He let out a harsh laugh. "You know what people expect of a kid like that."

"Nothing." How well she knew.

"Exactly." He looked at her solemnly, standing straight and tall and proud. "I wanted more than nothing, Zoe."

She thought she could see him as a kid now, still standing straight and tall and proud, with bruises and torn clothing and nothing to eat. Her throat closed. "So here you are."

"So here I am." His lips curved, easing his tight expression. "And here you are, too."

She nodded and looked again at Danny, feeling wistful. "Why did you sneak in here like a thief in the night?" he asked as they turned side by side to watch his horses. She would have pulled her hand free but he held it tight in his. When their gazes met, he said, "You know you can come in here any time you want."

She nodded. She knew.

With a sigh, he turned her to face him. "You helped bring him into this world. You feel a bond with him."

"I feel a bond with you," she admitted. "And I'm pretty sure I don't like it too much."

"I like it. I like it a lot."

At the unmistakable heat in his expression, she stepped back.

He let out a soft, frustrated growl. "There," he accused, lifting a finger. "You just did it again. Blocked yourself off from me. You just admitted we have a bond, so what is it? Why can't you just… feel?"

His body was close, nearly cocooning hers. Instead of intimidating, it beckoned. But she had to make one thing very clear. "Just because I took money from you doesn't mean I have to… act on what's between us."

"This has nothing to do with the money," he assured her. "It has to do with this."

Dragging her closer, he sandwiched her between the stall and his powerful body, then took her mouth with his.

Chapter 12

Zoe was braced for a powerful, hot, demanding kiss, which she could have ignored. But when Ty's mouth met hers, it was slow, thorough and devastatingly gentle.

Time stopped. The smells of hay and horse faded. So did the sounds of impatient hooves and the night wind. Everything faded in comparison to the sound and feel of Ty. He nibbled at the corner of her lips, outlined them with his tongue, then lightly sucked on her bottom lip until she moaned.

Lifting his head, he cupped her face in his big hands. "Don't hide from me, Zoe. Don't fight this."

"Fighting… is second nature." Her voice was breathless, and she realized she had plastered her body to his.

"I know. It's a defense. I know that, too. I just want you to be honest. You act so tough, so unfeeling." He traced her jawbone with an achingly soft touch. "But it's just an act. I can see the true Zoe in your eyes, and that Zoe I see feels, laughs… loves."

He was so close to the truth, she couldn't stand it. He was the only one to ever have cracked her emotional block wall, and it so terrified her she couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but watch him with wide eyes as he carefully soothed her, his voice low and soft in a way she'd heard him use on his horses, on Maddie and even Delia, but never with her.

"Let me have that Zoe," he whispered, his arms warm and caring and oh-so-comforting as they slowly surrounded her. She could happily have drowned in them.

Oh, why couldn't he be his usual gruff and rough self? That direct, demanding, bossy man she could have resisted. But this Ty, and the emotion he was drawing out of her, was new. It wasn't the dark, thrilling excitement she'd grown to expect, but a genuine, undeniable, irresistible affection.

And it terrified her.

"I won't be rushed," she said quietly. She hated the expression that crossed his face before he managed to guard it. Disappointment.

"Why is it so hard for you?" he wondered, letting her move away from him.

Because you never tell me how you feel. She leaned on the stables, watching the horses. Because I hate the way I feel when you touch me, completely out of control. Because I worry how I'll handle it when you decide we're done. "I just don't choose to constantly put my heart out on the line for something that's not a sure thing," she said.

"There are no sure things." He moved beside her, restless. "But unless you try, you'll never know what might have been."

She stared at him and he turned his head, meeting her stare unflinchingly. Waiting… waiting. But when she said nothing, could say nothing, he shook his head. "Fine, feel nothing," he said roughly. "You'll never know what you're missing."

Oh, she knew. She knew all too well, but she didn't have the strength to reach out and get it. Didn't know how, even if she'd wanted to.

And a little part of her really, really wanted to.

"Zoe," he whispered, just that. Just her name in a voice thick with yearning, and even in her panic she recognized it wasn't a physical yearning, but something much, much deeper. "Don't miss this. Don't turn away from the best thing that's ever happened to either of us."

Her eyes filled but she didn't speak, didn't have the words.

He waited for an eternally long moment, but when she didn't say a word, he opened Abby and Danny's stall and slipped inside.

Abby nickered softly and Ty bent his head close, stroking her face. Abby blew at him.

Ty stood there with his back to Zoe, a tall, powerful man and an equally powerful horse, easily showing their affection for each other.

Zoe nearly broke down.

Then Ty hunkered low, speaking softly to Danny, who tossed his head, drawing a quiet chuckle from his owner. Zoe watched him put his arms around the foal, watched Ty's lean strength shelter Danny in a way that made her ache all the more.

She wished she were in Danny's position, being securely held safe.

Ty would never desert them, and the horses knew it. They were more secure than she, and that was pathetic. That's what she hated most of all, that in spite of her bravado she wanted promises, too. Once upon a time she'd waited years and years and years for her mother's return, finally accepting it would never happen.

She had vowed never to put herself in that position again. She would renew that vow now, instead of moping around the gorgeous man murmuring with love to his horses.

At the sound of the barn door quietly shutting behind her, Ty swore in frustration. Danny pushed at him with his head to Ty's stomach, clearly wondering why he'd stopped being stroked.

Ty hugged Danny close, feeling more lost and alone than he had since Ben had first died.


* * *

Zoe walked through the night, just as alone, just as full of grief. The house was dark and silent, and it suited her mood.

On her bed was a big brown bag, just like the one her gloves had come in, and in it was a new pair of boots in her exact size.

Overwhelmed, Zoe sank to the mattress and fingered the good, expensive leather. The thought of Delia hoarding her pennies and spending them on such a necessity had the tears she'd been struggling with rise back to the surface.

With the precious boots in her lap, she sat down, kicking off her beat-up tennis shoes.

What was the matter with her? She never cried. Crying was a useless emotion, hadn't she learned that well? As a child, she'd often plastered herself up against the window of the group home, tears rolling silently down her face as she'd waited for her mother to come back.

She never had.

And eventually Zoe had stopped crying.

But as she laced up the new boots, affection for her sisters causing her chest to be tight and uncomfortable, she cried now.


* * *

One week later, Cade came to Triple M. He sat at the table with the three women, inhaling another of Maddie's meals, and making everyone laugh.

It was a nice change from the stress, Zoe admitted to herself. Thanks to Ty, they had money to start the ranch, and indeed they'd been looking into specific plans to acquire horses and a small herd of cattle, but it had been far more difficult than she'd ever imagined.

She loved it. They all loved it, but there wasn't much time for fun and relaxation in the face of all that had to be done. Zoe eyed the last muffin, considering. Her jeans would be too tight all day if she succumbed, but a girl needed her energy, didn't she?

With that ready excuse, she reached for it, freezing when Ty walked in.

He had on his climbing gear, and a dark scowl.

She knew that scowl, knew its origin. He'd been wild and cranky and unapproachable all week, even since that night in the barn where she'd nearly bared her soul.

At the sight of him now, and his clear-cut plans to go climb a mountain to relieve his tension-tension that she'd caused-she felt her stomach tighten with unease.

She hated fearing for his life, hated worrying that she'd never see him alive again.

"Going climbing?" Cade asked Ty.

Ty nodded curtly, his gaze still on Zoe. His gaze ran slowly over her, from her unbound hair all the way down to her new boots, which given the way his jaw relaxed, seemed to give him great pleasure.

Maddie handed Ty a bag bulging at the seams. "Take this," she insisted, pressing it into his hand. "It's food."

His face softened as he looked at her. "I have food, Maddie."

"I made it just for you."

Touching surprise flitted across Ty's face first, then pleasure at the gentle but inexorable sisterly pressure. "Thank you," he said, looking down at the package in his hands as if it were made of the finest bone china.

"Don't stay out there too long," Maddie said.

Delia wasn't nearly as subtle. "If you're gone more than two days, I'm going to send for search and rescue. So don't get embarrassed, because I've warned you." She grinned and kissed him goodbye. "Take care," she whispered.