Always a Lady by Sharon Sala Page B

ranch, let me know where you're going and an approximate time you'll be back. I at least want to know where to start looking if you don't show up on time."
"Yes, Father," Lily teased.
    Case's heart jumped. She was smiling. He could see that much of her face in the shadows.
    "I'm sorry," he grinned. "I didn't mean to come across so heavy-handed. It's just that you're fairly new to the area. I don't want you lost."
    "Thank you," Lily said, in her most teasing ladylike manner. "It's nice to be wanted."
    "Oh, you're wanted all right, Lily Brownfield. You have no idea how much."
    Case walked past her and into the house, ignoring the look of consternation and then embarrassment that slid across Lily's face. Let her stew on that a while. He damned sure had.
    *      *      *
    Lily had gone nowhere. She'd opted for a lazy day in the sun and after sleeping to an unheard of nine o'clock in the morning, she'd skipped breakfast and gone outside with a glass of juice and a book she'd borrowed from Case's den. She stretched out on a chaise lounge in the sun.
    Her long legs and arms were bare. The rest of her was indecently covered with a pink shorts and halter set, one that she'd have worn without a qualm back home on the beach. But here, she was a tiny bit nervous about someone seeing so much of her—especially since she was the only female within shouting distance among an unruly herd of men. She wasn't in fear for her life. Her heart was the only thing in danger. And Lily was slowly but surely admitting that to herself.
    Case stood at the kitchen window and watched Lily reveling in her day in the sun. He supposed that she'd had many days like this back home in L.A. and wondered, not for the first time, if his dreams of keeping Lily Brownfield in Oklahoma were too farfetched.
    She was not the usual country-girl type. She was city born, city bred, and educated to boot. He didn't know what made him so all-fired certain that she'd stay if he asked. He only knew that he wouldn't let her leave without giving it a try.
    He heard the sounds of a vehicle coming down the long driveway and reluctantly turned away from the window overlooking the backyard. He went to the door and out onto the front porch, standing with one arm braced against the porch post as he watched a car full of men spill out of a dark sedan.
    There was one older man, dark headed, two younger men with matching hair and complexions, and two even younger men with hair as blond as Lily's. Something about the way they walked reminded him . . .
    "Can I help you?" Case drawled, as they walked en masse toward him. He smiled to himself at the fancy he had of an imminent attack. They didn't look fearsome. In fact, they looked like they were in shock.
    "Is this the Longren Ranch?" the older man asked.
    "Yes," Case answered. "I'm Case Longren. What can I do for you?"
    "We've come all the way from California to see Lily Brownfield. Is she here?" Morgan Brownfield asked, half expecting to hear him say no. He couldn't believe that his college-educated daughter was actually cooking for a roundup on an Oklahoma ranch. When he'd gotten her brief letter explaining what she'd planned to do, he'd been in shock. By the time the rest of his brood had been informed, they'd given Lily exactly three weeks to contact them. When she'd failed to do so, they'd come looking.
    Case sucked in a breath. California! Please God, no!
    "Yes, she's here," he answered. "But if one of you men is that sorry, fair-weather bastard of a fiancé, you can just take yourself all the way back to California and get off my property. Do I make myself clear?"
    Cole Brownfield narrowed his dark eyes, grinning to himself as he watched his father's face. It looked like Lily had found one more man ready to fight for her honor. Somehow he wasn't surprised.
    Morgan Brownfield couldn't think of what to say. With his abrupt, nearly rude dismissal of them, this man clearly had the same low opinion of Todd Collins that he had. It