“That’s right. I don’t want a Brant on my porch now or anytime.”
“Where’s your dad?” Gabe inquired.
“You’re lucky he isn’t home or he would be out here with a shotgun. I would have been myself if I’d known it was you coming up our road.”
“Frankly, I’m glad he’s not here. I can’t imagine telling mine that I’m here—but I won’t have to. He died almost two years ago.”
“You’ve already wasted the first minute. What’s on your mind?”
She was prickly as cactus, Gabe reflected, but easy to look at. Her skin was flawless. Ashley Ryder was probably half a foot shorter than he was. That made her almost six feet tall. As his gaze ran over her, he speculated that she must be about five months along.
He leaned against the front of his pickup and crossed his long legs.
“Your ranch is nice. Looked like I passed some fine horses when I drove in.”
“The finest. We both know that,” she said, sounding calmer and slightly pleased by his compliment. “Now what do you want?”
“You believe in getting right to the point, don’t you?” Usually he got along with pretty women, although he knew why she was acting so prickly.
“I certainly do when I want to get rid of someone. I think this is the first time in my life I’ve ever talked to a Brant and I don’t particularly like it.”
“You don’t know me,” he reminded her.
“I don’t have to know you. You’re a Brant. That’s enough,” she retorted.
Her legs were bare, smooth and shapely and it was an effort to keep his eyes away from them. Of all females to notice, this one was not only a generations-old enemy, but pregnant.
“There are a lot of rumors going around town about why you’re back home on the ranch.”
“I’m sure there are,” she said, looking away, but not before he glimpsed a glacial chill in her blue eyes. “That’s no deep secret, though, because there’s no hiding the reason.” She met his gaze with a lift of her chin. “I’m pregnant, single and I came home to take care of my dad and have my baby.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. I also heard you were very successful in Chicago, and you left a thriving advertising business behind.”
She nodded. “That’s right, but life changes. My values changed. Now the advertising world doesn’t seem as important as family. Do you ever get to the point, Mr. Brant?”
“I’m getting to it,” Gabe said, trying to keep the purpose of his visit firmly in mind, because Ashley was becoming more interesting than his proposition. Crossing his arms over his chest, he took a deep breath. “I’m building up our ranch and I want more land and more cattle. I can get the cattle, but I can’t get land in this neck of the woods.”
Her brows arched. “If you think we would ever sell you one inch of this land, you’re dead wrong. Never! Now—”
“I know you don’t want to sell. I didn’t come to buy.”
Her eyes narrowed. He realized he could gaze into her blue eyes indefinitely. Why did the woman have to be so damned pretty? He hadn’t considered that possibility.
“What do you want Mr. Brant?” she asked.
“First thing I want is for you to call me Gabe,” he said.
“Your time is running out.”
“All right. I’ve heard your father’s health isn’t as good as it used to be. And I’ve heard that before you came home from Chicago, your ranch had slipped into debt.”
“Maybe it has, but none of that has anything to do with you.”
“Maybe it does. You need help and your dad needs help. You can’t afford to go out and hire the help.”
“We’ll manage,” she said with a frosty tone and a lift of her chin that he had to admire. “That’s strictly a family problem.”
“I came to offer you a marriage of convenience. It would join our ranches and benefit both of us.”
“Marriage!” Her jaw dropped and her brows arched. She placed her hands on her hips and then to Gabe’s surprise she threw back her head and laughed. It was a peal of merry laughter that held no rancor and piqued his interest even more. She shook her head. “You’re loco! Get in your truck and go home, Mr. Brant. Thanks, but no thanks.”
She had been gorgeous with sparks in her eyes. Now, with laughter, she was irresistible. “Forget it,” she said, turning to walk away.
“Just listen to me,” he ordered, catching her lightly by the arm to turn her around. The moment he touched her an electric current rippled through him. “You’re being stubborn.”
“Stubborn!” she said, spinning around to glare at him, yet her tone of voice softened.
“Yeah. I feel like I’m talking to my grandma when she’s in one of her moods. You may be cutting yourself, your baby and your dad out of a deal here. Just listen a moment,” he commanded, assured that he had a viable proposition for her.
Ashley was breathing as hard as if she had run a race, but she was silent. He was as aware of his hand on her arm as if he had touched a burning brand, and he stood close enough to catch a tempting, flowery scent. As their gazes locked, he could feel the sparks snapping between them and suddenly, he wondered if her ragged breathing was for a reason other than anger. Was the lady responding to him when he looked into her eyes? Fascinated by what was happening between them, he let the silence lengthen.
He had come over here to give her a good business offer, but his interest had shifted from her ranch to her. How long had it been since a woman had made him feel anything? Since the loss of Ella, and then both of his parents, he had been buried in grief. Yet here was this wild, volatile chemistry that had broken through grief—a chemistry that had ignited the moment he looked into Ashley’s eyes. He suspected she was feeling it, too.
“Listen to me,” he repeated in a husky voice, and she merely nodded. “I can rebuild this ranch. It’ll help your dad, yet he’ll still be a big part of it because he knows horses and I don’t. My money will be backing you and with both ranches joined, we’ll have one of the most successful spreads in the Southwest.”
“Mr. Brant, you’re plenty good-looking. Find yourself another woman. I’m sure you can,” she said, yanking her arm out of his grasp.
“It isn’t your body I want.”
“You’re not getting your hands on this land.”
“Just remember, mine would be yours, too. I want to join them. Running something this large has to be hard on your dad and on you as well.”
As she looked away, a flush brought pink to her cheeks. When he saw her fists were clenched, he realized that he had struck a nerve.
“Look, we can help each other,” he insisted. “You have room for me to run cattle.”
“I’ve always heard that you’re driven with ambition,” she said, looking him in the eye again.
“Damn straight, I’m ambitious.”
She tapped her toe on the ground and crossed her arms in front of herself, shaking her finger in the direction of his truck. “Get in your pickup and get off our land. Your ten minutes are up. I’m not marrying a Brant. No way in hell. And you’re not getting your hands on our ranch.”
They stared at each other, and he knew he was running out of time.
“I can end all of the Triple R’s debt and with no demands