A Rancher To Love

She shook her head, telling herself for the umpteenth time that just because she’d been attacked once didn’t mean it would ever happen again. Realistically, it probably meant the chances were less than they’d been initially. Plus, if there were fewer people around, didn’t that mean there was less of a chance that one of them would be the type to attack her in the first place?

The what-if game could drive her mad if she let it, so she gave herself a mental smack and looked in the rearview mirror. She smoothed her hair and made sure she didn’t look like death. She needed to convey “I’m a responsible adult who pays her rent on time.”

At least she hoped she could pay her rent on time. Thus, the need for getting her mind off what had happened and back on work. On finding her creative spirit again.

She paused with her hand clasping the keys in her ignition and took a slow, deep, calming breath before she ventured toward a new part of her life. On her way to her destination, she ran positive thoughts through her head. She would love this new place. She could afford it. She would feel safe and refreshed, inspired to create even more beautiful jewelry to sell in retail shops and online. It would feel like home.

When she reached the mailbox with the appropriate address, she turned off the highway onto a gravel drive that curved a couple of times before revealing a modest-sized house that had a few decades on it. Beyond it sat a barn and another structure that looked like a small wooden house with a low porch running the length of the front. That must be the bunkhouse, she guessed.

She talked down the part of her that wanted to turn around and retreat back to the safety of Conner’s presence. Common sense prevailed as she spotted a dark blue pickup truck parked in the shade, telling her that Tyler Lowe was most likely inside one of the buildings. When anxiety tried tying her insides in knots again, she reminded herself that Conner had told her Lowe was a good man. She had to trust that her cousin would never put her in harm’s way, especially not after she’d told him what had driven her to Blue Falls in the first place.

Of course, she hadn’t told him everything. She didn’t plan to ever share that with anyone she didn’t have to in order to make sure her attacker stayed in jail for as long as possible. Reliving those horrible minutes made her skin crawl.

Rallying the friendly personality that had been second nature to her before the attack, she slipped out of her car and went in search of Tyler Lowe. Her first instinct would be to approach the house, but a metallic banging drew her to the barn instead. As she crossed the space between where she’d parked and the barn entrance, the sound stopped. Her nerves started firing again, more so with each step she took toward the barn. What if Conner was wrong about Lowe?

Stop it!

Common sense told her that not all men were the type who’d attack a woman. After all, she’d gone more than twenty-nine years without being assaulted by any man whose path she crossed. She’d simply become the unlucky victim in the statistics game.

Leah approached the open barn door, determined to greet Tyler Lowe with her friendliest smile. She hadn’t counted on nearly colliding with a giant.

Her feet slipped on the gravel at the same time she gasped at the size of the man who’d stepped out of the barn. He reached toward her, probably to keep her from falling, but the gesture sent warning bells to clanging in her head and she managed to evade his touch. She took a couple of steps back as she righted herself.

“Sorry,” he said in a deep voice that matched his impressive height and solid build. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

After a couple of moments in which Leah fought hard against the visceral need to spin around and race toward her car, she somehow managed to wave off his concern. “It’s okay. I... I’m looking for Tyler Lowe.”

“You found him. Leah Murphy?”

She nodded, trying not to think about how the man in front of her was easily twice her size, maybe more, and could crush her without breaking a sweat.

He extended his hand and smiled. “Conner said you’d be coming by. Nice to meet you.”

Even though his smile seemed genuine, not the evil type her attacker had worn, it was all she could do to force her own hand toward his for a shake. The moment his big, undeniably strong hand wrapped around her much smaller one, panic exploded inside her. What if he didn’t let her go?

But after a quick shake, he thankfully released her. Judging by the curious look he gave her, she wouldn’t be surprised if he thought her a complete lunatic. She needed to pull herself together if she wanted to even have the choice of whether to rent this place.

“You, too,” she finally said.

“Come on,” he said with a nod to his right. “I’ll show you the place. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s in good physical shape. Has lots of space.”

When Lowe started walking along the gravel drive that led past the barn, her brain didn’t seem to want to send the appropriate message to her feet to follow him. Before he noticed her hesitation, she hurried to catch up. Of course, that was easier said than done considering his long legs easily outpaced hers without him even seeming to try.

As she tried to close the distance between them, she noticed just how wide his shoulders were, how solidly built he seemed to be. His tanned arms were no doubt strong if the cut of the muscles were any indication. His worn jeans clung to obviously muscled thighs and, she had to admit, a nicely made backside. Even with her nerves doing their best to overwhelm her, she still wasn’t blind to the fact that Tyler Lowe was a finely made man not much older than her, if she was guessing correctly. There was no hint of the older man she’d for some reason assumed him to be when Conner had told her he had a place for rent.

“This used to be the bunkhouse for the ranch hands when my father and grandfather had more acreage and ran a bigger herd,” he said as he stepped onto the long porch.

She imagined the inside as sparsely furnished and smelling like a locker room.

When Lowe opened the front door and motioned for her to precede him inside, her panic ratcheted up a notch. How could she possibly allow herself to be trapped inside by a man she didn’t know? But then she remembered the pepper spray in her purse and held on to the strap even tighter as she forced her foot across the threshold.

The main room into which she stepped wasn’t going to be featured on the cover of any home decorating magazines, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined it either. The room was filled with an older couch and chairs toward the front and a kitchen area on the back side. A long, wood, farm-style table and accompanying wood, ladder-back chairs divided the two areas. Off to the sides were doors leading to what appeared to be a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom.

“If you take it, feel free to spruce it up however you like. Doesn’t exactly have a feminine feel to it.”

No, it didn’t. But already she was imagining spreading out her work along that long table and having more space to store her supplies. That was a good sign considering she’d been completely unable to work since the attack.

Leah crossed the room and looked into the bedrooms and bath. Definitely an older feel, like it hadn’t been used in a while and needed a good airing out, but the space was nice and it was quiet. Still, she wondered if her mind and her fear would let her relax here, feel safe as she once had in her apartment.

She told herself she wouldn’t know the answer to those types of questions unless she took the leap. She had to live somewhere, and it wasn’t going to be Houston or her cousin’s couch. She turned to face the man who seemed to take up an inordinate amount of space in the room.

“You live there?” she asked as she gestured in the direction of the house down the drive.

He nodded. “I do. But you’ll have plenty of privacy. I do work on the ranch, but I’m gone a fair amount, too. I’m a farrier, so I’m called out to other ranches.”

Even so, would she be able to find any calm with him so close by? She considered telling him she’d think about it and then look for something in town, but a part of her just wanted to have the decision done.

“I’ll take it.”

Her answer seemed to surprise him for a moment before he nodded. “Good.”

They talked a bit about the rental agreement, and the fact that it was simply verbal without all the paperwork a place in the city required eased her concern some. The simplicity of life in a place like Blue Falls was just what she needed. She’d just have to get used to seeing Tyler Lowe and not imagining how easily he could hurt her.

* * *

TYLER HAD TO focus way harder than he should as Leah asked him how soon she could move in. But he really couldn’t be blamed for how difficult he was finding it to talk about mundane rental details when facing a woman as beautiful as Leah Murphy, could he?

Somehow he found the correct responses as his gaze roamed over her wavy, honey-blond hair and the pink tinge to her fair skin. He towered over her, and he wondered if it made her nervous. The way she eyed him and kept her distance made him think so. Which he supposed was understandable. He doubted he’d be comfortable around someone double his size and at least a foot taller than him either.

As they exited the bunkhouse, he wondered if he’d made a mistake renting it to the first person to express an interest. The last thing he needed right now was a distraction, and Leah Murphy was definitely that. He’d known Conner for years, so how in the world had he never met his stunning cousin?

Maybe he wouldn’t see her that often. Like he’d said, he was gone a good amount. And now he had Maddie to care for. Plus, Leah would have her own work. What did she do anyway? It had to be something that would allow her to move to a town as small as Blue Falls.

He glanced back at the bunkhouse as they walked away from it. He should be thankful he’d rented the place so quickly. The extra income would alleviate his concerns about providing for Maddie, and the bunkhouse had just been sitting there empty for a long time.

And he wasn’t exactly sure why he thought so, but something told him that Leah needed the place as much as he needed to rent it. Her reasons weren’t any of his business, but he couldn’t deny the curiosity. Conner had mentioned she’d lived in Houston. Moving to Blue Falls was a big change, and people usually had big reasons for that type of move.

As they reached her car, he noticed how she opened the door and placed it between them before she turned to speak to him.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

“It’s me should be thanking you.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the edge of her lips, enough that it had him wanting to know what she’d look like with a full smile.

Yeah, he was going to have to stay really busy.

Chapter Three (#ulink_baa8a1fe-6b36-5c24-ac4b-7aefd5507444)