Roped Into You

A novel of erotic romance by

Marie Rochelle

Published by Phaze Books

Also by Marie Rochelle

A Taste of Love: Richard

All the Fixin’

Caught

Caught 2: Anja’s Return

Closer to You: Lee

Crossing the Railroad

Desire

The Men of CCD: Loving True

The Men of CCD: Tempting Turner

The Men of CCD: Slow Seduction

The Men of CCD: Help Wanted

Lucky Charms

My Deepest Love: Zack

So Much Better

Taken by Storm

This is an explicit and erotic novel

intended for the enjoyment

of adult readers. Please keep

out of the hands of children.

www.Phaze.com

Roped Into You

Copyright © 2010 by Marie Rochelle

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Edited by Judy Bagshaw

Cover Art © 2010 by Valerie Tibbs

First Edition November 2010

ISBN-13: 978-1-60659-573-2

Published by:

Phaze Books

An imprint of Mundania Press LLC

6470A Glenway Ave., #109

Cincinnati, OH 45211

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, Mundania Press LLC, 6470A Glenway Avenue, #109, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211, books@mundania.com.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without permission from Mundania Press LLC. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights and livelihood is appreciated.

Dedication

Thank you J.D. for your love and support.

Marie

Chapter One

Placing the last of her clothing into the black luggage, Leila Hilson tried closing the lid, but it wouldn’t snap shut. After leaning on it using all of her weight, she was finally able to get it fastened. She knew that she should have invested in a new bag for her road trip, but she was trying to save a few bucks. In addition, she was very attached to the one she was using. It was the last big present her parents had bought for her right before they’d died in a boating accident. Just the thought of giving it away broke her heart, so she’d kept it for all of these years.

“Leila, are you about ready?” Ms. Thurston yelled at her from downstairs. “You’ve been up there for a while. Do you need some help?”

“No, ma’am, I’m almost done. Just give me a few more minutes and I’ll be downstairs.”

Leila quickly got off the suitcase and placed it on the floor next to her. She finished getting the rest of her personal items together and tossed them into the open bag on the bed. She couldn’t believe after living here since she was twelve years old that she was finally going to be moving away.

She wasn’t quite sure if she was ready for the adventure she was about to embark upon. However, Ms. Thurston wouldn’t let her stay at home out of misplaced fear or nervousness. No, she would push her out the door and tell her to live her life to the fullest.

Picking up the bag off the bed, Leila placed it on her shoulder, grabbed her suitcase off the floor and went out of the door. The second she rounded the corner and headed down the steps, Leila spotted the woman who had been like a second mother to her, standing at the bottom waiting for her. The sight of the sweet older woman who had raised her brought a smile to her lips.

“Honey, are you sure that you don’t need any help?” Ms. Thurston asked, again

“Thank you for your offer, but no ma’am, I’ve everything packed up and ready to go,” Leila answered.

Ms. Thurston was about to turn eighty in less than two weeks and she was still moving around like she was twenty-five years old. It always amazed Leila at how young and active Ms. Thurston acted. There truly wasn’t a wrinkle on her sienna skin because her guardian was a stickler about using nightly no-wrinkles lotions and creams on her face and body.

“Now, sweetheart, you don’t have to call me that,” Ms. Thurston corrected with a huge smile on her pretty face. “You’ve been living with us for so long that you’re a part of the family now.”

“Despite the fact they’ve been gone for years, you know that my mom and dad would be very disappointed in me if I called you anything else. They raised me to respect people. Mom was very big on saying treat others like you wanted to be treated and that is what I do. I like being considerate to everyone even the ones who may not deserve it.”

“You’re right. Catherine and James were very big on being well-mannered. They were fine people and raised you to be the same way. I’m also proud to say that they were wonderful when it came to helping out the community. Whenever I needed some help I knew that I could count on them. It’s still hard for me to believe that they’ve been gone for such a long time.”

Tears filled Leila’s eyes as she wished her parents were still alive and here with her, but that wasn’t going to happen. She hated the thought of leaving the house she considered her home. However, it was past time for her to live on her own and try to make a life for herself outside the small community she was raised in.

Yes, she loved everyone here and they were like an extended family to her, but she needed more out of her life. Her parents would have pushed her to move away right after college if they’d been alive. They believed in being independent and choosing the right path for your life in the world...she hoped and prayed this new job was her direction.

It had killed her to let go of her childhood home a few weeks ago, but she had to do it. Selling the property was the first step into leaving her childhood behind and becoming an adult. All while she had been growing up, Ms. Thurston’s son Tony had taken care of the property and even stayed inside the house when he was in town on business or came for a visit.

Leila was overjoyed that she had sold the house to Jacob and Clara Roberts. She had talked to them several times in town and they had always shown a keen interested in owning her old home, so when she finally got up enough nerve to sell it, they had been the first couple she had thought about and it turned out to be the best decision of her life.

Now, she could take the nanny position that Tony had gotten for her in another state. But, she was a little apprehensive because she hadn’t met her new boss yet. Her new employer hadn’t even gone over the new rules or salary when it came to her new position, so she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

Tony had assured her that she would love the job. But it was hard to let her worries disappear when she had so many unanswered questions, yet she trusted Tony with all her heart and would go with the flow. He would never put her into a bad situation.

Despite all the wonderful encouragement Tony and his mother had given to her over the years, she was still very uneasy about living out in the middle of nowhere for the next three years of her life. Sure, her hometown was small, but it was a place she knew like the back of her hand.

When she walked around in town and people called her by name it brought a smile to her face. She never got any strange looks like she was an outsider. Now she was going somewhere where she would be the ‘new’ person and the inquisitive looks were bound to happen whether she wanted them to or not.

Any time a stranger moved into town the residents there always wanted to know the life story of the new person. She wasn’t all that big on talking about her life with anyone. All she really wanted to do was her job and not stir up any trouble with anyone she might be working with.

Leila had grown to hate the factory job she had worked at since graduating from high school and when the third year was about to roll around, she decided it was time for a change in her career choice. Since she adored kids so much, becoming a live-in nanny seemed like the perfect option. However, she didn’t quit the factory job instantly because it kept money in her pocket while she was attending college.

After graduating from college, she tried numerous times to get work in her hometown, but none here had a need for a live-in nanny since most of the women stayed at home while their husbands worked. She thought she might have made a mistake until Tony came for a visit from Wyoming.

He mentioned how his widower boss was looking for a nanny for his little girl and he thought she would be excellent for the job. So, Tony being the good guy he was faxed his employer her college credits, wrote a five star reference and the rest of it was history.

“Ms. Thurston, I’m going to miss you so much especially all of our late night talks on the porch. You gave me so much fantastic advice about life. I don’t know what I would have done without it.”

“Leila, you’re so welcome. You’re like the daughter I’ve always wanted. I love Tony and he knows it, but you will always hold a special place in my heart,” Ms. Thurston said touching her on the arm. “But I thought that my homemade oatmeal cookies might rank above our nightly talks. You never waited for them cool off on the cookie racks before you would grab a couple and leave the room.”

“I haven’t forgotten about your delicious cookies. I’m going to miss them so much too. They constantly found a way to cheer me up anytime I was having a bad day,” Leila confessed, smiling at the woman in front of her. “I swear they are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted in my life. I’m sorry that I didn’t have you make some for my long trip.”

“Sweetheart, you aren’t going to have to miss them on your road trip at all.” Ms. Thurston removed her hand off her arm. “Come inside the kitchen. I’ve something for you.” Brushing past her, Ms. Thurston headed back in the direction of the kitchen. Placing all of her items on the floor by the entrance table, Leila followed behind her.

“What are you up to?” Leila asked the second she stepped inside of the room. Looking around, she noticed that Ms. Thurston was getting everything together so she could start lunch in a few minutes. She hadn’t even left yet and she was already home sick. She truly was going to miss the homey feel this space always gave her.

“I decided to get up early and make these for you. You can snack on them on your long drive to your new job.” Ms. Thurston grabbed a red and black tin container off the counter by the microwave and brought it back over to her. “Now, don’t eat all of these up before you get there. Save some for tonight and you can have them after you get all settled into your hotel.”

Taking the container from Ms. Thurston, Leila noticed the rosebush and birdhouse on the front of it. They were the two things she loved the most about their backyard. She would sit in the backyard for hours inside the swing and watch the birds as they flew in and out of the birdhouse.

“You didn’t have to do this for me. I know how busy you are with other chores around the house,” Leila said as tears filled her eyes. She blinked a couple of times hoping they would go away, because if she started crying now it would make it only harder for her to leave later.

“Don’t you dare cry on me,” Ms. Thurston scolded giving her a tight hug and then stepped back. “You know that I wasn’t about to let you leave this house without your favorite snack. As much as I would love for you to stay here forever, I know that you can’t. You better get going so you can at least make it to the hotel before it gets too dark.”

Holding the cookie tin to her chest, Leila took one last lingering look around the room and tried to hold on to everything about it that she could. Ms. Thurston and she both knew she wasn’t going to see this place again for awhile unless she came back for a visit, but she didn’t know when that might be because of the schedule at her new job. She hated that leaving this place made her feel like she was losing her family all over again.

“Maybe I should just stay here and go back to the factory,” she suggested as a case of nerves set in. “I was making a pretty good salary working there. I’m pretty sure if I asked my old boss nicely, he would give it back to me. In addition, I hate to think of leaving you here all alone without anyone to talk to.”

“Sweetheart, I won’t let you do that. I’m going to be just fine. Don’t you remember one of my old girlfriends is coming to stay here with me for a few months while she heals from her hip replacement surgery? We’re going to have a good time talking about our younger days. She will be here the day after tomorrow.”

“If you’re sure...” Leila hedged.

“I’m more than sure. You can’t be afraid of the future. It’s yours to do anything you want with. Now make me and your parents proud. Get out of this kitchen and out into that cute car Tony got for you.”

Ms. Thurston gently pushed her out of the kitchen and back into the hallway next to her bags. “You really need to get on the road because it’s already past eight o’clock and you’ve a long drive ahead of you. I’m hoping that you will at least get there before it gets too late.”

“I don’t think I’m running too far behind schedule,” Leila replied. “Tony set me up in a motel for tonight and I’ll check out in the morning. He didn’t want me on the road all night long. I’m hoping when I talk to my new boss that everything will go well.”

“That’s my son,” Ms. Thurston said with a smile. “He’s always thinking of everything. Now are you sure that you’ve all of your things? Do you need any extra money? I don’t want you to have forgotten something in a rush.”

“No, I’ve everything that I need in my travel bag and suitcase. I said my goodbyes to my old house yesterday. It was extremely hard to hand over the keys to the new owners, but I did it and I think my parents would’ve been so proud of me.” Leila held back fresh tears as she tried to stay strong.

“As I told you before, your parents are looking down at you with smiles on their faces. You’ve turned out to be a beautiful young woman on the inside and outside. They couldn’t have raised a better daughter.”

“You helped raise me too,” Leila cut in, wanting Ms. Thurston to know how much she cared about her too. “I couldn’t have gotten through that tragedy without you. You were such a stable part of my life. Tony helped out a lot too. I always thought of him like an older brother. It was kind of fun since I was an only child for so long.”

“Sweetheart, we loved having you as a part of our family and we always will. Enough of this messy stuff because I can’t let you make our final goodbyes even harder. You really do need to get going now or you’ll have me worrying about you until I get your phone call.”

“Okay, I’ll hit the road.” Picking up her bags, Leila went towards the front door and waited for Ms. Thurston as she opened it and followed her outside. Once she got outside she placed her belongings in the trunk of the white convertible and slammed it shut.

“I’m still not fond of this car that my son got for you. He knew better than that, but he always loved to spoil you,” Ms. Thurston complained as she glanced at the car and then back at Leila.

Leila loved the sporty little convertible and was thrilled to have it. Tony knew what she‘d wanted and bought it for her without a second thought, but she’d need to ease his mother’s mind about it. She truly didn’t want Ms. Thurston worrying about her.

“I promise to follow the speed limit and not get pulled over by the cops,” Leila teased and then hugged Ms. Thurston.

“Young lady, you better not get stopped by the police or pick up any hitchhikers either.” Ms. Thurston returned the hug and then stepped back. “You know that Tony and I have already had this talk with you. That’s why I wanted him to drive you there. I wasn’t sure if you could handle such a long drive on your own.”

“I swear to you that I listened to everything you and Tony told me.” Leila didn’t know what she was going to do without this amazing woman in her life. It felt a little strange going on a new journey to a family she didn’t know.

Ms. Thurston planted a kiss on her cheek and then moved back from her. “You be careful, you hear me? Don’t forget that your old bedroom is still ready for you if that old rancher isn’t nice and wants to work you too hard. You can leave the same day and come right back here. I would welcome you back with open arms.”

“I promise I’ll come back home if things don’t work out there. I won’t stay anywhere that I’m not wanted.” Leila got into the car. She started it up, waved goodbye and then pulled out of the driveway wondering what lay ahead for it at the Blue Horn ranch.

Chapter Two

Walking through the beautifully decorated ranch house he helped design over ten years ago, Clayton Moore thought back to the reason he’d built Blue Horn in the first place. It had been for his late wife. If he closed his eyes he could still see himself carrying her across the threshold; it had been the most wonderful time of his life. Donna had been his rock and stood by his side no matter what kind of problems had popped up during their short marriage.

Her sudden death ripped apart his world and he still wasn’t sure that he would ever recover from it. Family and friends had tried to help him, but he still wasn’t ready to welcome anyone new in his life. He was very content being a single man for right now.

Everyone acted like he should have a time limit to get over his mourning period. Who in the hell were they to tell him to move on to someone new and restart his life? If anyone else told him anything like that he’d tell them to go straight to hell.

How could they know how much he had loved coming home after a long day at work and finding Donna standing on the porch waiting for him? A huge smile would be spread across her pretty face making her green eyes and red hair even more stunning in his eyes.

God, he had never stayed late at work because unlike most of his employees he did have a loving wife to come home to each and every day. Now, all of that was gone. Currently, he worked more hours than any of his men because he didn’t want to get caught up in the memory of what was missing from his life. Without a doubt, he would have gone into the grave right behind Donna if not for the love of someone very special he had to live for.

“Daddy, where are you?”

Clayton pushed the painful thoughts of his wife to back of his mind for another time. He couldn’t let Sam see him upset or she would ask if she had done something to cause it. “I’m in the den, honey,” he called out.

A couple of minutes passed and then his little girl Samantha came walking slowly into the room with her hands behind her back. He looked at her short red hair; she wore torn jeans and dirty t-shirt. At first glance anyone would think she was a little boy instead of a little girl.

He hated that his baby girl wasn’t more feminine, but it was hard for him to teach Sam to act like a girl. Donna was supposed to be the one who took care of that while he taught her other things like how to ride a horse.

Several women in town had tried to give him advice about raising his daughter, but he wasn’t interested in opinions. In particular, his last dating disaster with Annie Wagele made him even more protective of his daughter. Sure, he was sad that Sam didn’t look more like her beautiful mother, but he didn’t love her any less. She was his only child and he loved her with everything in his heart. She was the only reason for him to get up every morning and go about his day.

“Daddy, I’ve something for you. Do you want to know what it is?” Sam asked, staring up at him with her mother’s big green eyes.

Clayton just stared at his daughter for several seconds exultant that she was a part of his world. Donna had been so thrilled when she’d found out she was pregnant with their first child and her happiness grew even more when she learned they were having a girl.

While they had been dating all Donna talked about was having a daughter and being around to watch her grow up. Donna’s own mother had died when she was only ten years old. Donna told him that she always felt like a part of her passed away on that day, too.

Clayton wondered if Sam even remembered her mother. Donna had died two months before Samantha’s fourth birthday. His little girl never asked about her mother and he battled with whether or not he should mention Donna, so he wasn’t sure what was going on in her young mind.

“Daddy, I’ve something for you.” Sam had her hands wrapped around the front of a mug as if to hide it from view. “Do you want to know what it is?”

Clayton couldn’t keep the smile off his face at the excited look on his daughter’s. This was a game that they usually played once or twice a week. Sam would make him something and then surprise him with it. He loved that the two of them had this ritual. He hoped it was something she would remember for a very long time.

“Yes, sweetheart, I want to know what it is,” he answered waiting for Sam to show him what was behind her back.

“Here you go.” Sam removed her hand from the front of the mug and handed him his favorite mug. Clayton didn’t have to guess what was in it. His little girl only fixed one thing in his black mug with World’s Best Daddy across the front.

“Sam, how did you know I was craving hot chocolate?” Clayton asked taking the hot mug from his daughter.

“You had the frown on your face that you usually get when you’re unhappy. So I went into the kitchen and made your favorite drink. Are you nervous about the new nanny coming? Is she nice? Do you think she will like me?”

Clayton didn’t know which question to answer first.

“I know the last nanny didn’t.”

“Whoa, sweetheart,” Clayton said trying to calm his nervous daughter down. Sam was only eight years old, but she acted like she had the weight of the world on her young, little shoulders. He knew Sam had overheard how some people talked about her looks.

He was pissed as hell that some ill mannered adults couldn’t keep their mouths shut. He might need to have another conversation with some of the ‘ladies’ in town the next time he went back there.

“Your Uncle Tony told me that she was a very nice lady who was looking for a job working with a pretty little girl. I don’t think there is another little girl in the world prettier than you.”

Sam shook her head. “Daddy, I’m not pretty, but you have to tell me I am because I’m your daughter. This new lady probably won’t like me either, but that’s okay. I promise not to scare her away like I did the other woman.”

“Sweetheart, the last nanny left because of me and not you. Don’t you remember me telling you that?”

Clayton had awakened during the middle of the night and found the woman naked in bed next to him with her hand wrapped around his cock. He had tossed her ass out of his bed and house in less than five minutes flat. He wouldn’t have that type of woman living under the same roof as his impressionable daughter.

He’d warned Laura about her inappropriate behavior around Sam and she’d refused to listen. Rumor was she was already sleeping with the husband of her new employer.

“Daddy, are you listening to me or are you daydreaming?” Sam asked drawing his wandering mind back to her.

“Yes, I’m listening to you.”

“Good, I’m glad you are,” her daughter grinned. “Why don’t you start drinking your hot chocolate before it gets cold? I’m going outside to play for a little while. What time do you want me to be back inside?”

Clayton hated that Sam tried to act like she was so strong, but he knew how much she was hurt by how the other children treated her in town. None of the other little girls invited her to their parties because, he presumed, she wasn’t girly enough for them.

He even had to take her out of school because of all the teasing from the other students and had hired a teacher to home school her. He lost count of how many times he would pick Sam up from school and there would be tears in her beautiful green eyes. He wanted his little girl to love her childhood and not think back on it with bad memories.

“Why don’t you just go outside and have fun? I’ll call you in when dinner is ready. I’m going to fix your favorite meal.”

“Daddy, I’ve a lot of favorite meals. Which one are you going to cook for me tonight?”

“I can’t tell you.” Clayton smiled holding the mug in his hand. “You’ll just have to wait and find out. Now go on outside and have some fun.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Sam waved at him before rushing out of the room. Seconds later, Clayton heard the front door slamming shut behind her.

He had to find a way to get his little girl around more children. She didn’t need to be around him twenty-four seven. She needed to interact with girls and boys her own age. He hated that she had gotten used to being alone all of the time. That wasn’t any way for a child to be at all. Clayton took a sip of the hot chocolate and grimaced at the tepid temperature.

“God, I need to warm this back up and maybe add a little something extra to it.” Clayton got up out of his seat and was headed for the door when the telephone on his desk rang stopping him halfway there.

Spinning around, he hurried back over to his desk and picked up the phone before the answering machine clicked on.

“Hello?”

“Hey Clayton, I was calling to see if maybe you and Samantha wanted to join me for dinner?”

Clayton’s hand tightened around the mug at the sound of the female voice on the other end. How dare Annie call his house after the things she’d said about his dead wife and little girl? Was she out of her damn mind? He’d warned Annie about calling his house and she hadn’t listened to him.

“Why in the hell are you calling me? Don’t you recall the last conversation we had? I haven’t forgotten the insulting things you said about my family,” Clayton snapped.

“Baby, I know and I’m so sorry,” she whined on the other end of the phone. “I had too much to drink and the words just seemed to come out of nowhere. You know that I don’t think all of those horrible things I told you. Please let me make it up to you and sweet Samantha. If you don’t want to come to my house I can come over there and fix dinner for the three of us.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Clayton shouted. He was livid that Annie actually thought he would ever think about getting back with her after everything that had occurred between them.

“No, I don’t want you coming over here. Hell, I hope you forget my phone number. I promise if you call or come by here again you won’t like what will happen. Now, leave me and my daughter alone.” Clayton slammed down the phone before Annie could get another word in.

He really hoped that Annie listened to what he told her, because he would hate to have her kicked off his property, but he wouldn’t think twice about doing it. Clayton continued moving toward the door and left the room. He didn’t have any more time to waste on Annie.

Chapter Three

“Shit!” Annie screamed, throwing the phone down on the kitchen island after Clayton disconnected their phone call. What in the hell was she supposed to do now?

She knew that Clayton was pissed off at her because of the unflattering comments she had let slip about his dead wife and that ugly little girl of his, but she didn’t think he would end things between them because of it.

He had to know that Samantha wasn’t a natural beauty like her mother. Hell, she was the only person in town strong enough to say it to his face and not behind his back like everyone else. She should get his respect for it instead of his hatred.

The men in town had been fighting over Donna Candace for years, but none of them had a chance at winning her heart over once Clayton Moore moved into town. It was like those two only had eyes for each other after the first day they met at the local restaurant where Donna had been a waitress. The way those two had acted so in love still brought a bitter taste to her mouth.

No matter how many times she tried to draw Clayton’s attention over in her direction, it always seemed like he never saw her and it disturbed her to no end. She never believed in that happily ever after kind of love until those two and the saddest thing was Donna didn’t marry Clayton for his money

Without a doubt, Clayton Moore was the richest rancher in the entire state of Wyoming. Annie had been plotting how to get him for as long as she could remember and then that bitch Donna came out of nowhere and stole Clayton away from her. Clayton could have had his pick of women, but he’d decided to marry a wallflower instead.

The news of the marriage between Clayton and Donna had stunned the entire town, because Donna wasn’t classy but more of a simple girl with even simpler tastes. Sure, she was strikingly beautiful, but she never used her looks to get things.

What in the world had been wrong with her?

Anytime Annie had been out shopping and spotted Clayton with Donna, she constantly fought down the urge to rip out the younger woman’s eyes. Annie would never tell anyone this, but she had been extremely happy when Donna had died suddenly at the hospital.

She had started mapping out her plan the same night to get Clayton into her bed. Sure, it had taken a couple of years of careful ‘accidental meetings’ here and there, but Clayton’s interest in her had grown. She had even gotten lucky enough to spend a couple of nights at his house when Samantha was away with her grandparents.

Clayton wasn’t fond of her spending the night at the house when his little brat was at home. She’d wanted to complain but she’d been so good at keeping her mouth closed until she made the stupid ass mistake of opening it up two days ago.

She had gotten fed up with her schedule frequently being made around Samantha and what was going to make that little girl happy. By mistake, she had told Clayton that he should like having a woman around Sam, because his little girl looked more like a little boy.

Of course she didn’t shut her mouth there, but went on and ruined her chances of being with Clayton by telling him that if she hadn’t known that his dead wife had given birth to a daughter, she wouldn’t know it by looking at Sam and the boyish attire she constantly wore around town.

Clayton had grabbed her by the arm and tossed her out of his house so fast that she wasn’t able to stop him. He had told her that he didn’t allow anyone to talk like that about his family. Before he slammed the door in her face, he warned her to stay away from Blue Horn or she wouldn’t like the consequences.

“I can’t let him end our relationship,” Annie snapped picking up an empty glass off the table and throwing it against the wall. She was livid that she hadn’t kept her wits about her.

She was so close to getting a ring on her finger. Why did she have to lose her cool about his ugly little daughter? She should have just agreed to his schedule and then found a way to send the little brat off to boarding school after they had gotten married.

The rumor around town was Clayton had hired another nanny for Samantha since she was home schooled. He wanted someone at the house with her after the tutor had left for day. The last nanny had turned out to be a walking mattress and Clayton fired her without notice.

Clayton didn’t need to hire some stranger to watch tomboy Sam. I could have done it for free and worked my way deeper into their lives. Shit! Now I have to find a way to get rid of this new problem.

Annie didn’t want another woman around Clayton. She would make sure this new nanny left faster than the old one. She wasn’t a quitter. She learned at a very young age to go after what she wanted and Clayton Moore was in her sights with a huge bulls-eye on his forehead. She hadn’t spent all this time and not to mention energy into landing Clayton to only let him slip through her fingers again.

I’ll give it about a week maybe two and then make my plea again to him. He’s still too raw about what happened.

After Clayton had his mind focused on something else, she would reappear with a ready apology and she might even toss in a couple of tears for good measure. What red-blooded man could ignore a crying woman? Clayton may be upset with her right now, but he wasn’t a heartless person.

“Clayton, don’t worry. I’ll leave you alone for a little while, but I’ll be back. I’ll never give up on you because you’re mine and no one else’s.”

Chapter Four

Thank God. I’ve never been so happy to see a gas station in my life, Leila thought as she got off the highway and pulled up to the gas pump. Her gas gauge was almost at empty. It was a good thing that she’d noticed the motel she was staying at for the night was right across the street because she wouldn’t have made it much further without gas and she didn’t have a clue what she would have done.

The drive to the motel had taken a lot longer than Leila had counted on. Now, all she wanted to do was finish up here, check into her room, take a quick shower, find something to eat and then go to bed but not necessarily in that order. Since she was too worn out to pump her own gas she pulled into full service and waited for someone to come out and help her.

Leila didn’t have to wait too long. Two minutes later a lanky male walked out of the building and came over to her car. Stopping by the driver’s side door, he smiled at her but it didn’t reach his light green eyes which made her uneasy. Leila glanced down at his nametag and noticed his name was Matt.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” Matt greeted. “How can I help you today?”

“I need you to fill up my tank. I’m almost at empty,” Leila answered. “I was so happy to see your gas station was right across from the motel. At least, I don’t have to drive much further.”

“Yeah, a lot of people like the easy access to the motel when they come into town.” Matt’s gaze roamed over her body. “Let me get your gas. Would you like for me to check your tires and oil for you too?”

Leila hadn’t thought about that, but it would be a good idea since she still had about a day’s drive to Blue Horn ranch. She didn’t want anything happening while she was out on the highway. She was doing good enough to follow the directions Tony left for her in the car. She couldn’t be worrying about if she was going to get a flat tire or not.

“Sure that would be great. Thank you so much for asking.”

“Not a problem. Usually visitors have me check their tires and oil because it’s such a long drive before you’ll hit another gas station.” Matt walked away from her and started filling up the tank.

“Are you here for the convention that they’re having tomorrow night? I’ve talked to a lot of people in the last couple of days who are here for that. It’s something really big going on. I think they’re talking about bringing a new plant here.” Matt finished filling her tank. “If they do, it will help out a lot of out of unemployed people. Several of my friends have been without a job for over a year. It doesn’t look like there are a lot of good prospects in sight for any of them.”

Leila didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t really interested in a lot of chit chat at the moment. She was exhausted and wanted to leave, but she couldn’t pretend like she didn’t hear Matt talking her to.

“No, I’m not here for the convention. I’m on my way to a new job. I start it in a couple of days at Blue Horn ranch.” After the words left her mouth, Leila wondered why she’d told a complete stranger so much personal information. She could hear Ms. Thurston in her head getting on her about it.

“You’re going to be working for Clayton Moore?” Matt lifted the hood of her car and checked the oil then shut it and moved on to check her tires. “I’ve heard he isn’t the nicest man to have as a boss but he’s wealthier than the whole state of Wyoming.”

Okay, she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable taking about her new job with a man she didn’t know. She hoped Matt would be done checking her car soon, so she could pay him and drive off.

“I’m finished,” Matt said, coming back up to her. He leaned his hip against the side of her car and grinned at her. “This is a very nice car you got here. We don’t get too many white convertibles in this part of the state.” Leila watched as he ran his hand along the side like he was getting off from just touching it.

“Thank you.” Leila was getting more leery of Matt as the minutes ticked by. A sick feeling was started to form in the pit of her stomach. Something just wasn’t right about the guy. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt that Matt was getting creepier and creepier by the minute.

“How much was it for everything?” she asked reaching for her purse.

“The gas was thirty dollars and to check the other things were thirty-five, so it comes to a total of sixty-five dollars.”

“Do you take credit cards?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Here you go.” Taking her credit card out of her purse, she handed it to Matt making sure that her fingers didn’t touch his. She was leery about giving him her credit card, but she didn’t want to get out of the car either. So, she hoped she had picked the lesser of the two evils.

“I’ll be right back.” Moving away from her, he walked back inside the gas station.

Leila couldn’t get Matt’s comments about Clayton Moore out of her head. Ms. Thurston and Tony only had good things to say about him. Could it be the fact that Tony was Mr. Moore’s ranch foreman?

What if what the gas station attendant told her made her want to turn back around and drive all the way back home?

She quickly let the thoughts leave her mind because she wasn’t a coward. Her parents had raised her to see all of her projects through until the very end and that was what she was going to do when it came to Clayton Moore. Besides she had known Ms. Thurston and Tony a lot longer than this guy. He could be a liar for all she knew and besides he was a complete stranger. Why would she take his word to heart anyway?

Looking through the windshield, Leila watched as Matt came out the door and back over to her car. “Here you go Ms. Hilson. Good luck at your new job.”

“Thank you.” Lauren reached for her credit card and placed it back into her purse before driving off. She could feel Matt’s eyes on her as she drove across the street to the motel. She was so glad she wouldn’t ever run into him again. He had a very unsettling vibe about him. He was the kind of guy a woman didn’t want to meet while walking home late at night alone.

As soon as she pulled up in front of the motel a valet rushed up to get her car. Instantly, Leila noticed his very close resemblance to Matt, the gas station attendant who had just waited on her.

“Let me get your car for you,” the valet said.

Opening her car door, Leila got out and gave the young guy her car keys. “Has anyone told you that you look like Matt who works across the street?” She looked down at the name badge on his red shirt. It said Jeff.

“Yes, Matt’s my younger brother. I’m Jeff Hobbs. He didn’t do anything crazy to you did he? He has a very bad habit to telling wild and crazy stories to new people that come into town because he wants to get a reaction out of them. I’ve gotten on him about that several times.” Jeff got into her car and slammed the door shut.

Great, she got rid of one creepy brother only to gain another one. She really had bad luck on her side. “No, he was very nice to me. I can’t say anything bad about him.” Leila wasn’t about to tell this guy the truth about his brother.

“Wonderful,” Jeff said.

Instead of driving off, Jeff sat there looking at her like he knew a secret she didn’t which made more her more than a little uneasy.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you’re very pretty,” he said. “Were you ever on that Tyra Banks modeling show? I know that I’ve seen your face somewhere before.”

Leila couldn’t believe this guy was trying to hit on her. God...was it possible for this day to get any worse for her?

“No, I’ve never been a contestant on her show. I’ve seen it, but that’s about it. Well, I better go so I can check into my room.” She turned to leave, but Jeff yelled at her.

“Wait a minute. You’ll need this to get your car keys back.” Reaching into his pocket, Jeff pulled out an orange ticket stub and tore off one end before handing it to her. “You keep that part and give it to the next valet when you’re ready to get your car. He’ll bring it right to you.”

“Thank you,” Leila took the ticket and slid it into the front pocket of her purse. “Let me grab my bags out of the trunk before you drive off.”

“Sure, let me open it for you.” She watched as Jeff punched the switch for the trunk and then she walked back to get her belongings.

Lifting her overnight bag and suitcase out of the trunk, Leila placed the overnight bag over her shoulder and moved away from the car. As she headed towards the front entrance of the motel, she peeked back over her shoulder and found Jeff still staring at her with this glassy-eyed look. He waved at her and she quickly waved back before rushing inside of the hotel.

Shit, I thought Matt was a weirdo, but Jeff is three times worse. I truly hope I’m done dealing with the both of them for the rest of the day. I’ll leave early tomorrow and hopefully they won’t be anywhere in sight.

Leila knew a bad element when she saw it thanks to the family who raised her. Her sixth sense had kicked up another notch when it came to the Hobbs brothers. Matt and Jeff were very bad news, but she wouldn’t be around either of them much longer to even care.

****

“Excuse me, sir.”

Turning away from the mailboxes, the reservation clerk smiled at her and then moved over to the sign-in desk. “Yes miss. How many I help you?” he asked in a professional voice.

“My name is Leila Hilson. I’m here to check into my room. I believe the room was booked a couple of days ago,” she answered already thinking about the hot shower waiting for her upstairs.

“Let me check and see. It will be just one minute.” The clerk turned away from her and started typing something into a computer located at the end of the desk.

Why was it taking the guy so long to find her information? Was she not being patient enough since the drive was so long? She needed to dig deep for some of that patience that Ms. Thurston was always telling her to look for; however, today wasn’t going to be that day.

No, she wasn’t imagining things; it was taking him a long time to come back to her.

“Do you not see it?”

Lord, did she come all this way and now she wouldn’t have a place to stay? That better not be the case or the shit was going to hit the fan. This place better have a room for her or they would have to find her somewhere to sleep for the night.

“Just one minute, Ms. Hilson. Our computers have been moving at a snail’s place all day today. Your information is about to pull up in just a minute or two,” the clerk told her. “Okay, here we go. You’re in room 746.” Turning around, the clerk grabbed the key out of a mailbox and then brought it over to her.

“Here you go. Sorry you had to wait for those extra minutes. Do you need me to do anything else for you before you head upstairs to your room?”

“How long can I order something from room service?” She hoped that she still had time to order some food.

“The kitchen is still open for another couple of hours.” the clerk informed her with a smile.

“Thank you for all your help......”

“My name is Ralph. Have a nice night. Do you need me to set up a six o’clock wake-up call for you? I noticed that you’re only staying the night with us.”

“Yes, that would help me out a lot,” Leila answered. She turned away and strolled towards the elevators that were located right near the front door.

Chapter Five

Upstairs Leila kicked off her shoes and quickly unpacked her overnight bag before jumping into the shower. As the water poured down over her body, all she could think about was the new job she was about to embark on with a family she didn’t know. Despite her partial fears at meeting her new boss and his little girl, she felt happy at finally taking her life into her own two hands.

She had depended on Ms. Thurston and Tony so much after her parents died that she never thought she would be able to cope with the real world and any problems that might come her way, but so far she had handled things quite well.

A slight thrill of anticipation touched her at the thought of being in a new town away from the familiar setting she had grown up around for the past twenty-seven years. What would Blue Horn ranch be like? Was it a place that would make or break her spirit? Could she truly handle the task of being a full-time nanny?

I can’t let myself get nervous or scared before I have my first day at work, Leila thought as she got out of the shower and turned it off. She picked up the robe she’d left by the sink and slipped it on tying the slash around her waist.

Leila’s stomach growled as she headed out of the bathroom making her realize that there was something else she had to do before going to bed. Sure, it was only six-thirty at night, but she was so drained. She only had enough energy left to eat some supper and maybe watch one television program before turning in for the night.

Making her way over to the phone, she picked it up and ordered a cheeseburger with crispy fries from room service. She hoped it would be faster than the forty-five minutes to an hour the guy on the other end told her.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this worn-out, Leila thought to herself as she took a seat on the chaise in the corner of the room.

I’d have flown down instead of driving, but no, I wanted to have the experience of the open road. What in the world was wrong with me? What was I trying to prove?

Closing her eyes, Leila rested her head against the back of the plush sofa and was about to nod off when a knock at the door made her jump. Glancing at the clock on the television, she noticed that room service had only taken thirty minutes.

“Finally, I’m so hungry that I could eat the whole cow.” Hurrying over to the door, Leila got the food from the waiter and gave him a tip before shutting the door. Going back over to the chaise, Leila sat back down and took a huge bite out of her hamburger.

The charbroiled taste made her taste buds dance the second the beef touched her tongue. “I swear I’m never going to wait this long to eat again. I don’t know how I made it.” She picked up two crispy fries off her plate and shoved them into her mouth. Closing her eyes, Leila let herself get lost in the sheer magic of eating a delicious meal.

After she was finished with her scrumptious food, Leila placed the plate on the table before reaching for the hotel room phone. She wanted to check in with Ms. Thurston so she wouldn’t be worried about her. She dialed the phone number and waited for her, but she got the answering machine instead so she left a message.

“Ms. Thurston, I’m calling to let you know that I arrived at the motel safely. I’m going to leave early in the morning after I eat breakfast. Don’t worry about me. I’m almost at my new job and I can’t wait. I’m so excited. I love you. I’ll try calling you again before I leave in the morning,” Leila promised before she ended the phone call.

Getting up from her seat, Leila made her way over to the bed and laid the phone down on the night stand beside it before pulling back the covers. She was so sleepy that she would probably be out before her head hit the pillow. She climbed into bed, turned off the lights and pulled the covers up to her chin.

The wait for the sandman to come wasn’t that long because within ten minutes Leila was sound asleep with the thought of her new job rolling around in her head.

****

The sound of someone knocking on her hotel room door and bothering the handle startled Leila up out of her much needed sleep. There weren’t too many people who knew she was staying at the place, so who in the world was at the door? She quickly glanced at the clock by the side of her bed and saw it was two o’clock in the morning.

She wasn’t about to open that door to see who it was. She was getting a feeling that wasn’t quite right. Easing out of the bed, she went over to the door and pressed her ear to it. But she didn’t hear any voices and the knocking had stopped as soon as she walked up.

Ms. Thurston and Tony would be highly upset if she let some stranger into her room as late as it was. Standing on her tiptoes, she looked through the peek hole but she didn’t see anyone in the hallway; however, that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone standing at the side of the wall waiting to get in.

As much as she wanted to get dressed and check out of the hotel she wasn’t going to do it. She quickly decided that her best option would be to stay in the room and wait it out until morning. Because she was concerned about who was just outside her door, Leila thought about calling downstairs and reporting the incident. But what if it turned out to be nothing more than someone realizing they were at the wrong room and leaving. It would be causing a scene for nothing.

No, she was going to stay in the room and wait it out until it was light enough for her to drive to the Blue Horn ranch.

Clayton Moore better be the wonderful boss that Tony bragged about for her to be dealing with everything she had to yesterday and now early this morning. She knew moving away from home was going to be a huge journey, but she’d never thought things like this would be happening to her. She was definitely going to sleep with one eye open for the rest of the night.

Maybe she shouldn’t have driven a brand-new white convertible cross county like she had been doing. It had drawn the attention of the very weird gas station attendant Matt, but she couldn’t get worried about it now because tomorrow she would arrive at Blue Horn ranch for her new job and she wouldn’t be frightened away from it. No matter how much she wanted to know who was bothering her this early in the morning.

Leaving the door, Leila walked back to the bed and crawled underneath the covers. Folding one hand underneath her chin, she rested her other hand over her waist. She prayed that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life. She didn’t know anyone in Wyoming, so she would be truly starting over. While a part of her was a little anxious, the excitement she was feeling outweighed her nervousness. This was her chance to prove to everyone back home that she was an adult and more than capable of doing things for herself.

Chapter Six

The ringing of the phone woke Leila up from her deep sleep. She groaned. She’d finally calmed down enough to drift off to sleep around four o’clock. Pushing the covers off of her head, Leila answered the phone wondering who could be on the other end. “Hello?” she whispered softly as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Leila, how are you doing? I’m returning your call. Have I called you too early? Do you want to hang up and you call me back later? I don’t mind at all,” Mrs. Thurston told her. “I was out late with some of my friends from church and that’s why I missed your call. We’re getting ready for our annual charity dinner.”

“No, ma’am,” Leila said, sitting up in the bed. “I can talk to you.” She fixed the pillows behind her back and got more comfortable. She was glad that Mrs. Thurston had called her because she wanted to be out and on the road by eight o’clock.

“Is there something wrong honey? Is that why you called me so late last night? Do you need me to call Tony for you at the ranch and let him know you might be late getting there?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to hear your voice after I got in last night. Please, don’t call Tony. I’ll see him when I get to Blue Horn later on today. He’s already done enough for me by getting me this job. I can’t impose on him any more than I already have.”

“Tony loves you. He doesn’t mind helping you any way he can. You know that, Leila.”

“Yes, I know, but I do want and need to do some stuff on my own. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Okay, I understand. Just know Tony is at the ranch if you need someone to confide in, but I’ve only heard good things about Mr. Moore. I’m sure the two of you will get along perfectly. Who wouldn’t love a young woman as sweet as you?”

Leila couldn’t help but smile at Mrs. Thurston’s compliment. “I think you’re a little biased, don’t you?”

“I can’t help it. You’re like a daughter to me and I want only the best for you.”

“Thank you. I’ve no doubt only good things will come from this new job. I’m going into it with an open mind. Isn’t that the way you raised me to be? Only negative thoughts will bring harmful people and things into a person’s life.”
“You’re right. I’m glad my advice has stuck with you for so long,” Mrs. Thurston told her. “Well, I better let you go. I’m having brunch with my friends and then we’re going to see a movie. Call me when you get to Blue Horn. If you can’t, see if you can have Tony do it for you. I need to know that you made it there safely.”

“I will,” Leila promised and then hung up the phone. She started to get out of the bed when the phone rang again stopping her. Who in the world was calling her now?

She quickly answered it. “Hello?”

“Ms. Hilson, this is your wake-up call,” the man told her on the other end.

With everything that had been going on she’d forgotten that she’d requested one. “Thank you for calling me. I’m up.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Enjoy your day,” the guy said and hung up.

Leila placed the phone back on the nightstand next to the bed then got out. She made her way towards the bathroom because she wanted to get a quick breakfast and hit the road. After last night, she didn’t want to spend a second longer in this place then needed.

****

The slight breeze coming through the open window blew against Clayton’s bare chest as he lay in bed and thought about the day he had ahead of him. He loved relaxing in bed early in the morning before Sam got up, but he kept his pajama top on the back of a chair next to the bed in case his daughter ran into the room.

However, today he didn’t have to worry about a sudden appearance by Sam because her grandparents had taken her for the night and were going to bring her back around lunch time but it would probably be later. Donna’s parents spent a lot more time with their only grandchild since their daughter’s death. He didn’t mind because they were good people and treated his baby girl like a princess.

He was also lucky enough to have Tony Thurston as his foreman so on the days he didn’t feel like getting out of bed, he knew Blue Horn was being run the way he wanted. For some reason, the past couple of days had been harder on him. He didn’t know if it was because Donna’s birthday was coming up or simply because he was getting older. But he didn’t have the love for life he used to before his wife died.

Donna would still be here now if she had listened to him and gone to the hospital like he’d suggested, but she wanted to stay home to finish working on a dress for Sam’s upcoming birthday.

He never thought about it before, but his little girl wore girly outfits until her mother died and then after that she started dressing like a boy.

Clayton wouldn’t forget the day he came home from town and found Sam had cut off most of her long beautiful red hair.

He’d taken her into town the same day to get it fixed and to his disappointment the rest had to be cut off to even it out. He hated it, but he had no clue how to style a little girl’s hair, so he’d just kept it short.

Clayton hoped that this new nanny would be able to bring a feminine touch to Sam’s life because the last three women only focused on him. His little girl was very intelligent and could pick up on things rather quickly. Sam knew when someone was truly interested in being her friend or if they were just pretending. He wasn’t going to stand for anyone harming his daughter.

If this new nanny that Tony recommended didn’t work out then he wasn’t going to give up until he found the perfect person to watch over his baby girl. Samantha was the most important person in his life. She was the special part of the love he and Donna shared. He wasn’t going to allow anyone to mistreat her or make her feel like she wasn’t equal to anyone around her.

Sam was trying to pretend that she was happy about the new nanny, but he could tell that she was a little nervous because the last woman was horrible to her. He wished he’d realized and fired her sooner.

His daughter finally confessed to him that the former nanny would talk down to her all the time. He wished he’d known about it before she tried to seduce him because he would have kicked her out on her ass the same day the incident occurred in his home.

As much as Clayton wanted to stay in bed longer he knew that he couldn’t because Sam would be home soon. He wanted to be dressed and ready so he could hear about her visit with her grandparents. Every time she came back from their house she would have some kind of funny story to tell him about her grandpapa. .

Tossing the covers off, Clayton got out of the bed and made his way toward the bathroom for a shower. After he was done, he needed to go down to the stables and make sure everything was going okay with the new foal he’d purchased a couple of days ago.

Tony would be able to fill him in on how well she was getting along with the other horses and if he needed to have the vet come and check her out. She was still fairly young, so he wouldn’t be able to breed her for a while but that was his intention.

Before Donna died unexpectedly he spent most of his time helping other ranchers design and expand their land, but he just didn’t have the heart to watch other families achieve their dream when his world was falling apart around him. So he just turned his attention to his own property instead and put more time into raising Sam.

At first, he had missed working with the community a lot but as the months turned into years, he got into a routine and he seldom thought about it anymore. Sam needed him more. She couldn’t have him around only at night while most of his days were filled with other people.

In addition, his housekeeper Mrs. Jennings had left about three months after Donna died because she was getting older and the drive was getting too hard on her. The new housekeeper he got to take her place was doing an excellent job. Ms. Kennedy was a dream and he wouldn’t know what he would do without her. Now, if he got the same luck with his new nanny, Leila Hilson, his life would be almost perfect.

Chapter Seven

“Get out of here now!” The man yelling stood behind his desk. Red-faced, he jabbed the air with his finger. “I’m not going to listen to customer’s complaints about either one of you anymore. I should’ve known better than to hired the Hobbs to work at either one of my establishments. I haven’t heard anything good since the two of you started here. Now, my patience is over and so are your jobs. I’ll place your checks in the mail, so don’t bother coming by here looking for them.”

“I don’t know who is accusing us of something but they’re lying,” Matt hollered back. “My brother didn’t take anything and neither did I. I don’t need this shit. I can buy my own stuff. They don’t bring anything good with them anyway. Why would I want to steal crap from them? I’ve enough of that at my own house.”

“Matt, you aren’t known for telling the truth.” Mr. Dellison crossed his arms over his thick chest. “You’d already lost three jobs before your brother talked me into hiring you to work at the gas station.”

“My brother isn’t a liar,” Jeff cut in. “We didn’t take anything from any of the dim-witted customers. Whoever said we did isn’t telling you the truth.”

“No...You’re the one lying Jeff,” Mr. Dellison hollered dropping his arms. “I’ve two eye witnesses that said they saw you coming out of their room with a bag of stuff and your brother was shoving something into the front of his jeans. I thought by hiring the two of you with no questions asked I was showing you what a better life could look like, but I was wrong. No one can help the Hobbs brothers. The two of you are too far gone to know the difference between right and wrong anymore.”

“Are they going to press charges against us?” Matt asked as he stepped closer to the desk glaring at Mr. Dellison.

“I asked them to press charges, but they declined because they didn’t want to come back here for a trial. So I decided to fire the two of you instead. Now get out of my place of business before I have someone throw you and your brother out on our asses. Don’t let me see either one of you here again or you’ll be sorry.”

“Don’t threaten us,” Jeff warned. “You don’t want to know what happened to the last guy that did it.”

“Yeah, my brother hates when someone tries to tell him what to do,” Matt chimed in and then turned away. “Come on, let’s go Jeff, before I hurt this old man and end up back behind bars.”

Jeff gave Mr. Dellison one last lingering look before he followed his brother to the door and then went out slamming it hard behind them.

Outside in the hallway, Jeff finally lost his cool like he had been dying to do in his former boss’ office. “Shit! What are we going to do now?” he complained as he held back from punching his fist through a wall.

“I told you we shouldn’t have stolen that key and broken into that room. I knew those two old people would turn us in to the boss. We’re almost out of money. How are we gonna live?”

“You worry way too much,” Matt said patting his older brother on the shoulder. “I’ve a plan for us and I think it’s going to be a very good one.”

Frowning, Jeff watched Matt wondering what was going on. “What kind of plan? You know how much I hated to sit still or stay in one place for long.”

“I think we need to go on a little road trip.”

“What kind of road trip?” Jeff asked totally confused by what was going on.

“We need to take some time to ourselves and pay a certain woman a visit”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Jeff admitted. “Is she someone important to you? When did you start dating her? I thought I knew about all of the women in your life.”

“She isn’t part of my life, but she will be sooner than she thinks.” Matt grinned. “You’ve met her. It’s the woman who was driving the white convertible yesterday. I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. I want her and I’ll get her.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Jeff gaped. “You know nothing about her. She’s a stranger to you. Hell, you don’t even know where she is.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Ms. Hilson was flirting with me and she told me that she was going to work for Clayton Moore. All I have to do is show up there and I can make the rest happen.” Matt grinned. “What woman can resist my charm?”

“How in the hell do you know her name?” This situation was getting way out of hand and he had to put a stop to it before it went any further.

“She gave me her credit card to pay for her gas and the other stuff I did at the gas station,” Matt answered. “Now, are you coming with me? I mean, I don’t have a problem going by myself, but I won’t miss out on the chance getting with her. Did you see how good she looked? I know her ass had to be amazing when she got out that car.”

Jeff didn’t like the way his brother’s mind was going. His little brother had already gotten in trouble a couple of years ago for having an unhealthy relationship with a local woman and did some jail time for it. He thought Matt would’ve learned his lesson, but it didn’t see like he had.

“I’m not sure about this,” Jeff answered.

“Fine, stay here and waste time looking for a new job. I’m going after her and maybe I might be able to get a few things from Clayton Moore.” Matt shot his brother a sly look. “I thought you would jump at the chance to get him back after the way he treated you. I wouldn’t have stood for him talking to me like that, but you’ve always been the spineless one when it came to us.”

“Fuck you! I’m not spineless and I’m not scared of Clayton Moore either. That old man should’ve known better than to call me out like that. I was going to confront him then and there, but there were too many people around.”

Jeff hadn’t forgotten how the rancher yelled at him for shoving his ugly daughter out of the way when they were in town a few weeks ago. It wasn’t his fault that the girl was moving like she was walking in quick sand.

“Does that mean we’re going to Blue Horn ranch? I can take care of my woman while you get some revenge on him. I think it’s the perfect plan for the both of us.” Matt waited giving him time to think over his answer, but he already knew what he was going to do.

“Let’s go. I’ve a few things to get off my chest with Moore. He’s going to regret calling me out the way he did.” Jeff brushed past his brother and headed for the old rusty blue truck parked at the side of the street.

Chapter Eight

Sitting on his favorite black stallion, King, Clayton patted the side of the animal’s neck as he looked down on his property. Blue Horn was a picturesque and authentic western cattle ranch that had taken him years to make come true with a lot of sweat, tears and hard work. He almost lost it once right after Donna’s death, but he pulled himself back together and saved his property because he had to leave something for his little girl to inherit.

Offers had come in over the years from other ranchers and businessmen to buy the land because of the excellent fly-fishing and hunting aspects. But he always turned them down because there wasn’t a price in the world he would accept for Blue Horn; it was priceless in his opinion with its rivers, streams, ponds, springs and diverse terrain.

The ranch presented a wonderful blend of gentle sloping fields along the river that was lined with Cottonwood, open grass pastures stretching to the horizon that was home to elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer and even a few turkey and pheasants. No, Blue Horn ranch was his daughter’s future and he would never get rid of it for anything the world.

For him this was his favorite time of day to come out and look over everything because Sam was with her tutor, so he knew that she was in good hands. Sometimes, he still had a hard time admitting to himself that he was truly alone now.

A while back he thought he might have found a woman to fill a part of the loneliness in his heart, but Annie turned out to be a deceitful bitch who only wanted him and not his child. How could he ever consider putting a ring on her finger? He was just glad that she showed her true colors before any walk down the aisle. It would have been the biggest mistake of his life and one that would have taken a lot of money to get rid of.

Clayton could stay up here on the hill all day, but he had to get back down to the ranch. Paperwork was piled up on his desk and tonight was movie night for him and Sam, so he wanted to be done with everything in time.

Last week, he’d had to cancel their regular movie night because he had to take a conference call and that was the only time the client could do it. Sam had been so disappointed, but she’d played alone in her room instead and then later they’d had ice cream in the kitchen. He knew that he spoiled her too much, but he couldn’t help it. She was the only bright light in his life.

“Come on boy,” he said patting King again. “We need to head back home.” As Clayton turned away from the hill, he caught the sound of noise off in the distance. King’s ears even perked up at the intrusion.

Clayton’s eyes scanned the distance for a few seconds until he found the faint image of a car coming down the long dirt road that led to Blue Horn. As the car got closer, he noticed it was a white convertible, but he couldn’t make out the driver.

Who in the world was on his property? Did the person see the No Trespassing sign posted right outside the gate? It was there for a reason. He didn’t like strangers on his property for any reason. He didn’t care if the driver needed directions or something.

Damn it!

This was the last thing he wanted to deal with this afternoon. So the person better get ready for an earful because he wasn’t in the mood to be nice or even cordial for that matter.

Turning King around, he went back down the hill hoping to stop the person before they had a chance to get completely on his property and disturb his workers.

****

Leila turned down the sound of Tina Turner singing Humpty Dumpty as she got closer to the property. She didn’t want to make a bad first impression on her boss and playing loud music might just do that, especially if he wasn’t a fan of the legendary singer.

She hadn’t noticed too many people as she drove down the long dusty road. The only person she’d spotted was someone sitting on top of a hill a little ways back and from the body build she would guess it was a man, but she wasn’t completely sure.

She couldn’t let herself get sidetracked because she had to make sure she got to keep this job. Once Clayton Moore saw her, he could tell her to leave without a second thought because the two of them had never met before and he was only taking Tony’s word that she would be an excellent nanny for his little girl.

What if this guy wasn’t as nice as Ms. Thurston and her son led her to believe? Or what if he really was as unpleasant and offensive as the guy from the gas station described him. She couldn’t go back home as a failure because she had promised everyone she was going to make something out of her life. This was her time to break out of her shell and she was going to do it.

Really...how mean could a man with a little girl be?

She knew Tony wouldn’t put her in a situation that she wouldn’t be able to handle.

Leila drove further onto the land and parked her car in the rock paved driveway. She got out, slamming the door behind and was headed toward the front door of the house that looked like something out of Dallas.

She was halfway there when the sound of a horse running behind her stopped her and made her spin around. Her heart leaped in her throat as a huge black stallion came to a standstill mere inches from her. She didn’t know which was more threatening: the tall, overpowering man on the back with his black Stetson pulled down over his eyes or the massive animal staring right at her.

“What are you doing on this property?” he growled in a deep voice that sent shivers through her body making Leila take a sudden step back. She couldn’t determine if it was out of fear or shock. “Can you not read? Or did you just completely ignore the No Trespassing sign I had posted by the gate?”

“I didn’t see any sign,” Leila answered staring up at the man who still hadn’t pushed his hat back enough so she could see his eyes. If she took a wild guess, she’d bet they were as black as his mood.

“Don’t know how you missed it. It’s white with big red letters.”

“Sir, like I said earlier there wasn’t a sign there and if it was I would’ve still driven past it because I’m supposed to be here.”

“Oh really,” the guy said leaning across the saddle. He finally pushed up his Stetson and Leila was taken aback by how dark blue his eyes were. They were a shade darker than the sky above them. “Why do you think that you have the right to be here, young lady?”

Crossing her arms over her breasts, Leila swallowed down a nasty comment. She usually didn’t take an instant dislike to someone, but this man was pushing her buttons and she would be glad when he was out of her face.

“I’m here to see Clayton Moore.” She watched how his eyes narrowed into slits and wondered once again what in the hell his problem was.

“I’m Clayton Moore,” he answered getting down off the stallion that hadn’t stopped looking at her. “What do you need from me?”

Leila’s mouth dropped open and then she quickly closed it glad that she hadn’t said any of the things she had been thinking to her new boss. Shit! This man was going to be a bear to work for if he had this nasty attitude all of the time.

Blowing out a breath, she unfolded her arms then extended her hand. “Hi! I’m Leila Hilson, your new nanny.”

Dark eyebrows shot up under the rim of his Stetson as Clayton Moore glanced down at her hand and then looked back into her eyes. “The hell you are...Tony never mentioned that you were...”

“Are the words you’re looking for African American or should I say black?” Leila was so pissed right now that she couldn’t see straight. She’d left her nice quiet hometown for this jerk to insult her within five minutes of meeting her? No, she wasn’t going to stand for it.

Chapter Nine

Pushing his hat even further back on his head, Clayton stared down at the girl in front of him wondering what in the hell she was talking about. He could care less that she was black. That wasn’t why he was shocked as hell by her appearance. No, it was something else entirely.

“I don’t have a problem with you...” Clayton was cut off by the sound of the screen door slamming shut and little feet running down the steps of the house as his little girl came up to him.

“Daddy, I never thought you would get back home,” Sam yelled at him because she hadn’t noticed their visitor yet. “What took you so long?”

“I was on the hill looking down at the ranch and then I started talking to this young woman here,” Clayton said looking away from his daughter over to Leila who was staring back and forth between them. He didn’t see the usual shock on her face people got when they first met Samantha.

His little girl’s green eyes looked away from him over to Leila. “Who are you?”

“Hi! I’m Leila. I’m going to be your new nanny,” Leila answered. “I love your t-shirt. I used to watch Scooby Doo all the time when I was a little girl. It was my favorite cartoon.”

“Hi! I’m Sam. I love Scooby Doo too. I’ve a Scooby coloring book upstairs. Do you want to see it?”

Clayton cursed underneath his breath. He had wanted to get rid of this new nanny before Sam got a chance to see her. His daughter never knew a stranger and wanted to be friends with everyone that she came across. Since Sam had already invited Leila into their home how was he going to get situation under control before it got out of hand?

“Sweetheart, I need to talk to...” Damn it! He had already forgotten her name.

“Leila Hilson,” she said giving him a hard look that he didn’t have time to worry about. There was no way someone as young as Ms. Hilson wanted to be out in the middle of nowhere as a nanny. It just didn’t make any sense...unless she was running from something.

“Yes, Ms. Hilson,” he said. “Sweetheart, how about you go inside and color me a picture? I need to talk to your new nanny for a minute alone.”

Sam shocked him by shaking her head and grabbing Leila’s hand. “No, I want to show Leila my room, daddy.”

Turning away from him, his daughter looked up at Leila who was smiling down at her. “Do you want to see my room? It’s right across from yours.”

“I would love to see your room. I bet it’s so cute,” Leila said and then looked back over at him waiting to see how he was going to respond.

Clayton opened his mouth to comment only to be stopped by someone calling out to Leila. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the person who’d started this entire mess coming towards them with a huge grin on his face.

Tony had a lot of explaining to do once Ms. Hilson left. He’d never told him he agreed to hire someone who looked like they just got out of high school. He watched as Leila let go of Sam’s hand and hugged his ranch foreman.

“I can’t believe you’re here already,” Tony said stepping back from Leila. “How was the drive here? I thought you might get lost since it was your first time driving out of town.”

“No, I didn’t have any problems at all until now,” Leila said shooting another glance in his direction.

Clayton had to admit the girl did have spunk. Most people in town knew not to confront him, but she didn’t seem to have a problem standing up for herself. However, he didn’t want to get into an argument with Sam standing there watching them. He would deal with this problem later when all three of them could be together without the eyes of a child around.

Frowning, Tony’s eyes swung back and forth between him and Leila. “What’s the problem?”

“Nothing,” he quickly cut in. “Ms. Hilson, how about you go ahead and let Sam show you to your room and we can talk later in my study. I’ll have Tony grab your bags and bring them up to your room in a few minutes.”

“Sounds fine to me.” Leila smiled at him, but he noticed it didn’t reach her dark brown eyes.

“Thanks Daddy,” Sam said before grabbing Leila’s hand again. “Come on, let’s go.”

Clayton stood back and watched as Sam practically dragged Leila up the front steps and into the house. He could already tell that Sam was happy to have a woman around Blue Horn, so she was going to be upset when Leila left. But he wasn’t about to let her stay here as his nanny.

“Isn’t Leila the greatest?” Tony asked before heading off towards the car.

Ms. Hilson was something, but he didn’t know what. All he knew was that she stood up to him and it concerned him more than he was willing to admit at the moment. So, instead he followed Tony to the vehicle. It would be best if he told Tony first that he wasn’t going to honor the contract and then he could tell his new houseguest later.

“Tony, don’t take too many of Ms. Hilson’s bags out because she isn’t going to be staying,” Clayton said as he stopped by the edge of the car.

Tony placed the suitcase down on the ground with a thump and then stood up to his full height which was couple inches shorter than Clayton’s six feet five inches. Clayton could tell from the dark look that came into his friend’s eyes that he wasn’t pleased with him.

“Can I ask you why not?” Tony questioned. “Leila hasn’t even been here twenty minutes and you’re ready to toss her off the property. What in the hell is wrong with you?”

“When you told me about Leila, you didn’t tell me...she was...”

“Surely, you aren’t going to tell me you’re upset that my foster sister is black?” Tony demanded, loudly. “I never thought of you as that type of person, but maybe I don’t know the man I’m working for after all. Well, I quit! Let me pack my things and I’ll be out with Leila within the hour.”

Did Tony really think that was his issue with Ms. Hilson? Clayton wondered as he watched Tony reach for the suitcase to place it back into the trunk. Hell, he didn’t care if Ms. Hilson was a black woman.

“Wait! You don’t have to quit!”

He wasn’t about to lose the best worker and friend he’d had in years over a misunderstanding. Clayton took the suitcase away from Tony and placed it back on the ground. “I don’t care if Ms. Hilson is black. I’m concerned about her age. Most girls her age don’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere for a long period of time with an old man and his kid.

“I can’t have Sam getting attached to another woman and then have her up and leave without notice. I won’t put my little girl through that anymore. I thought I was hiring a more mature woman, so imagine my surprise to see her fresh face drive up.”

You noticed more than her pretty face, his mind taunted.

“Leila isn’t like that,” Tony told him. “Back home she didn’t go out and party with friends. She’s more on the quiet side. That’s why I thought she would be perfect as Samantha’s nanny. She’s great with kids. You can’t get rid of her before giving her a chance. Leila’s been through so much for only being twenty-five years old.”

She was twenty-five. Hell, he didn’t think she looked older than eighteen or nineteen at the most.

“She looks younger than that. I thought she was still in her teens,” Clayton confessed as he took off his Stetson and ran his fingers through his thick dark brown hair.

Laughing, Tony grabbed the other bags out of the trunk and then closed it. “Oh, I can see why you would be upset now. Leila will be twenty-six pretty soon. So, does that mean you’re going to give her a chance?”

Clayton still wasn’t too sure. He needed to talk to her one on one before he made a final decision. “How about you take those bags upstairs and tell Ms. Hilson I would like to see her in my study in an hour. I’ll make my final decision after we talk.”

“I’ll do that boss.”

Placing his hat back on his head, Clayton walked back over to King. He needed to get his horse taken care of first and while he was doing that he would think about how to handle this new surprise tossed his way with the appearance of Leila Hilson.

Chapter Ten

“Ms. Leila, I’m so glad that you’re here,” Sam said as she led her down the long hallway to her bedroom.

Leila couldn’t believe how quickly the child had taken to her. She hadn’t been here twenty minutes and the little girl acted like she was already her best friend in the world. It made Leila wonder if the girl was getting enough female attention in her young life.

She had already met the father from hell and she didn’t know what woman in their right mind would want to be saddled with him for the rest of her life. Clayton Moore had to be the most domineering and arrogant man she’d had the misfortune to come across in her life. However, he was going to be her boss so she needed to shove her first impressions of him down and just do her job.

“I’m glad I’m here too, Sam,” Leila said wondering why Clayton called his little girl by that nickname instead of her full name. Samantha was such a beautiful name for a girl, but once again it wasn’t her place to comment about it.

“My room is right there,” Sam said pointing to a door with a horse poster hanging on the outside. “Daddy’s room is at the end of the hallway, but you can’t go in when the door is closed. That’s what he tells me, so I knock until he tells me to come in.”

She wasn’t planning on going into Clayton’s bedroom for any reason, so she wouldn’t ever have the need to knock on the door. She would just wait until she saw Clayton Moore outside or in another part of the house.”

“Okay, thanks for telling me,” Leila answered so she wouldn’t hurt Sam’s feelings. She didn’t want the little girl to think she wasn’t playing attention to what she was telling her. The better the connection she had with the little girl, the stronger the bond they could build.

“This is your room.” Sam stopped in front of a closed door that was a little way down from hers. “I hope you like the decorations. The last nanny who stayed here hated it and wanted Daddy to change it, but he didn’t do it for her.”

Letting go of her hand, Sam opened the door and walked inside. “Come on in.”

Leila followed Sam into the room and stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t believe the sheer beauty of the place. It was like rooms she had seen in magazines and secretly wanted to do for herself once she had enough money saved up for her own place. She couldn’t believe the brooding man she encountered outside would know about such elegance and class for an area.

A light tan carpet covered the floor making the space seem larger and more inviting. A huge white bed with matching pillows was against the far wall. In addition, a throw a shade darker than the carpet was folded across the foot of the bed. Six pictures of different trees known to Wyoming were displayed on the other wall by a window with off-white drapes. Next to the window was a small writing table with a cloth covered chair.

Lastly, a wicker bench sat at the end of the bed to help prevent the large bedroom from feeling too expansive – and provided a more relaxing place for getting dressed other than the high mattress.

“Samantha, it’s beautiful,” Leila complimented meaning every word. She couldn’t understand how the women before her hated this exquisite space.

“Good. Daddy will be happy about it. Do you think you’ll stay longer than the other women have?” Sam asked looking up at her with a worried look on her face. “Daddy doesn’t think I know, but I do know the reason they left so early.”

Leila was taken aback by the Sam’s openness. Most kids shielded themselves from strangers, but this little girl had wisdom beyond her young age. It was sad in a way. “Why do you think they left?”

“It was me. I heard one of the women fighting with my daddy about the way I looked like a boy instead of a girl. She said it wasn’t right that I acted like a boy instead of a girl. He got mad and told her to leave. His girlfriend doesn’t even like me, but Annie is mean. She yelled at me once when Daddy told her to watch me when he went into town. I don’t like her.”

What was she supposed to say to all of this? This was her first day here and she had learned so much about Clayton and his daughter. When she first saw Samantha outside she was reminded of the little girl from To Kill a Mockingbird. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing and make Samantha think she felt the same way as the other women, but she did have questions about the little girl’s appearance.

“You know what. I wouldn’t worry about those other nanny’s or your daddy’s girlfriend. If they think that way, then they are missing out on getting to know a wonderful little girl,” Leila said smiling down at Sam.

A huge smile lit up Sam’s face and Leila rethought her first opinion. Samantha was a gorgeous child. She just needed a female’s touch to bring out the little girl in her some more. For however long she was here, Leila was going to make it her mission to help turn Samantha into the princess she knew she could become.

“I see that Samantha showed you to your room.”

Spinning around, Leila smiled at Tony coming through the bedroom door carrying her suitcase. He moved past her and sat them down on the bed.

“Samantha, why don’t you go outside and play for a few minutes so I can talk to Leila?” Tony suggested and then looked at her.

“Okay,” Sam grinned and then raced for the door but not before telling both of them goodbye before she went out.

Leila was glad Tony had found her before she had to hunt him down. “Why didn’t you tell Mr. Moore that I was black? You should’ve seen the look on his face when I told him I was going to be his new nanny. I thought he was going to die on the spot. I would’ve left if his little girl hadn’t rushed outside on us.”

“Clayton doesn’t care you’re black. He was concerned about your age. He thought you were still a teenager, but I told him how old you are and I think he’s okay with it now,” Tony replied.

“You think he’s okay with it,” Leila demanded and then took a breath to calm down. “I quit my job at the factory to come here. What if he’s thinking about firing me on my first day? Samantha has already told me about all of the nannies that have been in her life and I couldn’t believe it. She thinks they’ve left because of her, but I bet they got fed up with her overbearing father and quit.”

Leila’s eyes narrowed to slits when Tony started laughing at her. “See, I told mother you had this fiery side, but she never wanted to believe me. Now I know it’s true. I wouldn’t worry about Clayton. He’s a very nice man and he doesn’t usually prejudge people.”

“Oh, so should I feel special that I was the first person he did that to?” she demanded wondering how this day was going to end for her. “I need to talk to him because if I have to leave, I’ll do it first thing in the morning. Maybe I could get my old job back at home if I’m lucky.”

Tony sobered up quickly at her comment. “Leila, don’t jump to conclusions. Clayton wants to talk to you downstairs in the study. Hear him out first and see what he has to say. If he does fire you then I’ll drive you back home and take the bus back here. But don’t think the worst until you see what he wants.”

She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Clayton Moore again, but she would do it for Samantha. She was so sweet and she would love to be able to spend time with the child as her nanny. “Fine, I’ll see what he wants but I’m only doing this for you and Samantha.”

“I’ll take what I can get. Now, let me show you to the study.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Tony escorted her from the room and to her unknown future at the Blue Horn ranch.

Chapter Eleven

Inside his study, Clayton took his favorite Stetson off his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He’d purposely taken a long time taking care of King because he needed the extra time to think about his conversation with Tony from earlier.

Did Ms. Hilson think the same thing as his foreman? Honestly, he could care less about her being black. All he cared about was how excited Sam had been to see her. Leila Hilson was another woman he was placing in his daughter’s life and she seemed so happy about it.

Sam had her mother’s ability to never meet a stranger in her life. Everyone she came across was her friend which sometimes ended up hurting his daughter’s tender heart. Despite the fact his daughter acted like she didn’t care, friends never came by to play with her. He knew it was a lie.

He saw how Sam would look at the other kids in town when they were out together on play dates. She wanted to be around kids her own age and missed it. Hell, he wasn’t too old to remember being eight and how much he loved playing with other kids. Sure, he’d had two older brothers, but it was so much fun to hang around his own friends too. He wanted the same feeling for Sam.

Now, he had to deal with pleasing his daughter and finding a way to see if he had insulted her new nanny. God, he still didn’t like the idea of Leila Hilson only being in her late twenties, but it was better than her being a teenager. Maybe since she was so much younger than the other nannies he had hired she‘d have the energy to chase after Sam.

Clayton took a seat behind his desk and looked around the room while he waited for his new houseguest to show it. This was the last space Donna helped him decorate before she died. He was fine with it being empty as long as he had an area to work in, but she wouldn’t hear of it. So, while he had been away on a business trip his wife had hired an interior decorator to do the room in a week and he hated to admit it but he loved it!

Dark brown mahogany paint covered the walls which almost matched the sofa, desk and chair in the room. She had opened up the space by adding cream colored curtains to the only window in the room. Even the hardwood floors had been covered with a thick, plush carpet that felt wonderful in the winter when he was sitting in front of the fireplace having a drink after putting Samantha to bed.

After Donna had died he didn’t come in here for almost two months, but he got himself together and finally reopened the doors. He had been using the study ever since and it gave him a sense of closeness to his beloved wife.

A knock on the door drew his attention away from his memories. Clayton sat up straighter behind his desk and prepared himself for his second meeting with Leila. He hoped that it went better than the first.

“Come in,” he called.

The door opened and Leila walked in with a determined look on her pretty young face. As much as he didn’t want to, Clayton liked how she looked ready for battle with him. At least he knew he was dealing with a woman with a backbone.

“Ms. Hilson, will you please have a seat?” Clayton waved towards an empty chair in front of him and waited while Leila took a seat. “The first thing I want to do is apologize for the way I acted earlier when you introduced yourself outside.”

A look of surprise passed over Leila’s face before she could stop it. “You’re sorry?”

He could hear the question in her voice and it made him feel even worse. He shouldn’t have jumped down her throat so fast especially since he knew Tony wouldn’t give him a reference for someone who couldn’t do a wonderful job with his daughter.

“Yes. I hope you accept my apology and give Blue Horn ranch a chance. My daughter already likes you; that has to count for something since most of your time will be spent with her.”

“I guess it should,” Leila said nodding her head. “I’m surprised you want me to stay because I thought I was on my way in here to get fired. I even told Tony I would be leaving in the morning.”

Clayton felt more like an asshole now than he had a few minutes ago. “No, you aren’t fired. How about I go over a few rules with you about Sam and then you can ask me any questions you might have afterwards? How does that sound?”

Leila still studied him like she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to accept the job. It was hard for him to take a backseat while he waited for her answer. He was used to doing things his way and today wasn’t one of those days in his opinion.

“Sounds okay to me,” she answered rubbing her hand down her arm.

“You will get paid five hundred dollars every week because your job here doesn’t get paid hourly. I noticed that you have your own car, but the nanny position does come with its own car which is in the garage. I’ll show it to you later. I would like a daily report on how my daughter is doing.

“Sometimes, I have to attend meetings out of town, so I’ll call you and inquire about Samantha. I want you to understand that my daughter is everything to me. So, you’re responsible for her behavior, safety and well-being when she’s in your company.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a phone in your room that you can use to make personal calls, but only when you aren’t caring for Sam. In addition, I’ll pay for the long distance calls, but if they get out of hand I’ll start taking it out of your pay.”

“I’ll only be calling Ms. Thurston,” Leila cut in.

“That’s fine. Tony calls his mother all the time and I don’t have a problem with that. You don’t have a boyfriend or any close friends you might want to call?”

“No sir.”

Clayton had a hard time believing that a woman as attractive as Leila was single, but it wasn’t really his concern anyway, because the less distractions that his new nanny had the better when it came to caring for his daughter.

“Do you think you want to eat with us or enjoy an evening meal on your own? I know it has been done different ways with my previous nannies.” He thought Sam liked it better when the nanny ate with them, but he wasn’t going to push the subject.

“I can eat with you and Sam. I like the idea of eating with the family,” Leila said giving him a small smile which caused his heart to skip a beat.

Whoa! What in the hell was going on with him?

He was acting like a woman never smiled at him before. He had to be careful around her. She was making a part of his body work that had been dead for a very long time.

“Now, Sam is home schooled so she does have a teacher that comes every day, but I still expect you to do things with her. My daughter is very active and she loves riding horses. Do you know how to ride?”

“Yes, it was one of the first things Tony taught me how to do when I went to live with him and his mother. I love to ride. I haven’t done it in a while, but I love it.” Leila grinned making her dark brown eyes shine.

“Good. I also want to make sure that you don’t smoke, drink regularly or do drugs. I won’t stand for any of those things around my daughter at anytime.”

Leila shook her head. “No, Mr. Moore. I’ve never been interested in any of those activities. I’d rather spend my free time reading or doing something else.”

So far...so good, he thought. It seemed like Leila might turn out to be the perfect nanny he was looking for, but only time would tell about her.

Reaching into his desk, Clayton pulled out a stapled document and slid it across the table to Leila. “This is the job contract. It’s a written summary of the terms of employment for me. I guess you could call it a work agreement. When you read it you will notice it outlines your terms of employment at Blue Horn ranch. It will address your work days and hours, compensation and overtime if any comes up, plus holiday and vacation schedule.”

“Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about housekeeping duties because I’ve a cleaning lady that comes twice a week. I believe I’ve covered everything on my part. Do you have any questions for me?”

****

Leila went over in her head everything that Mr. Moore had just told her and he had already hit a lot of her questions already but she did have a few more to ask him, but she couldn’t get over the change in him since meeting him outside earlier. He wasn’t acting like the sight of her was such a shock to him anymore and she was a little taken back by it.

She was ready to deal with the arrogant man she had disliked on sight, but the calmer man sitting in front of her was throwing her off. So she was going to try being somewhat nicer and seeing how things turned out.

“Yes, I do have some questions for you,” she answered. Moving back in her seat, she crossed her legs and then folded her hands in her lap wondering which question she should ask first.

“Is Samantha the only child that you have?”

“Yes, she is,” Clayton answered.

Good, she was glad to hear that. Leila didn’t know she was ready to handle more than one kid on her first nanny position.

“Do you work from home or out of the home more?”

“I work from home mostly, but sometimes I do have to travel for my job. I seldom go into the office and if I do it’s only for a couple of hours.”

“Does Samantha have a typical daily and weekly schedule that I need to know about?”

“Samantha’s teacher is here from eight o’clock until two o’clock. After that Sam’s day is usually pretty free to do what she wants to do. Sometimes she goes riding or stays in her room and plays. I spend as much time with her as I can but sometimes I get busy with work and can’t talk to her until dinner time.”

What a sad way to live, Leila thought after hearing about how much time Samantha spent alone without her father’s attention. Well, she was going to make sure that Samantha had more things to do with her time while she was here.

“Do you care if I do extra things with Samantha like taking her out on walks or into town? I don’t want to do something you aren’t fond of with your daughter.” They had already started off on the wrong foot and Leila was trying her best to make sure it didn’t happen again with Mr. Moore.

“No, Sam loves to go into town and visit some of the museums and parks. I just stay so busy with work here that I don’t have time to take my daughter. Are you really interested in doing those things with her? None of the other nannies I hired wanted to leave the ranch and drive into town because the ride was so long.”

“Yes, I am. I love getting out and doing things anytime I can. I think children need to get out and explore new ideas and places as much as they can. My parents taught me the love of expanding my brain at a very young age.”

“If you’re up to doing it then it’s fine with me. Just make sure you tell me ahead of time where the two of you are going so I won’t be worried.”

Leila could see how much Mr. Moore loved his daughter, but she did wonder where his wife was. She had forgotten to ask Tony and Ms. Thurston about Samantha’s mother. His daughter already told her that he had a girlfriend, so she needed to know about this woman.

“Does Samantha’s mother ever come to take her?”

The instant the words left Leila’s mouth she knew that she had said the wrong thing because the look on Mr. Moore’s face changed from almost pleasant to anguish mixed with a little anger in seconds.

“Sam’s mother died years ago,” he replied. “The only other family that comes to see Sam are her grandparents, but they have gone on a cruise so they won’t be around for a while. “ Clayton ran his hands down his face and sighed like her questions were beginning to get on his nerves. “Do you have anything else to ask me, Ms. Hilson?”

“Yes, I do. Samantha mentioned you’ve a girlfriend. Does Annie ever come and take Samantha out?”

“HELL NO!” Clayton shouted and then lowered his voice when she jumped in her seat. “Annie is no longer in my life and if she shows up here I want you to come and get me. Do you understand?”

Leila nodded and then quickly answered. “Yes, sir, I understand.”

Pushing his chair away from the desk, Clayton stood up and extended his hand. “Welcome to Blue Horn ranch, Ms. Hilson.”

Leila grabbed the paper off of the desk then got up and shook Clayton’s hand. An electric shot raced through her body at the first touch of her skin against her new boss’s. She looked at Mr. Moore to see if he felt it too, but the expression on his handsome face hadn’t changed, so she guessed she was the only one. “Thank you so much. I’ll read over this contract and get it back to you later on today.”

“Good,” he answered and the let go of her hand. “I’m headed into town to check on some supplies I ordered. After you’ve freshened up from your trip why don’t you find Sam and let her show you around the ranch. She’s very proud of it so be prepared to hear a lot of bragging.” Picking up his hat off the desk, Clayton walked away from her and out the door without another word.

Chapter Twelve

“Man, I’m hungry. We need to stop and find a place to eat or something. I’m not driving all the way to that dumb ass ranch without any food in my stomach.” Jeff glanced over at his brother who was counting the money they had stolen out of that couples’ room.

“Stop your damn complaining.” Matt shoved the five hundred dollars back into the pocket of his jeans. “We’re going to get something as soon as we find a restaurant. You’re acting like we haven’t gone without food before. Don’t you remember the times we didn’t see mother for days because she was out getting high? Didn’t I take care of you then?”

“Yeah, but I liked my valet job and now I don’t have it anymore. I told you we shouldn’t have gone into that room. They didn’t have a lot of money in there like you thought. We both could still have our jobs.” Jeff made a left turn and continued driving down the long highway .

“I thought we would have more time to sneak into other rooms and take money. You should’ve seen how much money those rich people tossed around. How do they expect someone not to want to take it? It’s like tempting a kid with a piece of candy and you know how much of a sweet tooth I have.” Matt grinned.

“Money isn’t the only thing that you’ve a sweet tooth for,” Jeff snickered.

“Are you talking about the sexy woman I’m going to see? Yeah, Leila was a hot piece of ass. I can’t wait until the two of us meet again and I’ll make sure she doesn’t forget me this time. I wish she’d opened her door that night we knocked on it. I was positive that she would, but she didn’t.”

“I’m glad you’re into her, so you won’t get in my way while I’m dealing with that smug bastard Clayton Moore. I despise assholes like him. After I get to Blue Horn ranch, I’m going to show him how to treat a person.”

“Jeff, you don’t want to go back to jail,” Matt warned.

“Me? What about you and your plan to be with the woman of your dreams?” Jeff looked at his younger brother from the corner of his eye. “Do you think that Leila chick is just going to jump into your arms? You don’t want another stint in jail either, so don’t give me any advice you should be taking yourself.”

Matt glared at him and then turned away. “How about we just wait until we get there and then we’ll worry about the consequences, but I know that I’m not going to give up on Leila. I want her and I will have her.”

****

Exiting the hotel on the outskirts of town, Annie brushed her hair out of her eyes and fixed her clothing. She’d made sure to bring the sexy hitchhiker she’d picked up way out here, so nobody would recognize her. She couldn’t make the mistake of Clayton finding out that she was sleeping around on him.

She hated to do it, but a woman had needs and right at the moment Clayton wasn’t interested in fulfilling hers. However, she was patient and could wait until he got over his anger at her and then the two of them could get back together.

Heading for her car parked at the side of the building, Annie stopped in her tracks as she noticed two hot young men getting out of an old blue pickup truck. Both of them had to be at least ten to fifteen years younger than her and that fired up her libido. She loved younger men. Moving to the side, she watched them as they stood by the end of the truck and had a heated argument with each other.

The tallest one was the better looking of the two with his long, sandy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail that stopped between his shoulder blades. She bet he would be the better lover of the two because he looked like he knew how to work that body.

After getting her fill of him, Annie gave her attention to the shorter male and smiled. He might not have the height, but she bet his cock was thicker and bigger than his sidekick’s. He looked like once he got a woman into bed he wouldn’t let her leave until he was good and ready.

God, if she still wasn’t sore, worn out and high from the joint she shared with her hitchhiker friend, Scotty, she’d go over there and see if those two handsome young men wanted to spend time with an experienced older woman, but she had to get home. She’d been gone way too long and someone was probably looking for her at it was.

Annie took one last hungry look at the two guys then walked over to her car, got in and drove off, secretly hoping that she might get to see them again.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Leila stood outside the closed study door with the signed nanny contract in her hand. She had just checked on Samantha and she was getting ready for the tutor to come for her daily school work. So she decided this would be as good a time as any to get this over with. She knew from yesterday’s experience that Clayton Moore wasn’t that fond of her but she was going to make the best of the situation.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t been around people before who she hadn’t been the best of friends with, but she worked with them all the same. She was going to prove to Mr. Moore that she was the best person for the job. She was already beginning to like his little girl despite the hint of sadness that she saw in her young eyes.

Didn’t Mr. Moore notice that his little girl wasn’t as happy as she pretended to be? It would be such a shame if he hadn’t. Well, she was going to try her best to put a genuine smile on Samantha’s face. That was another thing she wasn’t too fond of either. She’d rather call Sam by her full name instead of the nickname. She wondered what would happen if she did it. Well, she would never know unless she tried.

Raising her hand, she knocked on the door and waited for an answer. A few minutes passed before she heard a masculine voice holler, “Come in.”

Leila opened the door and walked in closing it behind her. She had expected to find Mr. Moore sitting behind his desk like yesterday. However, when she looked around the room she spotted him standing over a table near a window with several sheets of paper spread out in front of him. When she walked closer to him, she saw that they were similar to blue prints an architect would do for a house.

“Mr. Moore, I’ve the contract you wanted me to sign and bring back to you,” Leila said standing a few feet away from him.

She couldn’t help but notice how the checkered shirt stretched across the bulging muscles in his arms as he wrote something down on a piece of paper to his left. For some reason, ever since she could remember, she had always found left-handed men extremely sexy.

Wait a second!

She wasn’t going to think of her boss that way. Okay, she needed to stop this train before it even left the station.

Clayton tossed the pen down on the table and then gave her his full attention. “Thank you for being so prompt and bringing this back to me so soon.” He held out his hand.

As Leila handed Clayton the sheet of paper her fingers accidentally brushed against his. She felt a quick shock of current again, but her new boss acted like nothing had occurred so she left it alone.

Leila watched as Clayton tossed the contract on the table beside him and then realized there was nothing left for her, so she turned to leave but was stopped before she took two steps.

“How is Sam doing this morning? Did you get a chance to talk to her before her tutor came? I was busy in the study, so I haven’t seen her this morning.”

Turning back around, Leila looked at Clayton wondering what was really going on in that head of his about her working here. He seemed fine on the outside, but she got a sense something more was going on inside his mind.

“Yes, we had breakfast together and after Samantha’s tutor leaves she‘s going to show me around the ranch. I think she had a favorite animal here she wants me to see,” Leila answered.

“Yeah, it’s a new pony I got for her a couple of days before you came. She loves it to death.” A sudden smile lit up his handsome face. “How was your room? Do you need me to get you anything else? I’m going into town in a couple of days to load up on supplies for Blue Horn. So, if you need something just make a list and bring it to me.”

Leila thought she already had brought everything from home that she needed, but she didn’t want to insult her boss by telling him that. “Thank you. If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”

“Good,” Clayton said. “Well, I need to get back to this paper work. Have fun with the tour. I think you’ll see it totally different through her young eyes. I know that I usually do.” Spinning back around, Clayton started back looking over the papers.

“I know I will,” Leila answered. She took one last look at Clayton and then quietly left the room shutting the door behind her.

Chapter Fourteen

“Did you know that my daddy told me when he gets some extra time he’s going to teach me how to jump?” Sam petted the Holstein pony in front of her. “I want to be a show-jumper.”

Leila couldn’t believe the tiny girl in front of her wanted to jump horses. She was amazed at how positive Samantha seemed about her future. She hadn’t had a clue what she wanted to do when she was eight, but maybe being on the ranch had made Samantha grow up a little faster.

“Wow...that sounds very exciting. Aren’t you nervous about jumping?” Leila knew she would be. As a child she was never that adventurous; she had been more on the studious side.

“No.” Samantha shook her head. “I can’t wait until I go on my first jump, but Daddy told me he better not catch me trying without him or I’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

Reaching out, Leila ran her hand down the coat of the stunning horse noticing how the dark eyes watched her with such intensity. She had been around horses a little bit back in Arizona, but not as much as she had wanted. There had been some at home, but after Tony moved away his mother sold them because she couldn’t find anyone else to help her.

“Listen to your daddy. He’s right. You don’t need to try to jump by yourself.” Leila made a mental note to tell Mr. Moore about Samantha talking about jumping. He needed to know so he could have another talk with her.

“Ms. Leila. Do you like to ride horses?”

“I used to ride some back home, but I haven’t done it in a while,” Leila answered as she moved her hand off the stunning pony. He was really going to be something to look at when he was full grown. Samantha’s daddy really had a good eye. This pony might even make a good breeding horse with its powerful build and strong quarters.

“Do you want to go riding sometime?” Samantha asked hopefully. “I know that we’ll have a lot of fun. I can take you out there by the pond and maybe we can go fishing.”

Leila noticed how Samantha wanted to do a lot of rough and tough stuff but not a lot of girly things and she wondered why. “Let me ask your father about it first. I don’t want to agree until I get his permission first. How does that sound?”

The happiness on the little girl’s face vanished the instant she mentioned getting permission from her father. She wondered what was going on now. One minute Samantha was full of energy and ready to go and now she was acting like her whole world had ended.

Bending down, she looked Samantha in the eye hoping the little girl would tell her why she was so upset now. “What’s wrong? Do you think your daddy won’t let you go riding with me?”

“He just stays so busy now with work. I doubt he’ll even remember to give you an answer. I never get to do anything because he’s always afraid something is going to happen to me. He doesn’t want to lose me like Mommy.”

“How about we don’t think the worst until your daddy gives me an answer?” Leila asked. “Can you do that for me?’

Samantha gave her a small smile and then nodded her head. “Okay Ms. Leila, I can do that, but I know he’s going to tell you no.”

“Well, we’ll just have to wait and see won’t we?” Leila touched Samantha on the shoulder and then stood back up. “How about you show me the rest of the ranch? There’s still a lot of it I haven’t seen yet and then after we’re finished how about you read me one of your favorite books?’

“Oh, I’d like that!” Samantha grinned as the light came back into her green eyes. “I love Dr. Seuss. Can I read him to you?”

“I’d love it. Now, let’s get going.” Leila grabbed Samantha’s hand as they left the barn wondering if Mr. Moore understood how much his little girl was missing his attention.

Chapter Fifteen

“Man, I love that we don’t have to sleep in the truck anymore,” Matt said as he relaxed on the bed completely clothed including his dusty boots. “Can you believe that last hotel we went to wanted to charge us eighty-five dollars for only two nights? I almost told that bitch were she could go when she sneered her nose up at us.”

“I have to agree that this place isn’t too bad.” Jeff sat on the bed across from his brother.” However, it isn’t as nice as the other place with the pool, and cable inside the rooms. This place doesn’t have any cable and there isn’t a pool in sight.”

Turning his head on the pillow, Matt glared at Jeff. “Have you forgotten the reasons why we are on this road trip?”

“No... I haven’t. I’m going to find that bastard Clayton Moore and teach him a lesson that he’ll never forgot. You’re going after a woman who you only talked to for a couple of minutes.” Jeff tossed him a look like he had lost his mind.

“I think my plan is going to work out better than yours. You have to know that chick isn’t going to remember you. Someone as good-looking as her isn’t going to waste her time with a grease monkey.”

“How many fucking times do I have to tell you that I’m almost the head mechanic not a grease monkey!” Matt snapped.

“Is there really a big difference between the two?”

If Matt didn’t love his brother so much, he would get up off his bed and punch him in the face until he learned to show him some better respect, but he wasn’t going to do that. He was just going to let the comment go right over his head.

“Speaking of good-looking women, did you see that blond back at the other hotel checking us out? For a minute there I thought she might come over to us.”

Jeff grinned showing off that he was missing at least two teeth at the side of his mouth. “Yeah, she was a tight piece of ass. I was disappointed when she got into her car and drove off. It’s been a while since I’ve been with an older woman. She looked like she was primed and ready for a good riding.”

“I would’ve let you have at her because I’m saving all of my energy for my woman. I can’t wait until I get to see her up close and personal again. I bet she’ll be even better looking than I remember her.” Matt ran his tongue across his top lip fantasizing about how it would be to kiss Leila. Without a doubt, it would be something that would always stay in the back of his mind.

“What if she doesn’t want to be with you?” Jeff asked taking off his denim jacket and tossing it back on the bed. “What will you do to make her change her mind?”

“I won’t have a problem making her fall for me. You know that I’m the better looking brother anyways,” Matt answered. “With my good looks and charm she won’t be able to resist me; I’ll have her eating out of the palm of my hand.”

Jeff snickered at him. “Keep believing those lies and they might just come true.”

“How about you just shut up and try to get some sleep. We only have this room for a little while unless we find a way to get more money. I don’t want to spend them arguing with your crazy ass.”

Matt rolled over so his back faced his brother and closed his eyes. Since he was doing more of the driving because Jeff was a speed demon, he needed to get what sleep he could. The last thing he wanted to do tonight was keep up a useless conversation with his stupid brother. Sometimes he loved Jeff but most of the time he wished that his brother would just keep his damn mouth shut.

Chapter Sixteen

Tossing his reading glasses down on the table, Clayton rubbed his eyes. He had been working ever since six o’clock this morning on closing out a deal that would allow him to buy the property next to his ranch. He’d had his eye on the land for the past two years, but the owner was trying to play hard ball.

Yet in the end, he’d finally quoted the number that the greedy SOB would agree to. He was going to use the extra land for another stable for his racing horses. The one he had now wasn’t big enough.

Clayton leaned his head against the back of his chair and tried to sneak in a quick cat nap because he didn’t have any doubt that he would be in this room most of the day. He had been relaxing for about five minutes when the sounds of Sam’s screams from outside made him jump up out of his seat. He quickly rushed over to the window to see what was going on. If anyone was messing with his baby girl there was going to be hell to pay.

Stopping in front of the window, Clayton’s mouth fell open at the sight of Leila and Sam throwing water balloons at each other in the front yard. His eyes were immediately drawn to how the white t-shirt was plastered against Leila’s beautiful brown skin. The sight of her glistening body made his cock a raging hard on in seconds. Firm, perky breasts bounced underneath her top as she ran away from his daughter trying not to get hit by the purple water balloon in her hand.

Shit!

My dick is so hard that it could split wood, Clayton thought as he cupped his erection in the palm of his hand. He didn’t know the last time he’d been this turned on from just looking at a woman. Leila was out there having some innocent fun and was clueless about what it was doing to him.

His tongue ran across his top lip and he wondered if Leila’s breasts tasted as juicy and plump as they looked in that t-shirt. Right at this moment, he would give anything for a sample of them.

The sound of someone knocking on the door shocked Clayton from his sudden erotic day dream about his new nanny. He took one last look at Leila and dropped his hand away from his erection. He couldn’t go down that road with her.

She was his employee. He had never overstepped that line with any of his other nannies in the past. So he wasn’t about to start doing it now and after the way he reacted to Leila the first time they met, he seriously doubted that she would be interested in his sudden attraction to her.

Moving away from the window, he took a seat behind his desk to hide his massive erection. If it didn’t go down, he might have to go upstairs and take care of it which was something he hadn’t done in years.

“It’s open,” Clayton called out.

Tony walked through the door and closed it behind him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked coming across the room and taking a seat.

Clayton wondered what was going on. Tony never made an appearance in his study during the day unless it was something really important. “Sure, what is it?”

“I was just checking to make sure that everything was going good between you and Leila. I know that she’s only being here for a month, but I remember the concerns you had about her being a little younger than some of the nannies you’ve hired in the past.”

Clayton was over his first impressions of Leila. He had noticed a huge change in his little girl the second day Leila showed up. He wouldn’t think about firing her now. She was fitting right in with everyone.

He had to admit that it was nice having a woman around who wasn’t trying to get into his bed at every second too. Now, if he could only follow his own words and stop thinking about Leila in a sexual way, things might work out so much better than he first had hoped. “I thought you knew that I was over it the first day we talked,” Clayton said leaning across his desk. “I’ve noticed a change in Sam and I’m very pleased with it. I think having your sister here is a very good thing. Please don’t think I haven’t realized what an asset she’s becoming to Blue Horn ranch.”

Grinning, Tony stood up. “Good. I was still a little worried, but after hearing this I’m not. I’ve talked to Leila and she loves it here too. I’m glad the two of you found an equal playing ground with each other.

“Well, I better get back to work. I have to show one of the new guys how to use the rope with the Mustang. He’s still nervous about getting kicked. I told him it comes with the job.” Tony waved goodbye to him and then went out the door snapping it shut behind him.

Clayton smiled at the closed door liking how Tony was so protective of Leila and her feelings. It was nice to see that Tony was so close to his family. He hated to admit that he would be the same way when it came to his little girl. He would do everything in his power to keep her from ever getting hurt.

I can’t sit here all day and not get any work done.

As he was reaching for the pen he’d tossed down earlier on his desk, Clayton suddenly noticed that the noise had stopped outside. Getting up out of his chair, he went back over to the window and noticed that Leila was coming back to the house with Sam.

Hurrying away from the window, Clayton made his way over to his closed office door. It was past time he took a break and now seemed like as good as time as any. He was trying to convince himself that he truly wanted a break and not to see how good Leila looked in her t-shirt up close and personal.

Chapter Seventeen

“Samantha, why don’t you go upstairs and get some dry clothes on,” Leila suggested as she stood by the bottom of the steps. She hadn’t been in a water balloon fight in years. She’d forgotten how fun acting like a child could be sometimes.

“Okay. Ms. Leila,” Sam told her. “What are we going to do later?”

“I’m going to check your homework and then maybe we can read a book or you can draw me one of your amazing pictures.” Leila wasn’t quite sure the next thing she would do with Samantha. All she was thinking about right now was getting out of these wet clothes.

“Sam, what have you and Leila been up to?”

A shiver went up Leila’s spine at the deep masculine voice behind them. She knew it was Clayton. His voice was a little sexier with its drawl than the other men who worked for him. The tone of it only added to the attractive package that he made.

“Daddy,” Sam said running past her. “Ms. Leila and I were outside having a water balloon fight. You should have joined us. It was a lot of fun.”

“Baby girl, I think I was better off inside. It looks like the two of you are soaked to the bone, but it sounds like you had a lot of fun. Did you have fun Leila?”

She hated the way it seemed like Clayton’s voice got deeper any time he said her name. It could be her imagination, but she didn’t believe it was. She didn’t want to turn around and answer him because she knew how see through her shirt was at the moment.

Yet, she couldn’t act like she hadn’t heard her boss talking to her. Turning around slowly, Leila tried not to notice the thick chest hair peeking through the buttons that were undone on his denim shirt. Instead, she focused her attention and eyes on his beautiful eyes which might have been a bigger mistake. Because she noticed how they dropped down to her breasts and then inched their way back up her body until he was looking into her eyes again.

“It looks like you’re very wet, Leila,” Clayton said in a low voice making her pulse race.

“Yeah, I am,” Leila quickly answered trying to calm down her pulse. “I should go upstairs and change clothes. I hate to be wet for a long period of time.”

Clayton’s eyes grew a shade darker at her comment. “Sometimes being very wet is a good thing.”

The comment might have gone over Samantha’s head--she was now staring intently at the two of them--but Leila knew what Clayton was telling her. Yeah, she needed to get her ass upstairs and quick before she said something she shouldn’t.

“Sam, we should get changed. I’m sure your daddy doesn’t want you to catch a cold.” Leila reached for Samantha’s hand and walked with her towards the stairs. She didn’t dare look back at Clayton, but she felt his eyes staring into her back as she walked upstairs with his daughter.

****

Leila finished drying off her body with the thick white towel and laid it to the side before she grabbed the dark blue robe off the sink and wrapped it around her. She knew that Sam was probably already dressed and looking for her downstairs, but she wasn’t ready to go down there yet and face Clayton.

She couldn’t get over how he undressed her with his eyes when she was with him. It was hard enough fighting her own attraction towards her ultra sexy boss. Surely he knew how good he looked with his dark blond hair, dark blue eyes which were only enhanced by his naturally long black lashes and chiseled jaw bone that would make Kurt Russell jealous.

Her boss Clayton Moore was smoking hot and she had been thinking about how it would be to kiss him. God, she couldn’t let her thoughts keep trailing down this path or it wasn’t going to turn out good for either one of them. Especially after the comment Clayton tossed at her before she left with Sam to come upstairs.

For this past month, she had thought her desire for him had been one-sided, but it seemed like he was as drawn to her as she was to him. She didn’t know how it came to light. One day she hated the sight of him because he was hollering at her and now she was dreaming about how he would look naked in her bed.

Was it really possible to hate a man one minute and then want him like crazy the next?

Damn, she needed to get a life and very quickly or she was going to be in a hell lot of trouble because her nanny contract didn’t expire for three years.

Going back into her bedroom, Leila stopped by the edge of her bed and started to untie her robe so she could get dressed. A knock at her bedroom door stopped her. She quickly fixed her robe back on her shoulders and retied it back around her waist.

Who in the world could that be? Leila thought as she headed towards the door.

She knew it couldn’t be Samantha because the knock was too hard to be hers and besides Samantha always yelled her name through the door first and knocked second. It was a little game they made up the second week she was here.

Leila opened the door and took a step back when Clayton came through the door and closed it behind him. “What are you doing here?” she asked taking another step back. No, Clayton couldn’t be in her room like this when she had no self control when it came to him.

“I’ve been waiting for you downstairs and you hadn’t shown up yet. I thought you might be up here hiding out and I can see that I was right.” He glanced down at the robe then back at her face. “You should’ve been dressed by now.”

“What business is it of yours how long I take?” Leila inquired placing her hands on her hips. She was clueless that she had just opened her robe and given Clayton a good view of her breasts.

“Everything that goes on at Blue Horn is my business.” Clayton took another step closer to her but Leila didn’t move this time. She wasn’t about to show him how his presence made her body turn into a roller coaster ride.

“Do you know how good you look in that blue robe, Leila?” he asked as his eyes left her face and dropped down the satiny fabric covering her slightly damp body.

“No.”

“The rich color of the fabric brings out the beauty of your skin and makes a man think about doing things he shouldn’t.” Reaching out, Clayton ran the side of his hand down the opening in the robe exposing more skin. “You are just so damn beautiful.”

Leila moved her hand to close up the gap, but Clayton’s darkly tanned hand shot out and stopped her. “Please... I only want to look at you. Can you let me do that?” Dark blue eyes watched and waited for her answer.

She could do nothing but nod her head as an answer before slowly dropping her hand. Clayton slowly opened the robe and slid it down her shoulders until it pooled around her waist.

Leila wasn’t sure if it was the air conditioning in the room or Clayton’s intense stare that made her nipples rock hard, and at the moment she didn’t care. Her heart skipped at beat as his eyes zoomed in on her body like it was the most stunning sight he had ever seen in his adult life.

His thick arm wrapped around her waist, inching her closer as his head bent towards her breasts. She wouldn’t be able to handle it if Clayton touched her. She was barely holding on as it was.

“Clayton, you promised,” Leila whispered as Clayton’s mouth was mere inches from her nipple.

“Baby, I know but a man can only take so much temptation,” he said and then lowered his head the rest of the way. If he hadn’t been for him holding her up, Leila would have fallen to her knees. A moan broke from her mouth as she tossed her head back and that seemed to be Clayton’s undoing.

Picking her up, he carried her the short distance to the bed behind them and laid her down. His mouth moved from her left breast and fastened on the right one; he ravenously lapped attention to the swollen peak as his passion spiraled completely out of control.

She held him to her by digging her fingers into his strong shoulders to keep him pressed against her. Clayton eased his hand between them and traced his finger down the front of her body.

Raising his head, he stared at her naked body while Leila tried to regain her senses. “You’re so perfect. I can’t stop looking at you for anything in the world. I could make a meal out of you for the rest of the day. Do you want me to do that, sweetheart?”

She needed to stop this. Clayton was her boss. Things shouldn’t have gotten this far between them. However, Leila shivered when he lowered his head and licked at the skin above her navel then continued his way down her body. The moans came like second nature now as her mind whirled with ways Clayton could stop the ache he had placed in her body.

“I...” Leila’s breath hitched in her throat when she felt the touch of Clayton’s tongue against her wet entrance. She bucked against him almost knocking him off the bed. But strong hands held her down as Clayton’s tongue stroked her until she was pulling him closer instead of pushing him away.

The pleasure she was getting was unlike anything she had ever felt before in her twenty-five years on this earth. She didn’t want it to stop for anything the world...but all of a sudden Clayton was jumping away from her body like he had been burned..

“What’s going on?” Leila asked, confused by Clayton’s actions.

“Sam’s knocking at the door,” Clayton told her as he moved away from the bed over to the window. “You need to answer it before she comes in here looking for you.”

Leila was still back on how it felt to have Clayton’s tongue licking at her. She didn’t know if she was coherent enough to have a conversation with an eight-year-old, but she got off the bed and hurried over to the door.

She opened the door halfway and found Samantha standing there in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “Samantha, what are you doing here?”

“Ms. Leila, I’ve been outside waiting for you. What’s keeping you? I thought you wanted to see my homework?”

Damn! She had forgotten all about that because of Clayton. That wasn’t a good thing at all. She couldn’t disappoint Samantha like that again.

“Samantha, I’m sorry. I got caught up with something in my room. How about you draw me that picture we talked about and I’ll be down in twenty minutes to check over your work,” she suggested.

Samantha grinned at her. “Do you care what I draw for you?”

“No sweetie. Why don’t you let it be a surprise?” Leila suggested as she pulled her robe tighter around her body.

“Okay.” Samantha took off down the hallway and Leila closed the door resting her back against it. She wasn’t surprised to see that Clayton hadn’t moved away from the window. “We can’t do this again. It was a huge mistake that we wouldn’t have been able to come back from.”

Moving away from the window, Clayton sauntered across the room until he was standing in her personal space. He pulled her fingers away from the death grip they had on her robe and placed them against the massive erection in his jeans.

“Darling, do you feel how hard you’ve made me?” he asked as he rubbed her hand up and down his hard on. “I’m still fighting down the urge to strip you naked and bury my aching cock between those silky brown thighs of yours. I don’t know how this attraction happened so fast between us and truthfully, I don’t care.

”So, this is far from over between us. It’s only the beginning.” Clayton placed a hard kiss against her lips and then moved her away from the door. He took one last glance at her before he opened it and walked out.

Chapter Eighteen

After a trip to his bedroom to deal with the problem he had left over from visiting Leila, Clayton finally made his way downstairs. Did Leila think he really wasn’t going to find a way to be with her? She was the first woman that he had made a move on since his wife’s death. No, he was determined to get her to see that they could have a passionate relationship. He had never had a woman respond to him like that before...not even his wife.

Leila came apart in his arms and he was a step or two away from making her feel the ultimate pleasure but they had gotten interrupted by a little visitor.

He was so thrilled with the way Sam had changed since Leila was brought into their lives. His daughter was no longer acting like she was an adult instead of eight years old. She was having fun, laughing and smiling like a little girl should. He hoped things would only get better for her. He was sure that things were going to get better between him and Leila.

Leila might be a little unwilling to move things to the next level, but he wasn’t at all. Hell, he didn’t even care he was breaking his own golden rule... no romantic involvement with the help. Leila was worth breaking that rule for...besides he considered her more than his employee.

Turning the corner that led to his study, Clayton stopped in his tracks and felt a rush of anger take over his body. He barely fought the urge to drag the unwelcome visitor out by her fucking arm.

“Annie, what in the hell are you doing here?” Clayton demanded as he rushed over to her. “I thought I told you to keep your ass away from here. You aren’t welcomed on my property.”

“Clay...Sweetheart, I know you don’t mean that. We had a tiny fight like most couples do. We can work through it,” Annie purred as her hand reached out and tried to touch him, but he knocked it away.

“No, I’m not going to work anything out with you. We aren’t even a couple. We only hooked up a couple of times because you kept throwing yourself at me. I’m not interested in you and never will be. So you better get your butt off my property before I find Tony. You already know how he feels about your skinny ass. What is it going to be?”

Clayton planted his hands on his hips and waited. He still couldn’t believe that Annie had enough nerve to show up and demand they work things out. She was completely out of her mind.

Annie flipped her newly high-lighted hair over her shoulder then glared at him. “I don’t believe you’re serious about tossing me out. I can hear it in your voice that you still care about me. A man doesn’t make love to a woman the way you did me if he wasn’t in love with her.”

A loud yelp came from Annie’s mouth as he wrapped his arm around her thin upper arm and dragged her from the hallway out the front door. Once Clayton was outside he spotted Tony coming out of the barn.

“Tony, can you come over here!” he hollered. Tony was standing in front of him in the matter of seconds.

“How in the hell did she get back on the property?” Tony asked glaring at Annie who was struggling against the hard grip Clayton had on her arm.

“I’ve no fucking idea, but I want her gone before Sam sees her. She is pure evil. I don’t want her anywhere near my daughter. Can you please help Annie find her way permanently off Blue Horn’s property?” Clayton let go of Annie’s arm and then wiped his palm down the front of his jeans like he had touched something rotten.

“Don’t you dare touch me, you bastard.” Annie sidestepped Tony’s touch and then brushed past him heading for her vintage black Mustang.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Clayton Moore. You aren’t going to find any other woman better than me. You’ll regret letting me go,” she swore as she got into her car and drove off in a cloud of dust.

“You should’ve listened to me when I told you to stay away from that she-devil,” Tony complained as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I knew she was trouble from the first day she showed up here at the ranch.”

Clayton shook his dark head in agreement. “I know, but after a while a man has needs and she was there to fill them. I never told Annie I wanted more from her. It was all in her head.”

Aren’t crazy people usually like that, he thought?

Tony turned and looked at him. “Do you think you’ve truly seen the last of her?”

Clayton wished that he could believe that he had, but he knew deep down in his gut that Annie would be back to stake a claim on him again. “Hell no and that is what worries me. I’ve got a bad feeling she will do anything and everything to get back into my life.”

“Well, if she does show back up here let me know and I’ll be sure to help her find her way back to the gate.” Tony uncrossed his arms. “I need to get back to work. Don’t let her ruin the rest of your day. For the moment, she’s gone so enjoy that.” His best friend patted him on the arm and then walked from him.

He knew that Tony was right, but the pit of his stomach was still uneasy about totally blowing her off. He didn’t like the crazed look he noticed in Annie’s eyes right before she drove off. No, he was going to keep his eyes and ears open for anything that concerned her. She wasn’t going to go away without a fight.

Turning back around, Clayton went back towards the house and grinned when he spotted Sam coming out the door with Leila. He couldn’t help but notice how jaw-dropping good Leila looked in her outfit.

The short denim skirt cupped her perfect ass making him want to grab it with both hands. The white cowboy boots made her petite legs look even longer than they actually were. A white blouse and a sleeveless denim jacket made her breasts even higher and very eye-appealing. It was an outfit a young, single woman wore to draw attention and Leila knew that.

Clayton held his temper in check as he slowly made his way over to Leila and his little girl. He wanted to know where in the hell she was going dressed like that. If she thought she was leaving the ranch then she was out of her pretty little mind.

She may not think he had a claim on her, but he did.

“Where are the two of you going?” he asked his daughter, but his eyes were on Leila.

“Daddy, Leila is taking me into town to go shopping. Isn’t that great?” Sam asked smiling up at him. “It’s going to be a girl’s day out, so you can’t come, Daddy.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to come along?” Clayton asked still watching Leila for a reaction, but to her credit she didn’t give anything away. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He loved how she was testing him. But Leila should realize she shouldn’t play adult games with him unless she was willing to pay the price of losing.

“No, I think it would be better if you stayed at home, Mr. Moore,” Leila said finally answering his question. “I think it will be fun for Samantha to have her first girl’s day out with me alone instead of having her daddy tagging behind us, don’t you?”

Clayton’s deep laughter rang out through the ranch for a second or two before he stopped. He saw the shocked looks on his daughter’s and Leila’s faces and tried his best not to laugh again. “Leila, I think you’re the first woman to ever tell me my presence with them could be considered tagging along,” he chuckled again. “Okay, ladies since no boys are allowed. I’ll stay at home.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” Sam told him and then raced over to Leila’s white convertible parked in the driveway.

“We’ll be home in time for dinner.” Leila tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her by the arm.

“Don’t forget the promise I made to you upstairs,” he whispered by Leila’s ear enjoying the light scent of vanilla that he found there. It made his cock instantly hard. “By the way, you look very sexy in your outfit. Just make sure you don’t find any admirers in town or I’ll place to place a ‘Do Not Touch’ sign on you.”

“You don’t own me, Mr. Moore,” Leila shot back, defiantly. “I told you upstairs that we aren’t going to have a repeat performance and I was totally serious.”

Clayton took a quick glance around the ranch to make sure no one was looking at them. He spun her around to face him and tugged her to his body. “Leila, I don’t want to own you. I want you crazy with the need to have me buried deep inside of you. When you aren’t focused on your job, your thoughts should be on me and how good I’m going to make you feel.”

Tossing her head back, Leila’s eyes connected fully with his. “What makes you think I’m still interested in you?” Why was she challenging him?

Clayton eased a denim clad thigh between Leila’s thighs and brushed it back and forth across her underwear. He watched with masculine pride as her eyes grew a shade darker and mewling sounds eased from her mouth.

“That’s how I know,” Clayton bragged as he removed his leg and took a step back. “Have fun on your outing and don’t give Sam any candy.” He winked at a stunned Leila then left her standing in the middle of the driveway.

Chapter Nineteen

“Is there anywhere you want to go first?” Leila asked Samantha as she walked down the sidewalk next to her. She was hoping to at least buy the little girl a couple of dresses today while they were out shopping. She had been inside Samantha’s closet a couple of times and there wasn’t one girly item in there.

Did Clayton not have any idea how to buy little girl’s clothes? There had to be a reason why Samantha was always dressed like a little boy. She wasn’t saying that Samantha couldn’t be a tomboy once or twice a week, but it was not okay for her to dress that way every day of her life.

“No ma’am,” Samantha answered shoving her hands into the pocket of her jeans.

Leila knew that there was something up because Samantha wasn’t acting like her cheerful self, so she was going to get to the bottom of it. There was no telling what she was thinking about. Sometimes it seemed like Samantha was becoming more and more like her daddy each and every day.

Taking Samantha by the hand, she walked over to a bench on the sidewalk and took a seat pulling her down next to her. “Okay, what’s wrong with you?” Leila asked, softly. “I thought you were excited about the idea of going shopping with me.”

Dropping her head, Samantha kicked at a rock on the ground in front of her. “I wished that I looked more like you.”

Whoa! That comment totally took Leila by surprise. Samantha was a beautiful child and shouldn’t want to look like anyone else but herself. Her mother told her to be proud of who she was from a very young age and to never want to look like anyone else.

“Why do you wish you looked more like me?” she asked touching Samantha on the arm trying to draw out the truth. It seemed like something she had been thinking about for a while.

“You’re just so pretty and your clothes are always so nice. I only have t-shirts and jeans in my closet. I love my daddy, but he doesn’t know how to buy girl clothes.”

Finally! She was getting down to the reason Samantha dressed the way she did. Clayton didn’t have a clue how to go out shopping with his little girl. Well, she was here now and she was going to help Samantha out by giving her a mini makeover.

“How about we go and look in a couple of kid’s shops first?” Leila suggested as she stood up. “I’m sure that we can find you a lot of cute outfits to add to your wardrobe. There’s nothing wrong with being a t-shirts and jeans girl. I love them myself, but every once in a while I do want to dress up.”

Samantha jumped up from the bench grinning from ear to ear. “Can we go to Kid’s Stop around the corner? I’ve always wanted to go in there, but daddy is usually too busy when we come in town to pick up supplies.”

Leila couldn’t tell Samantha no if she wanted to. The little girl was way too excited about getting some new clothes. “Let’s go. I bet there are a lot of things there just waiting for us to buy them.”

Running up to her, Samantha wrapped her arms around her waist. “Ms. Leila, I’m so glad that you’re here now. You’re the best nanny that daddy has ever hired for me. I hope you’re here forever and ever.”

Patting Samantha on the back, Leila fought back the tears that hovered in the back of her eyes. She had grown very fond of Samantha too and she truly hoped that their bond only grew stronger.

“I’m glad I’m here too. I want to be your nanny for as long as I can,” Leila said as she took a step back. “Now, how about we go and get started shopping? We need to get some cute things to show your father when we get back home.” Taking Samantha by the hand, Leila walked in the direction of the clothing shop pleased that she going to help Samantha achieve one of her dreams.

****

“I’m getting tired of doing the dirty work for us,” Jeff complained as he tossed the wad of money down on the bed next to his brother. “You stay here in this hotel room while I’m the one going out robbing people and finding different ways to keep us in money.”

Matt sat up on the bed and grabbed the money next to his leg. “I told you that I’ve never been as good as you when it comes to stealing money. Why can’t you understand that? I’m more of the brains behind the operation. It isn’t my fault that we have been in this run-down place for a month. I wanted to leave the next day, but you were the one who was tired of sleeping in the truck.”

“Yeah, I was fucking tired of sleeping in the bed of the truck on back roads. I want a bed, and a shower every morning. Don’t blame me for it. I think it’s only human nature. Have you figured out a plan yet about what we’re going to do once we get to the ranch?” Jeff asked watching as Matt counted the money he had gotten for them today.

“I’ve a couple of ideas, but none of them are good enough for me to act on. I don’t want us to get caught and tossed back into jail. I swore that I’d never go there again and I meant it.”

Jeff wasn’t too eager to go back behind bars either. He had already spent five years of his life there and it was an experience that he would never forget a day in his life. However, he was getting tired of waiting for Matt to make his move.

Why did his brother always have to be the one that controlled things? He was just as smart as Matt and could probably come up with a good plan to get them what they both wanted.

“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I’m more than ready to head to Blue Horn ranch. To me, it seems like we’re hiding out instead of moving ahead with our original idea. Are you chickening out on me?”

Matt jumped up from the bed so fast that he almost fell off the other side. “Are you kidding me!” his brother yelled. “When have I ever backed away from anything in my damn life? I know you’re impatient and you never want to think of the big picture. You live in the moment and I see the future.

“Let’s say that I do it your way and we just drive up to Blue Horn. What are we going to do after we get there? I’m pretty sure that Clayton will have our asses kicked before the police arrived there to haul us off to jail. Wouldn’t you rather take him by surprise? It would make your revenge against him so much better, don’t you agree?”

Excitement raced through Jeff’s lanky body as he thought about what Matt had just said. His brother was right Clayton would have the upper hand against them if they showed up without a plan. But if they had something already mapped out then the old rancher wouldn’t have a chance in hell against the two of them.

Getting off the bed, Jeff stood in front of Matt and placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “I usually hate to admit when I’m wrong, but this time I’m wrong. I can wait a little while longer while you think of something good to do.” He patted Matt on the shoulder and then moved away.

“Can I trust you to keep your word?”

“I’ll keep it as long as I can, but don’t make me wait too much longer, or I’ll be pressed to take matters into my own hands,” Jeff warned as he headed for the pack of cigarettes he had left on the table earlier.

Chapter Twenty

Clayton was trying his best to focus on reading over the last of the contract before he signed it for the new property. But his attention wasn’t on the papers in front of him; it was in a totally different place. He couldn’t get his thoughts off how good Leila had tasted when he kissed her earlier. How in the hell was he supposed to keep his distance now?

I wouldn’t be having this problem if I never crossed that line in the first place.

Leila reminded him of a semi-ripe peach waiting to be picked out of a tree. She was almost there, but not quite yet. He was dying for another sample of her sweetness. However, he wasn’t quite sure if Leila would let him that close to her again.

No... he wouldn’t think the worst. Leila wanted to get know him. She wouldn’t have kissed him back like that if she wasn’t attracted to him. He was so sure of it that he would bet money on it. A woman couldn’t fake a reaction like that no matter how hard she might try. Leila wanted him, but she was too scared to admit it to herself and more importantly him.

He hadn’t gotten this far in life by not going after what he set his sights on. Leila was someone he wanted and he wouldn’t give up until he got her. He knew that she was as attracted to him as he was to her, yet she wasn’t willing to admit it yet.

Clayton was stunned that he was so taken with a woman who was so different from his wife. Donna had been sweet, caring and so even-tempered. He never really remembered the two of them ever getting into a huge disagreement all during their short marriage. She’d been the best wife a man could have ever asked for, but Leila was an entirely different story.

Leila was spunky, independent and didn’t mind speaking her mind. She hadn’t been working for him that long but she never kept her opinion to herself about anything. There was something about that he found very sexy.

A part of him had always been attracted to a woman who was bright and well-informed, a female he could share an intelligent conversation, observances and debates with. Donna liked to talk to him about some things, but mostly she liked just being a housewife and raising Samantha. She didn’t get into politics or current events as much as he did.

Leila had drawn his appreciation even more by her display of excellence in being the best nanny she could be for his daughter. There were times when he’d been watching Leila play with Sam when she wasn’t even aware of it. He was more than impressed that Leila knew her gift was working with children and put it to good use. He never remembered seeing Sam as happy as she is now with Leila.

Clayton promised himself after seeing the love that Leila showered on Sam that he wasn’t about to let her go. For a young woman, she had such wonderful respectability. Leila had such an untouched elegance that she probably didn’t even know was there. However, he did notice it and it was another quality that drew his interest.

He was so tired of the women he came across who were always bragging or showing off about something. That kind of attitude made him turn around and run in the opposite direction. How could he be sure that if he dated any of those women they wouldn’t gloat about it? Or brag about how they finally landed him as a boyfriend or even worse as a husband?

He’d almost made that mistake with Annie, but he was lucky enough to catch onto her schemes before it was too late. However, more than Annie’s selfishness, the way she dressed turned him off. She didn’t know the meaning of keeping something to the imagination. She felt the more she showed the sexier it made her. No...he would rather be surprised about what he was going to unwrap instead of having it on display.

Now, Leila knew how to wear the perfect outfit to get any red-blooded man’s attention. She was a natural beauty whose looks were enhanced by make-up when she decided to wear it. Anytime she was around him the delicate hint of her perfume drove him out of his mind. It wasn’t too overpowering, but just enough to make him want more of it.

God... there were so many things that he liked about Leila from the way she spoke to everyone with such respect, to how she didn’t let Sam play them against each other. She never agreed to any of Sam’s wild ideas unless she came and asked him about it first.

Leila already knew how much he trusted her judgment, but she never took that for granted. She still asked him if he wanted Sam to have something and by doing that she had gained so much of his respect. She was the perfect woman for him and he was going to find a way to prove it to her.

****

“Leila, do you think my daddy is going to like my new outfit?” Samantha asked glancing down at the white sundress with ladybugs scattered across the fabric and the matching white sandals on her feet.

Leila took her eyes off the road for a minute and glanced over at the little girl. She could see how much Clayton’s approval meant to Samantha and she prayed that her father liked the new look. Samantha couldn’t stay dressed like a tomboy for the rest of her life. She was a little girl and should have some clothes that showed off how pretty she really was.

“Honey, I think your daddy is going to be amazed at how beautiful you look,” Leila said as she continued to drive back to Blue Horn. She knew she had been gone longer than she had originally planned, but after seeing the smile on Samantha’s face the extra hour was worth it. She was touched that she was able to bring some happiness into Clayton’s little girl’s life.

“I think he will too,” Samantha said and then glanced down at the bag by her feet. “Can I play with the doll you bought me?”

“Sure you can.” Digging inside of the bag, Samantha pulled out the Tiana doll from the Princess and the Frog.

At the last minute, they had made an unexpected trip to the toy store next to the clothing shop. Once they got inside, Samantha had made a beeline for the Disney display and picked out the doll without a second thought. Leila was surprised that Samantha didn’t want a different doll, but she didn’t tell Samantha to put her back. She purchased the doll and a couple of outfits to go with it.

While Samantha was content to play with the new gift in the seat next to her, Leila let her mind drift back to the kiss she had shared with Clayton. Of course, she had been kissed by men before but none of them had made her feel the hot emotions that Clayton had.

With that one kiss, he had made her desire things she hadn’t ever thought before and hoped she would get to do again. If Samantha hadn’t come looking for her there is no way that she and Clayton wouldn’t have made love in her bedroom.

Secretly, a part of her did wonder what it would be like to be in a relationship with Clayton because he was the type of man that wouldn’t declare his love for you in over-the-top ways with a lot of expensive gifts or take you out to fancy restaurants to show off his wealth to others.

No, he would show his affections through seemingly countless and thoughtful actions like holding your hand while the two of you were walking down the street. Or he would shoot his woman a smile that would give her the sense they were the only two sharing a private joke.

Now doing those things didn’t mean that Clayton didn’t know the hottest restaurants and places to take his woman, which only meant that when he did take her to those places, it was for a special occasion.

Whenever she thought about her future, Clayton was the ideal man she wanted to end up with. He wasn’t too emotional or too intellectual. He never made her feel less than adequate when they talked. She didn’t even think he was too loud or too quiet instead he appeared just right in her opinion.

The only thing about Clayton was that he was her boss. She wasn’t about to cross that line with him again. They had gotten dangerously close last time they were alone and she had to make sure nothing like that happened again.

Samantha had mentioned to her how past nannies found ways to be alone with him and sneak into his room late at night. Leila wondered if Clayton even knew that she knew what was going on around her.

As much as she was attracted to him, she couldn’t become one of ‘those women’ that Clayton had fired over the years. No, she was going to keep things between them strictly professional no matter what.

Chapter Twenty-One

Pulling into the driveway next to Clayton’s black pickup truck, Leila turned off the engine and looked over at Samantha who was pulling at the hem of her new dress. “Stop fidgeting with your clothes. You’ve nothing to worry about. I promise you that your daddy is going to love how you look. How about you go on inside and show him your new dress while I take all of our bags upstairs?” Leila suggested as she got out of the car.

“Will you go with me?” Samantha asked as she opened the car door. “I don’t want to go by myself.”

Leila wasn’t ready to see Clayton again. That was the main reason she wanted Samantha to see her daddy by herself, but she couldn’t tell Samantha no. “Sure, I’ll go with you. Come let’s go and surprise your daddy.”

Leila headed towards the front door with Samantha at her side and before they reached the door she felt Samantha slide her smaller hand into hers and the gesture warmed her heart. She was surprised how close she had grown to the little girl since she’d first started working here. It was like Samantha was the little sister that she had always wanted. She loved Samantha so much and hoped that she would be working at the Blue Horn ranch for a very long time.

Once they were inside, Leila paused outside Clayton’s study and fixed Samantha’s hair and dress making sure everything looked perfect. She only hoped that Clayton was as excited about his daughter’s makeover as she was, but if he wasn’t that he was smart enough to pretend that he was.

“Sweetheart, you look so beautiful. Now go in there and show off.” Standing back up, Leila sent up a silent prayer hoping that everything would go as she planned. This was going to be an important moment in Samantha’s life and she wished it would be picture perfect.

Samantha smiled at her, opened the door to the study and then rushed into the door. “Daddy, look at what Leila got for me,” she said. “How do I look?”

Leila stepped through the door at the same time Clayton glanced away from his computer and as long as she lived she would never forget the look on her boss’ face. Although Clayton didn’t answer his daughter at first, his face spoke from utter shock, disbelief and finally happiness.

Standing up from behind the desk, Clayton came around and stood in front of Samantha. Leila loved how his expression kept changing the longer Clayton looked at his child. She was nervous she had done the wrong thing by buying Samantha some new clothes, but now she saw that she’d made the right decision.

“Sam, you look so beautiful. I love your dress and the curls in your hair are so pretty. What made you want to do this?”

Samantha spun around and looked at her then gave her attention back to her father. “I want to look like Leila. She’s so pretty and I wanted to be pretty just like she is. We went shopping and got a lot of clothes. They’re still in the car, but the lady at the shop let me wear this one home. Do you like it?”

“Sweetheart, I love it,” Clayton said as he bent down in front of Samantha. “Will you do your daddy a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Will you go and find Tony in the kitchen? Have him take your bags out of the car and take them upstairs to your bedroom. I want to talk to Leila for a moment alone.”

Standing back up, Clayton’s eyes connected with hers but she couldn’t tell what was going on in his head. She didn’t know if she was in trouble or not, so she would just have to wait and find out after Samantha was out of the room.

“Okay.” Samantha walked past her and then out the door closing it behind her.

After Samantha had left, Clayton stood in the same spot and stared at her for several minutes without saying a word. It was a bit unnerving to have Clayton watching her with such close scrutiny.

He came closer and touched the side of her face with his fingers. Leila closed her eyes getting lost in the pleasure that Clayton’s touch gave her, but she quickly opened her eyes and took a step back.

No... I can’t let him do this to me. I won’t be like those other women.

“Do you like how Samantha looks?” Leila asked trying to start up a conversation so Clayton would stop watching her so intently. She knew that if she could read his inner thoughts they might have her running for the hills if she didn’t want the same exact thing from him.

“You’ve won my daughter over and you know it. Sam is so into you that she allows you to call her by her full name. None of the other nannies I hired got that far with her. I should’ve known you were special the first time I laid eyes on you.

“You’ve worked wonders with her and I don’t have the words to thank you. She’s changing into a beautiful little girl. Her mother would be so proud to see how well our little girl is growing up.”

Leila nibbled at her bottom lip surprised to hear Clayton bring up his wife. She had only heard about Donna through Tony, but she knew that Donna had been the love of Clayton’s life. He had gone into a deep depression after her death, but fought through it to raise Samantha with the help of Donna’s parents.

“I care about Samantha a lot. She’s a wonderful little girl. I’m glad that I get the chance to be around her,” Leila answered, honestly.

Clayton moved closer to her until he was in her personal space again and this time she didn’t move. She tried to deny it, but she loved feeling the sexual magnetism that made him so self-confident and sexy. He was truly unlike any other man she had ever met.

Men back in her home town didn’t act the way Clayton did. It was like he always had a swagger to his step and wasn’t afraid of speaking his mind. All of those qualities turned her on more, making her desire for him even stronger.

“How do you feel about her lonely father?” Clayton pulled her against his warm solid body as his dark blue eyes held hers captive. “Are you glad about the times we get to spend alone with each other? I know that I look forward to our little meetings.”

She had to fight the overwhelming need to kiss Clayton the way she wanted to. He was teasing her on purpose trying to see how far he could push her. “I like being around her lonely father, but I’m sure he could call someone up and he wouldn’t be alone anymore.”

“What if I wanted to call you?” Clayton asked as he ran his fingers down her arm sending tingling sensations throughout her body. “Would you take my call? How about we go out on a date?”

Leila was momentarily stunned at Clayton’s suggestion. She wasn’t sure how to take it. Was he serious or just teasing her like he liked to do sometimes when they were alone? Things might get a bit sticky if she actually went out on a date with her boss. She never thought she would be the type of woman to mix business with pleasure.

“Should I take your silence as a no?” Clayton whispered as he brushed his lips against her cheek. “I know that we’d have a lot of fun together. Come on...we both have been working hard and I would love to take you out. I know that Tony would be glad to watch Sam for a couple of hours.”

Leila started to turn down the dinner, but was surprised by the words that came out of her mouth instead. “Sure. I would love to go out to dinner with you.” Why did she think she would ever be able to turn down Clayton? She was powerless when it came to his charisma.

Clayton’s warm firm lips brushed against hers as he spoke. “Thank you.”

Moving back, she smiled up at him enjoying the longing look in his beautiful eyes. “You’re welcome. I better go upstairs and pick out something to wear.” She turned to move away, but Clayton wrapped his hand around her upper arm and tugged her back to him.

“Not quite...yet.”

His lips recaptured hers, more demanding this time as his tongue eased back her lips licking at her tongue before drawing it back into his mouth. Standing on tiptoes, Leila wrapped her arms around Clayton’s neck and got lost in the kiss. She didn’t know how long they’d been kissing before Clayton gently shoved her back from his body.

“If we don’t stop now; it will be harder for me to stop at all,” he whispered by the corner of her mouth. “How about you head upstairs? I need to go for a long walk or I’m not going to be able to think about anything else tonight but finding a way to get you into my bed.”

“Are you sure?” Taking her fingertips, she traced them across Clayton’s full bottom lip liking how his big body shivered under her touch.

Strong hands grabbed her by the waist as Clayton jerked her back to his body and the hard erection that was impossible for him to hide. “Do you feel that?” he asked as he thrust his hips against her. “Unless you’re ready for me to toss you over my shoulder and carry you to my bed, you better leave while you can, sweetheart.”

“Okay. I’m going,” Leila said as she eased away from Clayton. She knew better than to tease him like that, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she was with him he brought the bad girl out of her. “What should I pick out to wear?”

“Something sexy,” Clayton told her as he walked past her and strolled towards the door. “I’ll make our reservations for seven o’clock.”

Leila stood in the middle of the floor and watched as Clayton left the room. She couldn’t believe that a man as fine as her boss was still single. She loved that he wanted to take her out on a date, but she wasn’t going to read more into the situation than might be going on. Yes, Clayton was attracted to her, but that didn’t mean he was thinking about building a future. She was just going to enjoy the moments she got to spend with him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Have I told you how stunning you look in that outfit?” Clayton asked Leila as he stared at her from across the table.

He still couldn’t believe how gorgeous his date truly was. Sure, Leila always looked nice and stylish when she was working at the ranch. However, she was downright breathtaking tonight in the black strapless jumpsuit that showed off her shoulders and perfect breasts. She had pinned up her black hair only leaving one piece out to rest against her smooth brown cheek. With the way Leila looked tonight food was the last thing on his mind; he was dying to ask her to dance so he could get her into his arms.

“Thank you.” She smiled looking at him above her menu. “You look very handsome in your suit. I don’t think I’ve seen you in anything but plaid shirts and jeans since I started working for you.”

“Don’t you like me in my work clothes?” Clayton asked as he took the menu from Leila and placed it on the table between them.

“No, you look good in them especially the jeans. I have to admit that I caught myself staring at your ass more than once.”

Pride filled Clayton’s chest at Leila’s confession. It was good to know the attraction wasn’t one-sided. He usually didn’t care if a woman found him sexy or not, but he got a little excited knowing that Leila did.

Damn...he couldn’t believe how much he was drawn to the girl in front of him. She had no idea how much he thought about her when he was in his big, empty bed at night. He had caught himself a couple of times as he was about to leave his bed and go to hers. He was pretty sure that Leila wouldn’t be too fond of getting an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Clayton smiled wondering how much longer he could wait before he kissed Leila’s full lips. He was slowly losing the ability to resist the pull she had on him.

Most of the time he was too focused on his business and taking care of his little girl to allow a woman to enter his mind for more than a couple of months, however, Leila was becoming an obsession he hadn’t been prepared for. She was funny, sweet, caring and had a way of making him feel emotions that he had tossed aside years ago.

He liked how she made him feel and he didn’t want to lose the spark she had given his life again without even trying. God, he hadn’t even made love to her yet and she was already taking him to places that he had never been before.

“Hey, what has you so deep in thought?” Leila asked reaching across the table and touching the back of his hand.

Turning her small hand over, Clayton linked their fingers together liking the contrast in their skin colors. “I was just thinking. I didn’t mean to zone out on you like that.”

“Not a problem. I don’t need you talking to me every minute. Sometimes silence is a good thing. I’m not fond of people who talk only to fill the awkward silence.”

Damn, this woman was a keeper and he was going to make sure he did just that. He wasn’t about to let Leila go for anything in the world. He had to work slowly, but he would find a way to make her his permanently.

“How about we order some food and then after dinner maybe we can go dancing?” Clayton suggested as he let go of Leila’s hand.

Leila grinned mischievously as she reached for her menu in front of her. “Do you think you can keep up with me on the dance floor? I might show some moves that you haven’t seen before, Mr. Moore.”

“You might out move me on the dance floor,” Clayton readily agreed, “but I’m positive that the moves I know in the bedroom will make up for it. Would you like for me to show you later on tonight how good I am when I’m lying down?”

An excited spark suddenly appeared in Leila’s eyes before she quickly shook her head. “No, I think dinner and dancing will be enough for us tonight.”

“Fine, but if you change your mind just let me know. Don’t forget that Sam’s grandparents came and got her for the weekend before we left for dinner. So we have the ranch to ourselves. I’ll be more than happy to spend the weekend in bed making love to you.”

“Clayton, you’ve a one track mind.” Leila laughed.

He was glad that Leila wasn’t getting upset by his flirting, but he hoped that she understood he was dead serious about making love to her. It was going to happen soon. He would make sure of it.

“Yes, when it comes to something I want I tend to be that away.” Clayton held Leila’s eyes for a moment and then looked back down at the menu in his hands wondering if he should order the steak or fish.

****

The sounds of the latest pop hit blared around Clayton as he stood still while Leila moved her body around him on the dance floor. He hadn’t heard the song, but he couldn’t take his eyes off how her perky breasts moved underneath the jumpsuit she was wearing. The first time he noticed it he was hard in seconds and had stayed that away ever since. This was a bad idea on his part. His body was already burning to be with Leila and her moving around the way she was didn’t help his problem at all.

“Are you having fun?” Leila asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her hips against his.

Placing his hands on her waist, he held her lower body to his and thrust making sure she felt how hard his cock was. He didn’t ever remember being this hard not even when he was a teenager and dreamt about getting with the head cheerleader at his high school

“No, I’m hurting like hell with no way to relieve it,” Clayton complained as his hands moved down to cup Leila’s tight ass. “Baby, you’re killing me dancing around like that.”

“I’m sorry. How about we head home?” Leila tried to move out of his arms as a slow song came on, but Clayton pressed her body back to his.

“No, I’m not ready to leave. Just dance with me,” he whispered at the side of her temple. “I like having you in my arms. It feels...right.”

For the next hour, Clayton stayed out on the dance floor with Leila getting lost in the power of being with her. He couldn’t get over how much he had loved his date with Leila tonight. It had turned out to be romantic, seductive and a lot more intimate than he could ever imagine for a first date.

At that moment, he made a decision. He was going to make love to Leila before Sam came back home. The sexual tension between them was too strong to be put off any longer.

Chapter Twenty-Three

After their fantastic date, Leila kicked off her high heels and relaxed on the couch in the study. She watched as Clayton removed his tie and jacket tossing them into a nearby chair. She was so happy that she didn’t want this night to end. Clayton had been charming and wonderful to be around tonight. He was so different than the serious man she usually saw working around here.

“Would you like something to drink?” Clayton asked as he made his way over to a small bar in the corner of the room.

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

Leila waited while Clayton fixed himself a drink and then made his way back over to her. Sitting down next to her, he took a sip of the bourbon and then placed the glass down on the table in front of him.

“I had a really good time tonight,” Clayton said as he laid his arm along the back of the couch. “I forgot how good it felt to be in the company of a beautiful woman.”

Leila couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. Clayton sure knew how to make a woman feel good about herself.

“I enjoyed tonight too with my handsome date. You were different than you usually are,” she admitted.

Clayton slid closer to her and ran his finger across her bare shoulder. Leila tried to block out the sensations that his touch had racing throughout her body. It was already hard for her to focus on their conversation when all she wanted to do was kiss him.

“How was I different?”

“When you’re here and you’re working, I get a distant vibe from you like you really don’t want to be bothered by anyone unless it’s very important.”

“Is that why you don’t come around me as much as I would like?” Clayton slipped his hand behind her neck and gently tugged her across the seat to him. “Have I not made it clear enough that I’m attracted to you and want to take things further?”

“Yes, you have,” Leila answered. “But maybe we shouldn’t. I love working here and I’ve grown close to Samantha. I would hate for any of that to change.”

“I can promise you nothing will change if we move our relationship to the next level. Don’t you want to be able to kiss me anytime you want?” Clayton tightened his grip on her neck as his lowered his mouth to hers.

Leila tried to move her head, but she wasn’t quick enough. Clayton’s tongue licked at her bottom lip before slipping inside. Her traitorous body burned with unbelievable pleasure as Clayton lifted her up and made her straddle his thick thighs.

Her body tingled with warmth as she felt Clayton’s hard cock between her legs. In the back of her mind, Leila knew that she should be putting up more of a fight, but she was too far gone. Clayton had found a way to sneak into her soul and she didn’t know if she would ever be able to get him out.

Clayton suddenly stood up from the couch shocking her. “What are you doing?” Leila gasped as he swung her up in his arms.

“I’m not about to make love to you downstairs on the leather couch. I want you on my king-sized bed upstairs,” Clayton told her as he left the room and took the stairs two at a time.

One minute Leila was downstairs and then in the next she was upstairs with him above her. “You’re so damn beautiful,” he murmured as he pulled down her top exposing her breasts to the air conditioned room.

“So perky and firm just teasing me to sample a taste,” he whispered. Clayton captured one swollen nipple between his lips and sucked.

Leila ran her fingers through Clayton’s thick hair and arched her back, pushing more of her nipple into his warm mouth. She knew that she was done fighting for now. She would deal with the consequences later. Right now, her body only wanted one thing and that was Clayton. A rush of moisture pooled between her thighs and the need to make love was driving her crazy.

She wondered why Clayton was still teasing her like this when she was more than ready to get hot and sweaty with his big, sexy body. He licked and lavished her swollen nipple until he got his fill and moved to the next one.

She moaned helplessly as her head moved back and forth on the mattress. Clayton knew what she craved and he still wasn’t giving it to her. Leila wiggled and moved her body underneath Clayton’s hoping to give him a silent hint of what her body needed.

Desire coursed through every single vein in her body. Slowly, Clayton raised his head and locked eyes with her.

“Are you ready to admit it?”

“Admit what?” she asked.

“That you want me as much as I want to possess this beautiful body of yours.”

Leila moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She knew once she admitted this, there would be no going back...and at the moment she didn’t give a damn!

“I want you so badly that I can’t think straight.” There she said it. Now, maybe Clayton would get down to business and take care of her body the way she’d wanted him to.

“Finally!” Clayton growled before he removed the rest of her clothing. “You’re so fucking stunning.” He ran his hands over her breasts and down her body like he couldn’t believe she was actually in front of him.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Should we be doing this?” Leila asked trying one last time to use common sense despite the fact she was already naked in front of Clayton.

Dark blue eyes narrowed into slits as Clayton leaned over her body engulfing her in his unique scent. “Yes, we should be doing this and you know it.” He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth before rising back up.

Leila watched as Clayton quickly stripped out of the dark gray suit that he had worn on their date until he was standing completely naked in front of her.

A light tan covered his hard muscular body along with a light sprinkle of hair that started below his navel and trailed down his long, powerful thighs. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his lean waist. The muscles on Clayton’s body made him look fit and sexy as hell.

He had more muscle mass than a swimmer’s body but not quite enough to be a body builder. Even his cock was perfectly formed from the base all the way down to the mushroom shaped tip.

Yeah, Clayton Moore was one good-looking man in her humble opinion.

“You look so good,” she whispered.

Clayton chuckled as his hands spread her legs apart and he eased between them. “Baby, I believe I should be the one giving you that compliment.”

She sighed as she felt the tip of Clayton’s cock against her. Bending his head, the end of his tongue came out and traced the top of her upper lip then disappeared inside of her waiting mouth. He made love to her mouth like he was a dying man in search of his last meal.

He cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. With one powerful thrust he drove his thick cock deep inside of her wetness.

She had been intimate with only one other guy back in college and he wasn’t anywhere near the size of Clayton. He was so deep inside of her that it felt like the tip of his erection was touching her womb.

“Shit, Leila...Oh, God. You feel so good. I knew that you would.” Clayton clenched his teeth as he pushed deep inside of her. He let out a guttural groan as he sped up his pace making the bed move under them, but Leila was too lost in the sensations of making love to even care now.

Leila closed her eyes as she wrapped her legs around Clayton’s waist. “I want you,” she whispered on a moan.

“Open your eyes,” Clayton demanded.

Her brown eyes snapped open and connected with Clayton’s desire-filled blue ones.

“You want me?” he asked, breathless.

“Yes...” She moaned, her body shivering.

“Say it again with my name,” Clayton uttered with a low growl.

“Clayton, I want you.”

“Again.” He thrust even deeper into her.

“Clayton,” Leila cried out as he pounded into her like a man who hadn’t had sex in years and was finding the ultimate pleasure with her.

Leila screamed loudly as her climax raked through her body. Clayton continued to move in and out of her before he shouted his release shooting his seed deep inside of her body.

Resting his sweaty body on top of her equally damp one, Clayton planted soft kisses on her face and mouth. “Are you okay?” he asked while his cock was still buried deep inside of her.

As she slowly came down off of her high, the reality of the situation started to set in for her. How long would Clayton be able to keep her around now since she wasn’t about to resist him? She loved working here. Why didn’t she think about the end result more before she got swept away by her emotions?

“Leila, are you okay?” Clayton asked again as he separated their bodies. He cupped her face between his hands and stared into her eyes. “Leila?”

She heard the concern in Clayton’s rough voice and it touched her. ”I’m fine, but this was a mistake. How can we keep a professional environment after this?” she asked, waving her hand at their naked bodies.

“Don’t worry about the future.” Clayton rolled off her and pulled her back against his chest.

Sure that was easy for him to say. He wouldn’t be the one looking for a new job.

“This can’t happen again.” She would make sure that she didn’t end up back in her boss’s bed again.

Sitting up next to her, Clayton stared at her. “I’m not about to agree to that. You must be out of your mind if you thought I would. We will make love again. I can wait for a couple of days for you to get used to our new relationship and that’s it...unless you’re honestly telling me that you didn’t love being in my bed.”

Damn him! Clayton was smart enough to know that she wasn’t about to deny that.

“Yes. I loved being in your bed and arms. You know that I did,” Leila admitted as she tried to get up from the bed, but Clayton tugged her back down on top of him.

“Not so fast, sweetheart,” he said. “If I won’t be able to touch or kiss you for a while I need to have you one more time to tie me over.”

Leila tried her best to think of something to get away from Clayton but her mind was blank as he brought her head down for kiss. He was right anyway. What would one more time hurt since they wouldn’t be doing it for a while anyway?

Chapter Twenty-Five

“God, I’m dying for some cigarettes,” Jeff complained raking his hands through his hair. “I’m going to die if I don’t get something to smoke.”

“I told you not to give your last one to that girl you met outside yesterday, but you didn’t listen to me.” Matt glared at his brother pacing back and forth across the room. “At least, you would have had one to smoke today instead of driving me crazy with your complaining.”

“Will you stop being such a know-it-all?” Jeff snapped, stopping in front of him. “How much money do we have left?”

“I think we have about eighty-five dollars left and we need forty-five of it to pay for this room. Why do you ask?” Matt hoped his brother wasn’t about to ask for cash to go and buy some cigarettes.

“Give me twenty bucks so I can go and buy some cigarettes at the grocery store a couple of blocks from here. I won’t be able to make it much longer if I don’t fix the craving. You know how I get when I need to take a smoke break.”

Matt wanted to argue with his brother, but he knew Jeff was right because he usually had a bad personality change when he didn’t get his cigarettes and Matt didn’t want to deal with his mood swings.

Reaching into his pocket, Matt pulled out a twenty dollar bill and handed it to his irrational brother. “Here you go and you better not get lost. It’ll be dark soon. I want you back here in this room with me. You can’t rob anyone else in the area or you’ll get caught. Just buy the cigarettes and come back here. Do you think you can do that?”

“Thanks man,” Jeff said as he shoved the money into the front pocket of his jeans. “I won’t do anything dumb this time. I’ll make sure I get back here as soon as I can.”

Matt watched as his brother snatched up his sunglasses and baseball cap off the bed and then left the hotel room. He really hoped that Jeff wouldn’t get into any trouble while he was gone, but he doubted that would happen. It seemed like trouble followed his brother no matter where he went or what he did.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Leila stood outside Clayton’s bedroom debating on whether or not she should tell him what Samantha had asked her. Ever since Samantha had come back from the visit with her grandparents, she had been asking her all kinds of questions. She wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation, so she came up here instead to get his opinion.

Knocking on the door, Leila waited for Clayton to answer. She was a little nervous about being alone with him since she had done a good job of avoiding him since making love. He had been trying to get her by herself but she had found ways to get away from him. She couldn’t be around him because all her mind thought about was how extraordinary it felt to be in his arms.

Clayton’s sex appeal was so hard to deny when she was in his company. He was the type of man that would draw a woman’s attention any time he walked into the room. His dark blue eyes and thick dark blond hair would make any female weak in the knees.

“Who is it?” Clayton asked.

Why was Clayton talking at her through the closed bedroom door? What was going on in there?

“It’s Leila. I need to speak with you.”

The bedroom door slowly opened, but Leila didn’t see Clayton on the other side so she walked on inside. “Clayton, where are you?” she called out and jumped when the door slammed closed behind her.

Spinning around Leila’s eyes raked over Clayton’s half naked body in a pair of snug blue jeans that would make the Marlboro man jealous. Her pulse rate shot up another notch as his amazing eyes looked over her seductively before he came across the room and pulled her into his arms.

“Hi, gorgeous,” Clayton whispered and then kissed her on the mouth.

“Hi,” Leila answered when Clayton moved away from her. “I have to talk to you about something.”

“Do I get something better than that? Haven’t you missed me? I know that you’ve been avoiding me lately and I don’t like it at all. How about we do something tonight? We can take Sam to her favorite pizza place. I know that she’d love for us to go out together.”

Despite the fact they both lived under the same roof, she had missed Clayton more than he probably even knew. However, she couldn’t let Clayton sweep her off her feet anymore than he already had.

“Of course, I’ve missed you...”

“Good, that’s all I wanted to hear,” Clayton said before he gave her another kiss. “Now, are you ready to tell me what brought you up to my bedroom? I know that it isn’t the reason I’m hoping for.”

“Samantha asked me something this morning while I was helping her pick out a new outfit to wear and I thought you should know about it.” Leila couldn’t wait to see what Clayton’s reaction was going to be.

“What did she ask you?”

“Samantha said that she overheard her grandparents talking about us and they wondered if the only reason you hired me was because you were having a case of jungle fever. I...”

Leila stopped talking when Clayton’s deep, rich warm laughter cut her off. She couldn’t believe how when he laughed it made him look ten years younger.

“You find that funny?” Leila asked, frowning.

“Yeah, I think it’s hilarious. I didn’t think that Donna’s parents even knew what the term jungle fever even meant at their age. You know that isn’t the reason I hired you right? Because I did give you the job before I even knew you were black.”

“You’re right. You did give me the job before you ever laid eyes on me, but Samantha’s question did throw me off. I had an answer for her, but I thought it would be better if you talked to her about it.”

Moving away from her, Clayton picked up a checkered shirt off the bed and slid his arms through it. Leila hated that he was covering up that gorgeous body, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

“Do you want to help me finish getting dressed?” Clayton asked as he came back over to her and placed her hands on his chest. “I love how your touch makes my body hot.”

“Are you serious?” she asked, surprised again by the unpredictable man standing in front of her.

“I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t,” he flirted.

Taking a deep breath, Leila calmed down her racing pulse and shaking hands. Slowly, she snapped Clayton’s shirt closed only leaving two unbuttoned at the top to give her a glimpse of his perfect chest.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Clayton touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “I’ll talk to Samantha about the jungle fever comment, but I can’t do it until after I come back from town. I need to pick up a few personal items and then make a visit to the hardware store. Do you need me to get you anything while I’m gone?”

“No, I don’t need anything, but Samantha was telling me that she wanted some markers for her coloring book. I was going to get them tomorrow for her, but since you’re going to town will you get them?”

“Sure. I’ll make that my last stop,” Clayton said as he moved away from her. “How about you walk downstairs with me? Samantha’s birthday is coming up soon and I want to get your suggestions about party ideas.”

“Oh, I know the perfect theme for her.” Leila followed him out the door.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Clayton got out of the truck slamming the door closed behind him. He wanted to stay at home and spend more time with Leila. Anytime he got to spend around her made him feel so good, she was such a bright light to his life. However, he couldn’t do it because he needed more building supplies for the ranch and other items for inside the house.

Clayton was glad that he’d decided at the last minute to stop at the hardware store first. Now he was making his way towards the grocery store to buy some items for dinner tonight. He wasn’t in the mood for a big meal so he told the chef to take the night off and he was going to fix Sloppy Joes. He knew they were Sam’s favorite meal and she hadn’t had them in such a long time.

Inside the store, Clayton picked up a basket and then made his way over to the canned goods aisle. It had been such a long time since he’d been out grocery shopping that it felt weird doing it. He remembered clearly the last time he’d been inside this store.

It was two weeks before Donna had gotten sick and died. She had sweet talked him into going with her. Back then all she had to do was flash her gorgeous smile and he would turn into mush. Leila was slowly beginning to have that same power over him and she was too blind to see it. He was falling so hard for her...she almost held his heart in the palm of her hand. He had never fallen this quickly or hard for a woman in his life.

Her innocence was so refreshing and special. He liked how she got all nervous earlier when he asked her to finish dressing him. It was such a nice change from the women who were usually trying to strip him out of his clothes. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to run into anymore of those women again.

“Clayton, why are you here shopping instead of one of your employees?” a female asked behind him.

I know this isn’t who I think it is.

Turning around, Clayton looked down and found Annie standing behind him wearing a yellow sundress that brought out her deep tan. There would have been a time he might have been drawn to that, but that ship had sailed. Because his time and energy were entirely focused on one woman and that was Leila.

“Annie, I’m surprised to see you here. I didn’t think you knew how to find the grocery store.” He knew how she enjoyed having her low fat and low calorie dinners specially prepared for her and then delivered to her house.

“I was running low on soy milk and reduced fat peanut butter, so I made a stop in here after work. I’m glad that I did or I would’ve missed seeing your handsome face. Do you want to go and get a drink somewhere?” she asked flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Did Annie have a memory problem? He had already given her answer. Why was she bringing it up again?

“No. I have to get back home; Sam is waiting for me.”

Annie took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. “I thought that’s why you hired a new nanny. Isn’t she capable of watching Samantha while you go out for a couple of hours? You aren’t usually the type of person to hire someone so incompetent.”

Grabbing two cans of Sloppy Joe off the shelf, Clayton tossed them into his basket praying that he didn’t lose his cool with Annie inside the store. He had tried being nice with her and that didn’t work. So, he went for the direct approach and she still didn’t get it. Now, he was going to be just plain mean.

“Annie, I’m not going to let Leila watch Samantha because I’ve no interest in going out on a date with you. What we tried to do was a long time ago and it’s over. For God’s sake get on with your life and stay out of mine. I’m tired of dealing with you. This is the last time I’m having this conversation with you. If you bother me one more time, I’ll make sure you won’t get a chance to do it again.”

“You don’t mean that,” Annie huffed. “I know you care about me. We were together for a while. I know you were planning on asking me to marry you.”

“Marry you!?” Clayton shouted, shocked that Annie had ever let that ridiculous thought enter her mind. “If, and I mean if, I ever thought about getting married again it wouldn’t be to you. Do you understand me? You’ve no redeeming qualities that a man would want in a wife. Go on with your life and stop focusing on me.” Brushing past her, Clayton went all the way to end of the aisle and turned left towards the bread.

****

Stepping back quickly, Jeff hid behind a display of cookies just in time to avoid getting knocked down by a pissed off Clayton Moore. He had overheard two people arguing and came over to check it out. He couldn’t believe his good luck. Standing not twenty feet from him was that bastard Clayton arguing with that chick who had been staring at him and Matt out at the hotel.

Unlike his brother, he never forgot a face or a name. It was a trait that came in very handy when an individual tried to double cross him. He always found a way to track the person down and get him back.

He knew he’d promised Matt that he would wait for his plan but he might not get this fortunate again. Clayton was right in his sights. He wasn’t about to let that bastard get away from him. He was going to show this rancher what happened when he tried to embarrass Jeff Hobbs in public.

Forgetting all about the reason he came to the store in the first place, Jeff followed Clayton until he left. He followed him all the way to his parked black truck at the side of the building.

Jeff had a very hard time to keep from jumping with joy when he noticed how deserted the parking lot was. It was like his ultimate wish was coming true. He was going to get his revenge.

He knew that he had promised Matt to stay out of trouble, but he wasn’t going to get a chance like this again. Clayton was right in front of him and he wasn’t about to miss his opportunity. All he needed now was the perfect weapon to give Clayton what he deserved.

Looking around, Jeff noticed a thin pipe holding open a delivery door. He eased over to the tube and snatched it away from the door. Placing his hand behind his back, he followed after Clayton hoping that he would get a chance to strike before Clayton got inside of his car and drove off.

Despite the fact he might get caught, Jeff’s blood pumped through his veins at the thought of getting payback. Taking a deep breath, he rushed up behind Clayton and brought the pipe down on his head.

Clayton let out a groan as his big body crumbled and fell to the ground in front of Jeff. The grocery bags Moore had been carrying dropped near the steel toed boots that Matt had given him as a birthday present.

I hope that you lay there and bleed to death!

“You aren’t so bad now are you,” Jeff taunted as he kicked Clayton a couple of times in the ribs, back and head. “This is what you get for thinking that you’re better than me!” Jeff gave Clayton one more hard kick in the ribs. Bending down, he searched through Clayton’s pocket and took out his wallet. He took all of the money out of it and then tossed it back down next to him.

“Bastard!” Jeff yelled and then spat on Clayton before he ran back to his truck, got in and sped off.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Have you seen my Daddy?”

Leila stopped brushing Samantha’s hair and glanced at the little girl in the vanity mirror that Clayton had bought for her a couple of days ago as an early birthday present. She remembered how much Samantha had talked about it when they were out shopping.

“I talked to your daddy earlier before he went into town, but I haven’t seen him since then. I’m sure that he’ll be home pretty soon. How about we find something to do until he gets back? I think he would like another picture from you to place on the refrigerator. Don’t you?”

“I could color one of Dora for him,” Samantha suggested as she spun around in the chair and looked at her. “I think he’ll like that.”

“Are you finished with your homework for the day?” Leila asked. She didn’t want Samantha coloring a picture when she had homework to do instead.

“Yes ma’am. I got done with it while my teacher was still here, but I’m kind of getting tired of being home schooled. I want to go back to regular school. Do you think my daddy will let me?”

Leila knew a little bit about why Leila was being home schooled and it involved how the children in her class constantly picked on her for the way she dressed, but she thought Samantha had changed so much while she had been here. She didn’t see any reason why Samantha couldn’t be back in school with regular children. However, it wasn’t her choice. Clayton would be the only one to make that decision.

“How about you ask your daddy when he comes home? You could bring it up to him over dinner.”

“Do you think he’ll let me?” Samantha asked her. “Will you ask him for me? He likes you. He might do it for you.”

“Why do you think your daddy likes me?” Leila questioned as she fixed the collar on Samantha’s white sundress.

“He’s always smiling and touching you. Daddy doesn’t think I see him but I do,” Samantha grinned. “Are you his new girlfriend?”

Wait a minute!

Samantha was getting a little ahead of the situation. She was pretty sure that Clayton wasn’t thinking about her being his girlfriend in any sense of the word. They were only having a little fun with each other. She knew that Clayton had loved Samantha’s mother way too much to ever think about walking down the aisle again. She wasn’t even going to let the thought enter her mind.

Clayton liked being around her and she felt the same way about him, but that is where it ended. She wasn’t going to be the next Mrs. Clayton Moore. She’d better tell Samantha this before she brought any of this up to her father.

“Samantha, your daddy and I are only friends. There isn’t anything romantic between us.”

Did she want something more to be going on with Clayton? Yes, they had slept together, but could the two of them build a deeper relationship on that one experience?

Tilting her head to the side, the little girl looked at her like she didn’t believe her. “Are you sure that you aren’t in love with my daddy? I see how you smile more when he’s around you. I wouldn’t mind if you were my new mommy. I like you and you’re always so nice to me. Don’t you want to be my mommy?” Samantha asked as her green eyes suddenly filled up with tears.

“Samantha...” Leila reached out to touch Samantha on the shoulder, but she pushed her hand away.

“Go away. I don’t want to talk you anymore.” Getting out of the chair, the little girl ran past Leila and fell down on the bed.

The sound of Samantha’s hurt-filled cries tore at Leila’s heart. She didn’t want to upset Samantha; however, she had to tell the little girl truth. Clayton wasn’t thinking about marrying her. They didn’t even know each other that well but as much as she hated to admit it, she was in love with Clayton.

She wasn’t quite sure when it eased up on her but it was there. She did love when Clayton was around her. Just the sound of his voice added something special to her day. Honestly, she knew she was in love with him even before they made love.

Leila moved towards Samantha on the bed and then changed her mind. She would give her some time alone and then talk to her later. She might even let Clayton deal with this because he had to be better at explaining it then she would be.

Walking over to the bedroom door, she went out and closed it behind her. She was on her way to her bedroom when she noticed Tony coming towards her with a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked when he stopped directly in front of her.

“Have you seen Clayton?” Tony questioned. “He missed a very important meeting today. He’d been trying to meet with Mr. Cromwell for over six months now, so I know he wouldn’t skip out on this appointment.”

“I talked to him this morning and he told me that he was going into town for a few hours to buy some things, but I haven’t seen him since then.”

“There’s something wrong,” Tony said in a dull and troubled voice. “I know there is.”

Leila didn’t want to jump to conclusions yet. Clayton had been only gone for a couple of hours. Maybe he remembered that he had to get something else in town and was taking care of it before he came back home.

“I’m sure that Clayton’s okay. We shouldn’t think the worst. You know that your mother would tell us that.”

“No, we should worry. You don’t know Clayton as well as I do. If he was going to be late or change what he was doing, he would call and let either one of us know.”

The sudden ringing of Tony’s cell phone stopped Leila from saying anything else. Taking the phone out of his blue jeans pocket, he glanced at the Caller Id and then looked at her before answering it. He leaned down closer to her so she could hear the person on the other end of the phone.

“Hello?”

“Is this Tony Thurston?” a female voice asked.

“Speaking,” he answered.

“I’m Nurse Regina and I’m calling from the Merriam Hospital. We have a Clayton Moore here. Do you know him?” she asked. “We found your phone number in his wallet.”

“Yes. He’s my boss. What’s wrong? Is he hurt?” Tony asked while Leila was trying to process what was going on.

“The paramedics brought him in about an hour ago. He was robbed outside the grocery store. If one of the stock boys hadn’t been throwing away trash and found him, Mr. Moore could still be lying out there for hours because he was hidden on the other side of his truck.”

Oh God! Clayton was hurt!

Leila touched Tony on the arm and he looked down at her. He placed his hand on top of hers and continued on with the conversation.

“Is Clayton going to be okay?”

“He has a concussion and three broken ribs. He’s a little disorientated at the moment, but someone needs to come down here. Is there anyone you can send?” Nurse Regina asked. “We need some extra info about him.”

“Give me about forty-five minutes and I’ll be there,” Tony said as he moved his hand off of Leila’s.

“Come to the sixth floor and stop at the nurse’s station. You can finish filling out the paperwork when you get here.” The call ended with a click. Tony pushed end on his cell phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

“I knew something was wrong when Clayton didn’t come back here for that meeting,” Tony complained running his fingers through his hair. “God, I need to get to the hospital.”

Leila slowly came out of her state of shock and swiftly got her mind wrapped around the situation in front of her. Clayton was injured and her first priority was taking care of Samantha.

“What should I tell Samantha? She’s already been asking me about when her daddy will be home.”

“You can’t lie to her. Sam’s a very smart little girl. She’ll figure it out very quickly that you aren’t being honest with her. Tell her that Clayton had an accident and he’s in the hospital.”

Everyone thought Samantha was so mature but she still was an eight-year-old little girl. Leila was worried that Samantha might not take the news too well. Leila was about to tell Tony what she was thinking when she heard a noise behind her. She and Tony spun around at the same time and found Samantha with tears pouring down her young stricken face.

“My daddy is in the hospital. He’s going to die just like my mommy did,” she cried and then ran back into her bedroom.

“SHIT!” Tony shouted. “Let me go and talk to her. She needs to understand that Clayton is going to be okay.”

Leila stepped in front of Tony and placed her hand in the middle of his chest. “No,” she said shaking her head. “You go to the hospital and make sure the Clayton is okay. I’ll talk to Samantha. She needs me to make her understand what is going on.”

“Okay, but I’ll call you once I get there.” Tony stepped back from her and then hurried down the hallway towards the stairs.

Standing in the hallway for a few extra minutes, Leila tried to get her own body and mind calmed down enough to be able to explain things to Samantha. When she overheard the nurse telling Tony that Clayton was hurt, it felt like her whole entire world had crumbled around her feet leaving her numb, but he was okay.

She wasn’t going to let her mind think about the possibilities of what could have happened if that stock boy hadn’t come outside and found Clayton. She was scared to admit that she was in love with him before, but she was more than ready to tell him now.

It was like everything had moved in rapid pace for them, but she didn’t care. Clayton was the man she wanted to be with and she would find a way to make it occur. However, the first thing she had to do was comfort his little girl.

Going down the hallway, Leila peeked into Samantha’s bedroom and saw her face down crying into her Hello Kitty pillow. Easing into the room, she sat down on the bed and rubbed Samantha’s back.

“Samantha, will you stop crying for a minute and look at me?” she asked, softly.

Samantha’s hard cries slowly turned to snuffles before she finally raised her head and looked at Leila. Her heart broke at the sight of Samantha’s tear stained face. She really had to make her understand that her daddy was going to be okay.

“Samantha, your daddy is going to be fine. He isn’t going to die like your mommy did,” Leila told the little girl as she sat up on the bed and hugged the pillow to her chest. “Tony is going to the hospital to check on him now.”

“How can you be sure daddy isn’t going to die?” Samantha asked.

“I’m just sure. He loves you so much and he wouldn’t think about leaving you.”

Tossing the pillow down on the bed, Samantha slid closer to her. “Can I go and see him at the hospital?”

“Sweetheart, I think your daddy needs some rest. How about we go and see him tomorrow if the doctor will let you?” Leila wasn’t sure if Samantha’s visit would take place or not, but she couldn’t resist giving her something to look forward to.

“Do you think if we made him some of his favorite cookies that might help my daddy get better?”

“I’m sure he’d love that,” Leila said getting up from the bed. “How about you go and wash your face while I head downstairs to the kitchen. I’ll get everything out we need to make the Double Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies.”

Jumping off the bed, Samantha wrapped her arms around her waist. “I love you so much Leila. I’m going to keep hoping that you will marry my daddy.” Ending the embrace, Samantha smiled up at her and ran into her bathroom shutting the door behind her.

I wish that I could marry your Daddy too, Leila thought to herself before she left the room.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Matt hollered as he jumped up from the chair knocking it down on the floor. He couldn’t believe what his brother had just told him. There was no way in hell that Jeff did something so stupid. He knew his brother wasn’t screwed too tight sometimes, but he had better sense than jump someone outside the grocery store.

“Can you please repeat what you just told me?” he asked with deceptive calm.

“I know you heard me the first time, but I can’t resist telling you again,” Jeff grinned. “I saw Clayton at the grocery store buying food. So I followed him out to his truck, hit him on the top of his head with a metal pipe and stole the money out of his wallet.”

“Look at this shit!” Reaching into his pocket, Jeff pulled out a handful of money and tossed it on the table. “There has to be at least over a thousand dollars here. We have it made for a while. This will give you more time to think about how you’re going to get that chick.”

“We don’t have anything you idiot!” Matt yelled. “Clayton Moore is the wealthiest man in this damn town. Don’t you think him getting attacked will make the nightly news? I pray that no one saw you or we are both going to jail for a very long time. I can’t believe this shit!”

Matt snatched his jacket off the floor by the fallen chair and shoved his arms through it. “I need some fresh air. You stay in this room. I can’t be worried about what you’re up to while I’m gone.”

“Matt, I’m sorry,” Jeff apologized. “I got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t think about the punishment. I’m sure that no one saw me.”

“You better hope that no one did.” Matt shot his brother a withering glance and then stormed from the hotel room.

****

“You scared the hell out of everyone at the ranch,” Tony told Clayton as he sat down in the seat next to the hospital bed. “When I left, Samantha was in tears and Leila was trying to tell her everything was going to be okay. How are you feeling?”

Clayton raised his hand and touched the bandage on the back of his head. “I’m pissed that I allowed some punk to do this to me. I’m usually more observant when I’m out. Do you think Leila will be able to calm Sam down? I know how she can get when she’s upset about something.”

“I think Leila has the situation under control. She just wants you to get better for Samantha and come back to the ranch,” Tony answered as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. “Now back to my question. Do you have any idea who might want to do this to you?”

“God, you sound just like those cops who were here about twenty minutes ago. I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. I don’t know who would try to attack me. I think it was a robbery and nothing else. The only thing the person took was the money out of my wallet.”

Tony could tell from the sharp tone of Clayton’s voice that he was done talking about getting attacked. So he decided to move on to a different topic...something he was very curious about.

“What’s going on between you and Leila?”

Holding his left side, Clayton winced when a sudden pain shot through his side as he slid further up in the bed. “Why are you asking me that?”

“I saw her face when she heard Nurse Regina telling me about your accident. Her terrified expression was that of a woman worried about the man she was in love with. Are you involved with Leila?” The unexpected question hung in the air between them.

Dark blue eyes narrowed and hardened as Clayton glared at his best friend from his hospital bed. “Would you care if I was?” He didn’t care if Tony did have a problem. He wasn’t about to break up with Leila.

Laughing, Tony held up his hand. “Hey. Calm down, buddy. I think it’s great. I think Leila is just the female you need to break through that hard shell you have built up around you over the years, but are you in love with her.”

Hot and vivid images of Leila’s stunning face flashed before his eyes and his thoughts filtered back to the day he’d met her outside in the front of his house. He knew then there had been something special about her, but he didn’t know what it was until now.

He had made himself become a cold and distant man after his wife’s death, but with Leila’s big heart and gentle personality he’d been more of a mellow and loving man.

“Yes, I’m in love with Leila,” Clayton answered without a single doubt in his mind. “She’s the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. However, I can’t do anything about it now until I get over being attacked.”

Tony leaned forward in the chair as he stared at his boss. “Are you going to ask Leila to marry you?”

“Yes,” Clayton answered positive where his future was headed. One thing was clear: he was going to make Leila his wife.

“Damn man, you seem really serious about this. Are you sure it isn’t the concussion talking? The nurse did tell me over the phone that you might be a little confused.”

“I know good and well what I’m talking about. A stupid blow to the head hasn’t made me feel this away. I’ve had these thoughts for a while. Can you keep quiet until I get everything together for her surprise?”

“You’ve my word that I won’t mention any of this to Leila,” Tony swore. “I’ll let you surprise her. Do you know when you’ll be able to leave or are you going to be spending the night?”

“The hell I’m spending the night in the hospital. I’m getting out of here as quickly as possible.” Tossing the covers back, Clayton tried to get out of the bed but Tony jumped out of his seat and pushed him back down.

“You can’t get up yet.”

“I can and I will,” Clayton growled shoving Tony away from him. “You better find a nurse or doctor to give me my discharge papers or I’ll leave without signing them.”

“I think this might be a mistake.”

“I don’t care what you think. I want to leave so go and find someone who will let me out of here.”

Stepping back, Tony held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. I’ll go out to the nurses’ station and see what I can do, but don’t be surprised if you don’t get the answer you want to hear.” Turning on his heel, Tony left the room leaving a complaining Clayton in the bed behind him.

Chapter Thirty

“Are you sure that it’s okay for you to be home?” Leila asked Clayton as she helped him into bed while Tony was downstairs with Samantha taking the last batch of cookies out of the oven. “You did just get hit over the head and robbed today.”

Resting his back against the two pillows on the head board, Clayton slid his fingers through Leila’s silky hair and brought her face down to his for a quick, wet kiss. “I’m fine, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “All I wanted to do was get home to you and Samantha.” He let go of her hair and pulled the black sheet further up his waist.

“The doctor in the emergency room told me I was fine to go home as long as I got some rest for the next couple of days. So, how about we play patient and nurse later on tonight?” he suggested with a wink.

“Clayton, stop flirting with me.” Leila laughed as she sat down on the bed next to him. “I was really worried about you. Samantha thought you were going to die like her mother did in the hospital. I had a hard time calming her down. I don’t think she really believed you were coming back until she saw you walk through that front door.”

“Samantha told you about her mother?” he asked clearly stunned. “She never brings her mother up to me. Of course, when she has questions I answer them and that’s about it. She must really trust you to talk to you about her mother.”

“Are you saying that Samantha shouldn’t trust me?” Leila asked as she got up from the bed.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Clayton reached for her but she took a step back from him. “I’m just saying that the conversations about Donna are usually kept between Samantha and me. She usually never brings up the topic of her mother to strangers.”

So now I’m a stranger?

Her body stiffened in shock learning what he really thought about her. She was barely able to control her gasp of surprise at the sudden change in direction their discussion was taking. She decided she’d better go before she said something that she might not be able to take back.

Here she was worrying about a man she was falling in love with and he thought it was wrong for his little girl to be talking to her about her deceased mother.

“I better go.” Leila spun around and hurried towards the open door. She was so mad that she could barely see straight. She wasn’t about to stay her another minute and allow Clayton to insult her again.

“Damn it! Leila, come back over here,” Clayton yelled at her. “You’re taking what I said the wrong way.”

She wasn’t about to stay in this room and let Clayton try to talk his way out of anything. He meant every word that came out of his mouth. She knew it and so did he the way he was so upset.

Leila stopped in her tracks at the doorway when she saw Samantha in the hallway with a plate of cookies in her right hand and a Welcome Home Daddy sign in her left hand. “Daddy, look what I made for you!” Samantha yelled as she raced past her over to Clayton.

Instead of waiting to hear what Clayton said about Samantha’s surprise, Leila walked on out the door and closed it behind her then moved away. She decided at the moment she needed to rethink her relationship with Clayton. She had thought the both of them were headed in the same direction, but maybe she was wrong.

Chapter Thirty-One

“Wake up, Leila.”

The touch of a strong hand shaking Leila’s shoulder woke her up from her light sleep. Opening her eyes, she found Clayton sitting on the side of her bed wearing a pair of black pajamas bottoms and three white bandages wrapped around his trim waist.

“What are you doing in my room?” she asked sitting up in the bed.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back and see me in my room all day but you never showed up, so I knew I had to come here and clear up what you thought you heard.” Clayton told her as his fingers brushed a piece of hair away from her eyes.

“Mr. Moore, I didn’t misunderstand anything you told me today in your room. You wanted me to know what you really thought of me and now I do. I’m pretty sure that it won’t be too hard for us to go back to the professional relationship we had.”

“Don’t you dare start that Mr. Moore shit with me,” Clayton growled leaning towards her. “We have already ruined any professional relationship between us. The night you allowed me to make love to you and you stayed for the rest of the night in my arms you know that you loved how it felt to have my cock deep inside your body.”

Leila raised her hand back to slap Clayton, but it never made contact with his face. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and laid her hand against his warm, hard chest.

“Are you really going to pretend that you didn’t enjoy being in my bed? Deny that you think about it every night when you’re alone in this big bed of yours?” He leaned closer to so she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

His gaze traveled over her face, then moved down her body until they landed on the opening of her nightgown. There was a tingling in the pit of her stomach and it slowly made her heart jolt and pound as Clayton’s eyes raked over her breasts.

“You are so fucking beautiful.” Taking his free hand, Clayton ran the tips of his fingers across her cleavage.

Leila fought her overwhelming need to be with him. Someone had to keep a level head and it had to be her. “We promised that this wouldn’t happen again. Don’t you remember that?”

“Haven’t you heard that promises are meant to be broken?”

His mouth covered hers hungrily and the kiss sent her stomach into a tail spin. Giving herself freely to the heat of the kiss, Leila kissed Clayton back with a hunger that falsified her outward calm.

“Sweetheart, please don’t send me away. I need you more than you would ever know.” Clayton’s lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

Leila wanted to tell Clayton no... really she did. But when he was this close to her and smelling this good all rational thoughts left her head. She would be lying if she didn’t admit that she wanted him more than anything at this moment.

“I’m not going to send you away,” she whispered running her fingers down the side of his face.

“Thank God.” Getting off of the bed, Clayton stripped out of his pajama bottoms and kicked them away from him.

Leila let her eyes wander over Clayton’s powerful well-muscled and beautifully proportioned body. She could look at him for the rest of her life and never get tired of seeing him.

“Give me your hand,” he stuck out his large hand for her to take.

Placing her smaller one in his, Leila let Clayton help her off the bed. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to need you to be on top because of my ribs.” Clayton stripped her out of her nightgown and tossed it over near his pajamas bottoms. “God...you are just so sexy.” He ran his hands over her breasts making moisture gather between her legs before he lay down on the bed. “Come here, Leila.”

Climbing on the bed, Leila positioned her body above Clayton’s long, thick erection. She knew that she had already made love to Clayton once before, but he looked way too big to be inside of her.

“Are you ready for me, sweetheart?” he asked as he grabbed her by the hips and raised her above his cock.

“Yes.”

Within seconds, Clayton was slowly inching his erection inside of her until she was filled with each glorious inch. Her butt was planted firmly against the top of his hairy thighs and her legs were nice and close to his body. She placed her hands in the middle of his chest to brace her as she tried to get used to the feel of him being this deep inside of her. It was nothing like she had ever experienced before.

“You can move anytime you’re ready,” Clayton told her as his hands tightened on her hips.

Slowly, Leila raised her hips until only the tip of Clayton’s erection was inside her and then she slid back down. She was riding him in a way that had Clayton’s head tossed back against the pillow, with his eyes closed and low growls coming from his mouth. Leila loved the look of pleasure coming from his handsome face and knew she was the woman putting it there.

Suddenly, Clayton’s dark blue eyes snapped open and he was staring right at her like he could see deep into her soul. “Fuck my ribs,” he snapped. “I can’t take this.”

He flipped their bodies, so he was lying on top and spread her legs into a nice wide V and then he started thrusting into her like she was the last woman on earth and only she could give him what he desperately needed.

Leila moaned and cried as Clayton dropped his head and sucked one of her hard nipples into his mouth. The pleasure was getting so intense that it was scaring her. The first time she’d slept with Clayton it wasn’t like this...it wasn’t like he was stealing a part of her that she would never be able to get back.

Raising her hands she tried to push Clayton off of her, but he grabbed her hands and held them by her head and his body continued to make love to hers. His mouth left her breasts and kissed their way up her neck until he was by her ear.

“Did you think you could really deny us this pleasure?” he asked against the side of her neck. “This ecstasy is only meant for the two of us. Do you understand me?”

“Yes...Clayton...yes!” Leila screamed right before her orgasms hit her hard.

Clayton wrapped one of her legs around his waist and pumped into her a couple more times before he roared his release, mingling with her cries of pleasure as his hot seed shot into her body.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Rolling off of Leila, Clayton lay on his back and tossed his left arm over his eyes as he tried to slow down his racing heart. He hadn’t expected to make love to her when he came into her bedroom tonight. He had only wanted to talk to her, but she started trying to deny what they had and it sent him over the edge. He wasn’t about to let her make him believe that she didn’t care about it because it would be a flat out lie.

She loved him.

He would bet everything that he was worth that Leila was in love with him. Hell, he knew that he sure in the hell was in love with her. If she wasn’t right now, he would find a way to make it happen.

“Are you okay?” Leila asked touching him on the arm. “I knew we shouldn’t have slept together. Your ribs are killing you, aren’t they?”

Lowering his arm, Clayton glanced at Leila with a sheet pulled up to her chest. He found it so cute how she was trying to cover up after he had just seen her naked less than five minutes ago.

“No sweetheart, my ribs are fine,” Clayton answered. “I was just thinking about how much I love you.”

Leila inched back from him staring at him with her cute mouth slightly open like he had just told her he had won a twenty million jackpot in the lottery. Nervously, she moistened her lips with her tongue and his cock got instantly hard at the innocent movement.

“No.”

His jaw clenched and Clayton narrowed his eyes slightly as he sat up in the bed looking at Leila. What in the hell did she mean no? He must have misunderstood what she just told him, so he would ask her again.

“No? What do you mean by that?”

“You can’t be in love with me. We don’t know each other that well,” Leila answered quickly. “Do you know that Samantha asked me the same thing earlier today? “

A light suddenly went on in Clayton’s head. He was seeing the picture a little better now.

“Leila, I’m not telling you that I’m in love with you because my daughter asked me to. I’ve been in love with you for weeks now. I was going to tell you today when I got back from town, but I got attacked.”

Clayton reached for Leila, but she got out of the bed and put some distance between them. “I can’t get into this now. I need time to sort through all of this. A lot of things are happening so fast. Can you give me some time?”

“Are you saying you don’t care about me at all?” Clayton got out of the bed and picked up his bottoms off the floor ignoring the pain in his ribs. He was going to have this out with Leila tonight! After waiting years to find another woman to be in love with, he wasn’t about to let Leila run from it.

“I’m not telling you that.”

“What in the hell are you telling me? Is this some kind of test? Do I have to prove my love for you or something? Should I buy you an expensive gift to prove what I’m telling you is real? Fuck! I thought you were different from Annie and the rest of those gold diggers in town.”

“Clayton, listen to me─” Leila begged as she came toward him. “You don’t understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“Forget it!’ Clayton shouted as he stormed toward the bedroom door. He paused before going out and glanced back over his shoulder. “You wanted us back at a professional relationship before...well, baby, you can have it now!” Unlocking the door, he hurried out slamming it with a bang behind him.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Did Samantha tell you that she wants to stop being home schooled and attend regular school again?”

Clayton stopped reading the morning paper and placed it on top of the empty breakfast plate in front of him. His eyes came up to study Leila’s pretty face, but he couldn’t tell what was going on in her mind. However, he couldn’t stop his heart from filling with love as his eyes caught her brown ones.

God, if she wanted him to prove his love by showering her with gifts, he would do it. Because he wasn’t too sure if she would even talk to him after the way things ended between them last night.

He had tossed and turned all night thinking about how he’d yelled at her before leaving like a child with hurt feelings. He was too old to be acting the way he did last night. He didn’t even stay to hear her reason for not telling him that she loved him.

“No, she hasn’t asked me anything about it. When did she decide that she wanted to go back to school?” he asked, hoping that Leila would have a seat at the table with him, but she didn’t move from her spot.

“She told me yesterday,” Leila answered. “She did want me to ask you first so that could be why she didn’t bring it up.”

Clayton was surprised by the news, but thrilled at the same time. He wanted his daughter to hang around kids her own age instead of being at Blue Horn all the time. It was past time she made some friends.

“Do you think it would be a good idea to send her back? She had such a bad time there before. I can’t stand to see my little girl cry for any reason.”

“I think Samantha is a totally different little girl from when I first showed up here. She’s more confident and outgoing. The new clothes might have a lot to do with it, but I think she’ll do fine.”

Clayton thought Leila wasn’t giving herself enough credit since she had come into their lives with her loving personality, which had changed him and his daughter’s lives for the better. He wasn’t sure if he could ever think about her not being around them for the rest of their lives. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

“Okay...I’ll have a talk with her teacher and see if Sam can get back into her class at the same level that they are,” Clayton answered.

“Good,” Leila replied. “I think Samantha will love that a lot.” Reaching into her the back pocket of her jeans, Leila pulled out a long white envelope and tapped it against her leg. “Since I’ve talked to you about Samantha, I need to bring something else up to you.”

“Have a seat and we can discuss whatever you want, sweetheart.” Clayton waved to the kitchen chair closet to him.

“No. That’s okay,” Leila said shaking her head as she walked over to him. “I only need to give you this.” She held out the envelope for him to take.

Holding the envelope in his hand, Clayton looked at it and then back at Leila. “What is this?”

“It’s my letter of resignation,” she answered. “My last day will be Friday.”

Clayton sat in his seat blank and very shaken as the shock of what was going on hit him full force. He was momentarily speechless from his surprise. Leila was going to leave him and Samantha because of the harsh words he shouted at her last night. He couldn’t let her walk out that door.

Was she crazy?

Did Leila really truly think he was going to let him leave him like this? She had another think coming if she did. If he physically had to tie her down to his bed to keep her from leaving then that is what he would do.

After she had already gotten his heart tied into ropes, now she decided it was time for her to make her quickie exit. Hell no! It wasn’t going to happen like that. She may not know it yet, but she was the next Mrs. Clayton Moore.

“What if I don’t want to accept this?” Clayton asked waving the resignation at her as he turned in his seat, so he could look at Leila.

“I’m sorry. There isn’t anything you can do to make me stay. I stayed awake most of the night thinking about us and I realized that it was not going to work. It doesn’t mean that I’m not in love with you too. We just aren’t compatible enough to be together in a romance relationship. So I’ve made my mind up to leave.”

He felt a sense of peace and satisfaction wrap its hand around his heart. He basked in the powerful knowledge that Leila was in love with him. Did she really think they didn’t have a thing in common not to spend the next fifty years together? Well, he was about to show Leila how wrong she was.

“Can we talk about this later?” Clayton asked as he stood up from the table. “I don’t want Sam rushing into the kitchen hearing us talk about this. I would hate for her to find out this away.”

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Leila told him as he walked past her.

“We’ll see.”

****

“Get your shit together because we’re leaving this dump,” Matt yelled at his brother as he snatched up the car keys off the nightstand.

“Where are we going?” Jeff asked as he turned off the local news report about Clayton Moore getting attacked at the grocery store.

“I’m tired of waiting around to go and get what I want. It’s about time I go and get my chick.”

“Hell yeah!” Jeff hollered. “I was wondering how much longer we would hide out here at this hotel. I was getting a little stir crazy. I like the fresh air. It gets my blood racing.”

Stopping by the closed door, Matt looked over his shoulder at Jeff. “Don’t you fuck this up for me!” he warned. “We both know how you like to jump the gun about everything. This is for me and not you.”

“Fine, I won’t mess with your romance. But how can you be sure this chick is going to even remember who you are? She’s a hot piece of ass. How do you know that she hasn’t already hooked up with someone else by now?”

Matt wasn’t going to let that thought enter his mind. Leila was his and it would always be that away. If she had found someone then he would just have to get rid of his competition by any means necessary.

Opening the hotel room door, Matt and Jeff froze in their tracks when they found a policeman standing on the other side pointing a gun at them. In addition to him, there were several police cars parked outside in front of their hotel room.

How in the hell did the cops even know they were here? What in the fuck was going on? They must have made a mistake and had the wrong room. This shit couldn’t be happening to him now...not when he was on his way to see Leila!

“Get down on the ground now!” The burly officer yelled. “Both of you are under arrest for the robbery and assault of Clayton Moore.”

Matt dropped down to the floor instantly with his hands behind his head. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” he yelled as Jeff slowly got down on the carpet next to him.

“The next time one of you try to commit a robbery make sure that there isn’t a camera outside catching everything that you do,” the officer said as he came in and pulled Jeff up off the floor.

“Get your damn hands off of me,” Jeff yelled as he struggled not to have the handcuffs slapped on him. “I’m innocent.”

Matt knew that they weren’t going to get out of this. If the cops truly had Jeff on videotape attacking Clayton, they were going to jail for a very long time. There was no way he wouldn’t be charged as an accessory to the fact.

“Sure you are, young man,” the officer laughed as he dragged Jeff from the room and another officer appeared in the open doorway.

Seconds later the new cop came into the room, slammed a pair of handcuffs on Matt and dragged him from the room behind his brother. Matt didn’t know if he was more upset by the fact he was going to jail for a very long time or how he missed out on his chance getting to know Leila.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Walking into his daughter’s bedroom, Clayton sat down on the edge of Samantha’s bed. He could tell that there was something going on with his little girl and he had to get down to the bottom of it. He wanted to make sure everything was okay with her before he dealt with the Leila problem. He wasn’t about to let her leave him tomorrow. Her decision to leave was truly utter nonsense and he would make sure that she finally understood how much he cared about her.

“Samantha, what’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I don’t feel good,” she said pulling the sheet over her face.

“Where do you feel bad?” Clayton asked as he pulled the cover off his daughter’s head.

“My tummy hurts. Do you think that Leila will stay now that I’m sick?” Samantha asked her big green eyes looking up at him with hope shining in them.

How did Samantha even know that Leila was going to leave?

“Why do you think Leila is going anywhere?” Taking off his Stetson, Clayton placed it on the bed next to him and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I heard her talking to Uncle Tony after breakfast. I don’t want her to go back home,” Samantha cried. “Do you like her? Tell her that you do and maybe she can be my new mommy.”

Clayton loved that Samantha cared so much about Leila. He wanted her to be a permanent part of their family too. He thought she would be a perfect mother for his little girl...but more than that he was truly in love with her.

Getting off the bed, Clayton picked up his hat and placed it back on his head. He was tired of waiting around for Leila. He was going to find his woman and tell her how he felt. He wasn’t going to give up on a love this perfect for him.

“Samantha, I’m not going to let Leila leave us. She’s going to become a part of our family.”

Tossing the covers off her body, Samantha jumped up on the bed and shouted. “Leila’s going to be my new mommy!”

“If I’ve anything to do about it, yes she’ll be your new mommy.” Clayton gave his daughter a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room.

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Do you know that I’ve been searching all over the ranch for you and here you are hiding out in my study?” Coming into the room, Clayton closed the door behind him without taking his eyes off of Leila sitting behind his desk.

“Why were you looking for me?” Leila asked as she moved away from the laptop at his desk. “Is there something wrong with Samantha? Is she okay? I know that she left pretty fast after breakfast and ran up to her room.”

“She’s okay,” Clayton said as he came closer to Leila. He loved how her eyes lit up anytime he was around her. She might try to deny how she felt about him, but her body language constantly gave it away. “She just needed to talk to her daddy.”

“That’s good. I was concerned about her,” Leila said as she got up from the leather chair.

“Where are you going?” Walking up to Leila, Clayton blocked her in with his large body. He wasn’t going to let her hurry out on him like she had been doing.

“I was going upstairs to see about Samantha and then see what she wanted us to do today since tomorrow is my last day working for you.”

“Do you know that Samantha told me that she wants you to be her new mommy? She has never told me that about another woman before. What do you have to say? Do you really feel nothing for us?” Clayton asked.

Leila closed her eyes and then reopened them. He could see how she was fighting her emotions and he wondered why she was putting herself through so much torture. All she had to do was tell him that she loved him and everything would be wonderful.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“What am I doing to you? All I told you was that Samantha’s dream is for you to be her new mommy. I didn’t tell you how much she loves you. It’s almost as much as I do. I won’t let you leave because you’ve stolen something from me. You owe me.”

Leila watched him like she wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this conversation, but she was interested in finding out.

“What do I owe you?” she asked.

Instead of answering her, all Clayton wanted to do was yank her into his arms and kiss her senseless, but he had to make her understand how he really felt about her; maybe the kiss would come afterwards.

“Honey, I can’t let you leave Blue Horn ranch. It’s just not going to happen. Not when you came out of nowhere and stole my heart in record time. You owe me your love because you already have mine and of course you’ve had Samantha’s since she first met you.”

“I don’t have your love. You’re just grateful that I was able to bring Samantha out of her shell and I understand that. You love your daughter so much and you think you need to feel that away about me.”

Clayton wouldn’t believe what he was hearing. Had Leila totally lost her mind? She had confessed to loving him inside the kitchen when she gave him her letter of resignation. She wasn’t that old to be having memory loss, so she was just trying to back out of it.

Well, he wasn’t going to let her do that to them.

“If your comment is true then why are you the only one I think about when I’m alone in my bed at night? Why do I look forward to seeing your smiling face each and every morning? Do you know that I stop working just to go looking for you some days?

“My love for you has nothing to do with the change you’ve brought into my daughter’s life. I love you for the amazing woman that you are. You’re caring, loving, perfect and hopefully the woman that will become my wife in the near future. Leila, I love you.

“I know it seems like we fell in love overnight and I was a little surprised by it myself and then I realized something. When two people are made for each other, it doesn’t matter the length of time it took for them to fall in love. All that matters is when they look into each other eyes and they’ll do everything in their power to make the other person happy.

“So, my beautiful brown eyed woman, will you marry me?” Clayton asked as he pulled Leila closer to him. He already saw her answer when he looked into her eyes, but he needed—no wanted— to hear the words. “I’ll even get down on one knee if that will help my case.”

Leila paused for a few minutes like she wasn’t just sure what she was going to tell him. “Do you know that when I first saw you that I was scared as hell because you seemed like the devil sitting on top of that huge black stallion?” Leila told him as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I was positive that you were the meanest man I’d ever met in my life. I wanted to pack up my belongings and leave the same night. I wasn’t used to dealing with men like you in my hometown.

“After I was here for a while and saw you with Samantha, I was slowly introduced to the man behind all of the layers and as much as I fought it I started to fall in love with the man who would find time to read his daughter a night time story despite the fact he was so busy most of the time. I was secretly hoping that one day you would fall for me too and now that I have you I’m not ever going to let you go.”

“Does that mean you’re willingly to spend the rest of your life with me despite the fact that my hard side might make an appearance once in a while?”

“I think that my love for you is so great that I’m more than willing to take that chance.” Leila grinned, standing on her tiptoes so she could kiss him.

As Clayton bent his head to meet Leila halfway for their kiss to seal their future together, neither one of them noticed the beaming face of the green-eyed little girl peeking at them through the door.

THE END