The Rancher's Surrender

'I hear the thick skull part,' said a familiar deep voice.

Zoe took an uneven breath and turned. Ty's wide shoulders propped up the doorjamb, and though the day had hardly begun, he looked as though he didn't have a care in the world. He looked… oh, boy. He looked gorgeous, just like Delia had so helpfully pointed out.

Who besides Ty could stand there so early and look so sexy? His hair was slicked back as if he'd just showered. Soap and clean male scent floated in the air. His expression was carefully masked as he met her gaze.

It was a forcible reminder that they hadn't had a decent conversation since the day she'd help deliver his new foal.

Obviously he was safe and sound and in one piece, and she'd wasted time worrying herself sick over him.

As if he could read her mind, a very annoying habit he seemed to enjoy, his eyes heated. No smile, no words, just hot, hungry eyes.

Instantly her nerves went on overdrive. 'Didn't anyone ever teach you it was rude to eavesdrop?'

'Nope,' he replied in that voice that never failed to give her the shivers. He grinned slowly, his face tanned, his teeth white and even. 'Missed that lesson.'

Maddie had gotten up, happily filling a plate with food. Ty took it and bent to kiss her on the cheek. Sitting down, he leaned over and gave Delia a quick hug.

He didn't touch Zoe.

She rolled her eyes and got up, storming over to the sink to drop in her plate.

'Zoe, hon, you heading out?' Delia asked, surprised. 'You didn't finish eating.'

And that alone was clearly so unlike her, both Delia and Maddie were staring at her wide-eyed. Great. Not only was she a jerk, she was a pig, too. She sighed. 'I've got to go. I'm meeting Cliff in the barn.'

Ty didn't so much as pause in his eating. 'Cliff isn't coming,' he said casually, continuing to pour food into that lean body with a speed that amazed her.

'Yes, he is. We're working on-'

'I know what you're working on,' he said, wiping his mouth with a napkin and looking at her with a smile she didn't trust. 'But you're going to work on it with me instead.'

Her pulse danced. 'What happened to Cliff?'

'He's… busy.'

'You mean you made him busy.'

Ty shrugged, that annoying little knowing smile firmly in place. 'You don't have a problem, do you? Working with me?'

Everyone stared at her and Zoe gritted her teeth. Oh, he was smooth. 'No problem,' she said sweetly, adding a sticky smile to the words as she swished by him and out the door.

But it was a problem, a big one. She'd have to work all day with the street-smart, smart-ass, gorgeous cowboy she'd been trying not to think about for days.

* * *

Five minutes later, Zoe stalked into the dark, dingy barn. Energy pulsed through her, as did the need to do something-anything-to put Ty out of her head. He was like a drug in her bloodstream and she didn't understand the addiction. It had been a good choice to come here, the place was a disaster and it cleared her head.

'The logical choice is to just give up.' Zoe told this to the wood she started methodically stacking. She wore her surprise gloves, intending to clear out the piles of debris.

Deserted.

God, how she knew that feeling, and slowly she straightened, her troubles with Ty forgotten as she took a good look around her. Deserted. Yeah, she knew the feeling alright. Her animosity toward the barn faded at that thought. So it had seen better days, so what? With considerably more warmth now, she sighed fondly.

It might be dirty and in need of help, but it was theirs.

'I'll never leave you,' she whispered to the empty building, meaning it with all her heart. She'd been fighting all her life, and she wouldn't stop now. 'I'm not a quitter.'

It was her one strength, she allowed in a rare moment of self-discovery. Around her, the barn creaked, as if acknowledging her promise.

'We'll be fine.' With or without money, yet another worry. There wasn't enough room in her brain for it all. 'I've gone hungry before,' she huffed as she struggled with a heavy scrap of wood. She paused and blew hair out of her face. 'And there's certainly nothing new about being the underdog.'

Watching her from the door, Ty felt his heart constrict painfully. 'I hear you on that one,' he said softly.

She whipped around to face him. 'I hate when you do that.'

What she hated, he thought, was the fact that he'd caught her in a moment of extreme vulnerability.

He sympathized, but was thankful.

Without these little moments of watching her unguarded, he might not understand her nearly so well. And he did understand her, whether she wanted to believe that or not. They were very much alike in many ways.

'I've been fighting all my life, too,' he said, stepping farther into the barn. 'And I've been hungry more times than I care to remember.'

'A child should never be hungry,' she said, her voice sad. 'Or afraid.'

'Or alone,' he agreed easily. 'But we both know it's not that simple.'

'Is that why you want this land so badly?' she asked. 'So that you will never be hungry or in need again?'

'I'm not hungry or in need now.'

'So why, then? Why does the land mean so much to you?'

He couldn't talk about Ben, he'd never been able to. But for a moment, he wished he could. Wished he could unburden his very real fear that he'd failed his brother. 'It's complicated.'

She made a discouraged noise. 'Everything is when it comes to you.'

'It doesn't have to be complicated between us.'

'Complicated seems to suit me.' In an unusually nervous gesture, she shifted her weight back and forth. 'Ty… we need to talk.'

'About?'

'Us.'

That shocked him. 'Don't tell me you've decided to admit the truth. You're crazy about me.'

Her face was comical. 'Ah… not quite.'

'You're telling me you feel nothing?'

'I'm telling you I didn't mean that kind of us.'

He sighed. 'Zoe, then just say whatever the hell's on your mind. I'm tired of guessing.'

'Well…' She bit her lip, glanced at him from beneath her out-of-control hair, then took off her gloves and shoved them in her back pocket. Then she pulled them out of her pocket and put them back on. 'It's about the ranch.'

She was nervous, he realized. 'It's not a ranch yet.'

'I know. It's that…' A muffled oath escaped her as she turned in a slow circle, encompassing the bedraggled barn. 'I really want it to be.'

'You have your loan yet?'

'I'm getting to that.' Misery spilled over her expression. 'That's one of those complicated things.'

And he suddenly understood her misery. 'You want to borrow the money from me.'

'Yes,' she whispered, her eyes filled with uncertainty and defiance and hope and dread all at once, and they were sparkling with unshed tears, which she blinked furiously at. 'The bank wasn't very interested.'

Hell, he thought as his heart constricted. He could only imagine what she'd been through that she'd admit to having trouble. 'I'm sorry. Can't you try another bank?'

'Ah… no.' Her head bowed. 'I tried every bank, around. I'm a bad investment.' Her voice broke and so did his heart.

'God, don't cry. It's okay, the money is yours.'

'We'll pay you back, you know.' Her voice wobbled.

'I know,' he said quickly, slapping his pockets for a damn handkerchief, which of course he didn't have.