The Reluctant Texas Rancher

The Reluctant Texas Rancher
Cathy Gillen Thacker

Three generations of Cartwright women have run The Four Winds cattle ranch and Liz Cartwright is being pressed to keep the tradition going.But Liz wants to continue her legal practice in town, not spend her time working the land. She needs a man to do the heavy lifting! Travis Anderson is also a big-city lawyer, claiming to be back in Laramie County with a desire to reconnect with his ranching roots. Only Liz isn’t buying.When it turns out her old flame is being sued for malpractice, Liz agrees to assist him in exchange for help around Four Winds. Now all she has to do is ignore the incredible chemistry she’s always shared with the sexy cowboy.The trouble is, if Liz helps Travis win his lawsuit, he’ll leave the ranch—just as she’s learning the benefits of having him around. What’s a poor cowgirl to do?

Liz gulped, every inch of her going into white-hot alert.

Wh-what are you doing?” She stepped back, found she was suddenly holding her breath.

He danced her slowly backward, toward the wall. “Putting your willpower and integrity to the test.”

The feel of his hands moving up her arms, to her shoulders, then her neck, then her face, sent a shimmer of need sifting through her. “Travis….”

He ran his thumbs along her jaw, then her lips, the soft encouraging pressure parting them. “I’m not your client any more, Liz.” He touched his mouth to hers. Briefly. Testingly.

“I’m not even your friend.”

He bent his head and kissed her again, his lips tenderly coaxing and recklessly taking, the sensuality of his mouth moving over hers, until she wreathed her arms about his neck and kissed him back, every bit as passionately and deeply as he was kissing her.

Dear Reader,

When I created the fictional town of Laramie, Texas, I wanted it to embody all the best qualities of the Lone Star State. Hence, it had to be a place where people dreamed big and knew through hard work and determination that anything was possible. It had to be a place where love was boundless. Family mattered. Neighbors helped each other out. Generosity of spirit and honorable behavior was the norm.

Readers responded by falling in love with the setting as surely as I had, and now, the fictional town of Laramie, Texas, is home to twenty-four novels. (All now available as ebooks.) The McCabes of Texas miniseries—the stories about John and Lilah McCabe’s four bold, handsome sons—started the McCabe family dynasty. The answers to those four men were the four orphaned sisters in The Lockharts of Texas. Sam McCabe, his five rowdy sons and feisty Kate Marten were the subject of Texas Vows, a single-title novel. The McCabes: Next Generation focused on the six offspring of Sam and Kate Marten McCabe. Texas Legacies: The Carrigans featured the four offspring of Meg Lockhart and Luke Carrigan. And Texas Legacies: The McCabes recounts the love stories of the offspring of Greta and Shane McCabe.

Now, I introduce to you my new series, The Legends of Laramie County, with four memorable new Texas clans. We start with the Cartwrights—four generations of Texas lady ranchers who suddenly find themselves in need of a … man?

For more information on these and other books please visit me on the web at www.cathygillenthacker.com.

Happy reading!

Cathy Gillen Thacker

The Reluctant Texas Rancher

CATHY GILLEN THACKER

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Chapter One

“We have to face facts. We need a man and we need one bad,” eighty-three-year-old Tillie Cartwright said, the moment the four women sat down on the porch of the ranch house.

“Like heck we do.” Sixty-six-year-old Faye Elizabeth handed out the corn to be shucked. “Men are nothing but trouble. Always have been. Always will be.”

“But they have their uses.” Forty-eight-year-old Reba winked. “And with my sciatica acting up again …” She winced as she tried to get her aching hip and thigh settled comfortably in the cushioned wicker chair. “I don’t know any other way to manage. Unless …”

All eyes turned to the youngest member of the family.

Liz Cartwright shook her head at the three generations of Cartwright women in front of her. Under any other circumstance this conversation would have been ludicrous, but on the estrogen-powered Four Winds cattle ranch, where she had grown up and now resided once again, the ornery, fiercely opinionated comments were to be expected.

“I’m not giving up my law practice to run this ranch,” Liz said with the full conviction of her twenty-eight years. It didn’t matter how much pressure her mother tried to exert. “I said I would help out—and I will—but other than that, the most I’m prepared to do is help you choose a new ranch hand.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m here,” a deep male voice interjected.

An audible gasp filled the air as Travis Anderson walked around the side of the house and climbed onto the porch. The tall, oh-so-sexy cowboy removed his hat, revealing thick dark hair in need of a cut, and charcoal-gray eyes.

His respects paid, Travis settled the Stetson squarely on his head and smiled. “Isn’t that right, ladies?”

TRAVIS HAD FIGURED Liz Cartwright would not be all that excited to see him. The two of them had dated in high school. She still resented him for the way he had ended it.

“We’re looking for a ranch hand, Travis,” Liz told him drily as she ripped a chunk of green husk and silk from a cob. “Not a Houston attorney.”

Travis knew the Laramie County rumor mill had been working overtime since he had arrived home a few days ago, suitcase in hand.

Liz was apparently curious, too. Though he doubted his savvy fellow attorney would come right out and admit it.

After taking in the way the spring sunlight brought out the fire in her shoulder-length, auburn hair, he studied the skeptical twist to her pink lips.

It didn’t matter that Liz was more beautiful than ever, or that her fair skin looked just as soft to the touch. And the fact she was sexy in an unconscious, girl-he’d-grown-up-with way was of no consequence, either.

What he needed was the opportunity to make a deal. And this temporary job on the Four Winds Ranch would give him that. As well as a place to stay …

Never one to be taken advantage of, Liz waved a dismissive hand before going on to strip the ear of corn bare and drop it into the bowl. She paused to shoot him a disdainful look. “So maybe you should run along back to the city….”

Travis shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and leaned against the porch rail. As always when they were together, the world seemed to narrow to just the two of them. “Didn’t you hear?” he taunted, looking into her emerald eyes. “My days as a bona fide city slicker are over.”

Standing abruptly, Liz placed her hands on her slender, jean-clad hips. “Hearing it and believing it to be true are two different things.” She let her gaze drift over him before returning ever so deliberately to his eyes. “And why anyone as accomplished as you would give up a downtown loft and a six-figure salary …”

Put that way, Travis knew, his actions didn’t make sense. He concentrated on what would. “The loft measured less than six hundred square feet.” Casting a glance at Tillie, Faye Elizabeth and Reba, he flashed the kind of disarming smile he used on witnesses he was about to depose, before explaining wryly, “It wasn’t a whole lot of space to give up. As for the job …” He turned back to Liz and lifted a hand. “I decided I’m better suited at the moment for a wide-open range and a herd of cattle. Two things you ladies have in spades.”

A place, he added silently, where I’ll have plenty of space and privacy to reflect. Plenty of time to plan my next big move …

Liz folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Neither the land nor the cattle are for sale, so if that’s your angle, Travis Anderson …”

“I do want my own land. My own herd.” As well as something even more important to him: an intact reputation. “But while I’m figuring out how I’m going to get those things, I won’t mind taking care of yours.”

“I VOTE WE HIRE HIM,” Liz’s mother said, as soon as Travis Anderson walked off to give them a moment to confer.

Tillie shrugged. “He knows cattle.”

Faye Elizabeth frowned. “I don’t see that we have much choice, given the fix we’re in.”

“I’m not so sure we have to act this fast,” Liz cautioned, with lawyerly calm. “For starters, I don’t trust why he’s here.” Travis had been achievement-oriented his entire life. “I think he has an ulterior motive.”

She just wasn’t sure what it was.

Liz’s mother sized her up with a mischievous grin. “No matter. I’m sure you’ll be able to contain yourself around that handsome man. If that’s what you want,” she teased.

Liz flushed and pushed the distant memory of Travis’s kisses away. Kisses she had been too uptight to really enjoy, because she’d been so afraid of having her heart stomped on by the cutest boy in school.