The Cowboy's Million-Dollar Secret

His dark eyes focused on her and the image of her mentor vanished. Arch had been an attractive man, but he hadn’t oozed sensuality the way Patrick did. Patrick was the kind of man who made a woman stand up straighter and hold her shoulders back.

“Sure. Need anything else?” Frown lines scored his forehead, as if something were bothering him.

“I’d like to go over the registration packets.”

“They’re in the basket, but I’ve already double-checked them. Everything’s in ’em.” He reached into the drawer and pulled out a key ring with at least three dozen keys on it. “The keys are marked with the cabin numbers.”

If one of those went to the storage building, she wouldn’t have to pick the lock tonight. Her fingertips brushed his palm when she took the keys. A tingle traveled all the way up her arm. Alarmed, she snatched her hand back. “Thank you.”

“You can meet the crew after lunch.” He drummed his fingers on the desk.

“Fine. I’ll go check the cabins.” She’d look over the packets later. The office was too small for both of them to work in without tripping over each other, and his blatant masculinity was…overpowering. She turned to leave.

“Leanna, how old was Arch Golden?” His question stopped her at the door.

She turned and could have sworn his eyes were focused on her bottom before he blinked and met her gaze. A flush spread from her middle through her limbs. “Fifty-nine. Why?”

“He was too old for you.”

Her shoulders sagged. Patrick wasn’t the first to jump to the wrong conclusion about her relationship with Arch. “Arch wasn’t my lover.”

He sat back in the chair, lacing his fingers over his flat belly and stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Then what was he?”

“A friend.” A mentor, a father figure, a safe harbor. He’d given her a home when she’d felt unsafe in her own.

“Right.” There was that sarcasm again. “You lived with him almost six years.”

Seven if you counted the year he and her mother had been a couple, but that wasn’t common knowledge. Arch had done his best to shield her from the press. “How do you know that?”

Muttering under his breath, he swiveled back to the desk.

“You know, Patrick, every relationship between a man and a woman doesn’t have to be sexual.”

His scowl bordered on ferocious. “A relationship between a man and a child sure as hell shouldn’t be—unless he’s a pervert.”

“Your—Arch was not a pervert. He was a kind and generous and…” But Patrick wasn’t listening. He’d focused his attention on the papers in front of him. Her name nearly leaped off the page. She moved closer. “What are you reading?”

“The report on you.”

“What?” She halted midstep.

“Brooke orders background checks on every employee—including you. Although yours is sketchy because it was done on short notice.”

Anger rippled through her like waves on a pond. He had some nerve going through her confidential files. She reached for it, but he pulled it out of reach. “That’s private information. You have no right—”

“I have every right to know what kind of employee I’m responsible for supervising.”

Maybe he did, but she didn’t want her dirty laundry aired. She snatched at the report again. He put a hand out to hold her back. His fingers splayed over her waist, distracting her from her goal. Alarmed by the unexpected contact and even more by the heat pooling beneath his fingers, she jumped back.

He fisted his hand in his lap. “You said you had no family. Does your sister know where you are?”

She winced at the hurt his words inflicted and sank back on her heels. One of these days she’d get used to Tonya’s lies. “I don’t have a sister.”

He tapped the page on the desk in front of him as if seeing it in print made it a fact.

She huffed out an exasperated breath. “You need a better investigator. The woman who claims to be my sister is actually my mother. She lies about her age to get parts.”

“She’s an actress?” He obviously wasn’t a Hollywood fan.

“Not one you’ve ever heard of. And in case your lousy snoop missed it, she was Arch’s lover, not me.” She turned to leave once again.

“Is Golden your father?”

Leanna bit her tongue to keep from yelling, No, he’s yours. Patrick had no idea how lucky he was to have not one, but two men who wanted to claim him. If that wasn’t enough, according to Carolyn’s letters, he’d been his mother’s favorite son as well.

She had no one except a mother who’d only become interested in her when a millionaire had taken her under his wing. Her own father had been horrified when she’d looked him up and introduced herself. He’d threatened to call the police if she didn’t leave him alone.

“Arch didn’t come into our lives until I was twelve. My mother didn’t tell me who my father was until I turned eighteen, and she only told me then because I threatened to hire one of those agencies to find him.” She hated revealing her dirty secret, but he’d find out sooner or later, and she hoped he wouldn’t hold her mongrel background against her.

“We lived with Arch for about a year and then moved on. I returned later—without my mother.”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hell, I’m sorry.”

“Save your pity. You can’t miss what you never had.” But she did. More than anything, she wanted to be part of a strong family unit. For a while Arch had been that for her. But now he was gone, and with each hour that passed, it looked less and less like Patrick would fill his father’s shoes.

Three

The way the dude ranch crew tumbled into the kitchen reminded Leanna of a litter of eager puppies.

The staff came in all shapes and sizes, more males than females, but their camaraderie made it clear that they were all glad to be here.

A man about Patrick’s age straddled a chair and called out, “Wanna know what the bet’s up to now, Romeo? One month. My fifty bucks says you can’t make it.”

Leanna glanced at Patrick, hoping he’d enlighten her, but he flushed and avoided her gaze. “You’re full of it, Toby.”

“Won’t be me full of rising sap.”

“My money says he won’t make it past Saturday night,” another man called out.

One of the women shushed them. “Leave him alone.”

Curiosity and her own competitive nature got the better of Leanna. “What’s the bet?”

“We’re betting—”

Patrick interrupted Toby. “Folks, this is Leanna. She’s filling in for Brooke. Introduce yourselves.”

But Toby wasn’t dissuaded. He continued, “I’m Toby, trail boss, and I’m betting Patrick can’t stay away from Red Dog’s Bar or women until Caleb gets back.”