not have always been wise, but she’d done what she’d had to do, out of necessity.

She would not go back to living in fear.

Slowly, methodically Sophia squeezed the note in her palm, her fingers digging in until the paper curled into an abstract form. She watched the words crumple away as she tightened her fist and then gave a final squeeze. The wrinkled lump in her hand couldn’t hurt her anymore. It couldn’t cause her any anguish now.

She would have to forget about this and hope it was a fluke. A mere coincidence. After all, it had been the other sentence absent from this note that had changed a compliment into a threat. Today’s note didn’t say “You will be mine one day.”

Sophia clung to that notion.

Still shaken, she rose from the sofa and moved to the kitchen, where she pressed her toe to the foot pedal of the stainless-steel garbage can. The note belonged in the past. She wouldn’t allow it to terrify her. She wouldn’t give it credence. Not here, not now. She was trying to rebuild her life on Sunset Ranch. With one forceful toss, the note was history. The lid of the garbage can slammed shut, and Sophia put the ordeal out of her mind. She grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder and walked out of the cottage on legs that moved solely by steely, stubborn conviction.

She would not allow that note to destroy her day.

Ten minutes later she couldn’t say the same thing about Logan Slade.

“You’re late, Sophia. What part of eight sharp don’t you understand?”

Sophia winced at Logan’s demeaning tone. He was lecturing her as if she were a student in his classroom, sounding uncannily like Mr. Anderson in ninth-grade history.

Tardiness will only get you detention for the day. You make me wait, and I make you wait.

“You’re right,” she said, taking a seat to face him from across his office desk. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Sophia set her shoulder bag down on the seat next to her and opened up her valise, drawing out a clipboard.

Logan’s angry tone ebbed. “You look pale. Didn’t you sleep last night?”

Sophia straightened in her seat. The darn note had rattled her more than she’d have thought. On the short drive to Logan’s house, she’d been reliving the past—thinking of her mother, her life and her bad choices. Her nerves were almost shot and she had to put on a good front for Logan not to see her distress. For all her bravado, Sophia felt things stronger than she let on and it manifested in a trembling body and a distracted mind. “I slept wonderfully, thank you.”

“Sorry and thank you, all in the thirty seconds since you’ve been here, Sophia?”

Her chin went up. “Would you rather that I tell you how rude you were to me when I walked in?”

Logan grinned as if he’d coaxed the response he’d wanted from her. “I expect promptness.”

“In a perfect world, maybe you should.”

“What’s not so perfect about your world?”

Sophia gazed down at the floor. She wouldn’t answer Logan’s question, but she was tempted to. She would love to tell him the truth about her imperfect life, and make him see that she was not the sordid, calculating woman he thought her to be. Not that he’d believe her. His mind was made up. “We don’t have enough time in the day.”

“Good point,” he said, studying her for a moment before glancing at his watch. “Let’s get down to business. I have another meeting in an hour.”

Glad the focus was off her, Sophia discussed her ideas about the surprise party, how she thought they could pull it off without Ruth knowing and her plans for the menu and decorations. Uncharacteristically, Logan agreed with her about everything. She was pleased that he chose not to argue the details. When it came to throwing a party, Logan didn’t have a clue. He was smart enough to defer to her. Yet she had a hard time focusing one hundred percent of her attention on the task at hand when her thoughts today were on the past.

She missed her mother. She still couldn’t believe she was gone. Oftentimes, she’d wanted to pick up the phone to call her.

Hey, Mama, I finally got your chili recipe right.

Hey, Mama, the daisies are in full bloom outside your bedroom window.

Hey, Mama, I just wanted to say good morning.

The loss was so keen that it always took Sophia a few seconds to realize that she would never be able to call her mother again.

“Sophia?” Logan’s voice broke through her thoughts.

She snapped her head up. “Oh, uh … Yes?”

His brows gathered as he aimed a pointed question at her. “Something’s up with you today. What’s going on?”

Sophia stared into Logan’s deep, dark eyes. For half a second, she wanted to confide in him about the mysterious note and how it had stirred bad memories for her. “I, uh—”

His gaze drifted down to her hand holding the pen. She’d forgotten to bring her laptop, something Logan had probably noticed but hadn’t mentioned. She took notes the old-fashioned way today, and her hand trembled as she jotted things down.

“Nothing. I missed breakfast. I guess I’m a little shaky.” That was the truth. She hadn’t eaten this morning and it was a good enough reason to give him.

Although he gave her a nod of understanding, the entire time they spoke, she felt Logan’s gaze penetrating her, watching and waiting for a hint to indicate why she was acting so out of character. He was, by nature, suspicious of her. And no amount of explanation would convince him to be otherwise.

Once the plans were set for the party, they moved the discussion to her progress with the lodge. Sophia forced herself to concentrate on details for the next fifteen minutes, and they concluded their business within the hour.

Logan rose from his desk, hawklike eyes watching her every move. She rose, too. Thankfully, her legs were stronger now, and her nerves not quite so raw. She had a full day of work ahead of her and a party to plan.

“I’ll call you tonight to check on the progress,” he said.

Sophia slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. “Fine.” He came around his desk to meet her, and walked her toward the door. “How is Luke this morning?” she asked.

“Better, from what the doctors tell me.”

“Is he coming home today?” Sophia couldn’t keep hope out of her voice, which garnered a tight-lipped response from Logan. “If he has anything to say about it, he will.”

“Give him my best when you see him.”

“Will do,” he said as they reached the office door. “Oh, and Sophia.”

“Hmm?”

“Eat something. Can’t have Sunset Lodge’s manager faint dead away in the middle of the lobby.”

Sophia sent him a sugary-sweet smile. “Thanks for your concern.”

“Anytime.”

Sophia had the distinct feeling that Logan Slade had his eyes trained on her backside as she walked out of his office and down the hall.

“I’ll go crazy if I stick around here much longer.” Luke’s frustrated words issued from his mouth in a whisper.

Poor guy, Sophia thought. He couldn’t move too much in his bed without feeling tremendous pain. Yet he stubbornly refused to take the meds the doctor had prescribed for him.

“You have to give yourself some time, Luke,” Sophia said. “You’ve been home only a few days.”

“Can’t do a damn thing on the ranch, either. With my cracked ribs and this here busted-up arm.”

Sophia glanced at the cumbersome cast that went more than halfway up his right arm and couldn’t argue the point. Luke wasn’t one to sit still, yet what option did he have? He’d ridden the rodeo circuit and from what she’d gathered he’d never suffered an injury like this before. “What you need is something to take your mind off your troubles.” Sophia leaned toward him to bring a freshly baked butter cookie dusted with powdered sugar near his mouth. “Here, try one of these,” she said. “I made them early this morning for you.”

Luke’s gaze lowered to the cookie hovering by his lips. “Smells delicious. Lay it on me.”

He opened his mouth, and she inserted the cookie. He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed and sighed with appreciation, laying his head back against the bed pillow. “You’re an angel, Sophia.”

Too bad his brother didn’t think so. She was an angel to Luke, and the devil’s spawn to Logan. One wouldn’t think the two men had the same blood running through their veins.

“That cookie melted in my mouth. Gotta be the best cookie I’ve ever had.” Then he added, “Don’t be telling Constance I said so.”

She put the rest of the cookie into his mouth. Her mother’s recipe never failed to make people smile. “I made two dozen,” she said, gesturing with a head tilt toward the plate on his nightstand, sitting next to the bouquet of flowers she’d brought him when he first arrived from the hospital. “You can thank me later, after you’ve finished all of them.”

Luke’s left hand came out to take hers. “I can thank you now—”

“No problem, I love to bake—”

“For coming to see me twice already since I’ve been home,” he rasped out. “And for listening to me moan and groan.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

Morning sunshine streamed in through the shuttered windows facing east. But the beautiful day didn’t have an effect on Luke’s sour mood. He was a man accustomed to being on the move. “There’ll be a hell of a lot more moaning and groaning,” he confessed.

“I know. I can’t blame you. But you’ll heal. You have to be patient.” Sophia moved from the chair to the side of his bed, carefully lowering down so as not to disturb him. “Here,” she said, leaning forward and offering him a second cookie. “Have another.”

He bit down, and closed his eyes while he chewed. “How are things at the lodge?” he asked quietly.

A pipe had burst, leaking water into the rooms on the second floor, the smoke alarm had gone off for no apparent reason in the kitchen and one of the guests had slipped and sprained an ankle while stepping down from their saddle since Luke’s accident. Business as usual, she mused. “It’s coming along.”

“Glad to hear it. You fit right in on Sunset Ranch.”

Sophia sighed. “I love it here.”

“And I love that you’re here, feeding me cookies.”

She laughed and Luke cracked a smile, but a second later, he paid for the movement with a grimace of pain. Sophia grimaced, too, sympathizing with him.

“Is there anything I can do for you before I go to work?” she asked.

Luke shook his head. “Nope. You go on. Thanks for the visit and the cookies.”

“I spoiled your breakfast.”

“You spoiled me, period.”

“I’ll come back again soon.”

“I might not be here.”

Sophia thought he was kidding until she saw a spark of determination in his eyes. “Where would you be?”

“An old rodeo buddy of mine is recovering from a bad injury. Broke his back a while ago. He’s got a cabin on the north shore of Tahoe and is itching for a drinking partner. I’m thinking on it. I’m gonna be pretty darn useless around here for the next couple of weeks.”

“Can you travel?”

“I can if I take those dang pills. It’s not a far trip. Logan offered to drive me if I decide to go. He thinks it’s a good idea. Wants me outta his hair, from all the complaining I’ve been doing.”

Sophia shook her head. “I’m sure your brother wants what’s best for you. Will you let me know if you decide to go? I’d want to say goodbye.”

“Sure thing.”

Sophia rose from the bed gingerly, and gave him one last look before exiting the room. She moved through the house with familiarity, as if it was only yesterday that she’d played in these stately paneled rooms and raced down the hallways on her way out the kitchen to a backyard that had doubled as an amusement park in her childhood.

The Slades had a tree house that looked like a Western fort with a steep slide and rubber swings. They had bicycles and wagons and a giant fenced-off pool. They owned horses and had been taught from an early age to respect animals, and all of their other possessions, as well. Sophia had often heard Mr. Slade instruct his boys, “Take care of things, or be prepared to lose them.”

The boys took it strictly as a warning then, but later in life Sophia realized how smart Randall Slade had been. He’d meant it as a life lesson.

Sophia had almost reached the front door when Logan’s deep voice stopped her cold. “Sophia, I’d like a word with you. Got a second?”

His words echoed in the entryway as Sophia slowly pivoted on her three-inch heels. She found Logan striding toward her, his face a mask of indifference but for a jaw that twitched as he approached.

Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. She asked herself, why him? Why did she find him so darn attractive when clearly the two of them would never happen? Logan had a perfectly gorgeous, fun-loving sibling whom Sophia adored, but Luke didn’t make butterflies take flight in her belly or make her nerves jump and her body tingle the way Logan did.

He’d touched her intimately the other night.

And she’d wanted more.

Irritated at her train of thought, she gave him a terse response. “I’m on my way to the lodge.”

“Busy?”

“I have some issues that need tending. Yes, I’m very busy.”

His mouth curved up in a casual smile that belied his words. “But not too busy to hand-feed my brother your cookies.”

Sophia blinked, surprised that Logan had known about that. “Were you spying on me?”

He took her question matter-of-factly. “I’d hardly call it spying. It’s my house. I passed by Luke’s room and saw the two of you in there. Cozy little picture you made.”

Sophia closed her eyes briefly, praying for patience. Damn him. She would not let Logan get the best of her. “Luke enjoyed my cookies. You should try one. They are delicious.”

His eyes moved over her, gently caressing each curve of her body. The dress she wore today was clingy and cranberry-red and Logan could hardly miss the fact that Sophia had forgotten to wear her usual matching jacket that concealed her cleavage somewhat. She felt exposed to his gaze. He touched every inch of her with eyes that devoured, eyes that held a thrilling promise. “Maybe I want my own batch, Sophia.”

The underlying sensuality of his comment fascinated her. She put her head down, her gaze catching the shiny polished tips of his black snakeskin boots. Rugged, rough-edged and appealing, Logan Slade made mincemeat of her resolve. She raised her head slightly, not quite able to meet his eyes. Instead she stared at the tanned skin exposed by the opened collar of his chambray shirt. She replied in a broken, quiet whisper. “Maybe … one day, Logan.”

He put his hand under her chin. With the tips of his fingers, he lifted her face a fraction of an inch until she was forced to look into his eyes. They smoldered like dark coals and sent a warm shot of heat through her body. It wasn’t fair that Logan could do her so much damage with a mere look, a single tender touch.

He bent his head and Sophia pleaded with him. “Don’t … don’t kiss me.”

He inched closer. “You want me to.”

She did. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to make her feel the way he had the other night.

The lap dance night.

“Logan, you out there?” Luke’s strained voice broke through their moment like a cold splash of water.

Logan cursed quietly.

Sophia swallowed down hard.

Both looked in the direction of Luke’s bedroom.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Logan called back to him. “I’m coming.”

Sophia stepped away from Logan, turning her back on him to reach for the doorknob. Before she gave it a turn, Logan’s husky voice resonated in her soul. “Looks like Luke saved you again.”

Sophia put her head down, taking a moment to absorb the sensations rushing around inside her. Something was happening between them, but she didn’t know if she could trust what she was feeling. She didn’t know if she could trust Logan, period. “Maybe I don’t want to be saved.”

The sound of his receding footsteps faded on the plank floors. He’d walked away to see to his brother and hadn’t heard her. It was just as well. There were too many “maybes” involved with Logan. Sophia opened the door and stepped outside. The Nevada sun warmed her cheeks and the clear sky above brightened her outlook.

She had repaired pipes that needed her approval, a lodge guest’s temper to soothe and a meeting with her staff this morning.

She loved every crazy minute of it.

She wouldn’t have time to think about Logan Slade any more today.

Six

Sophia never had the chance to say goodbye to Luke. He left the night after her visit to deliver the cookies. Logan had thought it best for Luke to travel late at night so that he could sleep during the trip to Tahoe. Apparently, from what she could gather, his host, Casey Thomas, was a good guy, wild in his younger rodeo days, but now a big fan of the simple life. The two would drink and shoot the breeze at Casey’s lakeside cabin.

But as Sophia gazed out the window of her cottage this evening, dressed and ready for Ruth’s surprise party, she felt Luke’s absence in the pit of her stomach. He’d been gone for five days and she’d spoken to him twice in that time, but she hadn’t confided in him. Since he’d left, she’d received two more notes on her doorstep.

You are very beautiful.

The notes were always folded neatly and always typed on plain white computer paper. While receiving one note might have been a fluke and something she could ignore, receiving two more meant that whoever was out there, whoever was sending these notes was persistent. She feared they would continue to torment her. She’d been sleeping with the lights on lately. She’d been listening intently for out-of-the-ordinary sounds in and around the cottage.

Sophia let go a deep breath to steady her nerves. Tonight, she would play an integral role in getting Ruth to her surprise party. Sophia had worked her buns off this week, making arrangements, hiding a drastic change in employees’ schedules from Ruth and working with Logan and his staff to get the Slade home ready for the party.

The cover story was that Ruth and Sophia were to meet one of Randall Slade’s high-profile friends who was interested in using Sunset Lodge as a summer retreat for the entire staff of a private college. Sophia had explained that Logan would first host a special dinner at the Slade ranch house to impress the client, then one of Ruth’s last duties would be to help Sophia put him up for the night at the lodge and give him the royal treatment tomorrow.

Ruth bought the entire concept and Sophia was certain she didn’t have a clue what was really going on. Sophia was on pins and needles, though. Without Luke here for support, being secretive with Ruth all week and receiving another one of those notes made her jumpy.

Before exiting the cottage, Sophia scanned the property thoroughly, just like she’d been doing all week long. She grabbed her wrap and her purse and looked around one last time before locking up the cottage and getting into her car. She had no proof or evidence to back her feeling of being watched, other than that one night when she heard a disturbance in her yard, yet Sophia felt the sensation deep down in her bones.

Thirty minutes later, after picking up Ruth, who was dressed very elegantly in a cobalt-blue and silver dress, Sophia delivered Ruth to the Slade home.

Logan answered the door personally, dressed in a dark Western suit and string tie—a handsome maverick with a charming smile. Upon spotting Ruth, he gave her a welcoming kiss on the cheek, and then gave Sophia a quick approving nod as his razor-sharp gaze raked over her upswept hair, shimmery sequined cocktail dress and sandaled feet.

“Our guest is outside. He is anxious to meet with you both.” Logan stepped between them, offering the ladies his arm. With Ruth chatting amiably on his right and Sophia on his left, the three of them walked through the wide parlor double doors to be greeted by the sight of twinkling lights, grandly decorated tables and about sixty of Ruth’s friends and coworkers.