birth parents had been Chloe’s father and Wyatt’s sister, both of whom had died shortly after the twins were born.
From what he’d heard, Anna was unlike her down-to-earth brother, who worked in the oil and gas businesses with his father. She was an accomplished pianist who’d spent the past few years traveling all over the States and abroad, playing concerts with big bands and symphony orchestras—a real debutante, who needed excitement, admiration and bright lights to make her happy.
The news that she was coming home hadn’t reached Miguel. He didn’t know why she was here, but he’d . bet his last dollar it was because she wanted or needed something from her parents. Girls like her were always spoiled. He knew from firsthand experience.
Clearing his throat to warn her of his presence, Miguel moved down the alleyway toward her. Anna glanced up just as he came to a stop a few steps away.
“Hello,” she said coolly as her eyes discreetly traveled up and down the lean length of the cowboy before her. He was dressed in jeans and chinks. Spurs with sunburst rowels were strapped to his black boots, and the sleeves of his heavy, brown cotton shirt were rolled up, exposing his thick forearms. Without a doubt, she’d never seen him before on the Bar M. He was a man not easily forgotten.
“Are you one of Mother’s cowhands?” she asked forthrightly.
A wry twist to his mouth, he stepped forward and offered her his hand, then in a slight Mexican accent, he said, “I’m Miguel Chavez, the ranch foreman. And I don’t think you’ve convinced Ginger that all men are bad,” he said, inclining his head toward the mare. “She still appears to be interested.”
As if to underscore his observation, Ginger once again nickered longingly at the stallion. Trying not to glower at the mare, Anna squared her shoulders and reluctantly reached to shake Miguel Chavez’s hand. “She’ll get past her infatuation.”
Miguel raised his brows at her remark, but he said nothing. No doubt this woman had been infatuated many times. And gotten past it, he thought drily. With her looks she’d probably had men begging for the simple touch of her hand.
The repugnant idea had him quickly releasing her fingers, yet he still couldn’t quite force his eyes to leave her face.
Her smooth ivory complexion told him she was young and also that she was vain enough not to let the bright sun ravage her luminous skin. Her full lips were dusky pink and slightly tilted at the corners. She had a straight patrician nose and pale green eyes that reminded Miguel of a spring aspen leaf. She wasn’t exactly the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen, but she possessed an earthy, sultriness about her that made the man in him want to keep looking. However, the cool expression in her eyes assured him she was not a woman for the taking. By him. Or any man.
Anna’s auburn brows lifted quizzically as she watched the cynical twist to his lips deepen. She didn’t know what the man was thinking. But if it was about her, she certainly didn’t like the idea that he found her amusing.
“I didn’t realize mother had hired a new foreman,” she admitted.
“I’ve been working on the Bar M for nearly a year now,” he told her.
Pink color bathed her high cheekbones and she hated herself for letting him see her discomfiture. “Other than the holidays, I haven’t spent too much time at home these past few months.”
Anna hadn’t deliberately planned it that way. One booking after another had kept her constantly on the road, and she’d been forced to postpone her trips home to a later date. And then, in the midst of all her work, she’d become involved with Scott and she supposed she’d gotten a little crazy after that. More than a little crazy, she thought with a megadose of self-deprecation. Thank goodness she’d gotten over him and canceled the wedding before her father had wasted an exorbitant amount of money on the ceremony...and she’d wasted herself on a man who had never really loved her.
“I don’t need explanations, Miss Sanders,” Miguel replied. “I didn’t expect you to know me. I’m just the foreman around here.”
Was he being impertinent or sincere? Anna’s eyes scanned his dark face beneath the brim of his straw hat. She couldn’t quite gauge his age, but she suspected he was somewhere near thirty-five. His face was lean and angular and had that hard-edged look that assured her his boyish days had long since passed. His nose was hawkish, his chin slightly dented. His eyes were a deep hazel, full of green and brown flecks that glinted beneath thick black lashes. Yet it was his lips that drew Anna’s full attention. The top one was thin and cruel looking while the bottom was full and sensual. It was a hard, masculine mouth and for some illogical reason Anna wondered how many women it had kissed.
Drawing in a deep, needy breath, she glanced away from him and turned back to the mare she’d been saddling. This wasn’t like her, she thought wildly. She didn’t look at any man and think the things she’d just been thinking.
“Call me Anna,” she said curtly. “I’m sure you call my mother Chloe. She doesn’t want anyone to be formal with her. And when I’m here at home, neither do I.”
But when she was out among her fellow musicians, dazzling the crowd, she expected and demanded to be addressed formally. She hadn’t come out and said as much, but Miguel could read the unspoken words very clearly. “Then you must be far more accustomed to being called Miss Sanders.”
She couldn’t stop the parting of her lips or the flare of her nostrils. “Are you always this impertinent?”
So she wasn’t made of pure ice, Miguel decided as his gaze took its time studying her face. “I wasn’t being impertinent. Just stating the obvious. You’re hardly ever home. Otherwise you would have known about me. And I, you.”
Shaking her thick red mane away from her face, she said, “You seem awfully sure of yourself, Mr. Chavez.”
He shrugged, then grinned goadingly at her. Her spine immediately stiffened, and she glanced away from him.
“Are you thinking about getting me fired?”
Her head swung back around and she stared at him in surprise. “I don’t interfere in my mother’s business! She obviously wants you around here. So you must be good for something.”
If Anna had been any other woman, Miguel would have already put her in her place. But she was Wyatt and Chloe’s daughter and because they were such kind, wonderful people, he would not hurt them in such a way. Besides, Anna was from a whole different world than his. For his own sake, he needed to overlook her attitude.
“Oh, you might be surprised at the things I’m good at, Miss Sanders.”
She turned away from him, but not before Miguel could see her lips compress to a thin line. No doubt she thought him vulgar and disgusting, but that was all right, too. He could make it just fine without women like Anna Sanders. And maybe it would be better for both of them if she understood that right now.
“Are you planning to stay long on the Bar M?”
She didn’t answer immediately and Miguel watched her adjust the throat latch on the bridle. Like her mother, she had small hands. They moved with graceful dexterity and he could easily imagine them dancing over a set of ivory keys or a man’s chest. The latter he tried not to dwell on.
She glanced over her shoulder at him and Miguel was intrigued by the knowing tilt to her lips. “I’m not sure yet.
