Rodeo Bride by Myrna Mackenzie Page A

desire for babies yesterday. And she didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. There were enough people in town who already did that and always had. It set her apart and made her too different. It created barriers she’d never understood how to breach. She needed to turn the conversation in a different direction, so she might as well discuss what she’d brought him out here to say. “I love my life, Dillon, and my world here. I’ve made it all myself, and I’m responsible for whatever happens here. So, I have to tell you, I might have done something wrong and made a mistake when I went into town. One that will affect you.”
    She explained about Bill and Harve and Rob and the car. “I should have made them understand. Argued more. Made it clear that you weren’t here to give tours of your Ferrari.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “No. I was the one who made the mistake. I want you to know that I won’t let them come on my land to pester you.”
    “They’re your neighbors.”
    “Doesn’t matter. They’re just being nosy. That’s not right.”
    He turned her around and placed his hands on her shoulders, the baby between them. Her entire body felt as if itmight melt at his touch. “When I leave here, you have to live with your friends and neighbors. It’s only a car. I don’t mind giving a test drive to a couple of your neighbors. Seriously not an issue with me.”
    She was still unconvinced. “They might ask a lot of gossipy questions about Toby and Lisa.”
    “Then I just won’t answer. Do you always feel this responsible about everything that happens here?” he asked.
    “No. Yes. I guess I feel I have to. This ranch is my whole world. It’s what makes me who I am, and these people…the women…if I fail, they lose their livelihoods when they’ve all already had to face too many bad things in their lives.”
    “But it’s me you’re trying to protect this time.”
    She shrugged. “Maybe you could use a sanctuary for a few weeks, too. Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you’ve been exempted from the tough stuff. It couldn’t have been easy marrying Lisa and losing her. Or going to war. Or being wounded.”
    Toby had fallen asleep and was listing to one side in her arms. Without a word and with seemingly little effort, Dillon took him and tucked him against his shoulder. Then he reached out and slid one palm along Colleen’s jaw.
    He had a magic touch. She wanted to lean right into his palm, step up against his body. Instead, she forced herself to simply look into his eyes.
    “I doubt that divorce is ever easy for anyone, but I’ve had a long time to think about it, and I think my marriage was doomed from the start. I can’t even really blame Lisa. She has that princess aura, and I chose her thinking she would be a good wife for a businessman the way other men choose a suit off the rack. But she wanted someone more exciting than I was, someone more willing to make the rounds of the social circuit and less of a workaholic and I should have realized thatfrom the start. When I got called back into service and went overseas, she was livid about the fact that I didn’t fight my tour of duty. As for the rest…no, none of that was easy, but still easier than a lot of other people who went to war have had. From that perspective, I can’t complain.”
    “Are you just being nice, trying to make me feel better and forget that I messed up? Because I did mention the car and your work on the ranch. Now Harve Enson thinks you’re some foolish guy who’s easy prey and he’s going to stalk you just because he’s bored and has nothing to do with his time.”
    He stared down into her eyes, his own that unsettling blue. “If I really wanted you to forget something, I’d try a more drastic approach.”
    “What?”
    He shifted the baby and leaned into her, sweeping his arm around her waist. “I’m not easy prey,” he whispered when his lips were just a breath away from hers. “What I am is