For the Love of Ivy
Cindy Kirk
Copyright © Cynthia Rutledge 2020
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 9798668612314
First published in 2009 as MERRY CHRISTMAS, COWBOY! by Silhouette Books
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Sneak Peek of It Started with Joy
Also by Cindy Kirk
Chapter One
“Are you asking me to move in with you?” Lauren Van Meveren placed the cup on her kitchen counter and stared at the handsome rancher.
Seth Anderssen, known in Sweet River, Montana, for his quick wit, didn’t miss a beat. “I guess I am. ’Cept we’ll have separate rooms and you’ll be there to tend to my daughter’s needs, not mine.”
Only when he chuckled did Lauren realize how her question actually sounded. She swallowed a groan. For an intelligent woman on the verge of earning her PhD in psychology, sometimes she could be amazingly inept.
“I knew that.” She met his gaze and shrugged, the cool response at odds with her rapidly beating heart. “We don’t have that kind of relationship. We’ve never even kissed.”
“That could easily be remedied.” His eyes took on an impish gleam and she caught a glimpse of the boy who’d once dropped a frog down the front of his sister’s dress.
“True.” Lauren kept her tone deliberately light. “Pressing lips together isn’t that difficult.”
“Is that all you think kissing is?”
Lauren thought of the few men she’d kissed. Ones with brilliant minds who appealed to her intellectual side. Ones with a sexual magnetism who appealed to her physical side. “It can be, more or less, depending on the man.”
Though she had the feeling with Seth it would be more. Since she’d moved to Sweet River five months ago, the way Lauren viewed him had changed dramatically. He was no longer simply the trustworthy older brother of her good friend Anna, the guy she’d met her freshman year in college when he’d driven to Denver to move his sister into the dorm.
At thirty-two, the widower and doting father of one was a well-respected rancher and head of the local cattlemen’s association. He was a man who—despite his own obligations—had gone out of his way to help her find subjects for her dissertation research. With his dark blond hair, scintillating blue eyes and superbuff body, he was, hands down, the hottest guy in Yellowstone County.
However, unlike other single women in Sweet River, Lauren didn’t have happily-ever-after designs on him. Seth’s roots in this ranching community ran deep. No matter how much she’d enjoyed her stay, it didn’t take an IQ of one hundred and sixty to know she’d never be able to realize her dreams here.
“Forget about kissing for a minute.” Seth’s expression turned serious. “Will you do it, Lauren?”
Do it? Her eyes widened in surprise before she shook herself and jolted herself back to reality. “Hmm?”
“Will you move in and help me take care of Ivy?” His tone was low, persuasive and sexy as hell.
The air between them thickened. Beams of light spilled through the lace curtains, turning Seth’s hair to spun gold. The dark blue depths of his eyes beckoned, tempting Lauren to step off the firm shore of complete control to a place where she could be over her head in seconds. His cologne teased her nostrils, the woodsy scent making her feel warm and tingly inside.
Lauren wanted nothing more than to say yes. But she’d never acted impulsively and she wasn’t about to start now.
“I understand the predicament you’re in, what with your housekeeper being too old to care for an injured child and all.” Lauren instinctively slipped into the calm rational tone she used when counseling patients. “However, taking care of a seven-year-old for three weeks is a huge responsibility.”
Disappointment skittered across Seth’s face and Lauren stifled a groan. Instead of reassuring him, her words had caused him to jump to the wrong conclusion. “I’m not saying that I won’t—”
“You don’t have to beat around the bush. If you don’t want to help us, just say so.” He rocked back on his heels and blew out a harsh breath. “I know she can be a handful, even when she’s well, but with a broken leg and arm—”
“This isn’t about Ivy.” For a woman who prided herself on her communication skills, she was doing an abysmal job with this conversation.
“I don’t understand.” Seth’s intense blue eyes pinned her. “Is it me? Have I offended you in some way?”
“Not at all.”
The lines furrowing his brow eased and a look of relief crossed his face. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I want to be certain my work won’t interfere with my being able to care for Ivy.” Not only did Lauren need to finalize her dissertation research, her counseling practice had grown consistently since she’d begun seeing clients several months earlier. She had to figure out how she’d be able to fit those sessions into her schedule and meet Ivy’s needs, too. “Could I give you my answer in a few days, say right after Christmas?”
Anna had told her Seth had already made arrangements for one of the ranch hands to do his chores until January 1, so he could care for his daughter over the holidays. With Christmas being the day after tomorrow, if she said no, that would give him a week to find someone else. But Lauren hoped she’d be able to help him out. Ivy was a precious little girl and Seth was a decent, hardworking man in a tough spot.
“After the holiday will work.” Seth
