As soon as Luke showed Audrey to her room, he went back into the office to give her application another glance. Audrey Faith Thomas, half sister to Casey—though nobody much mentioned the half part anymore—had had a rough upbringing. She’d lost her parents early on, and Casey had raised her. She’d been the tagalong little sis on the rodeo circuit. Luke thought that Audrey had gotten a raw deal in life. Casey had been overly strict with her. Luke figured her brother was overcompensating, being mother and father to her. Casey had tried hard, but a lot of the time, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing when it came to his little sister.

Audrey compensated, too. She took to the animals and the animals loved her in return. They were a good match. Audrey had a special fondness for the rodeo horses. There wasn’t a one that didn’t temper its wild mood when Audrey walked up.

According to her application, after college, she’d worked for a veterinarian clinic in Reno for a couple of years before deciding to apply to equine vet school. Luke also noted all the charity and volunteer work Audrey had done through the years. She had listed animal shelters and horse rescues, and was part of the Freedom for Wild Horses organization.

Luke picked up the phone and punched in Casey’s number. “Hey,” he said when his friend answered.

“Hey.”

Luke owed his friend a favor for letting him crash at his Tahoe cabin last month. Being with his buddy helped his recuperation move along more quickly. Well, at least it’d been less mentally painful. Luke thought he’d go stir-crazy, not being able to do a dang thing with his arm in a cast and three cracked ribs making it hard for him to breathe. Up at the cabin, it was okay to do nothing but while away the time. Casey made it easy and they’d had a few laughs.

But he would have hired Audrey even if he didn’t owe Casey a favor. She was qualified and a hard worker. Audrey was true blue and a nice kid.

“I’ve got your little sis here. She’s working for me now.”

There was silence on the other end. And finally “She didn’t tell me that.”

Uh-oh. Luke didn’t like getting in between the two of them. “Yeah, well, it just happened. You must’ve mentioned that I was shorthanded on the ranch. Anyway, she showed up looking for work, and I hired her as a wrangler for a few months.”

“Hell, Luke. I don’t recall mentioning any such thing to her. I must be getting old and forgetful.”

Luke laughed. Casey was only thirty-three. “Hell, yeah, you are. You see any problem with her working here?” Not that Luke was asking permission. Audrey was twenty-four and making her own decisions now. He’d called Casey for an entirely different reason.

Casey hesitated. “Not at all, buddy. It’s just that she’s been acting a little weird lately. You know, sort of wanting to be by herself and all. I thought she’d come up to the cabin to spend the summer with me. She had this loser boyfriend in Reno and she finally dumped him. The jerk was cheating on her. My little sis really took it hard. I don’t think she’s over it yet. It was all I could do to restrain myself from knocking his stupid self from here to Sunday. Jackass.”

“Jackass is right.”

“Damn straight.”

“Well, she’s here now,” Luke said. “She’s going to be staying at the main house. You don’t need to worry. I’ll look out for her.”

“Like you always do. I appreciate it, Luke. And I’ll count on you to make sure none of those ranch hands break her heart.”

“Hell, she’ll be breaking theirs.”

Casey chuckled. “That’s all right, then.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Don’t worry about Audrey. And you come up anytime you want to visit. Stay at the ranch.”

“What, and leave my cabin? I got me a keg of beer, my barbecue grill and gorgeous women to stare at by the lake all day long.”

Luke’s mind flashed an image of one gorgeous woman in particular—a blonde with long, slender legs and a dazzler of a smile—who had crashed the lakeshore party Casey had thrown on Luke’s last night at the cabin. She’d shown up at his farewell barbecue and had caught his eye the second she’d walked over to join the festivities. She’d been with a small group of people and Luke never did get the woman’s name amid the fifty or so partygoers that Casey had invited. She’d come late and left early, but not before giving Luke half a dozen suggestive looks. He’d been ready to approach her, but had gotten sidetracked by someone interested in hearing about his rodeo days.

“You ever find out who that blonde was?” Luke had good reason to ask.

“You mean the stunner?” Casey asked. “I was drunk, but not too drunk to see how fine she was.”

“So you know who I’m talking about.”

“I found out her name is Desiree.”

“And?”

“She’s an acquaintance of one of my neighbors. She lives on the East Coast somewhere. She’s gone. That’s all I know, man. You missed your chance.”

Luke wasn’t going to divulge what had happened with the blonde to Casey. Luke kept his private life private. But since he’d been accepting his friend’s hospitality and living at his cabin for a few weeks, a surge of guilt washed over him for not being completely truthful with Casey. Though having a one-night stand with a stranger, no matter how beautiful, wasn’t exactly something to brag about. Not in this day and age. He wasn’t eighteen anymore. He was old enough to know better. His only excuse was that he’d been in a haze. Drugged up on pain meds.

Vague memories of that night continually plagued him.

At least now he knew who the mysterious woman was. She’d taken the reins that night, which suited him fine since his injuries prohibited much mobility, and his mind was pretty fogged up. At times he’d thought he’d dreamed the whole thing except that he did remember small details, like her fresh-flower scent, her long flowing blond hair caressing his cheek and his completely sated body and good mood when he’d woken up that morning.

“Well, the mystery is solved,” Luke said, thinking it for the best that she lived so far away. One-night stands weren’t his thing but neither were complicated affairs. Luke had yet to meet a woman who held his interest for too long. Most of his relationships lasted less than six months before one of them realized that something was missing. Luke never felt the need to explore what that something was. If it wasn’t right there, pounding in his heart and making him silly crazy, what was the point of forcing it? He’d done that once with a girl in high school, trying hard to hang on, to convince her it was working, and in the end, he’d been the one who’d gotten his heart shattered.

Usually when he entered into a relationship with a woman, if the flow wasn’t smooth and easy from the get-go, Luke was the first one to bail.

“Too bad, though,” Casey said. “She was smokin’ hot.”

Yep, she was. There was no arguing that point. From what he could remember, she’d been a hellcat in bed. But he let the comment drop and turned the conversation to a new venture Casey was thinking about going into since he’d been forced into retirement with his back injury.

After a few minutes, Casey ended the phone call with a last parting remark. “Thanks for helping my little sis out, Luke. You’re her second brother. I know you’ll look out for her.”

“You got my promise on that, Case. I won’t let you down.”

Two

Audrey grabbed her canvas overnight tote from her truck. She didn’t know what to expect when she arrived here without an invitation—certainly not to be hired on Sunset Ranch—but she’d brought a few essentials and a change of clothes with her, just in case things worked out with Luke. A girl could be optimistic, couldn’t she? At the very least, she assumed that Luke would’ve remembered making love to her. It was a given, or so she’d thought. There had been two people on that bed, sighing and groaning with pleasure, for the better part of an hour.

Now that she was staying on the ranch as an employee for a couple of months, she’d have to do some shopping in town to get a few more changes of clothes. She’d placed a call to Susanna Hart half an hour ago. Her next-door neighbor and good friend back in Reno had the key to her house—technically, Casey’s house—where she’d grown up, at least when she wasn’t traveling from town to town on the rodeo circuit. Casey hadn’t allowed her to stay home by herself much when she was in high school. Susanna’s mother would watch out for her when she had a big test at school or something; otherwise, she tagged along with her brother.

Her high school experience had been grim, and she’d struggled to get good grades and keep up with events that were important to her. Senior year had been hard, and though she’d dreamed of Luke taking her to the prom, she’d settled on going with a nice boy who’d also been somewhat of an outcast.

Susanna had offered to pack up her clothes, her laptop, a few photos and Jewel’s favorite cat bowl and send them on. Audrey hadn’t gone into detail about her situation other than to tell her friend that she’d be working on Sunset Ranch with the horses for the summer.

As she gazed at Jewel snoring lightly on the bed, Audrey wished she could be as oblivious to the world around her as her feline buddy. The bed looked inviting, and she wasn’t supposed to officially start her job until tomorrow. But it was the middle of the day and she wasn’t much of a napper.

She walked into the bathroom to splash water on her face and then gasped when she looked in the mirror. She gave the image staring back at her a frown. She looked like hell. Her eyes were rimmed with red from lack of sleep last night and her hair, which was badly in need of a trim, was sticking out in three places from under the hat. “Goodness, Audrey, you look a sight.”

She worked on her appearance in haste.

Right now, Audrey longed to meet the horses. As she’d driven up, she’d seen the ranch corrals and the dozen or so horses, standing under giant oaks that provided shade from the other side of the fences.

Sunset Lodge had its own stable of horses, Luke had explained, that were primarily used for the lodge’s guests. They were sweet, gentle-natured animals that would provide trail rides and hayrides to entertain visitors. But the barns on the real working ranch housed some of the finest stallions, mares and geldings in the western half of the United States.

Casey had always bragged about the Slades’s horses until Audrey’s ears had burned. Her brother hadn’t a clue that hearing about anything regarding Luke gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Memories of him, and the fact that Luke had never married, had her daydreaming of him more times than she’d like to admit. It had sabotaged her feelings for most other men. At least until her recent boyfriend. She’d taken a chance with Toby and had really begun to like him, despite his flaws, until the day she’d learned he’d been a cheat with more than one woman.

That had been a hard pill to swallow.

And what upset her most wasn’t so much that she was out a boyfriend, but that she hadn’t really cared that much. Sure, she’d been hurt by his betrayal and humiliated that she’d been made a fool, but losing Toby wasn’t so great a loss. What shattered her was an impending fear that she’d never settle for any man but Luke.

And clearly, he was an impossible dream.

So when the opportunity had presented itself, Audrey grabbed the brass ring. Then fool that she was, she’d lost her nerve and had run out on Luke.

“Idiot,” she said, plopping her ball cap on her hopeless hair and striding out the door.

A few minutes later, she stood by the ranch’s corral fence close to the trunk of a tree where three horses huddled under the umbrella of shade. One of the horses looked over. He was a beauty, a bay gelding that stood fifteen hands high, his legs marked with white socks.

She softened her tone, “Come here, boy.”

The horse wandered over and Audrey put her hand over the corral fence, letting the horse sniff her scent and look into her eyes. “You’re a pretty one.”

The horse snorted quietly and when she was sure he felt comfortable with her, she laid her hand on his coat and stroked his withers.

“You and I are going to be friends. Yes, we are.”

Another horse wandered over and before long, all three horses were nudging each other to get some attention.

She smiled, realizing she hadn’t felt this good in days.

Horses had always been her salvation.

A dog scurried by, barking at the horses for no apparent reason as he ran the perimeter of the corral. Audrey could tell it was a game between the animals. The horses paid little mind to the black-and-white Border collie.

Soon, a small boy appeared, running at full speed after the dog, his little legs making long strides. He came to a screeching stop when he saw her by the tree.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi.” He looked at the ground.

“My name is Audrey Thomas. I’m a friend of Luke’s. I’m going to be taking care of the horses. What’s your dog’s name?”

The dog stood twenty feet up ahead, having taken a break from his run to catch his breath.

“Oh, h-he’s not my d-dog exactly. I w-watch him for Mr. S-Slade. H-his name is B-Blackie.”

Audrey nodded. “Good name. I bet you have a good name, too.”

The boy’s mouth curled up. “It’s E-Edward. No one c-calls me Eddie.”

“I won’t call you Eddie, either, Edward.”

“Thanks.” He glanced at the dog, patiently waiting to resume the game of chase. “I havta g-go. My g-grandma’s waiting f-for me.”

“Okay, nice to meet you, Edward.”

The boy nodded and took off again.

Luke found her grinning when he walked up a minute later. “I see you met Edward and Blackie.”

The sound of his voice hummed through her body. She couldn’t look at him. She stared at the horses, who were still vying for her attention. “Yes. Seems like a sweet boy.”

“Yeah, he’s a good kid. Ten years old. His grandmother runs the kitchen at Sunset Lodge. It’s a long story, but he loves living at the lodge. My brother Logan and I give him chores to do around here. Blackie’s one of his chores with bonuses.”

“I’m getting the picture.” She finally turned to him. His blue eyes devastated her. It was hard looking at his handsome face.

Get a grip, Audrey. You have to see him every day now.

His stomach growled and he laughed. “Sorry. The housekeeper’s on vacation and I’m hopeless in the kitchen. I was going over to the lodge to scrounge a meal. You wanna come?”

“I, uh... No, thanks. Look at me. I’m not exactly lodge-worthy right now.”

He pulled the bill of her cap down with an affectionate tug, just like he used to do way back when. “Sure you are.”

“I’m not, really,” she said, her eyes flashing. She looked like hell. She could hardly believe she’d walked up to Luke’s door looking like this. “I need a shower and a fresh change of clothes. Besides, I don’t want to leave Jewel alone too long. She needs to adjust to her new environment.”

Lucky cat was probably sleeping the afternoon away.

Luke studied her face a second. “You still got cooking skills?”

“I can stir a pot when needed.”

“I remember. You’re a pretty darn good cook. Why don’t you shower and change and meet me in the kitchen. Between the two of us, we can probably whip up something edible for lunch. I really don’t want to beg a meal over at the lodge. Much rather spend my time sharing a meal with you.”

It would hardly be begging, since Luke and his family owned the place. And she couldn’t take to heart what he said about spending time with her. That throwaway line, while she thought it genuine, was merely Luke being Luke. He was cordial to everyone.

She should refuse. She should tell him she needed to rest, but who was she kidding? She had enough adrenaline pumping through her veins right now to run a marathon. Luke’s beckoning eyes darkened to a deep ocean blue, causing her breath to catch in her throat. Unknowingly, he had powers of persuasion that quelled a woman’s resolve. He was everyone’s Mr. Nice Guy and he’d been her own private knight in shining armor. It was hard denying him anything—thus her taking up residence here and working for him on Sunset Ranch. “Okay. I’ll meet you in the kitchen in thirty minutes.”

His stomach complained again and he grinned like a little boy. “I’ll be there.”

* * *

Audrey turned on the faucet, adjusting the water temperature to medium-hot, and stepped inside the shower. As the pulsating spray hit her naked body, she closed her eyes to the warmth and relaxed as she washed away the dusty morning drive. And just like that, memories rushed into her mind of an awkward, lonely time in her life.

She’d been sixteen and upset about missing her high school dance. Not that she was much of a dancer, but she’d missed being with friends who seemed to be moving on without her. She wasn’t happy spending most weekends on the road with Casey and this one Saturday night, she’d let her sour mood get the best of her.

Judd Calhoon and his friend were slightly older than she was and pretty much harmless. She wouldn’t call Judd her friend. He’d mostly teased her about being scrawny and younger, but they’d shared one common complaint—both would rather be spending their weekends at home. So when he’d dared her to sneak out of the trailer that was her second home with Casey, Audrey had found herself eager and willing to thumb her nose at her big brother’s rules. He was her half brother, anyway, she’d thought. And she’d been tired of his demanding, overprotective ways.

She’d met the boys at midnight—Casey, with a Saturday-night drunk on, would never have known she was gone—and they’d built a small campfire in a cleared-out field half a mile away from the rodeo arena. They’d had some laughs, and she’d been feeling really good about her rebellion. She’d even taken a swallow or two of whiskey the boys had brought along. Before she knew it, Judd’s friend had passed out, falling into a snoring heap on the ground three feet away from her. Judd had been drinking heavily by then, and his usual mocking tone had suddenly turned affectionate. His hands got grabby and his pockmarked face was suddenly all over hers. Judd Calhoon, the brother of the rodeo clown, was no Romeo, and Audrey had shoved him away, telling him he was stupid for trying such a stunt.

Judd hadn’t taken no for an answer. His affection had turned to demand and before Audrey knew it, she’d been pinned to the ground under him. “Get off,” she’d said, shoving at him.

He was too big, too clumsy and too strong for her and she’d realized he’d let her shove him away the first time. This time, her shove didn’t budge him.

“Aw, come on, Audrey. No one will know.”

He’d smelled of whiskey and tobacco. He’d kissed her chin, her cheek and kept missing her mouth because he’d been drunk and because Audrey kept turning her face away as fast as he came at her. “I said get off,” she’d shouted again, her fists pummeling the wooden block of his chest.

And he’d complied, just like that. Only it hadn’t been Judd doing the moving, but Luke, his hands in a vise grip on Judd’s shoulders. The next thing she knew, Judd was flying through the air, and Luke’s face was red with fury when he’d gone after him. He’d picked Judd up where he’d landed and had held him by the scruff of the collar. He’d spoken with deadly calm then. Audrey, knowing Luke like she did, had realized his great restraint as he’d lectured Judd and placed the fear of God in him.

“You okay?” Luke had asked her after he was through with Judd. He’d helped her up and she’d dusted herself off, grateful to Luke, but fearing what he had to say to her, too.

“I’m f-fine.”

“I wasn’t gonna do anything to her, I swear,” Judd’s voice squeaked from the darkness.

Luke hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “Shut up or I’ll take you to the sheriff.”

Luke had taken her hand then and led her to his truck. She’d gotten in and sat in silence on the ride back. She could tell Luke was fuming and part of his anger was aimed at her.

“That was real dumb going off in the middle of the night.”

“I kn-know.”

“Dangerous, too. Those boys are losers. Stupid to boot.”

Audrey had nodded again.

Luke had killed the engine of his truck twenty feet away from the trailer she shared with Casey.

“Why’d you do it, Audrey Faith?”

She’d stared straight ahead into the night and opened up her heart, telling him about her loneliness, her sadness over missing her friends at school and her terrible boredom at the rodeo. She’d told him how Casey was all over her with rules and regulations and that she’d felt like she never fit with anyone, anywhere. How Casey was only her half brother and how she’d had half a life. She was rarely home when it mattered and her only salvation was her love of horses. She’d cried a few times and Luke had leaned over to wipe her tears tenderly with his kerchief.

She’d spilled her guts and Luke had nodded like he understood, giving her words of encouragement for her to let it all out. He’d truly listened to her and in the end, when her body sagged, spent from her crushing confessions and soulful tears, Luke had offered her a compromise. He wouldn’t tell Casey what happened, and he’d go back to Judd and his friend and make sure they never bothered her again, if Audrey would promise to come to him when she was feeling like doing something stupid or reckless or dangerous. He’d encouraged her to talk to Casey about everything that bothered her, but told her he’d be there if she ever needed him.

For a girl who’d thought her brother would ground her for life if he ever found out what she’d done, Luke had offered her a dream deal. She’d agreed to his terms and Luke had sealed their little pact with a brotherly kiss to the cheek.

Audrey wasn’t sure a girl of sixteen knew a darn thing about love, but she was ninety-nine percent certain that that was the night she’d fallen deeply and wholeheartedly in love with Lucas Slade.

Audrey stepped out of the shower and toweled off vigorously, purging the memory from her mind. She dabbed at her throat, chin and face and talked herself out of any more reminiscing. It wouldn’t help her current situation. She was at a loss here with Luke.

And ten minutes away from making his lunch.

“You are in a pickle, Audrey,” she muttered as she dressed in her only change of clothes.

She combed her hair, banding it in a ponytail, and glanced in the mirror. The clothes were a slight improvement over the ones she’d worn this morning—new black jeans hugged her hips below the waist and a white peasant’s blouse with short sleeves sloped on her shoulders. Her boots were dark tan and well broken in, the most comfortable shoes she owned.

With three minutes to spare, she closed the door on her sleepy cat and sashayed down the hall, heading to the kitchen wondering if the old cliché still held true. The way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. If only...

* * *

“Hey,” Luke said as she entered the kitchen. His head was poking inside the fridge as he perused the shelves. “We’ve got leftover roast beef, turkey, ham and three different kinds of cheeses. It figures. I’m in the mood for a patty melt.”

As Audrey breezed by him, she picked up the lime scent of his aftershave and refused to let it give her heart failure. Luke smelled good. Period. She’d have to get over it or she’d make a fool of herself. “I’ll make you a patty melt. It’ll be the rich man’s version.”

His mouth curved up. “What’s that?”

“Wait and see, big man.”

Luke laughed and sat at the granite island counter, watching her cook.

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