The Rancher's Surrender

'Ready to admit it, Zoe? You're hot for me.'

'Ha!' She lifted her chin. 'I'm too hot for you. Now, go home. You smell like a cowboy.'

'I am a cowboy.' His eyes glittered knowingly, as if he could see right through her facade to the secret part of her she liked to keep hidden. 'And I want to talk to all three of you,' he said.

And what Ty wanted, he got. No use trying to fight it, he'd probably just toss her over his shoulder and cart her into the kitchen, where even now she could hear her sisters' voices.

It was pointless to fight with him. So she shrugged in acquiescence and sashayed away. Ty watched, a slow, appreciative smile crossing his face now that she had her back to him. God, she was so easy to bait, and he loved to see her flash all that fire she struggled to contain.

She was something; that compact, hot little body of hers spitting all that attitude, her wild hair falling around her shoulders. A strand slipped in her face, which she tugged at with a low sound of annoyance.

Oh yeah, she was riled up good now.

And while there were other things he might love to do to her as well as tease, Zoe Martin was off-limits. They'd both set those limits three days ago. He'd done so because, despite her innocence in the whole thing, he resented like crazy that she was holding Ben's dream. He was far less certain why she held back from their obvious, unfortunate attraction, though he got a feeling it was because she'd been hurt and betrayed far too much in her short life. It did disturb him to watch her hide her natural sensuality and passion, especially when he knew that sensuality and passion were directed at him.

She concealed them behind a wall of indifference that exasperated him. Which was why he so enjoyed the bickering; it pulled her out of her shell and revealed the true Zoe.

But she was a weakness, one he didn't have time for.

He'd come to a decision. One that would solve this problem once and for all. He was going to do exactly as Constance had asked. He would manage this place for them. It meant getting the ranch running from nothing. It would take money, hard work and grit, none of which he was even sure they had.

Truth was, he was banking on them not having it. As soon as they saw how much was involved, he figured the city girls would be happy to sell-to him-and head back to Los Angeles.

Nobody would get hurt; they'd go home and he would fulfill his promise to his brother. Perfect. Hoping it worked, Ty followed the tantalizing scent of food, and the equally tantalizing scent of Zoe Martin.

* * *

'Go ahead, Ty, you take that last piece.' Maddie held out the pan and smiled at him. He smiled back because it had taken her these entire three days just to feel comfortable enough to speak easily to him, and he felt relieved she'd decided to trust him.

Relieved and guilty, because he didn't deserve their trust when he wanted them to leave so badly.

The mouth-watering aroma of melted cheese and sausage continued to call to him. But he'd had four pieces already, and he hadn't come to eat them out of house and home.

'You know you want it,' Delia teased him.

They'd had an instant connection, he and Delia. A brother-sister connection that had them immediately bonded. And now he'd bonded with Maddie as well, their relationship was softer, more gentle than the teasing one he and Delia shared.

He wanted to resent these women, and did. But some of that resentment was fading, no matter how he struggled to hold on to it.

God, he missed Ben. He supposed that would never change. But how to keep his dream alive without hurting these women?

Maddie was a haunting beauty, with huge wide eyes that just made a man want to drown in them and offer to slay dragons. Those eyes held secrets, painful ones, and he wondered at them. Delia was tall and slender, a glamour girl. Intelligent, too, with a wicked sense of humor he got a kick out of. And in her eyes was a need to belong. Well, she belonged now, to the ranch he wanted for himself.

Then there was Zoe. She was different from her sisters, far different. He wasn't satisfied by anything so simple as friendship, and he didn't understand it.

'Eat,' Maddie said to him again, gesturing with the box. 'You've lost weight.'

Zoe snorted.

He ignored Zoe and winked at Maddie. She held the pan patiently.

His stomach growled.

Oh, what the hell. He took the piece, studying the third sister, the one who didn't easily fit into any simple category.

Did she feel the same way about him? Hard to tell since she hid everything going on inside that head behind a screen of grumpy indifference.

She wiggled uncomfortably under his scrutiny, then finally swallowed a bit of pizza before demanding, 'What are you looking at?'

'You.'

She flushed, fidgeted some more, giving herself away. 'Why?'

He simply grinned and continued eating, undisturbed, relaxing now that he knew the truth… she was secretly crazy about him.

A comfortable silence filled the room as they ate. They were all sitting on the freshly cleaned living room floor, before a warm, crackling fire, eating picnic-style.

That they didn't have four chairs in the kitchen wasn't the point. The sisters just loved being together, and they were willing to share that with him-and he wanted their one and only possession for himself.

'I didn't come to eat,' he said quietly, putting down his pizza.

'Really,' Zoe said dryly, brushing off her hands. 'I never would have guessed.' Her eyes sharpened on him. 'You being here wouldn't by any chance have anything to do with you wanting this land, would it?'

Chapter 3

'Zoe, be nice,' Maddie said lightly. She swiveled her head, her short, dark hair flying around her face, her dark, deep eyes warm with affection as she spoke to Ty. 'She's a bully today because that jerk at the bank in Lewiston didn't hire her.' She looked at Zoe again and reached for her sister's hand. 'He just didn't recognize a treasure when he found one, that's all.'

Zoe swallowed, closed her eyes for a long heartbeat, clearly touched, and just as clearly uncomfortable with Maddie's easy love.

Ty's curiosity upped a notch, so did a strange sense of protectiveness. The drive to Lewiston was long and never easy in the best of times. 'Why did you want a job there? It's too far for you to drive it every day.'

Zoe recovered from Maddie's affection in the blink of an eye and looked at him as if he were something she'd scraped off the bottom of her shoe. 'It's funny how expensive this habit of eating is.'

'I wish you wouldn't, Zoe,' Delia said quietly. 'We'll find a way. We'll sell something, or get a loan.'

'Delia's right,' Maddie insisted. 'We'll make it work together or not at all.'

Ty watched the three of them, felt their closeness as a tangible thing.

And it was, he reminded himself. These women were family. They were closer than family, for they'd chosen to be related. He'd chosen to be unrelated to the family he had left. It'd been for a good reason, that reason being survival basically, but the fact remained. He had no one.

God, he missed Ben.

Drawing in a deep breath, he realized the truth he'd only guessed at before. These women couldn't afford to get the ranch going, but they were too stubborn to give up. They might never leave and sell him the land. There