Triggered

Thank God. The cavalry had arrived.

Chapter Two

Ben stared down at the woman, her long wavy strawberry-blond hair lying in damp ringlets against the wood floor. Wrapped only in a fluffy white towel, she looked like a fallen angel, her creamy smooth skin begging to be touched, the towel riding up her shapely thighs.

“You’re staring.” The woman blinked up at him, her fingers pulling the edges of the towel together over her chest. She tried to sit up, pressed a hand to the back of her head and sank back. “Must have hit harder than I thought.”

“I’ll call for an ambulance.”

She shook her head and winced. “No. I’ll be all right, just give me a minute.” One arm rose to cover her eyes. The top edge of the towel slipped lower over the swell of her breasts, capturing Ben’s attention.

He really needed to focus on the situation, not the female lying almost naked at his feet, which proved hard when the woman had a great figure and very touchable skin. A pang of guilt and sadness knotted his gut. He hadn’t felt like touching a woman in more than two years. Not since…“Any idea what the guy was after?”

“None,” she answered, the arm dropping to her side. “I’m just glad he’s gone and you’re here. I’m Kate Langsdon.” She held out a hand, a frown denting her pretty brow. “What took you so long?”

“I just got the assignment an hour ago.”

“Well, Mr. Harding, I’m glad you came when you did. Any later and…” She shrugged and tried to sit up again. “I have to get up.”

“You should stay put and let me call an ambulance.”

“No, I have to get upstairs.”

“Why the rush?”

“I just need to.” She sat up, swayed and started to fall back. “Damn it, I can’t be dizzy.”

“Pigheaded woman.” Ben caught her before her head hit the floor.

“Stubborn man,” she whispered.

He scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the floor.

She tensed, her arm automatically circling his shoulder. “You don’t have to carry me. I’m perfectly capable of standing on my own two feet.”

“Not with a knot on your head and a crazy determination to get upstairs.”

“Give me a minute and I’ll argue this point.” Her uninjured cheek lying against his chest belied her ability to put up much of a resistance. Her free hand struggled to keep the towel in place.

Ben ignored her protest and carried her up the stairs. “Which room?”

She sighed. “Last one on the landing. And really, I can get there on my own.”

“No need. From what Hank told me, I’m the hired hand, here to help rebuild a ranch and protect its owner.”

“Hank’s words?”

“Right.” His lips twisted, a frown creasing his forehead. “Let me do my job.”

She chuckled, a smile curling her lips, making her face shine even with the nasty bruise turning her cheek purple. “Somehow, I don’t think carrying a woman to her bedroom is part of the job description.” The smile faded. “But thanks.”

For a brief moment the sun had shone in the woman’s face, tugging at a place Ben thought buried for good with his wife and daughter. He shook the thought from his head and turned left on the landing.

When they crossed the threshold into the room, the woman twisted in his arms, her gaze darting toward the closet.

The door was open, blankets spilled from inside, some half-dragged out on the floor. “Let me down.” She pushed against his arm, her nails digging into his skin.

“I will, but I’m not dropping you.”

“Let me down.” She shoved harder.

He lowered her feet to the floor, his arm remaining around her waist.

She stood for a moment, swaying, and then lunged for the closet, her eyes wide, her face tense. “Lily?” Her voice was strained, desperate.

“Who’s Lily?” he asked.

Kate didn’t answer as she dove into the back of the closet, rifling through blankets. When her face appeared at the edge of the closet door, it was pale and pinched. “Lily?” She leaped to her feet and nearly fell on her face.

Ben was there to catch her, his arms crushing her against his chest. “Who’s Lily?”

“Mommy?” A tiny voice called out from the bathroom. “Mommy?”

Kate’s head came up and she fought her way out of Ben’s arms, dropping to her knees in front of a little girl with a mass of golden-red curls very much like her mother’s drying wispy locks. She stood silhouetted against the light streaming from the bathroom, like an angel descended from heaven.

“Oh, Lily.” Kate hugged the child to her.

Sweet Jesus. Hank hadn’t said anything about a little girl. Ben stood like stone, his feet rooted to the floor, unable to move, forgetting how to breathe.

The little girl was about the age of Sarah before she’d been murdered. Though his Sarah was as different from Lily as night and day, they were about the same size and age.

Before Sarah had been killed. She’d been four years old. She would have been six now, if a man Ben had captured and had subsequently been released on a technicality hadn’t targeted Ben and his family.

Ben hadn’t been home when his wife and daughter had been brutally stabbed to death. Had he been, he’d have killed the murderer with his bare hands, just like he’d killed the man who’d murdered fifteen-year-old Angelica Garza.

Seeing Kate Langsdon on the floor holding the little girl in her arms brought back too many painful memories. Ben’s feet moved one at a time as he backed toward the door. With his heart lodged in his throat, he couldn’t breathe or think. His gut told him to run as far from Kate and Lily Langsdon as he could get.

Before he reached the door, the curly-haired angel noticed him for the first time. “Mommy, who’s that man?”

Kate eased her hold on her daughter and looked up at Ben, the fear of a few moments ago still evident in her pale face. “That’s Mr. Harding. He’s the man who came to help us on the ranch.”

“Are you going to help my mommy?” she asked, her gaze open, direct, piercing the wall wrapped tightly around Ben’s heart.

He yearned to run and keep running until the child’s trusting eyes were erased from his mind. But he knew he couldn’t leave this little girl and her mother when the intruder he’d chased off earlier might return.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m here to help your mommy.” He nearly choked on mommy. His daughter had called his wife Mommy. His daughter had looked at him with complete trust, as if he could never let her down.

But he had. He hadn’t been there when she’d needed him most. He had been all about the job, bringing in the bad guys. He’d never taken into account that the ones that got off might come back to haunt him. Until it was too late.

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”

No. Ben’s gaze went from Lily to Kate. For a tough cop, used to facing down danger on the streets of Austin, he was more terrified of these two women than any criminal he’d ever confronted. “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll just bed down in the barn.”

“No.” Kate stood and swayed, her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

Before he could think through his actions, Ben was there, steadying her with a hand under her elbow, the other around her waist.

“Stay here. In the house.” She leaned into him for a moment. When she’d steadied, she pulled away and looked up into his face. “Please.”

Her green eyes pleaded with him, her hand on his arm burning a path through his defenses. How he wanted to leave, but couldn’t. Despite his vow to never care again, he’d proved over and over he just couldn’t honor that vow after all. Killing the high-powered child murderer was evidence. Damn Kate and Lily for making him care. “I’ll stay on two conditions.”

Her shoulders straightened. “Anything.”

He scooped up the gun she’d dropped earlier and handed it to her. “First, put this away, take it to a pawnshop or learn to use it.”

She took the gun from him, keeping her body between the gun and her daughter’s curious eyes. “Check. I’ll learn to use it.” Her chin tipped upward. “And the second one?”

His gaze swept over her, taking in the smooth lines of her shoulders, the gentle swell of her breasts and the curve of her thighs peeking out from under the terry cloth. If he had any hope of staying neutral in this situation, he had to put distance between himself and Kate. She was too damned attractive.

He forced an uninterested rise of his brows. “If I’m going to get any work done around here, you have to keep your clothes on around me.”

Kate gasped, hugging the towel closer, her cheeks flaming red.

“I’ll be on the couch downstairs.” He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door between them with a firm click.

Kate stared at the barrier between them for a long moment, stunned at the cowboy’s abrupt words and departure. “As if I planned to be standing in front of him in nothing but a towel,” she mumbled.

“Mommy, why was I in the closet?” Lily’s hand slipped into hers and tugged, dragging Kate’s mind back to what was important. Her daughter.

She scrambled for an answer that wouldn’t scare her small daughter. “I thought it might be fun to pretend to be camped in a cave in the mountains.”

Lily tipped her head to the side as if debating whether or not she believed Kate’s lie. Then she smiled and pulled Kate toward the closet. “Will you camp in the cave with me, Mommy?”

“Oh, baby, I don’t think so. I’m pretty tired and bed sounds more comfortable. You can sleep in the closet, if you want.”

Lily stared from the bed to the closet and yawned, her eyelids sagging. “No, I’m tired, too. Maybe tomorrow.”

Kate grabbed the blankets from the floor and flung them across the bed as best she could, tucking Lily in on the side away from the door.

As she pulled out a pair of pajamas that would fully cover her body, she thought of Ben Harding’s condition. A spark of defiance shot through her and she replaced the pajamas in the drawer, reaching for the filmy light blue baby-doll nightgown she’d bought one hot, impulsive day in Houston.

She slipped the silky garment over her head, letting the towel drop to the floor, and recalled the feeling of being held in Ben’s strong arms as he effortlessly carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. Her skin sizzled where his hands had been beneath her thighs and very nearly touching the side of her breast.

Now that she had time to think beyond defending her life, she realized the cowboy Hank had sent was everything a girl could dream of—tall, dark and handsome. Add a brooding, mysterious look in his blue eyes and he was devastatingly appealing.

She hadn’t felt like this since…before her husband, Troy, had been killed in Afghanistan, a month before she’d delivered Lily. Four years ago. A wave of guilt washed over her for thinking such thoughts about a man who wasn’t her husband. But, then, Troy had been dead a long time, she hadn’t. The man downstairs had triggered a strong physical response she thought she’d never feel again.

Kate sucked in a deep breath and let it out, the tips of her nipples tight little points poking at the sheer fabric of the nightgown. She reached for the hem, telling herself that wearing the gown was asking for trouble.

Her hands stopped before they could lift it over her head. Who was she kidding? The man wasn’t interested in her any more than she should be interested in him. He was there as the hired help. Hank had promised protection for her and Lily until they could figure out who was responsible for the break-in in Houston and now at the Flying K Ranch.

As she lay down on the sheets, her thoughts drifted to the man sleeping on the couch downstairs. He’d had a strange look in his eyes when he’d seen Lily. His brows had furrowed into a fierce frown, scary in its intensity. It hadn’t looked like an angry frown so much as one of great pain and sorrow. What would cause such a look on a man’s face?

She didn’t know. In fact, Kate didn’t know much of anything about her hired gun. Hell, she didn’t know anything about Hank Derringer for that matter. This area was rumored to have a big drug cartel influence. Had she asked for help from one of the local mafia?

Kate lay staring at the ceiling, wondering what she’d done by bringing Lily here. Not that she’d been any safer in Houston. Not after her apartment had been ransacked.

A yawn nearly dislocated her jaw, forcing Kate to give up trying to make sense of all that had happened. Tomorrow she’d ask the questions burning in her mind. Who the hell was Ben Harding and what kind of hired hands did Hank Derringer provide? Even more importantly, did he have any hired hands that were a little older and less attractive?

Kate rolled over and punched her pillow before settling down. Her bruised cheek reminded her of the intruder and her near miss with death. She reached out and looped her arm over her daughter, pulling her close. If anything happened to Lily, she’d never forgive herself.

Tomorrow she’d start her search for answers.

Chapter Three

A knock on the door brought Ben off the couch and up on his bare feet in seconds. He must have fallen asleep after tossing and turning on the narrow couch. Every noise had kept him awake until way into the wee hours.

The sun shone through the filmy curtains, lighting his path through the boxes and furniture. From what he could see of the front porch, two men stood there in tan uniforms.

The local law enforcement.

As he pulled the door half-open, footsteps sounded on the stairs behind him.

“Who is it?” Kate descended the flight of stairs in a light blue baby-doll nightgown, pulling a robe over her shoulders that only came down to midthigh. Her creamy legs and the glimpse of her breasts through the thin material of the gown had Ben’s jeans tightening.

With the door gaping, he had no choice but to open it the rest of the way.

The two men in tan uniforms stared at him, then their eyes drifted to the woman on the stairs behind him.

A flash of anger burned through his bloodstream and Ben moved to block their view as much as he could. “Can I help you?”

The bigger man stepped forward. “I’m Sheriff Fulmer, this is Deputy Schillinger. We’re here to see Katherine Langsdon.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed. “For what reason?”

The sheriff’s lips pulled up on one side in a sneer. “Now, I guess that’s between me and the lady.”

“It’s okay, Ben.” Kate laid a hand on Ben’s arm and stepped up beside him. “I wanted to call on them this morning anyway. We had a break-in last night.”

“Sorry to hear that. Can you describe the perp?”

She shook her head. “No, he was wearing all black and a black ski mask.”

“Not much I can do to help without a detailed description.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Then why did you come out?”

“Ms. Langsdon, as the only living relative of the late Kyle Kendrick, you have been served.” The sheriff handed her a thick envelope, his face poker-straight.

“What?” She took the packet, her cheeks blanching, making the bruise stand out even more.

“What’s this all about?” Ben slipped an arm around Kate as she opened the envelope, every protective instinct on alert in the face of the sheriff and his deputy.

“Back taxes? The will said nothing about back taxes.” She looked up at the sheriff.

“Sorry, Ms. Langsdon, I only deliver the bad news, I don’t create it. Your father was the one who didn’t pay. Since he left the ranch to you, you’re responsible now.”

Ben didn’t like the sheriff’s tone or the way the man hit her with the notice so soon after coming to her father’s ranch.

“Twenty-seven thousand?” She snorted softly. “I can’t afford twenty-seven hundred.” Kate stared at the paper in her hands. “That would completely wipe me out and then some.”

The sheriff shrugged. “You might consider selling this dump. Pretty young woman like you will find it difficult to manage a place this size all alone.”

It was all Ben could do to keep from punching the sheriff for his patronizing words. Ben barely knew Kate, but any woman would resent the sheriff’s inference that a woman couldn’t run a ranch.

“I’m not alone.” Kate clutched the envelope to her chest, her chin rising. “I have Ben.” She edged nearer to Ben.

His chest swelled, his arm automatically tightening around her middle, pulling her closer to him.

The sheriff’s brows rose. “Hired hands don’t always stick around.”

“He’s not the hired hand. He’s…” Kate’s hand waved, in search of the right word.

Afraid she’d say he was her bodyguard, Ben finished for her, “I’m her fiancé. We will be working the ranch together.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say your last name was?”

Ben’s lips twisted. “I didn’t. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” He moved to shut the door.

The sheriff shoved his foot in the way. “Don’t cross me, cowboy.”

Ben’s brows rose and he stared down at the boot in the doorway. “Did you have more business to discuss?”

The sheriff stared at Ben for a long moment, then replied, “No.”

“Then have a nice day.” Ben glanced down at the boot and back up at the sheriff. Ben’s free hand clenched into a fist, ready to take on the arrogant sheriff if the need arose. He’d seen law enforcement officers who let the power of their position go to their heads. This sheriff appeared to be one of them. He made a mental note to watch the man. He could cause trouble for himself and for Kate.

The sheriff finally moved his foot. “I’ll be seeing you around Wild Oak Canyon.”

Ben shut the door, muttering, “Not if I can help it.”

Kate turned away, her gaze on the legal document the sheriff had given her. “Twenty-seven thousand dollars.” She looked up at Ben, her eyes glazed. “That’s more than I have in every savings account.”

“Surely you have a thirty-day notice on it.”

“Thirty days until they seize the property for back taxes owed.” She shook her head. “I don’t believe this. I should never have come.”

“Can’t you go back where you came from?” As he made the suggestion, his gut clenched. If Kate left, he wouldn’t have to be around her. He could forget the way she made his body hum to life.

Kate shook her head. “No. I quit my job. They’ve already leased the apartment we lived in. Not that I’d go back. It’s no safer in Houston than here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I left Houston after my apartment was broken into and ransacked.”

“In Houston?”

“Last week. The day after my father’s will was read.”

Ben didn’t like it. Hell, she wasn’t any safer in Houston than in Wild Oak Canyon. Ben resigned himself to being her protector until he could convince Hank he had the wrong man for the job. “Was your Houston apartment in a bad neighborhood?”

Kate shook her head. “I hadn’t had any problems in the four years I lived there. Whoever did it tore everything apart.”

“Any writing on the walls or threats?” Ben asked.

“No. They even ripped the cushions on my sofa. Every drawer was tossed, even the contents of the refrigerator.”

“They’re looking for something,” Ben stated. “The day after your father’s reading, you say? Did your father leave you anything besides this ranch?”

Kate’s eyes widened. “Yes.” Before Ben could question her, she ran up the stairs.

The blood racing through Ben’s veins had nothing to do with whatever item she might have received from her father and more to do with the way her bottom swayed side to side and the vision of smooth, creamy skin visible along the curves of her legs. “More clothes. She damn well better wear more clothes,” he muttered.

Kate paused at the top of the stairs, glancing down at Ben, her brows dipping. “Did you say something?”

“I’ll get my clothes on.” He strode back to the couch he’d spent the better part of the night lying awake on, thinking of the sexy legs on a woman he had no business looking at that way.

Hank Derringer was paying him to provide protection from a problem, not to become the problem or one more thing Kate had to be protected from.

He pulled his T-shirt on over his head, calling himself every kind of fool. If he had any cell phone reception at all, he’d be calling Hank and asking for a different assignment. One with a less attractive woman and…no kids.

“Hi.”

Speak of the devil.

Ben’s head poked through the neck of his T-shirt and he stared down at the pint-size version of Kate. Light reddishblond curls lay in bright disarray around the child’s shoulders.

She held out a brush. “Mommy told me to brush my hair.”

Without thinking, Ben took the brush from the girl. He’d brushed Sarah’s hair so many times he could have done it with his eyes closed. He knew just how to ease the tangles free without making her cry.

His throat closed as an image of his dark-haired daughter flashed into his memories. God, he missed her.

Lily looked up at him, her green eyes so like her mother’s. “Please?” She turned her back to Ben and fluffed her mane of red-gold hair out behind her, waiting expectantly.

Just like Sarah had.

All of the air left Ben’s lungs as if he’d been kicked hard in the gut. Yet his hand moved, reaching out to lift a lock of silky red-blond curls. He dropped to his haunches and ran the brush along the strand, picking out the knots with care.

He hadn’t felt this emotionally wrung out since Sarah and Julia had died. But the more he brushed Lily’s hair, the more his shoulders relaxed and the tightness in his chest loosened.

By the time he finished working the tangles out of the child’s hair, he could swallow again. “All done,” he said just like he had when he’d brushed Sarah’s hair.

“Thank you.” Lily turned and hugged him tight, her fresh, baby-shampoo scent filling Ben’s senses.

Over the top of Lily’s head he spied Kate standing on the bottom step, her eyes round. Was that a tear trickling down her cheek?

Kate ducked her head, a hand swiping at the moisture. Seeing Ben brushing Lily’s hair had hit her like a Mack truck. Lily’s father had died before she was born. Kate had been a single parent from day one. Seeing someone else, especially a man, brushing her daughter’s hair sent a flood of longing through her, for Lily and herself.

Lily didn’t know what it was to have a daddy. Just like Kate. Kate swallowed hard on the lump forming in her throat. “Lily, sweetie, go get dressed.”

Her daughter’s face lit. “Are we going outside to play?”

Kate smiled and patted her daughter’s head. “You can play, but I have work to do outside.”

“Yay!” Lily darted up the stairs, her bright curls bouncing as she went.

Kate descended from the last step and held out her hand. “My father left this key for me and a video disk.”

She dropped the key and the disk into Ben’s hand.

“What does the key go to?” Ben turned it over in his fingers.

“I don’t know. I’ve tried to watch the disk, but I couldn’t get it to work. The letter from the attorney had a note from my father to contact Hank Derringer for help.”

“Maybe Hank can get someone to look at the disk and see if they can pull the information off.”

Lily was down the stairs again, wearing shorts, cowboy boots and pulling a shirt over her head.

“Stop, young lady,” Kate ordered, afraid her daughter would miss a step and tumble the rest of the way down the stairs. “You can’t go out without me, and I’m not dressed.”

“Please, Mommy.” Lily looked up at Kate with a slight pout on her pretty pink lips.

“I’ll take her,” Ben offered. “We can discuss the key later.” He handed it back to her, setting the disk on an end table.

Kate curled her fingers around the key. “I’ll be ready in a minute. I need to finish unloading the rental van and get it back to town.”

Ben smiled and raised his hands palms upward. “I’m here to help.”

Kate’s heart skipped several beats as the man’s smile transformed his face from frowning, brooding darkness to sunshine. “You should smile more often,” she said without thinking.