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  Her explanation wouldn't change anything, but she had to try. For the first time she deliberately touched him, placing a hand on his upper arm, feeling the rocklike muscles clench in reaction. 'There's a reason I wouldn't have gone away with you '

  'Enough, Leah.' He turned flat, cold eyes in her direction. 'I've heard enough. It's water under the bridge. And, to be honest, your excuses don't interest me.'

  There was no point in trying to force him to listen. Not now. Maybe not ever. 'Then why are you here?' she asked. 'Why cause more grief—grief neither of us needs?'

  'Because what's important is today. Here and now. Your ranch and that ad.'

  'I won't let you get your hands on this ranch... or on me,' she informed him fiercely. 'You might as well give up and move on, because I won't marry you.'

  He laughed, the sound harsh and mocking. 'I don't recall asking, sweetheart.'

  A tide of color washed into her face at his biting response. 'I assumed that was why you'd come. You had the ad and you implied '

  He lifted an eyebrow. 'Implied what?'

  "That you were interested in marrying me,' she maintained stubbornly. 'You came in response to my notice, didn't you?'

  'Not to offer marriage, that's for damned sure. I came because you wouldn't have placed that ad if you weren't desperate, which makes it a powerful bargaining chip. So let's bargain. I want the ranch, Leah, and I mean to get it.'

  They stared at each other for an endless moment. Before she could respond, a car horn sounded out front, and Hunter glanced towards the windows. 'Someone's here. Another applicant, perhaps?'

  Slipping past him, Leah crossed to the window, recognizing the pick-up parked in front. The occupant leaned on the horn again and her mouth tightened in response. 'It would appear this is my day for surprises,' she murmured. 'Unpleasant surprises, that is.' She crossed to the picture wall where Hunter had left her rifle and snatched it up.

  'What's going on, Leah? 5 Hunter demanded, picking up his hat. 'Who's your company?'

  Intent on reloading, she spared him a brief glance. 'His name is Bull Jones. He's the foreman of the Circle P.'

  Hunter's eyes narrowed. 'The Circle P?'

  'A new outfit. Actually, they're now the only outfit in these parts, except for us. They're owned by a big conglomerate, Lyon Enterprises, and they're not particularly friendly. So do me a favor and stay out of this, okay? It doesn't concern you.'

  He looked as if he might debate the issue. Then, with an abrupt nod, he followed her out to the porch. Propping his shoulder against a pillar, he tipped his hat low on his brow, his face thrown into shadow. Satisfied

  by Hunter's apparent compliance, Leah turned her attention to the more immediate and far more menacing problem confronting her.

  Bull Jones leaned negligently against the door of his pick-up—a pick-up parked directly in the middle of the tiny strip of flowerbed Grandmother Rose had painstakingly labored over these past three weeks. * Afternoon, Miz Hampton,' he said, grinning around the stub of a thick cigar.

  She ignored his greeting, taking a stand at the top of the porch steps. 'Get off my property, you thieving rattlesnake,' she ordered coldly, 'before I call the sheriff.'

  'In one of your feisty moods, are you?' She didn't bother responding and he sighed. 'Call the sheriff if it'll make you feel any better. But you know and I know he won't be coming. He's tired of all your phone-calls.'

  She couldn't argue with the truth. Instead, she brought the rifle to her shoulder and aimed the hurting end exactly six inches below Bull's massive silver belt buckle. 'Spit out why you came and get the hell off my land before I send you home with a few vital parts missing,' she said.

  He didn't seem the least intimidated. In fact he laughed in genuine amusement. 'You do have a way with words.' He jerked his head toward Hunter. 'This hombre one of your prospective suitors? Doesn't have much to say for himself.'

  Hunter smiled without amusement. 'Give it time, friend.'

  Leah couldn't conceal her surprise. If Bull considered Hunter a potential suitor, then he knew about her advertisement. But how had he found out? Before the two men could exchange further words, she hastened to ask, 'Is that it, Jones? That's what you came about? My ad?'

  'One of the reasons,' Bull acknowledged. 'I even considered offering myself up as a possible candidate. But I didn't think you'd go for it.'

  'You thought right.'

  'As to the other matter ' He paused to savor his

  cigar, puffing contentedly for a long minute. She knew it was a deliberate maneuver on his part—an attempt to drive her crazy. Unfortunately it was working.

  'Out with it, Jones.'

  'My, my. You are in a hurry.' He shrugged, a quick grin sliding across his face. 'You want it straight? Okay. I'll give it to you straight. I came to offer a friendly little warning.'

  'Friendly? 9

  'I'm a friendly sort of guy.' He took a step in her direction. 'You give me half the chance, you'd find just how friendly I can be.'

  She didn't know whether it was the sound of her pumping home the shell in her rifle or the fact that Hunter suddenly straightened from his lounging position that stopped Bull in his tracks. Whichever it was, he froze. Then she glanced at Hunter and knew what had checked the foreman's movements.

  She'd always found Hunter's eyes fascinating. One minute the blackness appeared, cold and remote, the next minute glittering with fire and passion. For the first time she saw his eyes burn with an implacable threat and for the first time she realized how intimidating it could be.

  He leveled that look on Bull. 'If you have something more to say,' he informed the foreman softly, 'I suggest you say it. Fast.'

  Bull Jones shot Hunter a look of fury, but Leah noticed he obeyed. 'Seems Lyon Enterprises is getting tired of playing games over this place.' His gaze shifted

  to Leah. 'Thought you should know they've decided to call in the big guns/

  'I'm shaking in my boots/ she said.

  He removed his cigar from between his teeth and threw it to the ground. It landed amongst a clump of crushed pink begonias, wisps of smoke drifting up from the smoldering tip. 'You will be. From what I hear, this new guy's tough. You don't stand a chance/

  His words terrified her. But she refused to crack. She wouldn't allow her fear to show. Not to this bastard. 'You've been saying that for a full year now,' she said calmly enough. 'And I've managed just fine.'

  'That was kid-glove treatment.'

  Anger stirred. The temptation to pull the trigger and be done with it was all too inviting. 'You call fouling wells and cutting fence-line and stampeding my herd kid-glove treatment?'

  He shrugged. 'We were having a little fun, is all. But now the gloves are off. Don't say I didn't warn you.'

  With that, he stomped through what remained of Grandmother Rose's flowerbed and climbed into his pickup. The engine started with a noisy roar and he gunned it, a rooster-tail of dirt and grass spraying up from beneath his rear wheels. They watched in silence as he disappeared down the dirt drive. A minute later all that remained of Bull's passing was a tiny whirlwind of dust, spinning lazily in the distance. Leah eyed it with a thoughtful frown.

  Hunter slipped the rifle from her grasp and leaned it against the porch rail. 'Something you forgot to tell me?' he murmured sardonically.

  She lifted her chin. 'There might be one or two minor details we didn't get around to discussing. Not that it's any concern of yours.'

  'I don't agree. I suggest we go back inside and discuss those minor details/

  'No!' She rounded on him. First Titus T., then Bull and now Hunter. This definitely wasn't her day. 'You know full well that there's nothing left to talk over. You want the ranch and I won't let you have it. Even if you were interested in responding to my ad—interested in marriage—I won't choose you for the position. How could you think I would?'

  He raised an eyebrow. 'Position? I thought you wanted a husband.'

  'That's right, I do. But since you are
n't interested...' Fighting to keep the distress from her voice, she said, 'You've had your fun. So why don't you leave?'

  He shook his head. 'We're not through with our conversation, and I'm not leaving until we are. If that means applying for your...position, then consider me applied.'

  'Forget it. You don't qualify,' she insisted. 'That ends the conversation as far as I'm concerned.'

  'I qualify, all right. On every point.'

  She didn't want to continue with this charade but, aside from picking up her rifle and trying to force him off her property at gunpoint, she didn't see any other option available to her. Especially considering how far she'd gotten the last time she'd turned her rifle on him. 'Fine. You think you qualify? Then prove it,' she demanded.

  'A challenge? Not a wise move, Leah, because once I've proven myself we'll finish that discussion.' He tilted his head to one side, his brow furrowed in thought. 'Let's see if I can get this right... Number one. You want a man between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five. No problem there.'

  'You should have read the ad more carefully, Hunter! It says a kind and gentle man. You are neither kind nor gentle.'

  His gaze, black and merciless, met hers. 'You'd do well to remember that.'

  Tempted as she was, she didn't back down. 'I haven't forgotten. The ad also says applicants should be looking for a permanent type of relationship.' She shot him a skeptical glance. 'Don't tell me you're finally ready to settle down?'

  'That isn't my first choice, no. But I'd consider it if the right offer came along. Number two. As I recall that concerns ranching experience.' He folded his arms across his chest. 'You planning to debate my qualifications there?'

  She shook her head. After all, there was nothing to debate. 'I'll concede your ranching abilities,' she agreed.

  A grim smile touched his mouth. 'You'll concede a hell of a lot more before we're finished. Number three. He should also have solid business skills—particularly those skills necessary to please a bullheaded banker.' He settled his hat lower on his forehead. 'You've tipped your hand with that one.'

  'Have I?' Something about his attitude worried her. He acted as though this were all a game, as though she'd already lost the match but didn't yet know it. What she couldn't figure was... how? How could she lose a game that she wasn't even playing?

  His smile turned predatory. 'You're having financial difficulties and the bank won't help without a man backing you. Close enough?'

  She gritted her teeth. 'Close enough,' she forced herself to confess. 'But you aren't that man. End of discussion.'

  'Far from it. There isn't a bank in the world who wouldn't back me.'

  That gave her pause. 'Since when?'

  He closed the distance between them, crowding her against the porch rail. 'It's been eight years since our last meeting. A lot has happened in that time. I'm not the poor ranch-hand you once knew. You need me, Leah. And soon—very soon—I'm going to prove it to you/

  'I don't need you!' she denied passionately. Til never need you.'

  'Yes, you will.' His voice dropped, the timbre soft and caressing, but his words were as hard and chipped as stone. 'Because you won't get any cooperation from the bank without me. I guarantee it. And by tomorrow you'll know it, too.'

  She caught her breath. 'You can prove that?'

  Til give you all the proof you need. Count on it.' He lowered his head, his mouth inches from hers. 'Seems I've qualified after all.'

  She glared, slipping from between him and the rail. 'I disagree. You've already admitted that you aren't kind or gentle. And since that is one of the qualifications...' She shrugged. "Fraid I'll have to pass.'

  'And I'm afraid I'll have to insist. In the business world all negotiations are subject to compromise. You'll have to compromise on "kind and gentle".'

  'And what will you compromise about?' she shot back.

  'If I can get away with it... nothing.' He edged his hip on to the rail and glanced at her. 'Tell me something, Leah. Why haven't you sold the ranch?'

  She shifted impatiently. 'I think you can guess. Hampton Homestead has been in our family for '

  'Generations. Yes, your father made that point quite clear. Along with the point that he wouldn't allow his ranch or his daughter to fall into the hands of some penniless mongrel whose bloodlines couldn't be traced past the orphanage where he'd been dumped.'

  She stared at him, genuinely shocked. 'He said that to you?'

  'He said it. But that's not the point. You're out of options, Leah. Soon you won't have any other alternative. My sources tell me that either you sell or you go bankrupt. At least if you sell you'll walk away with enough money to live in comfort.'

  She lifted her chin. 'There is another alternative.'

  His mouth twisted. 'The ad.'

  'Don't look at me like that! It's not as foolish a decision as you might think. The banks will loan me the money I need to stay afloat if I have a husband who's both a businessman and a rancher.'

  He stilled. 'They've guaranteed you the money?'

  She shook her head. 'Not in writing, if that's what you mean. But Conrad Michaels is the senior loan officer and an old family friend. And, though he hasn't been in a position to help us in the past, he feels our business reversals are correctable, with some work. He's a bit... old-fashioned. It was his idea that I find an appropriate husband. He hasn't been able to get the loan committee to approve financing so far, but he's positive he can if I marry.'

  She'd never seen Hunter look so furious. 'Are you telling me that this Michaels instructed you to advertise in the paper for a husband and you went along with his hare-brained notion?'

  'It's not a hare-brained notion,' she protested. 'It's very practical. Conrad simply suggested I find a husband with the necessary qualifications as quickly as possible. Once I'd done that, he'd get the loan package put through.'

  'He suggested that, did he? In his position as youi banker?' Hunter didn't bother to conceal his contempt. 'Did it ever occur to you he could have trouble living

  up to that promise? He has a board of directors to answer to who might not agree with him any more now than before. And then where would you be? Bankrupt and married to some cowpoke who'll take whatever he can lay hands on and toss you over when the going gets tough.'

  'You should know,' she shot back. 'You're a past master of that fine art.'

  'Don't start something you can't finish, Leah,' he warned softly. 'I'm telling you—marry the next man who responds to your ad and you'll sacrifice everything and receive nothing but trouble.'

  'You're wrong,' she said with absolute confidence. 'I have faith in Conrad. He'll put the loan through.'

  She could tell Hunter didn't agree, but he kept his opinion to himself. 'What about the ad?' he asked.

  'The ad was my idea. I needed results and I needed them fast.' She folded her arms across her chest in perfect imitation of his stance. 'And I got them.'

  He laughed without amusement. 'If you got "kind and gentle" I'm less than impressed.'

  'It's not you who has to be impressed,' she retorted defensively. 'It's Conrad whose approval I need.'

  'I don't doubt your banker friend will make sure your prospective husband is qualified as a rancher and a businessman,' he stated with marked disapproval. 'But what about as a husband and lover? Who's going to make sure he qualifies in that area?' Hunter's voice dropped, the sound rough and seductive. '"Kind and gentle" couldn't satisfy you in bed in a million years.'

  She silently cursed the color surging into her cheeks. 'That's the least of my concerns.'

  'You're right. It will be.' He regarded her with derision. 'Is that how you see married life? A sterile part-

  nership with a husband who hasn't a clue how to please his wife?'

  Images leapt to her mind, images of the two of them entwined beneath an endless blue sky, their clothes scattered haphazardly around them, their nudity cloaked by thick, knee-high grass. She resisted the seductive pull of the memory. She couldn't affor
d to remember those times, couldn't afford to risk her emotions on something so fleeting and uncertain... nor so painful. Not if she intended to save the ranch.

  'That's not important,' she stated coldly. 'Conrad has promised that if I marry someone the bank considers a sound businessman and rancher, I'll get my loan. And that's what I intend to do. Period. End of discussion. I'm keeping this ranch even if it means accepting the first qualified man who walks through my door. And nothing you say or do will change that.'

  'I've got news for you. I am the first qualified man to walk through your door. The first and the last.' He reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card. 'Perhaps you'd better know who you're up against.'

  'No, let me tell you who you're up against,' she retorted, almost at the end of her rope. 'That huge company I mentioned—Lyon Enterprises—is after this ranch. And they'll use any means necessary to acquire it. You've met Bull Jones. He's encouraged almost all my workers to leave with exorbitant bribes. Nor was I kidding when I accused him of cutting my fences and stampeding my herd and fouling the wells. The man I marry will have to contend with that.' She planted her hands on her hips. 'Well, Hunter? Maybe now that you have all the facts in your possession you'll decide to get out of my life. Just be sure that when you do, you make it for good.'

  His eyes narrowed and, in a move so swift she didn't see it coming, he caught her by the elbows and swung her into his arms. She slammed into him, the breath knocked from her lungs. 'Don't threaten me, Leah. You won't like the results,' he warned curtly. 'Give it to me straight. Are you really being harassed, or is this another of your imaginative little fantasies?'

  This time she didn't even try to fight his hold. She'd learned the hard way how pointless it would be. 'It's no fantasy! You saw a prime example today. Or ask my foreman. Patrick will tell you. He's one of the few they haven't managed to run off.'