Cattle rancher, Dawson Wheeler, has worked hard to overcome grief and build
a predictable world for his young daughter. The last thing he needs
is the all-too-attractive Stella disrupting the smooth running of his
ranch, especially now that disturbing incidents are happening on his property.

Defending his land against those who want to gut it will be a challenge, but
the biggest threat of all may be to his heart.

The back of his neck itched. “You’re Stella King?” Of course she was. Who else would be waiting here at this time of night? Once again he glanced at the photograph clenched in his hand—gray curls, thick glasses, sixty years old. This was the Stella King he’d hired. The itching amped up to a full-out assault.  

She stood and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Dawson.”  

He stumbled back a step, his worst fears confirmed. This gorgeous woman was the nanny he’d hired to look after Deirdre.  

Her light blue wool sweater did nothing to hide the rounded mounds of her breasts. Her legs looked a mile long in the white denim, skin tight, designer jeans tucked into a pair of knee-high, high-heeled, black leather boots. Her perfume wafted on the evening breeze, a heady mix of spring flowers and something subtle but decidedly feminine.  

He struggled to swallow, but his throat was parched, his tongue as dry as old leather against the roof of his mouth.  

Silence stretched between them. An owl hooted from a nearby tree, crickets chirped in the tall grass lining the ditch, and still he didn’t move as the ramifications of what he’d agreed to engulfed him.