Wish Upon a Cowboy by Maureen Child, Kathleen Kane

torturing himself, was there?
    "Is it a deal?"
    Her fingers curled tight around the broom handle, she thought about it for a long moment before agreeing. "All right," she said. "I won't mention the word marriage. You have my word."
    Hmmm… a carefully worded agreement if he'd ever heard one. Mac had the distinct feeling he was being maneuvered. He just wasn't sure how.
    Still he was desperate and Hannah was his only way out of this. He already knew for a fact that no one in town was interested in working for him for the pitifully small wages he could afford to pay. In fact, he never had been able to figure out why Juana had taken the job. Except, of course, for the fact that the woman wasn't much hand at working anyway and probably no one else would have hired her.
    The solemn word of a crazy woman wasn't much, he guessed, but it was all he had.
    "All right. But there's something else you should know. The pay's not much," he felt obliged to tell her. "Only twenty a month, plus room and board, of course," he looked beyond her to the main room, from which two smaller rooms branched off. "Elias likes sleeping in the bunkhouse, so Juana's been using his bedroom. I guess you can move in there now."
    She turned her head as if she could see past the wall to her new bedroom beyond. With her swift movement, her fall of blond hair swung out in a wide arc around her head and shoulders. White, gold, wheat, and honey colors blended in her hair to make it shimmer with light. His breath caught at the sheer beauty of it.
    Then she looked back at him and smiled. "It sounds perfect."
    Perfect. He wouldn't say that. Looking from that smile, to her hair, to those sparkling green eyes of hers, to the swell of her bosom and the narrow expanse of her waist, a chill of misgiving slithered along his spine.
    It was one thing to share a house with a woman old enough to be your mother. It was quite another to know that the female on the other side of the wall from you was a woman who looked like Hannah. The only thing that might save him was knowing that she expected him to marry her. And by God, that wouldn't be happening. Damn it, a part of him already regretted this.
    "You won't regret this," she said, startling him by unknowingly echoing his thoughts.
    Whether he did or not, the deal was done and he'd just have to live with it. Just as he'd apparently have to live with the fact that his body was going to be constantly thrown into turmoil just by her presence.
    At that disquieting thought, Jonas countered with, "Maybe I won't, but you might."
    "What do you mean?"
    Mac glanced down to where the cat was laying across both of his feet. He nudged it off, then lifted his gaze to Hannah's worried expression. Here's where he would find out if she had the guts to stay or not.
    "In an hour or two, twelve men are going to be coming in here looking for breakfast. A few hours later, that same bunch will want noon dinner, and after that, supper."
    Her eyes widened as she glanced quickly around the messy kitchen. Then, as if listening to a stern inner voice, she inhaled sharply and gave him a brief, determined nod. "I can do that."
    Okay, he could give her a point for that. She hadn't quailed at the thought of feeding a dozen hungry ranch hands. But the real test was yet to come. He paused thoughtfully, then went on, "In a couple of weeks, there'll be about forty hungry people here day in and day out for a few more weeks, and they'll all be expecting to be fed."
    "Forty?" she said on a gasp and reached up to clasp at the base of her throat as though the word were choking her.
    "Roundup time," he said, refusing to be swayed by the horrified expression on her face. "The first week or two, we'll be working on my spread. Some of the ranchers' wives will be bringing food, too, but mainly it's up to us to feed ‘em."
    "Forty," she repeated, her voice a little hoarse.
    "For right now, it's just the twelve of us. Well, thirteen, counting you."
    "Thirteen," she