The Rancher's Unexpected Family
1 COWGIRL COP + 1 SINGLE DAD = DOUBLE THE DESIRE!Running a ranch for troubled kids, policing the town and raising a son – Ash McCune is in complete control of her hectic life. Till one sexy single dad arrives on her ranch with his daughter. Cole Quartermaine is rich, successful, a good father. But he's leaving in a few weeks. But he makes her feel like a woman.Cole needs this time to connect with his newfound daughter. What he doesn't need is an attraction to the cowgirl cop who runs it. Nor hero worship from her son. He's going to return to the city or he could stay and make a family of four!
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1 Cowgirl Cop + 1 Single Dad = Double the Desire!
Running a ranch for troubled kids, policing the town and raising a sonâAsh McCune is in complete control of her hectic life. Till one sexy single dad arrives on her Cedar River ranch with his daughter. Cole Quartermaine is rich, successful, a good father. But in weeks, heâs leaving. So why does he make her feel something she hasnât felt in yearsâlike a woman?
Cole needs this ranch to connect with his newfound daughter. What he doesnât need is a jaw-dropping attraction to the cowgirl cop who runs it. Nor hero worship from her son. Heâs got three weeks to resist her and return to the city, a party of twoâ¦or stay and make a family of four.
A father figure...a dad.
Thatâs how her son viewed him? He shouldâve been more careful, not gotten so involved. Now he was leaving and the boy would be hurt.
âIâm sorry,â he said.
âI never realized how much he missed having a man in his life. Not surprising, of course. In Jayeâs eyes, youâre a perfect image of what a father should be... strong, kind. Everything he longs for. Everything I didnât give him.â She shook her head. âMaybe because Iâm scared of letting someone in.â
âYouâre not afraid of anything,â he said, grasping her hand.
âI am afraid,â she admitted, holding his glance. âIâm absolutely terrified. Of you. Of...this.â
âMe, too,â he said quietly.
âSo what do we do?â
âI donât know. Ignore it. Go with it. Honestly, I have no idea.â He rubbed her palm with his thumb. The action was hypnotic and sexy and she swayed toward him. He felt her heat. âI promised myself... I promised you that Iâd keep my distance.â He looked down at how close she was. âAsh, you should tell me to leave.â
She touched his face, cradling his jaw. âI should...â she said, her words trailing. âBut somehow, I canât.â
* * *
The Cedar River Cowboys:
Riding into town with romance on their minds!
HELEN LACEY grew up reading Black Beauty and Little House on the Prairie. These childhood classics inspired her to write her first book when she was seven, a story about a girl and her horse. She loves writing for Mills & Boon Cherish, where she can create strong heroes with soft hearts and heroines with gumption who get their happily-ever-after. For more about Helen, visit her website, www.helenlacey.com.
For Nas Dean
Thank you for all that you do
Contents
There was one thing Cole Quartermaine knew, and that was that he knew nothing about how to handle surly teenagers.
In particular, his surly teenage daughter, who was sulking in the passenger seat of his rental car, earbuds plugged into her ears, her mouth pressed into a flat, grim line.
She hates me.
No surprise there. It had been a fraught eight months since heâd first discovered the existence of fourteen-year-old Maisy, and that he was father to a girl who had no interest in getting to know him or having any kind of relationship. But he desperately wanted to work things out with his daughter...no matter how much she resisted. She didnât care who he was, or that they shared the same blood. She called him Cole and he didnât insist she say anything different.
To be honest, he wasnât even sure how heâd react if she actually did call him Dad.
He concentrated on the drive and glanced to the right, at the sign welcoming them to town. Cedar River, South Dakotaâpopulation, three thousand and something. A speck on the map that sat in the shadow of the Black Hills. It was where heâd be staying for the next few weeksâa world away from Phoenix and the life he had there.
But he had to do it. For Maisyâs sake. The last few months had been hard on them both. She didnât want to be with him, she didnât want anything to do with him or his folks or either of his younger sisters. And since the alternative was foster care, Cole knew this might be the only chance he had of truly connecting with his daughter. When his lawyer and friend, Joel, had suggested it, heâd resisted the idea. He wasnât a small-town kind of person. He had lived most of his life in Phoenix, Arizona, although heâd traveled the country extensively when he was competing on the NASCAR circuit. But now that he was retired from racing and managing his family-owned race team, Cole spent the majority of the year in his city apartment in Phoenix.
And this, he thought as he drove through Cedar River, with its one traffic light, wide wooden-planked sidewalks and mix of old and new storefronts, was not any kind of big city.
He checked the GPS and took a left turn, crossing the river over a long bridge that took them east, with another five miles to travel. When the electronic voice from the GPS told him they had arrived at their destination, Cole turned right and went through a pair of wide, whitewashed gates. He looked down the long gravel driveway and spotted a ranch house in the distance. There were several other buildings dotted around the house, most of them smaller except for the huge red barn with a white roof that stood out like a beacon beneath the glow of the midmorning sun. Several horses and about a dozen head of cattle were grazing in the pasture, and he spotted a couple of dogs roaming around the ranch house.
