Indulging in window shopping was a rare luxury for Cynthia. Until three weeks ago, her daily routine meant long hours on the job managing high-end hotels around the world and most recently, that meant a posh hotel in Palm Springs, California. She’d resigned abruptly, however, when her boss made it clear he expected her duties to include sexual favors.
She had no regrets that she’d stood up for her principles. Being unemployed, however, was shockingly outside her comfort zone. She’d worked nearly nonstop since she was sixteen—part-time during high school and while studying at Harvard, and full-time thereafter. She’d spent the day after resigning sending out résumés and calling or emailing her business connections to let them know she was looking for a new position. Then she’d packed her bags, moved out of her rooms at the hotel and driven north from Palm Springs to her childhood home in Montana. She’d been putting off dealing with her great-uncle’s estate for several months and her unexpected free time seemed the perfect opportunity to do so.
Today, though, she refused to worry about being unemployed. Instead, she embraced the novelty of leisurely shopping and dawdling along Main Street in the small ranching community where she’d grown up.
She stopped and pulled off her sunglasses to look more closely at a window display just as the throaty growl of a powerful engine broke the sleepy afternoon quiet. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a black pickup truck nose into a parking spot behind her. The vehicle’s tinted windows prevented her from seeing the driver clearly and she turned back to the boots displayed in the store window.
She’d been considering buying the pair of turquoise-and-black Tony Lama cowboy boots for the past week. Being temporarily unemployed, she knew she should stay on a budget, but the boots were seriously gorgeous. She could almost hear them whisper her name, calling to her each time she walked past the window.
A quick burst of loud music startled her and she glanced sideways down the sidewalk to her left. A beefy, middle-aged man in jeans and a cowboy hat exited the open door of Slocums Bar and walked toward her. Behind him, the heavy door swung shut, cutting off the music and crowd noise.
Cynthia registered the swift interest and smile on the man’s face before she turned back to the window, hoping he’d take the not-so-subtle hint and walk on by.
“Well, hello there.”
Cynthia nearly groaned aloud at the suggestive note in the male voice. She didn’t turn around, although experience told her it was unlikely he’d leave her alone.
“Didn’t you hear me?” The voice was closer. A hand cupped her shoulder.
With a practiced move, Cynthia slipped from beneath his touch and turned to face him.
“I beg your pardon,” she said with cool precision. “You must have mistaken me for someone you actually know.”
She didn’t recognize the man but the interest gleaming in his brown eyes was all too familiar.
“But I’d like to get to know you. You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen in a long time.” His gaze swept over her, lingering on her breasts. His smile widened, creasing his florid face. “Let me buy you a drink,” he said, his voice heavy with innuendo. “We’ll get acquainted.”
“Sadly,” she said, her voice icy enough to chill, “I’m afraid I have to turn you down.”
“Aw, come on, honey,” he coaxed. “You’ll like me if you spend a little time with me.”
Cynthia moved to step around him.
He shifted sideways, blocking her.
“Let me pass,” she said tightly, ruthlessly holding down a wave of panic. She hated the feeling, hated being unable to control it, especially since she knew on a rational level that it was unlikely the man was a serious threat. Not on Main Street in broad daylight. At the end of the block, two young mothers strolled, three little boys bouncing along beside them down the sidewalk. Despite knowing she wasn’t alone on the street with the man, Cynthia couldn’t stop the instant shudder that shook her.
“The lady said step aside.” A different deep male voice held cold authority.
The man’s face tightened into a belligerent scowl as his gaze moved past her. Whatever he saw made his eyes widen, as the ruddy color leached out of his face and he immediately took a step back.
Cynthia drew a deep breath and fought for control. She half turned to look over her shoulder and felt her own eyes widen as she caught her breath at the sight of the man standing a few feet behind her.
He was over six feet tall with broad shoulders and long legs. Beard stubble shadowed his jaw and his coal-black hair looked several weeks overdue for a haircut. The hard angles of his face were set in implacable lines and beneath the slash of dark eyebrows, his grass-green eyes were narrowed and focused on the other man in a menacing stare. He wore a scarred brown leather bomber jacket that hung open over a black T-shirt and faded jeans with scuffed black cowboy boots. The jeans had apparently seen so many washings that they were faded white at stress points, the soft worn denim stretched over the powerful muscles of his thighs.
He looked as if he’d ridden straight in off the range, packing a six-gun and looking for trouble, Cynthia thought with disbelief. There was something vaguely familiar about him but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
That deep, cold voice prompted the other man. “I think it’s time you moved on.”
“Uh, yeah.” The shorter man touched his hat with a quick nod at Cynthia and turned on his heel to hurry off down the sidewalk.
“Are you all right?” The stranger turned his gaze on her and Cynthia was transfixed.
Dangerous, she thought. This gorgeous male could be seriously dangerous.
“I’m fine,” she assured him, gathering her wits. “He was annoying but I don’t think he would have actually hurt me.”
The stranger smiled, white teeth flashing in his tanned face, turning him from lethal to the poster boy for male charm.
“I certainly hope not,” he drawled. “Unless Indian Springs has changed drastically, women don’t normally have to worry about being assaulted on Main Street.” He cocked his head to the side and eyed her with interest. “It’s been a long time since I lived here, but I don’t ever remember anyone in town as pretty as you.”
Cynthia laughed, amusement bubbling at his obvious line. “I grew up here,” she told him. She was immensely relieved to find she was comfortable with his flirting. Lots of men had flirted with her over the years and she usually enjoyed the fencing with words that ensued. It wasn’t until someone stepped into her personal space and wouldn’t accept a refusal, as the older man had earlier, that she lost her composure and felt threatened.
“Not possible,” he promptly denied. “I would have remembered you. I have an infallible memory for beautiful women.”
“And I bet you’ve known a lot of them,” she shot back, smiling when he winced and grinned at her.
His eyes twinkled, only slightly easing the heat in his green gaze.
Cynthia hadn’t felt this attracted to a man in … well, she realized, never. Though he was clearly a heartbreaker,
