“Sugar, where I come from, when a man is attracted to a woman, he lets her know by kissing her,” John Lee said. Letter to Reader Title Page PEGGY MORELAND Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Copyright

“Sugar, where I come from, when a man is attracted to a woman, he lets her know by kissing her,” John Lee said.

Before Merideth could stop him, he closed his mouth over hers.

The capture was so complete, so unexpected, she felt her knees weaken, her heart slam against her ribs.

“And sometimes even touching her,” he murmured against her mouth as he pulled her body against his.

Willing herself not to respond, she took in a shuddering breath. “If you think I’m going to spend the next several months playing nanny while being pawed by you, you’ve got another think coming.”

He drew his head back just far enough to meet her eyes. “You Yankees might call it pawing,” he said, his eyes burning into hers, “but down here in Texas, we call it something else....”

Dear Reader,

This month, Silhouette Desire is celebrating milestones, miniseries—and, of course, sensual, emotional and compelling love stories. Every book is a treasured keeper in Lass Small’s miniseries THE KEEPERS OF TEXAS, but this month, the continuation of this wonderful series about the Keeper family marks a milestone for Lass—the publication of her 50th book for Silhouette with The Lone Texan, also our MAN OF THE MONTH selection!

Desire is also proud to present the launch of two brand-new miniseries. First, let us introduce you to THE RULEBREAKERS, Leanne Banks’s fabulous new series about three strong and sexy heroes. Book one is Millionaire Dad—and it’s a story you won’t want to miss. Next, meet the first of a few good men and women in uniform in the passion-filled new series BACHELOR BATTALION, by Maureen Child. The first installment, The Littlest Marine, will utterly delight you.

Continuing this month is the next book in Peggy Moreland’s series TEXAS BRIDES about the captivating McCloud sisters, A Sparkle in the Cowboy’s Eyes. And rounding out the month are two wonderful novels—Miranda’s Outlaw by Katherine Garbera, and The Texas Ranger and the Tempting Twin by Pamela Ingrahm.

I hope you enjoy all six of Silhouette Desire’s love stories this month—and every month.

Regards,

Melissa Senate

Senior Editor Silhouette Books

Please address questions and book requests to:

Silhouette Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, OnL L2A 5X3

A Sparkle In The Cowboy’s Eyes

Peggy Moreland

www.millsandboon.co.uk

PEGGY MORELAND

published her first book with Silhouette in 1989 and continues to delight readers with stories set in her home state of Texas. Winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award, a nominee for the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award and a finalist for the prestigious RITA Award, Peggy has appeared on the USA Today and Waldenbooks bestseller lists. When not writing, she enjoys spending time at the farm riding her quarter horse, Lo-Jump, and competing in local barrel-racing competitions. She, her husband and their three children make their home in Round Rock, Texas.

To my good friend Willie Ferguson.

A survivor whose positive mental attitude

inspires us all.

One

Merideth lay back against the warm stones, letting the sun seep into her skin to work its healing magic on her body, on her mind. A month had passed since she’d arrived at the Double-Cross Heart Ranch, battered and bruised, both physically and emotionally.

The bruises on her body had faded now, but those on her heart were still tender, a constant reminder of her loss. A son, she had been told, born much too early to survive.

Tears budded in her eyes and blurred the clouds drifting across the blue sky above her. She’d brought him home with her and buried him in the family plot next to her mother. Now they lay side by side—the mother she’d never known, and the child she would never hold. Placing him there had seemed fitting somehow, and it eased the ache a little, for she knew that her mother was in heaven to greet her grandson, to gather him close within her angel wings and to watch over him.

Merideth closed her eyes behind the dark sunglasses, squeezing back the tears. Even though she was home, back on the Double-Cross and surrounded by family, she felt so alone. So utterly and terribly alone. There was no child to lavish her love on, no husband with whom to share her grief. There was only Merideth. Merideth McCloud. Soap-opera star extraordinaire. The woman whose face and body men all over the world lust after... the same face and body that women all over the world despised her for. Her life-style was envied, her wealth whispered about over cocktails....

She almost laughed out loud.

She had no wealth. The life-style she’d chosen had robbed her of that. Clothes, jewelry, travel. The good life. That’s what she’d sought when she first moved to New York City. Fame, adoring fans, her name bandied about in gossip columns, linked with those of wealthy and handsome men. She’d wanted excitement, too, and adventure. And she’d had it all...but in retrospect it all seemed foolish, meaningless when stacked up against what she’d lost.

But regrets were senseless in Merideth’s opinion, and only a crutch used by the weak and foolish to atone for their mistakes. Merideth was neither weak nor foolish. She was a McCloud. She had the McCloud spirit, the McCloud pride. She was a fighter, a survivor. She’d suffered other tragedies in her life and triumphed. She’d survive this one, too.

But how? she wondered. She kept her money problems secret from her sisters. She knew that both Sam and Mandy would willingly give her the shirts off their backs if she asked, but she wouldn’t. Her pride wouldn’t let her, not when her sisters had succeeded where she had failed. They’d spent their inheritances both wisely and frugally, with an eye to their futures, while Merideth had squandered hers selfishly and foolishly.

They’d chosen the men in their lives with the same wisdom, the same care as they’d chosen their investments, men with integrity, men who loved and lived with a passion as wide as the Texas sky. Mandy had Jesse. Sam, Nash. But who did Merideth have?

No one...at least not now.

She’d chosen the men in her life in much the same way she’d spent her inheritance—foolishly, basing her selections on image, on power, not on the person within. Her last and biggest mistake had been Marcus. Her producer, her lover, the father of her child. A man with wealth and connections, a powerful and handsome man. A man without a conscience or scruples, a man without a heart or soul.

Angry with herself for even thinking of him, she shoved the thought away and focused again on her most pressing problem.

Money. Or the lack thereof.

She needed a job. But where? What? She didn’t want to go back to New York. She couldn’t. But she had no other skills to offer. What else could an actress do but act?

A sigh shuddered through her and she rolled to her stomach, blocking out the depressing thoughts. How could she contemplate the future when she hadn’t successfully dealt with the past, when at the moment, even the present seemed too much for her to deal with?

John Lee Carter reined his horse to a stop high on the cliff above the spring-fed pond, looked down...and almost fell out of his saddle. Expecting to find stray calves, instead he found a woman—a gorgeous, naked woman—stretched out, sunbathing, on one of the smooth limestone boulders that concealed the natural spring feeding the small pond. Blond hair haloed a stunning face with features so perfect they seemed unreal, as if shaped by a sculptor’s clever hand.

Perspiration pearled on her skin and pooled in the valley between her breasts, drawing his gaze there. He let his eyes drift along the graceful lines of her body, taking in the swell of breasts, the smooth stomach, the deep curve of waist. She lay with one knee raised, shadowing a nest of blond curls at the juncture of her thighs. An arm draped carelessly across her forehead shaded her eyes further from the bright sunlight.

Merideth McCloud.

Even at this distance, John Lee recognized her. He’d heard she was back in town. He’d also heard the reason why she was there. He shook his head, bracing his hands against his saddle horn, his gaze lingering on the woman below. Seemed even the rich and famous couldn’t escape the tragedies in life. As a man who’d served his own time in the limelight, John Lee knew that all too well.

Talk was that she’d suffered a nervous breakdown after losing a baby. But John Lee knew better than that. Oh, he didn’t doubt she’d lost a baby, but he did question the part about her having a nervous breakdown. Not Merideth McCloud. She was way too strong for that.

Always ripe with the juiciest news, the local grapevine had it that Merideth had come home alone to bury her baby. Though the lack of a husband shocked some, it didn’t faze John Lee. This was the nineties, after all, and more and more women were opting for single motherhood.

As he watched her, he thought he saw a shudder pass through her. Then she turned, shifting onto her stomach, blocking his view of her face. But her backside was almost as interesting as her front. Dimples winked at him from above a nicely rounded butt.

John Lee chuckled as he turned his horse for the well-worn path.

Merideth always was a flirt.

“Don’t you know that it’s a crime to sunbathe nude in Austin?”

Startled by the male voice, Merideth jerked up her head. Though a cowboy hat shaded the face of the man sitting on the tall bay standing opposite her, she recognized him immediately. That cocksure grin. Those broad shoulders, thick thighs. Sun-bleached, sandy-blond hair that brushed his collar. Eyes as blue as a summer Texas sky, that always seemed to tease. Features carved into a breathtakingly handsome face.

John Lee Carter.

His grin deepened. “They’ve even outlawed skinny-dipping at Hippie Hollow on Lake Travis. A crying shame, too, if you ask me. Personally, I’ve always thought of the human body as kinda like art, something meant to be appreciated.”

Another time, Merideth might have agreed with him, even flirted with him and invited him to join her on the warm rock.

But not today.

Today she felt nothing but resentment that he’d invaded her privacy and disrupted her solitude, something she so rarely found on the Double-Cross.

Planting her elbows on the rock, she tipped her sunglasses to the end of her nose. From the devilish gleam in his eye, she could tell that he was enjoying the fact that he had caught her at a disadvantage—him being fully dressed, and she wearing nothing but her birthday suit. She narrowed an eye at him. “Well, it’s good to know that some things never change,” she offered dryly. “John Lee Carter is still seeking cheap thrills.”

He tossed back his head and laughed. “And you’re still as sassy as you always were.”

He continued to grin at her, and Merideth knew that he was just being ornery. He’d love nothing better than to watch her squirm in embarrassment at being caught sunbathing nude, but Merideth refused to give him the pleasure. She met his gaze squarely, evenly. “Are you going to sit there all day gawking, or are you going to turn your back so that I can get dressed?”

He squinted up at the sun as if pondering the question, then dropped his gaze to hers, a slow smile crooking one corner of his mouth. “I don’t know, the view’s pretty good from up here. But, then again, I wouldn’t want you to burn. How much sunscreen are you wearing?”

The look Merideth shot him was glacial. “Not enough.” She stabbed a finger at the bridge of her sunglasses, shooting them back into place on her nose, then grabbed for the towel beneath her. Quickly, she sat up, wrapping it around her...but not before John Lee caught one last glimpse of those luscious breasts.

He let out a low whistle that turned Merideth’s frown into a scowl. With a huff, she tucked one comer of the towel between her breasts to hold it in place, then tipped her face up to his. “What are you doing here, anyway? This is private property, you know.”

“Just picking up a few strays that wandered onto Double-Cross land.” He plucked a toothpick from his hatband and stuck it between his teeth, then lazily rolled it to one corner of his mouth. “What are you doing here? You decide to give up acting and take up ranching?”

She quickly glanced away. “Maybe,” she replied, fixing her gaze on something in the distance.

John Lee blinked hard to make sure it was Merideth he was talking to. Maybe? His comment had been meant as a joke, one he figured would get a rise out of Merideth. Hell, she hated the Double-Cross, always had, and had hightailed it for New York right after her old man died. He was sure her stay on the Double-Cross was a temporary one, that once she’d fully recovered from the accident he’d heard she was involved in, she’d haul ass right back to the Big Apple and her career there as an actress.

“You’re giving up acting?”

“Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”

Maybe, again. What in the hell is going on with her? he wondered as he stared at her profile. Though her chin was tipped in that I’m-the-queen-of-the-manor look she wore so well, he sensed more than saw the quiver in it.

She’s still grieving, he realized, then wanted to kick himself for his own insensitivity. “I was sorry to hear about your baby,” he offered gently.

She dropped her chin to her chest and with trembling fingers began to pluck at the towel that draped her thigh. Her murmured “Thank you” was so low it was almost lost on the soft breeze that carried it to John Lee.

She looked so pitiful sitting there that John Lee regretted even mentioning her loss. “Are you staying up at the ranch house?” he asked, hoping to shift the conversation to a less sensitive topic.

A sigh lifted her shoulders. “Yes, though it’s awkward since Mandy and Jesse married.”

“You’ve stayed there before with them,” he reminded her.

“But Sam was still there then. Now she’s married and living with Nash on his ranch.” She drew her knees up, hugging them to her chest. “She’s at the Double-Cross almost every day, but it’s just not the same. I feel as if I don’t belong there anymore, that I’m a burden to everyone, though they assure me I’m not.”

They were spoiling her again, John Lee decided. He’d grown up with the McCloud sisters and had witnessed firsthand how both Mandy and Sam coddled their little sister. They were probably so busy hovering over Merideth, smothering her with attention, that they didn’t realize that they were only making things worse for her.

Merideth didn’t need spoiling. What she needed—in his mind, at least—was a swift kick in the butt to get her up and running again. As her friend, he figured it his duty to give her that kick.

“So why don’t you move out?” he challenged her. “You’re a big girl.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “Move out? But where would I go? What would I do?”

That she would even ask him those questions convinced John Lee that he was right. Merideth needed help, and fast. A distraction, he decided. That’s what she needed. Something to take her mind off her loss, her problems.

And he had just the distraction she needed.

He braced a forearm over the saddle horn and leaned down. “How about dinner tonight? My place. I’ll throw a couple of steaks on the grill, ice down a few beers and we’ll talk about your options. Whaddya say, Merideth?”

“I don’t know, John Lee,” she murmured, resting her chin on the tops of her knees. “I’m not very good company right now.”

“So when were you ever?” He chuckled when her chin came up, her blue eyes sparking fire. Yep, he could still get a rise out of her. Not all was lost...yet.

“Seven sharp,” he told her. “Be ready.” He wheeled his horse around and loped away before she could refuse his invitation.

Merideth sat before her mirror, studying her reflection. Her eyes were dull, her face pale—in spite of the hours she’d spent sunbathing—and her cheeks hollow, a result of the weight she’d lost.

Grief was not a pretty sight.

With the hand of an artist she applied makeup, shading some areas of her face, adding color to others, until she’d created the mask she needed—one that her sisters would never see beyond.

But could she fool John Lee?

When he’d caught her sunbathing nude earlier that afternoon, her body wasn’t all she’d unintentionally bared to him. She’d bared her soul as well.

But not tonight. Not ever again. Merideth McCloud never displayed her weaknesses or her desires. She’d learned early in life that doing so gave people power over her...and no one would ever control her again.

With a defiant shake of her head, she pulled the band from her hair and combed her fingers through the thick blond locks, lifting and adding height and volume.

Rising she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the upcoming performance, the same one she’d given every day since she’d arrived at the ranch to keep her sisters from worrying about her, from guessing the depth of her grief, the extent of her financial problems.

As she did when she took on any role, she closed her eyes and focused inwardly, emptying her mind of every thought, her heart of every emotion, until she was hollow, a vessel waiting to be filled, a mound of clay waiting to be shaped.

Merideth McCloud. The most difficult role she’d ever taken on. The youngest of Lucas McCloud’s three daughters. The one without a care in the world but her own wants and desires. The one with the attitude.

Slowly she felt the tension ease from her shoulders and the energy begin to surge through her. She opened her eyes, one eyebrow arching a little higher than the other, her lips already curving into the sultry pout she was known for. She winked and the reflection winked back.

She’d found her, the old Merideth, and she’d be her...at least for the moment.

“Does she know?”

Mandy shook her head, but kept dusting, nerves making her movements jerky. “I don’t think so. If she did, surely she would have said something.”

“Should we tell her?”

Mandy stopped her dusting and turned to Sam, who had, as each of them did when one of the three was in need, responded to Mandy’s call for help. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and worried it. “If we do, I’m afraid she won’t go and I really think this might be good for her. She thinks she’s fooling us with this front she’s putting up, but I know she’s hurting inside. She needs to get out more and be around other people. Moping around here all day certainly isn’t helping.”

“Yeah, but is going to John Lee’s the answer?”

Mandy wrapped the dust cloth around her fingers and nervously twisted. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

“What don’t you know?” Merideth asked as she strolled into the room. Dressed in a gauzy calf-length dress, she trailed a light, seductive scent in her wake.

Mandy shared a quick worried look with Sam. Frantically, she searched for a response, anything but the truth. “I don’t know where all this dust comes from,” she said with a sudden inspiration, quickly turning to push the cloth along the mantel once again.

Merideth raised her arms above her head and stretched catlike. “I don’t know why you even bother,” she said, stifling a bored yawn. “The furniture will just be covered again tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Mandy agreed, “but there’ll be one less layer of dust.”

Merideth shifted her gaze to Sam. “What are you doing here this late?”

“Making a vet call.” The lie came easily to Sam, because it could have so easily been the truth. She was often called to tend to a sick animal on the Double-Cross. She gave Merideth the once-over, pretending she didn’t already know her younger sister’s plans. “What are you all gussied up for?”

With a resigned sigh, Merideth sank onto the sofa next to her. “I’m going to John Lee’s for dinner. I saw him while I was out sunbathing at Cypress Pond. He caught me—well, off guard,” she said with a flutter of her hand that sent the gold bangles at her wrist clinking together musically. “When he offered the invitation, I didn’t have my wits enough about me to refuse before he rode off.”

“You don’t want to go?” Sam asked.

“Heavens, no!”

“Sure you do,” Mandy insisted as she ran the dust cloth over the mantel one last time. “It’ll be good for you to get out and have a little fun for a change.”

Merideth angled her chin to peer at Mandy from beneath a neatly arched brow. “With a playboy like John Lee?” She snorted. “I seriously doubt an evening with him will be fun.” She fanned her fingers in front of her face, checking her nail polish for any nicks. “Exhausting, maybe,” she added thoughtfully, “but definitely not fun.”

“Exhausting?”

“Yes, from dodging all his passes.”

Mandy laughed and dropped down on the sofa, squeezing in between her two sisters. “You make John Lee sound like some sex-crazed maniac.”

“He is.”

“He is not!”

Merideth turned to her. “How many girls in high school claimed that they’d slept with him?”

Mandy lifted a shoulder. “A few.”

“A few hundred, you mean. And how many women’s names did you hear linked with his during his stint with the NFL?”

“A lot, but then your name’s been linked with quite a few men, as well. I certainly hope that doesn’t mean you slept with them all.”

Merideth lifted her chin. “Certainly not.” She adjusted the band of emerald-cut diamonds on her finger, a gift from one of those men, a millimeter to the left. She smiled smugly. “But then, I have much higher standards than John Lee Carter.”

John Lee shifted uncomfortably in his Porsche’s leather bucket seat, trying his best to find some more room for his cramped legs. He bit back a curse, the pain in his knee threatening his usual good mood. Six hours spent at his desk updating the ranch’s ledgers, and another four spent on horseback scaring up strays from the brush had left him stiff-legged and crankier than a two-year-old in desperate need of a nap. By the time he’d made it back to the house to get cleaned up for his date with Merideth, his knee was swollen and throbbing like a bitch in heat.

Damn that three-hundred-pound ape of a defensive guard who clipped me just below the knees, he cursed silently. Five minutes, he told himself. Five minutes alone with him and John Lee would make that son of a bitch pay for prematurely ending his football career and for the pain he’d live with for the rest of his life.

The pain was so intense, he’d considered calling Merideth to cancel his invitation for dinner and soaking in his whirlpool instead. But then he remembered how much she needed his help...and how much he needed hers.

He stole a look at the passenger seat where Merideth sat, her elbow propped on the edge of the open window, her eyes shaded by dark sunglasses while the wind played havoc with her hair. Maybe he should have canceled, he thought belatedly. Dealing with Merideth was always tough and tonight he really didn’t feel up to the challenge.

Too late now, though, he told himself as his ranch house came into view. With a sigh, he pulled the Porsche up in front of his home and climbed out, then had to wait a second before he was sure his knee was going to support him. “Damn car,” he muttered under his breath as he slammed the door behind him. “No bigger than a matchbox. I ought to sell the damn thing and buy me something with some size to it.”

Merideth tipped down the visor and studied her face in the lighted vanity mirror placed there. She touched the tips of her middle finger and thumb to the corners of her mouth and drew them together, blotting her lipstick. “Why don’t you?” she asked, turning to him.

“Because I like it,” John Lee snapped disagreeably, then headed for the front door of his home.

Merideth frowned at his back. And wasn’t this just her luck? It looked as if she was condemned to spending an evening with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The man who’d teased and laughed and taunted her that very afternoon, was gone and she was left with this scowling, grumpy-faced bear. With a sigh she sank back against the seat.

When he realized she wasn’t following him, he stopped and half turned. “Well?” he asked impatiently. “Are you coming or not?”

Without sparing him a glance, she flipped the visor back into place and lifted her chin. “I’m waiting for you to open my door.”

John Lee turned to face her. He propped his hands on his hips, cocking one hip higher than the other, and scowled. “You aren’t gonna try that prima-donna crap with me, are you? You’re a big girl now. You can open your own damn door.”

She turned her head slowly, one brow arched pointedly. “I thought the code of the West dictated that cowboys must treat women like ladies. I guess I was wrong.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” John Lee grumbled, and rounded the car to jerk open her door. “Get out,” he ordered impatiently.

“My, aren’t we friendly tonight,” she replied dryly. She lifted a hand, waiting for him to take it.

With a low growl, he grabbed her hand and all but yanked her from the seat. “Are you satisfied now?”

With a look of disdain, she turned her back on him. “What you lack in finesse, you certainly make up for with your macho-jock-turned-cowboy charm.”

Her sarcastic remark had the same effect on John Lee as a shot of cortisone had on his knee. Forgetting all about the pain and discomfort in his leg, he tossed back his head and laughed. Macho-jock-turned-cowboy. What a description! And one only Merideth could come up with. Yep, he told himself. There was hope for her after all. He slung an arm around her neck, crushing her hairdo, and headed her toward his house. “Darlin’, you’d be surprised what kind of finesse us macho-jock-turned-cowboys possess.”

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied doubtfully as she slipped a hand beneath his arm and freed her hair.

Once inside, John Lee tossed his hat onto the entry table. “Mrs. Baker, I’m home!” he yelled.

An older woman bustled from the kitchen, stripping an apron from around her thick waist. “Thank goodness,” she puffed, mopping the apron against her damp brow. “I’m ’bout ready to drop.” She wadded the apron into a ball and stuffed it into a purse she retrieved from the coat closet, pausing long enough to stare at Merideth for a moment. When Merideth lifted a brow in reply, the woman turned away with a disapproving huff.

“The salad’s in the refrigerator,” she informed John Lee, “the potatoes in the oven and the steaks on the grill. I set the timer, but you’ll need to turn ’em in about five minutes. I’ve fed the—”

John Lee grabbed her elbow, cutting her off, and hustled her toward the door. “I sure appreciate you taking care of everything, Mrs. Baker. And don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours about a thing. I can handle it from here. See you in the morning.”

Before Mrs. Baker could catch her breath, he’d closed the door in her face. Then he turned and pressed his back against it as if locking out the devil himself. He looked at Merideth and forced a smile. “That was my housekeeper, Mrs. Baker.”

“Oh?” Merideth picked up a glass sculpture of a horse from a marble-topped table and held it to the light, studying the colors. “And here I was thinking she was your mistress.” She smiled sweetly at him as she replaced the sculpture, then turned and wandered into the den.

Nervously jiggling change in his pocket, he trailed her. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he began. “You remember my sister Sissy, don’t you?”

Merideth glanced back over her shoulder. “Well, of course, I remember Sissy.”

“Well, about a month ago, she—” But before he could explain further, a whimpering sound came from behind the kitchen door.

Merideth turned in the direction of the sound. “What was that?”

John Lee caught her arm and dragged her along behind him. “That’s Cassie,” he explained as he tugged Merideth through the kitchen door behind him.

“For pity’s sake, John Lee,” Merideth fussed, trying to wrench free. “You’re going to break my—” She stopped, sucking in a shocked breath when her gaze fell on the source of the whimpering noise. There was a playpen on the kitchen floor and inside it sat a baby, her face red, her mouth opening for a full-blown wail.

Unable to move, Merideth stared, her breath locked tight in her lungs.

“This is who I was going to tell you about,” John Lee explained. He moved to the playpen, scooped up the baby and swung her high in the air. She immediately stopped her wailing and filled her hands with his hair, laughing, her chubby legs chopping at the air.

“Merideth,” he said, settling the baby on his hip, “I’d like you to meet Cassie. Cassie, my girl,” he continued, rubbing his nose against hers, “this here is Merideth McCloud, the sex kitten who stars in that soap Mrs. Baker likes to watch in the afternoon.”

Merideth tore her gaze from the baby to stare at John Lee. “She’s yours?”

“Yes—no. Well, you see—” At that moment the timer went off, signaling that the steaks were ready to be turned, and the baby started howling again. John Lee thrust her toward Merideth. “Take her while I check the steaks.”

Her eyes riveted on the baby, Merideth locked her hands behind her waist and started backing toward the door. “N-no. I—I can’t.”

John Lee danced a moment, from Merideth to the playpen then back, trying to decide what to do. Finally he plopped the baby in the playpen and started out the back door. “Keep an eye on her,” he ordered, aiming a finger at Merideth’s nose. “I’ll be back before you can say scat.”

She stretched out a hand. “John Lee, wait! I—” The door slammed behind him.

The baby continued to wail, and Merideth closed her eyes and flattened her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound—the same sound that haunted her dreams at night. In the dream, her baby, her son, cried out for her, his pitiful wails tugging at her heart. She would run, searching and searching, following the sound, but he always remained just out of sight, just out of her reach.

The crying continued, rising in intensity. As hard as she tried, Merideth couldn’t block out the sound. She forced open her eyes to find that the baby had knotted her fingers in the mesh sides of the playpen and was hauling herself to a wobbly stand. Fat, frustrated tears streaked down her face and dripped off her chin. Releasing her tentative hold on the mesh, the baby held out her arms to Merideth.

Emotion pushed at Merideth’s throat, choking her, while pain ripped through her chest like a knife, slashing at her heart.

She pressed her fists against her lips, fighting back the tears, until her knuckles turned as white as her face.

Oh, God, she begged silently, please help me. I can’t bear this. I can’t!

With a broken sob, she whirled and ran from the room.

John Lee stepped into the kitchen just as the front door slammed. Seconds later his Porsche’s powerful engine roared to life. Over it all he heard Cassie’s lusty squalls.

“Damn,” he muttered as he shoved the platter of steaks onto the counter. “Damn. Damn. Triple damn, hell!”

Merideth raced down the highway, the wind whipping her hair around to sting her face. Tears burned behind her eyes and clotted her throat, but she held them back. She wouldn’t cry. Not yet. With each shift of gears, she pushed the accelerator harder against the floor, trying to outrun the sound of the baby’s cries, the plea in the child’s watery eyes, the tiny arms stretched out to her.

But she couldn’t. They echoed in her mind and squeezed at her chest until she felt as if she were suffocating beneath them. Why had John Lee done this to her? she silently cried. She’d always known he was ornery, but she’d never known him to be cruel. Surely he must know how fresh her pain was, how difficult it would be for her to see another baby so soon after the loss of her own.

At look-out point, she spun the steering wheel to the left, careening onto the small paved space, then slammed on the brakes. Jerking on the emergency brake, she sank down in the seat, the pain in her chest deep and debilitating.

Her son. Her infant son.

She’d seen him only once, the glimpse as quick as the sweep of a butterfly’s wings, the memory hazy as if viewed through a winter morning’s fog. She’d never held him close to her heart, never cuddled him to her breast. Yet, she had yearned to. Oh, God, how she had yearned to.

The wad of emotion that filled her throat rose higher, choking her. With no one and nothing but the cactus and the rocks and the darkening sky to witness her grief, Merideth covered her face with her hands and let the tears fall.

Two

John Lee sat on the sofa in the McClouds’ living room with a sleeping Cassie cuddled against his chest. Mandy and Sam sat opposite him, the look in their eyes damning.

“I know it was the wrong thing to do,” he said regretfully. “Or at least I do now. But I swear I was only trying to help Merideth. I thought if she and Cassie met up, they might be good for each other. You know, both of them having suffered a loss, and all.”

He sighed in frustration when Sam and Mandy continued to glare at him. Hell. He’d said he was sorry. What was there left to say?

The roar of his Porsche on the drive outside saved him from having to make any more attempts at an apology, for it made both Sam and Mandy leap to their feet He stood, too, and stretched out his free arm to stop them from rushing to the door. “If you girls don’t mind,” he said, “I’d like to talk to her first.”

The two exchanged a glance, then stepped back, silently indicating their agreement.

“In private,” he added. He held out the sleeping baby to Mandy. “Would you mind looking after Cassie for me while I talk to Merideth?”

Mandy stretched out her arms, her expression softening as she took Cassie from him.

Sam continued to glare at him. “If you upset her again, John Lee, I swear I’ll—”

He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not going to do anything but apologize. You have my word.”

Not wanting her sisters hovering over Merideth while he made his amends, John Lee headed for the front door and the porch beyond, hoping to intercept Merideth before she reached the house.

Dusk had settled over the landscape since his arrival, leaving the porch in long shadows. He paused there among them, watching Merideth’s approach, noting the droop of her shoulders, the heaviness in her step. He wished he could see her expression, too, but her hair curtained her face and dark sunglasses masked her eyes.

When she reached the foot of the porch steps, he took a deep breath and stepped from the shadows. She froze at the sight of him, then firmed her lips and started past him.

John Lee took a step sideways, blocking her way. “I’d like to talk to you, if I could,” he said quietly. “To explain.”

“There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear.” She started to go around him again, but this time John Lee caught her arm, holding her in place. When she tried to twist free, he tightened his grip, his fingers digging into her flesh.

“Five minutes, Merideth. That’s all I ask.”

She yanked off her sunglasses to glare at him. “That’s right, John Lee. When charm fails, use muscle. Isn’t that what you cowboys usually do to get your way?”

More than her words, it was the red, puffy eyes and the tracks of tears through her makeup that made John Lee release his hold on her. “I’m sorry, Merideth. I never meant to upset you.”

Fresh tears welled in her eyes and she fought them back. She wouldn’t let him see her cry. “Apology accepted. Now go home to your baby and leave me the hell alone.”

“She’s not my baby.”

Already turning for the house, Merideth stopped.

“She’s my niece.”

Slowly she turned to face him. “Sissy’s baby?”

“Yeah.”

Though the news surprised her, it didn’t soften Merideth’s anger with John Lee. She lifted her chin, her look one of contempt. “I always considered Sissy intelligent, but she certainly has displayed poor judgment in her choice of babysitters.”

John Lee heaved a sigh. “I’m not baby-sitting. I’m Cassie’s guardian. Sissy’s dead.”

The blood slowly drained from Merideth’s face. “Dead?” she repeated in a hoarse whisper.

John Lee thinned his lips, fighting back the emotion, the memory. “Yeah. She was killed in a motorcycle accident a little over a month ago.”

“Oh, John Lee,” she murmured, “I didn’t know.” She pressed a hand against her heart, remembering the towheaded little girl who had shadowed her big brother’s every step from the time she could walk. “I’m so sorry. You were so close. That must have been horrible for you.”

He dipped his chin to his chest and scuffed the toe of his boot at a plank on the front porch. “Yeah, it was, but truthfully I lost Sissy a long time ago.” He lifted his gaze to meet hers, his blue eyes a deep pool of grief that Merideth well understood. “You wouldn’t have known her, Merideth. After Mom and Dad died, she went crazy. Died her hair purple, pierced everything on her body that could be pierced. When she wasn’t living on the streets, she was shacking up with first one guy, then another. I doubt she even knew who fathered the baby.” He shook his head regretfully. “I tried to help her, but nothing I did or said seemed to make any difference. It was as if she was determined to self-destruct.”

Merideth laid a hand on his arm, her touch light but full of compassion. “I wish I’d known. Maybe I could have done something to help her.”

He placed his own hand over hers and squeezed. “Thanks, but nothing you could have done or said would have changed anything. Believe me, I tried it all.” He drew her hand from his arm to clasp it between his own. He dropped his gaze to stare at them. “But maybe there is something that you could do for Sissy.”

Unsure what she could do now that Sissy was gone, Merideth peered at him quizzically. “What?”

John Lee drew in a deep breath and lifted his gaze, his blue eyes meeting hers. “I need help with Cassie. Mrs. Baker, my housekeeper, takes care of her through the day, but the woman isn’t as young as she used to be. And with all her other household chores...well, the baby’s not getting the attention she requires. What Cassie needs is a nanny.”

Merideth tensed, sensing the direction the conversation was taking. “Is that why you invited me to dinner? To persuade me to become the baby’s nanny?”

He had the grace to blush. “Well, yeah, sorta.”

Her lips thinned and she jerked her hand from his. “Then you wasted your time. Look elsewhere. I’m not interested.”

When she turned for the house, John Lee stepped in front of her again. Merideth snapped her head up to glare at him.

“I have looked,” he said. “I really have.” He dug his hands deep into his jean pockets. “You don’t realize how hard it is to find someone competent, someone I’d trust with her. That’s why I was hoping you’d be willing to help me out for a while. You wouldn’t be her nanny, really. More like her friend.”

When her eyes narrowed dangerously, John Lee pressed on. “It’d just be for a couple of months. Just until I can find someone permanent. You told me you didn’t know what you wanted to do with your life,” he reminded her. “This’ll give you something to occupy your time while you’re making up your mind. And you can live on the ranch with Cassie and me. That way you won’t feel like you’re a burden on your sisters anymore. It’s the perfect arrangement for everyone. Don’t you see?”

Though Merideth’s gaze was riveted on John Lee’s face, the image she saw was that of Cassie, that beautiful little baby, standing in the playpen, her arms outstretched to Merideth, tears streaking down her red face, that silent plea in her eyes.

Slowly she backed away from him. “No,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Spinning around she ran from the porch and across the lawn.

“Why didn’t either of you tell me?” Merideth demanded accusingly of her sisters.

Mandy and Sam exchanged a guilty look, but as the oldest and the one who’d ultimately made the decision to keep the news from her, it was Mandy who responded. “I’m sorry, Merideth. I know we should have, but—well, right after Sissy’s accident, you had your accident and we didn’t think you needed to be burdened with any more bad news.”

Merideth folded her arms beneath her breasts. “So you’re making my decisions for me now, are you? And I suppose you both were in on this little scheme with John Lee, too, weren’t you, thinking I’d go along with his idea? Well, you were wrong!” she cried, flattening her hands on her father’s desk as she leaned across it to glare at them. “I won’t do it I can’t.”

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Sam said, rising from the sofa. “What scheme?”

Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Merideth shifted her gaze from Sam’s to Mandy’s and back again, looking for signs of guilt, for the lie she was sure that her sisters were trying to brazen out But she saw nothing there but confusion. “He didn’t tell you?”

Sam tossed her hands in the air in frustration. “Tell us, what, for heaven’s sake?”

“That he wants me to move in with him and take care of Sissy’s baby.”

Mandy’s eyes widened and she leapt from the sofa. “What! Oh, Merideth, surely you know that we’d never ask you to do something like that. That would be cruel. Your own loss is still much too fresh.”

Merideth folded her arms beneath her breasts again and turned her back on her sisters to stare out the darkened window. “Yes, it is,” she said, feeling tears rising. “But obviously John Lee doesn’t think so.”

The days faded one into the other until a week had passed since Merideth’s conversation with John Lee. During that week, she had paced her room, walked the pastures of the Double-Cross, driven for miles on end, all the while cursing John Lee Carter.

Why had he done this to her? Didn’t he realize how painful it was for her to see someone else’s baby when her heart was still raw from the loss of her own?

And that baby. That precious little angel. As hard as she tried, Merideth couldn’t shake her image...or the desperation in John Lee’s voice when he’d said he needed help with the child.

She tried hard not to feel sorry for him, to hold on to her anger with him, but it was obvious that he was in way over his head. What did a bachelor, especially a playboy like John Lee, know about caring for a baby?

The poor little thing, left without a mother to love and care for her. Merideth tried to blot the infant from her mind, but she couldn’t sleep at night for worrying about her, wondering if she was okay, if John Lee had found someone to care for her, if she was receiving the proper care.

After a week of sleepless nights and haunted days, she finally decided she wouldn’t rest until she saw the child again and satisfied herself that the baby was receiving the attention and care she needed. She owed Sissy that.

She planned her visit mid-morning in hopes of avoiding John Lee, sure that he would be out on the ranch with his wranglers at that time of day.

Parking in front of the long, ranch-style house, she crossed to the porch and rang the bell. From the other side of the door, she could hear the drone of a television set... and the plaintive cry of the baby. She waited, her nerves winding tighter and tighter with each passing moment, with each new heartbreaking sob.

She punched the bell a second time. Then, unable to stand the sound of the baby’s crying, tried the door and found it open. She stepped inside. “Mrs. Baker? John Lee?”

She listened but heard nothing but the baby’s persistent cry. Had something happened to the housekeeper? Was the baby alone and in pain? With panic gripping her chest, Merideth ran down the hall, following the crying sounds to the den.

There she found a playpen in the center of the room and inside it Cassie stood on wobbly legs, her fingers knotted in the playpen’s mesh sides. She stood just as she had the last time Merideth had seen her. Dressed in nothing but a fruit-stained T-shirt and a sagging diaper, she turned her face toward Merideth. Alligator-sized tears ran down her face.

Merideth glanced frantically around, looking for some sign of John Lee or Mrs. Baker, hoping they would hear the baby’s cries and would come and see to her needs. But no one came. There wasn’t a sound in the house other than that of canned laughter from a television set in another room. Merideth swallowed the fear that rose as she turned her gaze back to Cassie.

Tears burned her throat. She’d made a mistake, she told herself. She shouldn’t have come. She couldn’t bear this.

She started to turn away, to leave before anyone saw her, but just as she did, the baby swayed, losing her balance, then sat down hard on the floor of the playpen. Her frustrated wails grew louder.

Instinctively, Merideth took a step toward her, her hands outstretched, reaching for her...then she stopped, curling her hands into fists against her lips. She couldn’t pick her up. She couldn’t touch her. She just couldn’t.

As if Cassie sensed Merideth’s inability to rescue her, she flopped over on her tummy and buried her face in the blanket beneath her, sobbing miserably.

Swallowing hard, Merideth quickly closed the distance between them and stooped to pick her up. Cassie grabbed at Merideth’s hair, tangling the fingers of one hand there, while she fisted her other hand in Merideth’s blouse. Straightening, Merideth held her out in front of her.

Emotion rose in her throat as she met the infant’s gaze. “Shhh,” she whispered, blinded by her own tears. “Please don’t cry.” But Cassie only wailed louder. With her heart threatening to split wide open, Merideth drew a deep breath and slowly drew her to her breasts. The frantic beat of the baby’s heart throbbed against her own.

She closed her eyes, trying to remain unaffected, but the baby’s warmth seeped through her blouse and slowly wound itself around her heart. Merideth couldn’t hold back the tide of grief that rose inside her.

Cupping the back of the baby’s head, she tucked it beneath her chin and pressed her lips to the cap of silky hair there. Inhaling deeply, she filled her senses with scents of baby powder, milk and innocence.

“There, there,” she soothed as she instinctively began to sway. “No need to cry. Merideth’s got you.”

A hiccupy sigh reverberated against Merideth’s chest, then Cassie leaned back and looked up at her. Tears swam in eyes as blue as John Lee’s. She peered up at Merideth innocently, yet with a look of such expectancy and hopefulness, that Merideth felt as if the child had reached in and touched her heart.

Tears blurred her vision as she tried to focus on the baby’s sweet face. How could she have ever been so heartless, she asked herself, so selfish as to run from this precious child?

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” she murmured sympathetically as she swiped tears from her own eyes. “Are you wet? Do you need your diaper changed?” In answer, Cassie’s lower lip began to quiver. Merideth tested the diaper. “You are wet,” she confirmed. “And I’ll bet you’re hungry, too.” She glanced around. “Where is Mrs. Baker?” she asked, beginning to frown. “She should be taking care of you.”

“C, you fool. Ask for a C!”

Merideth turned toward the sound and anger slowly rose to warm her cheeks. “The irresponsible twit,” she muttered to the baby. “Watching television and leaving you alone in here and all by yourself.” Furious now, she marched in the direction of the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the den. Slapping a palm against it, she stepped into the kitchen, then stopped, shifting Cassie to her hip while the door rocked on its hinges behind her.

Just as she’d expected, she found Mrs. Baker standing at the kitchen’s center island, her hands white with flour, her eyes glued to a television set on the counter opposite her. Pursing her lips, Merideth marched across the room and with an angry stab of her finger, punched the power button. The screen went black, the room silent.

Mrs. Baker turned from the screen to Merideth, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Meredith, obviously unaware of her presence before that moment. “What do you think you’re doing?” she blustered indignantly.

“Turning off the television.”

Mrs. Baker narrowed her eyes suspiciously, shifting her gaze from Merideth to the baby and back again. “How did you get in here?”

Cassie started to cry again and Merideth bounced her on her hip, trying to quiet her. “I walked right in the front door, the same as any kidnapper or murderer could do.”

Her expression turning sour, the housekeeper gathered her apron in her hands and wiped the flour from them. “And what gives you the right to march into a private home unannounced?”

“I rang the bell twice, but you were so engrossed in Vanna White flipping letters,” she said with a dramatic wave of her hand toward the television set, “that I guess you didn’t hear.”

“An unlocked door gives you no right to just barge in.” She shook a finger at Merideth. “John Lee’ll hear about this, I assure you.”

“No need. I’ll tell him myself. And while I’m at it, I’ll tell him how you were watching television and ignoring the baby’s needs.”

Mrs. Baker’s mouth dropped open. “I was not ignoring the baby!”

“You most certainly were! She was in the den crying her heart out. I could hear the poor thing all the way from the front porch.”

At that moment, the back door swung open, and John Lee stepped into the kitchen. In the midst of dragging off his hat, he froze when he saw Merideth holding the baby.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise as he tossed his hat onto the counter top.

“That’s exactly what I was trying to get out of her.” Mrs. Baker huffed and shot an accusing look at Merideth.

Ignoring her, Merideth turned on John Lee, having to raise her voice to be heard over Cassie’s crying. “This woman is totally irresponsible. When I arrived, Cassie was in the den in her playpen screaming her lungs out while she—” she pointed an accusing finger at Mrs. Baker “—was watching TV in the kitchen. She is incompetent and lazy and I want her fired immediately!”

Seeing the color rise on his housekeeper’s face, John Lee quickly crossed the room and took Merideth by the elbow. “Excuse us for a minute, Mrs. Baker,” he said apologetically, as he propelled Merideth toward the swinging door. “I’ll take care of this.”

Merideth dug in her heels, but John Lee shoved her kicking and fussing ahead of him. Once in the den, he spun her around to face him. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he whispered angrily. “Do you realize how hard it is to get good help these days?”

“Good help!” Merideth cried. “Why, that woman—”

John Lee clamped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t you say another word,” he threatened. “I’ll be lucky if she doesn’t quit over this.”

Merideth ripped his hand from her mouth. “You’ll be lucky if she does quit!” she returned furiously.

Firming his lips, John Lee caught her by the elbow again and marched her down the hall to the master bedroom. Once inside, he slammed the door behind him and fisted his hands on his hips. “Let me tell you something, Miss High-and-Mighty McCloud. I need Mrs. Baker. Without her help with Cassie, I don’t know what I’d do.”

Merideth shifted the baby to her shoulder and frantically patted her back, trying to calm her. “You’d find someone better. Someone conscientious. Someone without a television addiction.”

Shooting Merideth a scathing look, John Lee took the baby from her. Holding Cassie at arm’s length, he jounced her up and down, puckering his mouth sympa-thetically as he looked up at her. “Whatsa matter, darlin’? Is all this yellin’ upsettin’ you?”

Merideth snatched the baby right back from him. “For heaven’s sake! She isn’t some football you can toss around.” She cradled the baby to her chest, tucking the infant’s head beneath her chin and rocking slightly while she glared at John Lee. “And I can tell you what’s wrong with her. She’s wet. She’s dirty. And probably hungry. And that witch in the kitchen totally ignores her.”

John Lee narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you start in again with me,” he warned.

“As if anything I said could penetrate your thick skull.” Turning her back on him, Merideth paced the room, patting and comforting, trying to calm Cassie. A huge beveled mirror covered the wall opposite her from floor to ceiling, offering Merideth her reflection and that of the black velvet comforter and cowhide throw that stretched across the king-sized bed behind her. She knew without looking that she’d find a similar mirror on the ceiling. She also knew their purpose. She shifted her gaze to a huge impressionistic painting of bold red slashes. After staring at it a moment, she realized she was looking at a nude woman’s reclining form.

The entire room screamed of seduction.

She glanced over her shoulder to scowl at John Lee. “I suppose this is your room?”

“Yeah,” he said defensively. “You got a problem with that?”

“Yes, I do, though I imagine the caliber of women you entertain here probably find this hedonistic display highly erotic.”

John Lee wasn’t at all sure what she’d just said, but by her tone, he figured he’d just been insulted. “I’ll have you know—”

Merideth shifted Cassie to the opposite shoulder, cutting him off with a dismissing wave of her hand. “Don’t bother me with the details of your sordid sex life. Just tell me where the baby’s room is so that I can change her.”

Scowling, John Lee gestured toward a door. “Through here.”

Merideth followed him into the adjoining room, which proved to be an extension of the den of iniquity she considered his bedroom. An entertainment center lined one wall and a sleek black leather couch, deep enough to sleep on, another. Framed photographs hung above the sofa and Merideth focused in on the largest, a picture of John Lee surrounded by a group of big-busted cheerleaders, each of whom seemed intent on offering him the most daring view of her cleavage. By the broad smile he was wearing, Merideth could tell he had been enjoying himself immensely.

“Disgusting,” she muttered under her breath and brushed past John Lee, heading for the crib parked in a comer of the room.

She laid the baby down, her expression and her tone softening perceptibly as she turned her full attention on Cassie. “That’s okay, precious,” she soothed, drawing a clean diaper from the bag hanging on the side of the crib. “Merideth will take care of that old wet diaper.”

As she worked, the trio of gold bangles at her wrist clinked musically. Mesmerized by the sound, Cassie stopped crying and stretched up a chubby hand to grab for them. Laughing, Merideth slipped one off her wrist and gave it her. “You like jewelry, do you? Well, so do I. And I must say you have marvelous taste.” When Cassie carried the bracelet to her mouth and began to gum it, Merideth smiled approvingly. “That’s right, darling. It’s only fitting that a princess should cut her teeth on gold.”

John Lee wasn’t sure what to make of all this, but damned if he was going to say or do anything to stop it! Merideth was holding Cassie, talking to her, even teasing her. This from the woman who, a little more than a week ago, couldn’t bring herself to so much as touch the baby.

Was it possible that she had reconsidered his proposal?

Cautiously, he eased up behind Merideth and peered over her shoulder as she pressed the tabs of the clean diaper in place. “You’re pretty good at that.”

Merideth favored him with a look that would have brought a lesser man to his knees. “Any fool can change a diaper, which only supports my claim that Mrs. Baker is incompetent. You should fire her.”

John Lee cocked his head in warning. “Merideth...”

“Oh, forget it.” She glanced around. “Where do you keep her clothes? You do have something other than these tacky T-shirts for her to wear, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” He dug through a box of clothes sitting on the floor beside the crib, and pulled out a pink romper and held it up for her inspection. “Will this do?”

Merideth eyed it critically. “For now.” She took the garment and tugged it over Cassie’s head. “We’ll go shopping later.”

“Shopping?”

“Yes, shopping.”

“For what?”

“A new wardrobe.” She bent to lift Cassie from the crib and shifted her to her hip. “She’ll need furniture, too. A chest of drawers, a changing table and a rocker, of course.” She crossed to the window and opened the shutters, letting sunlight flood the room. Turning, she cocked her head, studying the walls, already mentally ripping the pictures from them. “And paint,” she added thoughtfully.

“Paint?” John Lee repeated, wondering what in the hell was going on, but afraid to ask.

“Yes. This room is much too dull. A baby needs color for stimulation. We’ll need to drive into Austin, and maybe even to San Antonio.”

“And when are we going to do this?”

“First thing in the morning. We’d go today,” she added, already thinking of fabrics and colors, “but I need to go home and pack a few things.”

“Pack a few things?” he repeated, beginning to feel like a parrot. “Are you planning on moving in?”

Merideth rolled her eyes. “Well, of course I am. Someone has to look after Cassie, and it’s obvious she—” she jerked her head toward the kitchen “—isn’t capable of the job. And you,” she added pointedly, “are too spineless to fire her.” She turned to Cassie, nuzzling her nose against the infant’s. “Isn’t that right, princess?”

In answer, Cassie caught Merideth’s cheeks between her chubby hands and pressed their noses closer together.

Laughing, Merideth gave her a quick hug before turning to John Lee. When her gaze met his, her frown returned.

“I suppose we should get a few details out of the way,” she said, her tone turning crisp. “I’ll take care of Cassie, but that’s it. I do not cook, clean or do laundry, including my own. I’ll sleep in your room, so that I can be nearby in case she cries out in the night, which of course means that you’ll need to move into one of the other bedrooms.”

Though the idea of giving up his room didn’t exactly please John Lee, he figured he could live with the inconvenience for a few months if it meant Merideth was going to be looking after Cassie. “Sounds fair enough. What else?”

“You’ll need to provide me with transportation, as I don’t own a car. I’m sure—”

John Lee’s eyes bugged out. “You don’t own a car?”

Merideth lifted a negligent shoulder. “In New York I never had need of one. The studio provided me with a chauffeured limousine.”

He could see her sliding into the back of a stretch limo and giving a driver orders in that snooty way of hers. The image suited her. But he figured he better let her know up front that she wasn’t in New York anymore where everyone danced to whatever tune she played. Or at the Double-Cross, where everyone spoiled her unmercifully.

“Well, sugar, I hate to tell you this,” he said sadly, “but there isn’t a limousine on the place. You’ll just have to use one of the farm trucks.”

Merideth crossed to him and patted his cheek, smiling sweetly. “Why, thank you, John Lee, for your generosity, but frankly I prefer the Porsche.”

Three

Scowling, John Lee trailed Merideth to the house loaded down with four shopping bags and a huge box containing, of all things, a life-size Raggedy Ann doll. He’d already made two trips, and it looked as if he’d be making at least two more before he’d transferred all Merideth’s purchases to the nursery.

The very thought made his knee throb in protest.

“Hurry up, John Lee,” Merideth called over her shoulder. “I want to get started on Cassie’s room as soon as possible.”

“Hurry up, John Lee,” he mocked, limping along behind her. “If you’re in such an all-fired hurry,” he grumped, “then why don’t you carry some of this crap?”

Merideth stopped and turned to look at him. “Because I have the baby.” Smiling sweetly, she pivoted and continued up the steps.

John Lee frowned at her back. “Why don’t I get to carry the baby?”

“Because that’s my job,” she reminded him. She opened the door, then shifted the sleeping Cassie to cradle her in her opposite arm so she could prop the door open with her hip. “Besides,” she added, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously, “carrying those little old bags should be a snap for someone as big and strong as you.”

With a snort, John Lee pushed past her. “Save your breath,” he muttered. “I know you too well to be suckered by your sweet talk.”

Merideth let the door close behind her. “You consider that sweet talk?” she teased, as she followed him. “Darling, you don’t even know what sweet talk is.”

“And I don’t want to know,” he grumbled. He picked his way through the minefield of suitcases Merideth had dumped in his bedroom earlier that morning, then squeezed through the door connecting the bedroom to his den. After dropping the packages to the floor, he flexed his fingers, trying to get the blood running through them again. “The rest of that stuff can wait.”

“But, John Lee—”

“No buts,” he warned, wagging a finger beneath her nose. “If you want the rest of it in here, you can haul it. I’m done.” Having had his say, he turned and stalked from the room.

Merideth smothered a laugh. “That’s what he thinks,” she whispered to the sleeping Cassie as she tucked her into her crib for the rest of her nap. She waited a moment, to make sure she’d settled, then tiptoed to the door and closed it softly behind her. When she turned, she found John Lee sprawled on his back on the king-size bed, his arms flung wide.

“Excuse me, but I think you’re on my bed.”

John Lee groaned. “Have a heart, Merideth. It was the closest one.”

Still high from the day of shopping, she sat down beside him. “What’s wrong, John Lee?” she teased, giving his cheek a playful pat. “Did we wear you out?”

He growled and batted her hand away.

Chuckling softly, she kicked off her shoes and leaned back, supporting herself with her elbows. Tipping her head to one side, she wiggled her toes and admired her nail polish. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “shopping is a lot like sex.”

John Lee cracked open one eye to peer at her. “In what way?”

“Afterwards, a woman is energized and ready for more, while all a man wants to do is sleep.”

In spite of his weariness, John Lee chuckled. “I’ll agree on the shopping part, but as to sex...well, I’d have to say that depends on the man.”

“Oh, really?” she challenged, cocking her head to look at him. “And I suppose you’re the exception to the rule?”

Smiling smugly, he laced his fingers across his chest. “Sugar, where sex is involved, I’m the exception to every rule.”

She snorted. “Egotist.”

“No, I just know my strengths.” He rolled his head to the side and grinned up at her. “Want me to prove it?”

“Do you want me to break your nose?” she returned.

He chuckled. “And ruin this pretty face?”

Rolling her eyes, Merideth lay back, settling beside him, then groaned when her gaze met her reflection on the ceiling. “That is sick,” she said, frowning at the mirror above.

John Lee stifled a yawn. “What’s sick?”

“That!”

He opened his eyes and met her gaze in the mirror above them. They lay side by side, their shoulders almost touching.

“And that, too,” she added, pointing to the mirrored wall beside the bed.

His mouth curved in a teasing grin when her gaze met his again on the ceiling. “I don’t know. Personally, I kind of like ’em.”

“You would,” she grumbled. She snagged the comer of the pillow beneath his head, gave it a tug and plopped her head down on it. “This room looks like something straight out of a cathouse.”

“You ever been in a cathouse?”

Merideth squirmed, nudging him over, until she had the lion’s share of the pillow. “No, but I played a call girl once.”

“A call girl, huh?”

Comfortable now, she met his gaze in the mirror. “Yes, a call girl. A very expensive one, I might add.”

“Were you any good?”

She smiled smugly. “The best.”

Wide awake now, John Lee rolled to his side, propping an elbow on the mattress and his cheek on his palm as he looked at her. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine Merideth playing the part of a high-priced prostitute. With those pouty lips, that voluptuous figure and those sultry eyes, she would be a natural for the part.

A woman like her could drive a man wild...and did, he was sure.

Of course, she’d had years of practice to prepare for the part. Even as a teenager she’d been aware of her feminine wiles and had honed them to a razor-sharp edge on her unsuspecting male classmates. Fights were fought over her, bets made and lost as to who would win her heart. But even though she’d had her pick of the guys, he couldn’t remember her ever having a steady boyfriend. He supposed it was because she’d enjoyed all the attention too much to sacrifice it for the love of just one man.

Three years her senior, John Lee had never competed with the others for her attention. He’d never needed to. He’d had his hands full keeping all the girls who’d chased after him satisfied. But he’d been aware of her, just the same.

Any other woman undergoing as close a scrutiny as John Lee was giving her right now might have fidgeted and fussed, but not Merideth. She was way too sure of herself to squirm. She met his gaze squarely, confidently and maybe a bit cockily.

“The best, huh?” he said, eyeing her.

“The very best.”

“What was your specialty?”

She laughed at his question, that low sultry laugh of hers that crawled along a man’s nerves and tightened his groin.

“I wasn’t the star in some porno flick, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she told him. “It was daytime television. In fact, as I recall, there was actually only one scene with a john. Monique, the character I play, or rather played,” she amended, frowning as she remembered that the part was no longer hers. Marcus had stripped her of it, just before—She stanched the thought before it could fully form, not wanting to think about the past and all she’d lost. “Anyway,” she went on, “Monique had a dual personality that surfaced from time to time. She was the wife of a successful doctor, and her alter ego, Charise, was the prostitute. Unfortunately—”

While she rattled on with her synopsis of the story line and the description of her character, John Lee only half listened, his attention stolen by the movement of her lips.

She had a delectable mouth. Full and soft, the points of her upper lip’s bow sharp and well-defined. He wondered what those lips would feel like pressed against his, moving in a slow sensual mating of taste and texture. As he watched, mesmerized, her lips parted and her tongue slipped out to trace a line along her upper lip, wetting it. Her tongue bumped that little tight bow at the center of her upper lip and John Lee had to bite back a groan.

He knew it was a mistake, knew that he might very well be jeopardizing the arrangement that he’d made with Merideth to look after Cassie, but even knowing this, he couldn’t resist the temptation to taste her.

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