The Rancher's Surrender

His lips quirked then, though he still didn't move. 'Don't worry, Slim. First aid isn't required.'

The urge to tease him out of this unnerving mood was strong, but something stopped her. Whether it was the utter flatness to his expression, or the alarming stillness in a man who never stopping moving, she didn't know.

She hopped off the tailgate and moved in front of him. 'Ty?'

When he still didn't bother with a response, she reached up and flicked off his sunglasses.

Now he looked down at her with those fathomless steel eyes. 'Break's over.'

She didn't pretend to know him well, but something was wrong. He seemed so… well, regretful, and he wasn't a man to waste time on regrets. 'Ty, come on. Truth.'

'Truth.' He nodded, turned and kicked the tire of the decrepit old truck with angry vehemence. 'Truth is, this life is too hard for you.'

That was a good one. Compared to the life she'd already led, this was a cakewalk. 'You're wrong about that,' she said evenly.

'It is,' he insisted.

'So I suppose you want me to sell to you and hightail it on outta here.'

'This isn't what you expected, Zoe. You know it's not. It isn't good for Maddie and Delia.'

Maddie and Delia. Of course, it all came down to them, because who really cared what the tough, cold Zoe thought? 'They're fine,' she said, more harshly than she meant.

'But for how long?'

She kept her voice even. 'Sorry you agreed to stay on for the year?'

He looked disgusted at that thought. 'No.'

'So it's true, then,' she said slowly. 'You want us to run off with our tails between our legs and leave you the land.'

'No.' But he turned from her.

'Ty.'

'No!' He nearly shouted this, then dropped his head back on his shoulders and stared at the lazy white clouds floating across the sky. 'Hell. I'm not regretting helping. That's the last thing I'd regret. I'm talking about money, Slim.'

'What about it?'

'You don't have any, for one. Constance didn't have any to leave you. This place is dead without it, and you won't let me help financially.'

'We'll manage.'

'How?' He shook his head, frustration spilling out of his every pore. 'Why won't you let me in as partner?'

'So we could spend your money?'

'Well… yes. Dammit, yes.'

'Is that what this is about? Your pride?'

He let out a rough laugh. 'You have a way, Zoe, of putting things. Makes me feel about two feet tall.'

'We could care less about money.' She thought about it, then amended that statement with a fond smile. 'Well, Maddie and I, anyway. Delia, she's another story.'

'You all deserve more.' He shoved his fingers through his hair and walked around in a slow circle. He'd not slept agonizing over this. It was hard to relinquish Ben's dream, and this land had truly been his brother's dream, but he couldn't, wouldn't cheat these women of theirs, either.

He just couldn't do it. Couldn't live with himself if he pushed them until they gave up.

'So you're upset that this life is too tough for us?' She laughed at him. Laughed. 'And who appointed you our keeper?' She put her hands on her hips and faced him, eyes flashing, hair wild, looking stunningly primal. 'I'm a big girl, Ty Jackson, and I've been through lots of crap. This is nothing.'

He wondered just how bad that 'crap' had been. No use mentioning he agonized over that, too, because she wouldn't believe him. 'I know-'

'No,' she interrupted flatly. 'You don't. I'm stronger than most, though, so if you really think you're responsible for me and that you have to take care of me, think again, buster. No one but me takes care of me.'

How to explain that what he felt for her wasn't 'responsibility.' Hell, it wasn't even close to brotherly, hadn't been since the beginning and had only escalated since their brief embrace in the barn, just before she'd clobbered him with a surprisingly effective right hook. But he couldn't put those feelings to words because he didn't have the words for something he didn't want to face. 'I just-'

Her finger poked into his chest, her head barely meeting his shoulder as she continued to rant with the sun beating down on them. 'I make my own decisions, one of which was to come here. It's a mess, I agree on that. But a mess my sisters and I will deal with together. And together, alone, we'll fix it.'

'How can you fix it without money?'

'I can hammer just as well as you, that doesn't take cash. And-'

'And you have no idea what you need here. This was a horse ranch, but you have no horses. No money to buy them. And no idea how to work the land to raise crops instead, not to mention no money for that, either.'

'I have a little money.' Very little. 'Delia does, too, though not much because she can't keep cash to save her life. Maddie doesn't have anything, but-'

'It's not enough,' he said firmly.

She put her hands on her hips and faced him. 'So I ought to just sell it to you, I suppose.'

'Sounds good to me.'

They were standing toe to toe, nose to nose in the dirt by the truck. 'No go. Never. No way,' she clarified.

He growled in pure frustration. 'You're just being stubborn.'

'We'll be fine.'

'A loan won't give you the know-how.'

She swiped at her forehead, streaking more dirt. She looked stubborn, full of determination and beautiful. 'I know. But I have a manager. Unless… you're done here.'

'Do you want me to be done?'

'No. We… need you.'

He gaped at her surprising admission, while she sighed, clearly not happy about having to admit it.

'Do you?' he asked quietly.

'Yes.' She drew a deep breath. 'So… will you help?'

'Good question.' He could smell the light, tantalizing scent of her. He could feel the heat from her body seeping into his. Their thighs almost brushed, and at his sides his hands curled into fists to keep from grasping her hips and bringing them to his.

'Know what I think?' she whispered.

'What?' His voice wasn't quite steady, and he cleared his throat at the awareness shooting like electricity between them.

'I think you need us, too. You just don't even know it.' God, he wanted to put his hands on her again, his mouth on hers. And he didn't want to see that flash of fear in her eyes when it happened. He didn't want to feel this way about her, but he did.

'Isn't that true?' she pressed.

Why couldn't she back off? She didn't want to show him the real Zoe hidden beneath her tough facade; she should just leave him and his feelings the hell alone. He took back his sunglasses and placed them on his nose.

'Chicken,' she taunted. 'Too chicken to talk to me.'

'I want to do a whole hell of a lot more than talk,' he assured her, watching her flush with little satisfaction.

'There you go, being a bully again.'

That did it. Really did it. She gasped when he stalked toward her, backing her to the side of the truck.

'Ty. What-'

He did what his body demanded. And maybe he was being a bully, but he didn't care.

He swallowed her startled breath with his mouth.