Outlaw Marriage. Laurie Paige

hard to let go of a dream,” Garrett said sadly. “He was promised the place as a teenager. He poured his heart into it, then it was lost to him through no fault of his own. That’s a deep hurt.”

      Collin studied his grandfather. The old man had a temper, which had exploded in the last meeting with Jordan Baxter and his sharp-minded daughter, but he also understood the underlying emotion of his enemy. Collin hoped when he was his grandfather’s age he had half the understanding of human nature that Garrett had. And the compassion.

      Collin had at first been resentful of the brood of bastard brothers, but that was before he’d realized he’d had life a lot easier than any of them. He’d known his roots. And he’d had Garrett’s unwavering love to help him on the right path. That had been the greatest influence in his life.

      Realizing his advantages and that the Elk Springs ranch would still be his—and his sister’s, of course—he’d pitched in to help the new brothers gain their own part of the Kincaid inheritance. He’d even learned to like them for the most part, especially Trent, who was becoming a close friend.

      Both Trent and Gina liked staying at the ranch and did so often. Cade and Leanne had built a fine house in a wooded meadow nearby. Brandon and Emma were thinking of doing the same. Emma and Hope, newly discovered cousins, could get to know each other…

      Shocked at the direction of his thoughts, Collin broke off the odd musing. Rising, he told his grandfather, “I have work to do. I need to talk to Cade on the Appaloosa breeding program. I saw a stallion on the res the other day that he might be interested in.”

      Garrett nodded, his smile serene.

      Although the lawsuit wasn’t over, Collin knew his grandfather thought things were progressing smoothly and according to plan—which was to have all his grandsons married and settled within the year.

      That left him as the last Kincaid bachelor. Plus the unknown seventh bastard son of Larry Kincaid.

      Gina had traced his philandering father’s whereabouts at the time and was sure the last son had been conceived and still existed in Whitehorn. It was only a matter of time before she found the woman who’d been involved, Gina’d said. She was checking birth records in Whitehorn, plus Blue River County and all connecting counties.

      The seventh son would still be a child, though. Garrett would have to wait a number of years before he could be married off.

      Smiling, Collin headed across the compound to the horse arena where Cade was sure to be working with his prize Appaloosas. He wondered if his weekend guest liked to ride. That was how he intended to show her around the place.

      At the thought of being alone with Hope for hours out on the trail, his body stirred hungrily. She was a beautiful woman. A man would have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not respond to her.

      She was also an enigma. There was something soft and alluring, totally feminine, about her that came across in spite of her cool professionalism.

      The picture of Hope holding the toddler in her lap came to him. In spite of her lawyerly ways, she couldn’t hide the other facets to her personality. With the child, she’d been warm and exuberant and open, not minding at all if her hair was mussed or her dress wrinkled. There was no doubt in his mind that she would make an excellent mother.

      Together they would produce beautiful children—

      Again he was dumbfounded at the direction his mind had taken. He scoffed at his own wild imagination. There was no way in hell Hope Baxter would ever have anything to do with a Kincaid other than in court, fighting over some rocks and valleys that weren’t much good for anything anyway.

      He wasn’t going to fall for her, either. No way.

      But the attraction was there.

      Yeah, sex. So what? An attraction didn’t mean lasting commitment or anything serious. He’d made his share of mistakes in his life, but he certainly wasn’t going to do anything as stupid as fall in love with her.