Colt shifted his partially clad body closer to Kati and reached for the baby.

“You have to be tired of rubbing his back. Let me.” A delicious fluttering began in Kati’s stomach at the sight of Colt’s strong hands, large and dark against the small baby’s blue fleece bunny pajamas. The picture was beautiful, moving. She had to look away.

The baby sighed deeply, his little arms and legs going limp as Colt’s hands worked a magic rhythm.

“I think you’ve got the touch,” she said.

“Yeah?” Colt looked pleased. “I never thought he liked me.”

Kati grinned. Who wouldn’t like Colt Garrett? “I think he’s finally comfortable enough to sleep.”

Very gently he lifted the baby and stood cradling the child in one arm while he extended the other to Kati. She knew touching him was a mistake, but she just couldn’t help herself. Taking his hand, she let him pull her up until she was no more than a breath away from his naked chest. Moonlight gilded them, the cowboy, the sleeping baby and the nanny.

The nanny, she had to remind herself. She was only…the nanny.

Dear Reader,

The summer after my thirteenth birthday, I read my older sister’s dog-eared copy of Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and I was hooked. Thousands of romance novels later—I won’t say how many years—I’ll gladly confess that I’m a romance freak! That’s why I am so delighted to become the associate senior editor for the Silhouette Romance line. My goal, as the new manager of Silhouette’s longest-running line, is to bring you brand-new, heartwarming love stories every month. As you read each one, I hope you’ll share the magic and experience love as it was meant to be.

For instance, if you love reading about rugged cowboys and the feisty heroines who melt their hearts, be sure not to miss Judy Christenberry’s Beauty & the Beastly Rancher (#1678), the latest title in her FROM THE CIRCLE K series. And share a laugh with the always-entertaining Terry Essig in Distracting Dad (#1679).

In the next THE TEXAS BROTHERHOOD title by Patricia Thayer, Jared’s Texas Homecoming (#1680), a drifter’s life changes for good when he offers to marry his nephew’s mother. And a secretary’s dream comes true when her boss, who has amnesia, thinks they’re married, in Judith McWilliams’s Did You Say…Wife? (#1681).

Enjoy!

Mavis C. Allen

Associate Senior Editor, Silhouette Romance

Married in a Month

Linda Goodnight

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To the men in my life:

Dwayne: Gentle soul whose love runs deeper than words. Mike: Who keeps me close to God. Travis: “Beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” Cody: Truly a gift from Heaven. Thank you for the joy you are. Gene: God in his kindness and wisdom knew how much I needed you. Thank you for loving me.

Books by Linda Goodnight

Silhouette Romance

For Her Child… #1569

Married in a Month #1682

LINDA GOODNIGHT

A romantic at heart, Linda Goodnight believes in the traditional values of family and home. Writing books enables her to share her certainty that, with faith and perseverance, love can last forever and happy endings really are possible.

A native of Oklahoma, Linda lives in the country with her husband, Gene, and Mugsy, and adorably obnoxious rat terrier. She and Gene have a blended family of six grown children. An elementary school teacher, she is also a licensed nurse. When time permits, Linda loves to read, watch football and rodeo and indulge in chocolate. She also enjoys taking long, calorie-burning walks in the nearby woods. Readers can write to her at linda@lindagoodnight.com

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter One

Kati Winslow took a deep breath, exhaling with a shaky sigh. The next few minutes could mean the beginning—or the end—of her dreams. Perched on the edge of a heavy leather armchair in the very masculine office of the Garret Ranch, her palms grew damp just thinking about this crazy plan of hers.

The next few minutes could mean the end of her if she didn’t handle things right. Any man wild enough to throw his leg over the back of a Brahma bull was certainly capable of tossing an impertinent woman out the same door she’d come in.

But she’d face a wild bull rider or even a mountain lion if she had to. Anything for Kati’s Angels.

Checking one last time to be certain her imagination hadn’t run away with her again—that she really and truly had an appointment with Colt Garret—she glanced at the newspaper ad crumpled in her lap like a hamburger wrapper.

“Cowboy has motherless baby. Urgently needs live-in child care at Garret Ranch.”

The ad was followed by a phone number, a list of qualifications, and the words exceptional pay.

All well and good, but it wasn’t the job she needed. It was the man who’d placed the ad—former rodeo cowboy and present owner of one of the biggest spreads in north Texas—Colt Garret.

Kati’s heart did three back flips and a full Gaynor at the thought of the man who held her future in his hands, a man who’d held a special place in her heart for more than ten years. A man who didn’t even know she existed.

Nervously she brushed at the skirt of her only decent suit, flicking away an imaginary speck of lint. Kati hoped the mint-green skirt and matching jacket looked mature and sensible. More than anything she had to convince Colt that she was not as crazy as she was going to sound.

She swallowed the dry lump in her throat and, for the hundredth time, rechecked her appearance. Sensible white heels flat on the floor. Skirt carefully pulled over her slender knees. Pristine white blouse buttoned to the top. The entire rig was so totally out of character, if Colt didn’t hurry up the neat knot of hair would become a waterfall of dark, straight locks hanging down her back. And she’d be forced to kick off these pinching heels.

Where was he? Her gaze flicked anxiously from the fancy cowboy art hanging over the fireplace to the acres of lush green pasture visible outside the picture window and back to the solid oak entry. During their phone conversation, Colt had stressed his desperate need for a nanny. Under the circumstances that was exactly what she wanted to hear. But if the situation was all that urgent why hadn’t Colt met her at the door instead of that tattooed man who looked as though he’d stuck his finger in a light socket? And where was Colt now?

She twisted her foot, feeling the first warning twinge of a toe cramp. Just as she bent for a foot massage the study door flew open and a harried looking cowboy, cradling a screaming, flailing baby, charged into the room. Kati straightened suddenly, the cramp forgotten in a rush of emotion.

Even unshaved and rumpled, Colt was more gorgeous than she remembered. Her heart joined her toe in a vicious cramp.

Wide-shouldered, skinny-hipped, he wore a red Western shirt that accentuated his darkness. Faded Wrangler jeans followed the angle of long, muscled thighs. Above a pair of red-rimmed eyes the color of Hershey’s Kisses, his dark brown hair needed a trim.

He was tall and trim and gorgeous, and he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her.

“Are you Kati Winslow?” he asked above the din of the wailing infant.

So he didn’t remember her. That much, at least, was good. If he had any idea she’d once fancied herself in love with him, he’d never fall for this scheme.

“Yes.” She struggled to meet his gaze, worried that her too-wide eyes would betray the terror gnawing at her insides.

“Let me see your résumé.”

Willing her hand not to tremble, she gave him the paper and was surprised when he handed her the baby in return. While he examined the sheet, she sat down again, laid the fussy infant over her shoulder and gently patted his back. He was soft and warm and clean but squirming miserably. Within seconds, he burped loudly, heaved a shuddering sigh of relief, and snuggled into her neck, his little head lolling to one side in exhaustion.

Colt looked up, expression stunned. “You’re hired.”

“What?”

He nodded toward the baby. “He’s stopped crying. That’s good enough for me. You’re hired. Can you start right now?”

Kati batted her eyes, confused. “Right this minute?”

“I’m desperate.” Wearily he collapsed into a high-backed chair behind the desk and slumped forward, resting his arms on the polished top.

She hoped he was as desperate as she was.

Kati considered his bloodshot eyes and bent posture. His exhaustion was so complete that she actually felt sorry for him. But she couldn’t let her sympathy get in the way. For once in her life, she had to think ruthlessly.

“May I ask where the baby’s mother is?”

Colt scraped a hand over his whiskers. Out of his mind with exhaustion and, if he was willing to admit it, downright terror, he hardly knew where to begin. How had this happened to him, a die-hard bachelor without a paternal bone in his body? How had he come into possession of a three-month-old child?

“It’s a very long story, but if you’re willing to listen…” Colt glanced up. Through blurry eyes he saw her nod, so he plunged in, reliving the fateful day three weeks earlier when he’d opened his doors to insanity.

Within ten minutes after the nervous little messenger had appeared at his door, Colt had run the gamut of emotions from disbelief to pure terror. Pacing the length of his ranch-style living room, he’d stopped now and then to stare from the blue-wrapped bundle in the stranger’s arms to the papers in his own hands. His mind reeled with what he’d read there. Some woman he’d never heard of had sent him a baby to care for.

“How could anybody leave an infant in my custody? I don’t know anything about kids.” Colt shook the paper beneath the other man’s nose. “Just who is this Natosha Parker, anyway? I’ve never even heard of her.”

The messenger broke out in a sweat and hugged the door handle a little harder. Colt paused long enough to catch his breath, and the poor hapless man took that as an opportunity to escape before the big cowboy really lost it. He eased the door open, clearly hoping to Hannah that the wild-eyed rancher didn’t yank him backward through the keyhole.

“Beats me, sir,” he said, backing out the door. “All they told me to do was bring the baby out here to one Colt Garret.” He shoved the infant into Colt’s arms. “That’s you, and I’m outa here.”

He whirled and bounded across the concrete porch.

“Wait a minute,” Colt yelled at the retreating form. “ Who told you to bring the baby out here?”

The messenger didn’t wait around to answer. He crammed the ordinary-looking brown sedan into gear and hightailed it down the long driveway toward the gate, fishtailing beneath the Garret Ranch sign.

The baby, whose tiny form was strapped into a carrier of some type, chose that moment to awaken. A high-pitched wail rent the country quiet. Cole pivoted from the front window where a rising plume of dust was all that remained of the retreating sedan. He shoved a work-hardened hand through his hair, sending thick, brown waves in a dozen different directions, and stalked toward the hallway.

“Cookie, get in here,” he bellowed. At the sound of shouting, the baby jerked, his little arms flew straight up and he wailed all the louder.

Cookie, chief cook and general housekeeper for the Garret Ranch, scuttled in from the kitchen. Twigs of hair stuck out on his head like blackjack sprouts. A battleship tattoo, a result of one wild weekend in Hong Kong, sailed his arm from shoulder to wrist. A white chef’s apron covered the forty extra pounds of paunch around his middle. He was a scary sight, but the bachelor brothers of Garret Ranch didn’t care. He made a mean chicken-fried steak, and that was really all that mattered.

“What in blue blazes is all the racket in here, boss?” His voice, a startling replica of an air horn, made the baby cry even more.

“It’s a baby.”

“A what?” Cookie backed away.

The sight brought a momentary, though not too happy, smile to Colt’s face. “I said a baby, Cookie, not a rattlesnake.”

“Same blame thing. Only, I know what to do with a rattlesnake.” He shuffled over to the couch and peered down at the screaming infant. “Whose is it?”

“For the time being, he’s mine.”

Cookie plopped down on the couch beside the crying infant and began to laugh. The sound rumbled like a passing train. “One of them lady friends of yours finally got you, didn’t she? You gave her a baby, and she gave him back to you. I knew it. I knew it. I told you that wild living would come home to roost some day, and it sure enough did. Here it is in the flesh.”

Cole was dumbstruck. “You think this is my baby?”

“Ain’t it?”

“No!”

“You sure?”

Of course he was sure. He hadn’t done any “wild living” in years. Well, months, maybe. And the few times he’d been with someone he’d been very, very careful. He and his brother Jett had long ago made a pact to remain footloose and fancy-free. They were cowboys who loved their freedom and their wide-open spaces. No women or kids could tie them down. No sirree, not the Garret brothers.

The baby’s cries had turned to shrieks. The tiny face was a wrinkled, purple mess.

“Do something, Cookie.”

“Me?” The older man shook his head, setting the blackjack sprouts aquiver. “It’s your baby.”

“What do you suppose he wants?” Side by side, the men stared down at the infant.

Cookie, who thought food was the answer to every problem, hit upon the perfect solution. “Maybe it’s hungry. You suppose there’s a bottle or something in one of them bags?”

Colt hadn’t even noticed the three bags leaning against the wall just inside the front door. He hurried to them, searching for something—anything—to make this little fella hush up. An array of plastic diapers, blankets and tiny clothes were stuffed into the bags. One by one he threw them out, scattering baby items all over the thick, brown carpet.

“Aha!” he cried. Delirious with relief, he withdrew a filled baby bottle and carried it back to the couch. The baby lay in his padded carrier thrashing his arms and squirming like the rattlesnake Cookie had likened him to. Colt pushed the bottle into the infant’s open mouth. Instantly the baby quieted.

“Just like feeding a motherless calf,” Cookie commented as the child latched on to the nipple and sucked greedily.

“This is a lot more serious than a calf, Cookie. Babies need attention all the time, not just morning and evening. We’ve got to find this baby’s mama and send him home.”

“Cute little feller, ain’t he?” Cookie stroked one fat finger along the baby’s cheek. The child turned his head toward the finger, a pair of brown eyes searching Cookie’s face. “How could any mama worth her salt dump him on a stranger’s doorstep like this?”

“According to the letter, the mother doesn’t consider me a stranger. That’s the odd part of all this. I don’t remember ever meeting any Natosha Parker, but this paper says I’m the only person she trusts to take good care of little Evan.” He looked up and grinned. “I guess his name is Evan.”

“Don’t make no sense, boss. If you don’t know her, how can she trust you?”

“I don’t know.” Thoughtfully Colt rubbed at his whiskers. “Maybe I should call the sheriff and turn the baby over to him.”

“And have him wind up in one of them homes somewhere? We can’t do that to this little feller.”

Never one to shun responsibility, Colt knew Cookie was right. The papers looked legal and in order, granting him complete and total custody of Evan Lane Parker, two-month-old son of Natosha Parker. He’d handled enough of his own stock contracts to know airtight legal work when he saw it.

“That’s the answer, Cookie.” He slapped the papers against his knee. Once more the baby jerked his hands into the air. “These are legal papers. Some lawyer drew them up for this Natosha Parker woman. I’ll call Jace Bristow and have him take a look. He can trace the mother through these papers.”

Jace Bristow had been Colt’s attorney since the two graduated from Texas A & M. He was a great attorney and an even better friend. If anyone could trace this baby’s mother, Jace could do it. Colt breathed a tentative sigh of relief.

Cookie, however, looked doubtful. “What do we do with him in the meantime?”

Colt hunkered down beside the couch, his eyes on the baby. The little critter didn’t look half so scary with his mouth closed. Fact of the business, he was downright cute sucking on that bottle with such heartrending desperation. He wasn’t bald like most babies Colt had seen. He had a smooth cap of dark hair above a round face, a tiny bit of a nose and a pair of big brown eyes that followed every move Colt made. Someone had lovingly dressed him in blue overalls, a soft red shirt and a floppy cotton sailor hat that had fallen off during his fit of crying.

Who are you, little man? And where did you come from? Colt wondered, as he stroked a finger over the velvety soft hand. Evan responded by wrapping his own tiny fingers around the much larger one. At the unexpected rush of emotion, Colt gently withdrew his hand and straightened. He was a responsible man, a decent man, but he was not daddy material. Never would be. He sure as blazes couldn’t go getting attached to somebody else’s baby. And he had a real bad feeling that would be mighty easy to do.

“I’ve got a ranch to run. You’ll have to look out for him.”

“I didn’t hire on to take care of no babies,” Cookie protested. “I feel sorry for the little feller, but I’ll quit if you try to turn me into a nursemaid.”

“Come on, Cookie, you spent twenty years in the navy. Surely, you can handle a baby for a few days.”

“Weren’t no babies in the navy. I got my hands full cooking and cleaning for you and that bunch of ranch hands. I ain’t doin’ it. You’ll have to hire a baby-sitter.”

Suddenly an unpleasant odor emanated from the couch. Colt wrinkled his nose and looked from Cookie to the straining, red-faced infant. Cookie roared like a mad bull and beat a fast retreat to the kitchen. Totally defeated, Colt stared after his cook and then down at the gurgling baby. That was the moment he knew that his life would never be the same.

“So,” he said wearily to the prospective nanny, motioning to the baby in her arms. “That’s all I know about Evan’s mother.”

He didn’t bother to tell her the rest. That live-in help was next to impossible to find because of the ranch’s isolated location in the middle of miles and miles of cattle range. Nor did he mention his less-than-stellar bachelor reputation. No use telling Miss Kati Winslow all that, or she’d up and run out the door and leave him with this unhappy baby.

“Trouble is, I don’t know what I’m doing and he senses it. He cries all the time. Never sleeps.” Colt’s shoulders sagged. “I think he hates me.”

With each word, Kati’s foolish heart lifted a few inches. He really was desperate. She just might be able to pull this off. “Have you considered turning him over to Social Services?”

Colt wagged his shaggy head. “Even though there are some good foster parents out there, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. For some reason Evan’s mother trusted me to care for him, and I’m going to do that until I find her.”

Sadness shimmied through Kati, her thoughts centered on the poor abandoned baby in her arms. This little boy had narrowly missed placement in foster care, a life that Kati knew all too well. She’d do anything—anything to spare him that. Her desire to care for him shot up a notch. Certain she was helping all concerned, Kati buried her nose in Evan’s soft, powder-scented neck and battled the guilt of using Colt’s kindness against him.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Garret.” With steely determination she stood and tenderly handed him the sleeping baby. A puzzled Colt slipped his dark, powerful hands beneath the child, cradling the small body against his wide masculine chest. Kati glanced away and gulped. In the next two minutes she needed to be convincing, not moved to tears by the sight of a big ol’ cowboy holding an innocent baby.

Drawing upon a lifetime of pretending, Kati took a deep breath and coolly announced, “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not interested in the job.”

Colt looked stunned. Panic filled his bloodshot eyes.

“What? No. You can’t do this. I need you. He needs you.” He came around the desk holding Evan against his shoulder with one hand while extending the other in a pleading gesture. “Please. The salary is good. You’ll have your own room, your own cook, the run of the place.”

She shook her head. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but the baby’s mother could return at any time. There’s no job security. Furthermore, the ranch is so secluded.”

Colt’s dark-brown eyes locked with her gray ones, using every ounce of his persuasive charm. If she hadn’t fully intended to take the job—under her own terms, of course—she’d have buckled from the pressure. The look Colt gave her was enough to melt the polar ice cap. And Kati was a marshmallow.

“Please,” he pleaded hoarsely, “I’ll pay you whatever you ask. Anything at all.”

He moved nearer, bringing with him the scent of man and baby mingled pleasantly together.

“You’re the only qualified applicant I’ve had.” He sounded pathetic—and smelled wonderful. “The references you gave me over the phone all checked out. I’ll raise the pay. Heck, I’ll even…buy you a car. You have to take the job.”

He stood within a breath of her, staring down into her face with such earnest persuasion that Kati was on the verge of agreeing to anything he asked. She tried backing away before she lost control of the entire situation. Colt reached out and touched her arm. Like the time all those years ago the thrill of his touch rendered her senseless. She couldn’t think. Her head started chanting Colt’s name.

“Anything, Kati,” Colt begged. “Name it, and it’s yours.”

She was mesmerized. A moth over the flame. A deer in the headlights.

“Anything at all,” he said softly, seductively.

Her heart thundered. Her ears rang. She couldn’t think straight. Why had she come here, anyway? Oh, yes. Because of Colt. To marry Colt. That was it.

“Marry me,” she blurted.

He stared at her as though she’d grown horns. She wondered if she had. This wasn’t the way she’d planned to say it. She’d wanted to remain rational and logical while they hammered out a business deal. Instead she’d become the blathering idiot of her nightmares.

Slowly, Colt withdrew his hand and took one step backward. His horrified gaze remained riveted on her face.

As her good sense returned, Kati squirmed beneath his appraisal, equally as horrified. This was her one chance. If she blew it now, there would never be a Kati’s Angels Child Care.

Having already crossed the line, she straightened her shoulders and plunged in. With every bit of enthusiasm, logic and rationale she could muster while shaking in her shoes, Kati tried to convince him that the plan was simple, easy, and helpful to all concerned. The bankers of Rattlesnake wouldn’t loan her the money to build a child-care center unless she had collateral.

Collateral? What a laugh! To build her dream childcare facility she’d have to borrow the money for everything from the land to the building and even for the first few payments until the center began to turn a profit. And she could only think of one way for a single, jobless orphan to acquire that much collateral. According to the bankers of Rattlesnake, a husband’s collateral would be just fine. But did she have a husband? Not even a boyfriend. And then she’d seen Colt’s ad, and like a gift from heaven the idea came to her.

“So, if you’ll marry me,” she concluded, “I’ll have the collateral I need to get a loan, the children of Rattlesnake will have someone to love and care for them, and you’ll have a nanny, free of charge, for Evan until his mother returns.”

In the course of her monologue, Colt’s horror had turned first to bewilderment and then to incredulity.

“Even if this idea of yours made any sense at all—which it doesn’t—it wouldn’t work.” Colt gave his head a stubborn shake. “I don’t want to get married. Never have, never will. Marriage sucks all the life out of people.”

“I’m not talking about a real marriage.” She hoped she sounded calmer than she felt. “It’s a business arrangement, a marriage in name only as a means to acquire collateral for my loan.”

He shook his head, jostling the bundle in his arms. “Your reasoning makes no sense.”

“It does to me. A fifty-fifty proposition. You get a nanny. I get collateral.” Couldn’t he understand? As long as they made a deal in which each party benefited, she was a businesswoman, not a charity case. She’d had enough of that in her life.

Shoulders sagging wearily, Colt pressed a thumb and forefinger into his eye sockets. Little Evan’s whimper brought the big cowboy’s head upright. Panic filled his dark eyes.

“Just a business arrangement, right?” He patted the baby’s wiggling back in awkward desperation. “None of that till-death-do-us-part stuff?”

“Of course not. After I have my loan and Evan’s mother is found, you can go somewhere for one of those quickie divorces. No strings attached.” While her belly shook in trepidation, she spoke lightly, airily, as if she proposed a marriage of convenience to a strange man every day of the week.

Surely he could see the logic in her win-win idea. He needed her almost as much as she needed him. As tired as he was, he couldn’t hold up much longer. He was about to fall over now. And so was she. If Colt didn’t say something soon, Kati would collapse in a heap on the scuffed toes of his black boots.

Still eyeing her with deep suspicion, Colt rubbed at the back of his neck. “Quickie divorce? Where do they do that?”

Kati blinked, uncertain. “I—Reno maybe?” She didn’t have a clue.

“I don’t know, either. My attorney would know.”

Her pulse rate shot up. He was weakening.

He blew out a long, gusty sigh. “Would you be willing to sign papers agreeing to everything? The divorce and all, I mean?”

She really wanted to feel sorry for him, but she couldn’t allow it. For once in her life, she had to be utterly, completely ruthless. Kati’s Angels depended upon it. This precious little boy depended upon it. And the lonely, neglected children of Rattlesnake depended upon it—and her. The vision of Kati Winslow, guardian angel of needy children, bloomed in her imagination.

“Certainly I’ll sign papers. This is a business arrangement.” Nerves rattling like marbles in a tin can, she offered one last piece of bait. “I’ll also sign a prenuptial agreement to the effect that I have no right to any of your financial assets.”

“You’re nuts, you know that?”

Gripping the smooth back of the leather sofa, she willed herself to hang in there. She could do this. She had to. This was her one and only chance to fulfill the dream of a lifetime.

“I am not crazy. Just desperate like you. Each of us needs something from the other. This is the perfect solution.”

His lips twisted wryly. “ Perfect isn’t the word I’d use to describe it.”

She shrugged, hoping for nonchalance. “Well, perhaps you can find some other nanny for the child.”

Gathering her purse, she battled her conscience and looked toward the door as if to leave.

The baby’s whimper grew louder.

“No!” Colt shouted. His hand snaked out and snagged her arm. Colt thrust the fussing child toward her. “Please. Three weeks is all I can take. You’re the only human being that’s agreed to accept the job under any circumstances.”

Carefully extracting her arm from his strong, warm grip, Kati stepped back, refusing to take the baby. It wasn’t an easy thing to do considering how much the baby needed her, and how pathetically Colt begged, but he was almost hers. She couldn’t fold now. “Well, then?”

“I can’t just up and marry a woman I don’t know. What if I don’t like the job you do with Evan?” His gaze fell to the fidgeting baby in his arms. “What if you’re a lousy baby-sitter?”

“We aren’t called baby-sitters anymore. We’re nannies.”

“Will you consider a trial run?”

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Move in with us for a few weeks until we see how things go. If your work is satisfactory and Evan is still with me, I’ll—” He seemed to strangle on the words.

“Marry me?”

“Yeah. That.”

“Will you sign a paper to that effect?”

In spite of himself, Colt grinned. She’d used his own words against him. She might be nuttier than a pecan pie, but she was smart. Not as smart as he was, though. He’d had plenty of experience dodging wedding bells.

He only needed her for a few weeks tops. By then, Natosha Parker would be found, and Miss Kati Winslow would be out on her conniving little—ear. Meanwhile, he could resume his work and get a decent night’s rest. Evan would have the good, motherly care he deserved instead of the fumbling efforts of an exhausted cowboy and an old sailor. The little nutcase was right. She had the perfect solution.

“Yes, I’ll sign the blasted paper.”

He handed her the baby again, and this time she took him, hardly able to believe she’d actually pulled it off as Colt strode to the desk and began scribbling on a sheet of paper.

Reaction set in. Legs trembling so that she could barely stand, Kati settled back on the couch and hid her face in the baby’s neck. She’d done it. Colt Garret was going to marry her, and she’d finally have children to love and a place to call her own.

The infant made soft, mewling sounds in her ear, a reminder of the most important part of the deal. Pressing him into her shoulder, she patted and rocked until he settled once more into slumber. He was so helpless and innocent that an enormous wave of protectiveness surged through her.

I’m sorry, baby, that I had to use you this way. I’ll do right by you. I promise.

“Here you go, Miss Kati,” Colt drawled, handing her the agreement. “I, Colt R. Garret, do promise to marry you one month from today in the event that Evan Parker is still in my custody. How’s that?”

“Everything seems in order.” Taking care not to wake Evan, she folded the paper and slipped it inside her purse. “A month should give us plenty of time to plan an appropriate wedding.”

Colt thought his head would explode. “Now, wait a minute, here. I never agreed to a wedding.”

“This paper in my purse says you did.”

“It says marry, not wedding.” Suddenly he was having second thoughts. If she started planning a wedding, half the county would know about it, a most disagreeable situation that would make shaking her off all the harder. Besides, he didn’t really plan to marry her. That was just a ploy to make her stay with Evan.

He pressed down on his head with both hands. What had he gotten himself into? Didn’t he realize he was too exhausted to make sensible decisions? Hadn’t he seen that on television? Men do stupid things when they’ve been without sleep for days on end. Bright, sensible men became blundering idiots when sleep deprived.

He’d known this woman was a loony toon when she’d first started talking about marriage. Now she was demanding an “appropriate” wedding—whatever in the Sam Hill that meant.

Kati shot him a look of exasperation. “You can’t get married without a wedding.”

“Yes, we can. Couples do it all the time. I know a justice of the peace down at the courthouse who can marry us in two minutes flat.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that. In, out. No fuss, no bother.”

Kati shifted the baby to her other shoulder. When he fussed she patted absently at his back, a natural motherly gesture that caused Colt’s stomach to lift the way it did when his truck took a hill too fast. He averted his eyes and tried to concentrate. Lord only knew what he’d fall into if he didn’t pay close attention to Kati Winslow.

Colt flopped down on the opposite end of the long leather couch and scrubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Lord, he was tired. “This isn’t going to be a real marriage.”

“We’ve already determined that,” she replied, big gray eyes peering at him in a way that made him want to agree with anything she said. “But Rattlesnake is a small town. If the banks get wind that this isn’t a real marriage, they may not think the collateral is real, either. I can’t take a chance on losing that loan.”

Too sleep deprived to argue further, he threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Okay. Have it your way. Plan a wedding in Westminster Cathedral for all I care.”

What was he worrying about? Since this wedding of hers would never happen, let her plan anything her little heart desired. As long as she stuck around until Evan’s mother was located, that was all he cared about. He had no intention of giving up his bachelor status.

Chapter Two

Kati moved in that afternoon.

“Is this all the stuff you got?” Cookie asked, peering into the trunk of her ancient green Toyota.

He’d come scuttling out the door the minute she’d arrived, offering his assistance. From all appearances, he was as relieved to have her here as Colt was.

Before the interview with Colt, when the old cook had first opened the door for her, Kati had been hard-pressed to hide her misgivings. She hadn’t known whether to laugh or scream. Since her second arrival, the man had gone out of his way to be helpful, and she regretted judging him by his bizarre appearance.

“I travel light,” Kati said in answer to his question about her lack of belongings.

In foster care there was never any time or place to collect “things.” She’d learned at an early age not to cling to possessions, so traveling light came easy.

Cookie hoisted the two cardboard boxes while she grabbed the battered plaid suitcase and several hangers of clothes. They carried everything inside in one trip.

Caesar, Kati’s cat, insulted by the long car ride, twitched his long tail and marched into the house like royalty. Cookie shot him a questioning glance. “Boss know you got a cat?”

“Why? Is that a problem?” The sleek gray cat with aristocratic airs had been her companion for four years.

“Boss hates cats.”

“Oh, dear.” Biting her lip, she paused in the natural-stone entryway and frowned.

“Now, don’t you worry none.” A beefy hand patted awkwardly at her shoulder. “Just keep the critter out from underfoot and everything will be just fine. Colt’s out of the house more than he’s in, anyway.”

“Okay,” she murmured feebly, following Cookie and the insulted cat through a massive living room, then down a long hallway. She couldn’t afford to make Colt angry, but Caesar was her family. She just hoped she could keep the independent animal out of the way.

“Boss figured as how you’d want to be close to the baby.” Cookie stopped at the end of a long hallway dotted with bedrooms, lowered the boxes and pushed the golden-oak door inward.

Kati almost lost her breath as she entered a room beautifully decorated in restful greens. The furniture, the same golden oak she’d noticed throughout the ranch house, gleamed with a fresh shine, and a bouquet of spring flowers waited invitingly on the bedside table along with several magazines and a Bible. Staking his claim at once, Caesar leaped onto the thick sage comforter, circled twice and lay down, his yellow eyes daring anyone to protest.

“Why, Mr. Cookie, everything looks so lovely.”

Dropping the bag, Kati went immediately to press her face into the fragrant pink flowers. “Did you pick these yourself?”

Dragging his gaze from the cat to Kati, the old man looked genuinely pleased at the compliment. “I told the boss you’d like them flowers. And I ain’t Mr. Cookie. Everybody just calls me plain old Cookie.”

At the mention of Colt, Kati’s mouth went dry. He hadn’t come out to greet her when she’d arrived, though that didn’t come as any surprise. He had a ranch to run, and from the looks of things, he’d been too busy with Evan to get much work done. Still, she wondered what he must be thinking now that the enormity of their agreement had had time to sink in. She sucked in a deep breath.

“Where is ‘the boss’?”

“Getting some shut-eye. Once you got the baby to sleeping good, that little critter ain’t never woke up. Colt figured he could do with some catching up of his own.”

“He did look tired.”

“I’ve seen that boy stay up for days on end when he was rodeoing. Drive all day, rodeo all night.” The old cook chuckled and rubbed his scruffy chin. “But that baby boy’s done got him whupped.”

Kati grinned at the thought of Colt letting anything get the best of him. To her, he was invincible. Taking in a homeless baby and agreeing to a marriage of convenience for that baby’s sake only proved the point.

“Where is the baby’s room?”

“Next one down.” He gestured vaguely and started out the door. “You just go on and make yourself to home, Miss Kati. I got some pies in the oven.” He disappeared around the corner only to reappear again immediately. “What’s your favorite pie?”

“Apple.”

“Hot dang! I knowed I liked you. Apple it is.”

Kati smiled as the massive cook disappeared once more, thankful for a sensitive nose that had picked up the scent of apples and cinnamon as soon as she’d entered the back door.

Though anxious to put away her things and explore the sprawling ranch house, Kati’s first thoughts were of Evan. When she’d left him several hours ago he’d been contentedly sleeping in Colt’s arms. By now a hungry tummy should be waking him.

At the end of the hall she discovered two doors instead of the expected one. Unsure of which held the nursery she quietly pushed open the one on the right.

A king-size bed dominated a room decorated in turquoise and black and more of the golden-oak furniture. Sprawled across the thick black comforter was none other than the boss himself, Colt Garret. Kati’s foolish heart gave a lurch as she stood glued to the spot, staring at him.

He was as magnificent in repose as he was awake. One long arm was flung upward mussing his dark hair. Lines of fatigue radiated around his eyes. His mouth hung open, the firm, sensuous lips relaxed and inviting. Kati couldn’t take her eyes off those lips.

For long moments she gaped, willing herself to leave and not a bit surprised when she couldn’t. He’d kissed her once a long time ago in high school, and though he clearly didn’t remember, she’d never forgotten the warm, firm feel of that mouth. He’d come off the football field in exuberant victory, picked her up and twirled her around, then kissed her soundly before disappearing in a sea of shouting, screaming fans. He’d probably done that a thousand times to a thousand girls, but for Kati it was a defining moment in her life.

Over the years, fantasies of Colt had sustained her through a bleak parade of countless foster homes. With each new place, she’d curl up in some quiet spot and pretend Colt was coming to get her. At last she’d have someone to love her forever. That was the best thing about fantasies. In her constant moves, she had to leave people, places and things, but never Colt. He was permanently with her, if only in her heart. Even now, as a grown woman who knew better than to indulge in fantasies, the teenage memory came back warm and inviting.

She wanted to go to him, lie down on that bed beside him, press her lips to his and feel their magic once again. She might very well have done it, if young Mr. Evan Parker hadn’t chosen that exact moment to awaken, his cry ripping the quiet with the force of a jackhammer.

Startled into action, Kati backed into the hall, but not before Colt also awakened. Sexy, sleepy brown eyes locked with hers seconds before she beat a hasty retreat toward the nursery.

Colt struggled upward from a heavy slumber. Somewhere a baby cried. The heavy weight of responsibility pressed in on him. A baby. The baby needed him. He had to get there. Through sheer force of will he yanked his protesting eyelids upward. A woman stood at the end of his bed.

Hell’s bells, the whole world had gone berserk. Babies crying. Women skulking around.

Colt leaped off the bed only to stumble over his own boots. With a vicious kick he sent them sailing across the room where they thudded against the pale green wall. The pain in his toe radiated to his brain, jolting him to wakefulness. Confusion cleared, and memory returned. Evan was calling him.

Heart still pounding, toe throbbing, he limped across the hall to the nursery. The door stood open, and the new nanny was bent over Evan’s crib, talking softly as her hands busily changed his diaper. So that’s who’d been in his room. He wondered why.

Colt stood outside the door and watched her, anxious that she do a good job. Evan was a sweet little critter who’d gotten under Colt’s skin more than he wanted to admit. And if Miss Loony Toon didn’t do right by the boy, she’d be out the door by sundown.

Once the baby was changed Kati disappeared into the bathroom, washed her hands and returned to scoop Evan into her arms. His crying became a high-pitched wail Colt recognized as hunger.

“Time for a bottle,” he said, lounging against the door frame.

Kati jumped and spun around. Her face flushed bright red. “I… I…where are they?”

He hitched his chin in the direction of the hall. “Come on, I’ll show you. Cookie has a supply already fixed.”

He led the way into the kitchen, removed a bottle from the refrigerator and quickly warmed it in the microwave. Three weeks of child care had taught him more than he’d ever wanted to know about a baby’s needs.

After shaking a bit of milk onto his wrist, he determined it safe and reached for Evan. “I’ll feed him.”

“I can do it.” Grabbing the bottle, she turned abruptly and sailed out of the kitchen.

Colt frowned, watching the sway of her long, dark hair as she scuttled down the hall like a frightened kitten. What was that all about?

He followed her back to the nursery where she sat in the rocker holding Evan.

“What were you doing in my room?” he asked as abruptly as she’d left the kitchen.

She blushed deeply, and the color bathed her pale skin in a downright appealing pink.

“Well, I wasn’t stealing the silver,” she replied stiffly. “Having only just arrived, I was trying to locate the nursery.”

Her rigid voice and stiff back said she was offended. He hadn’t accused her of anything, but she seemed to think he had. Was that the problem? She thought he was checking up on her? Well, he was, wasn’t he? For Evan’s sake.

Face averted, she turned her attention to the baby. A long strand of chestnut-colored hair fell over her shoulder onto the baby. Holding Evan with one hand while balancing the bottle with her chin, Kati used the free hand to gather the smooth, dark tresses into a ponytail which she then drew over her opposite shoulder.

Colt followed the action, thinking what beautiful hair she had. This afternoon she’d been groomed like a businesswoman with one of those sleek up-dos. Somewhere since he’d seen her last, she’d changed into jeans and a T-shirt and let down her long, glorious hair.

She wasn’t what he’d consider a particularly beautiful woman, but she exuded a kind of feminine grace he found uniquely alluring. She wore little makeup, but her skin was clear and soft looking, her lips full and gently curving. Thick black lashes framed a pair of large gray eyes and cast shadows against her cheeks.

But it was the long mane of hair that drew him most. If he took two steps he could touch it, feel the silky fullness on his skin. Maybe even press his nose into the clean fresh scent. One hand, as if acting on its own, started to reach out.

Hell’s bells! He snapped the offending hand down to his side. What had gotten into him? This woman was a temporary nanny—with the emphasis on temporary. It was bad enough he’d let her trick him into signing that confounded paper. He could easily have loaned her the money or been her cosigner instead of promising to marry her, but fatigue had kept him from seeing through her ridiculous plan. She was either crazy, desperate or a gold digger, and he must be completely out of his mind to think about touching her.

But he was okay. He could deal with the entire mess. As long as she took good care of Evan, and let him go on with his life, he’d be happy. Signing that paper meant nothing. She’d be out of here long before a month was up.

He glanced back at the woman, expecting deceit to be written on her like a neon sign. No such luck. Totally attuned to the infant in her arms, she looked like the Madonna.

Colt jerked at the notion. There he went again. Annoyed and frustrated, he muttered gruffly, “I’ve got work to do. Supper’s at six.” Then he stomped out of the room.

Supper proved to be a sumptuous feast. Kati, tense as a fiddle string, sat across from Colt watching him shovel in enough chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy to kill a horse, while Cookie shuffled about the kitchen, sweat glistening on his cornrowed brow.

Kati took a deep drink from a tall glass of iced tea, savoring the cool sweetness as she savored the image of her employer. Though he looked more rested now than he had earlier, and a sight more chipper, he was every bit as handsome and rugged. Her stomach did a double axle and a triple flip just looking at him. The attraction grew with every glance, an attraction she’d work hard to ignore given the circumstances. Men in general, especially hunks like Colt Garret, didn’t find her the least bit attractive. And even if they did, she wasn’t interested in any more temporary relationships in her life. Kati’s Angels would be permanent, would give her roots and stability, the three things she’d always wanted. She wasn’t about to stick her heart out on her sleeve for someone to rip to shreds. Still, looking at Colt wouldn’t be a problem, and tonight she wanted to look her fill.

“You get settled in all right?” he asked congenially, aiming his rich-chocolate gaze in her direction.

“Fine, thank you.” Her lips felt as stiff as new shoes. They’d gotten off to such a bad start that afternoon, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Baby asleep?”

“Oh, yes,” she answered around a bite of buttery mashed potatoes. In the past ten minutes, she’d stuffed herself like a Charles Dickens orphan. “A baby his age sleeps a lot.”

“Not when I was taking care of him,” Colt answered wryly.

His cute smile set off another chain of flips and somersaults that Kati battled by drowning them in cold tea. But his smile was a welcome change, considering what happened that afternoon in the nursery. Colt had clearly thought she was snooping. Well, she had been, hadn’t she? But only by accident. As a teenager, she’d once been falsely accused of stealing from a foster family. Though she’d eventually been cleared, the cloud of suspicion had hovered and she’d never quite forgotten the bitter humiliation of such an accusation. Colt already thought she was a lunatic; she couldn’t allow him to think she was a thief, as well.

Cookie appeared with a steaming apple pie and interrupted her anxious musings.

“Got some ice cream to go with this, too, Miss Kati.” He slid the pan onto a trivet close to Kati’s elbow, bringing the cinnamon scent right beneath her nose.

“Hey,” Colt said, pretending hurt, “what about me? Don’t I get some pie and ice cream?”

“Ladies first,” Cookie insisted, sliding a saucer of pie in Kati’s direction. “Ain’t every day we have a guest as perty and nice as this one, and I want to make sure you and your cranky attitude don’t run her off.”

“Cranky? I’m not cranky.” He turned to Kati, hands spread in teasing supplication. “Have I been cranky today?”

She laughed. “You? Never.” But he had been cranky. Frantic, funny and so sexy she could melt like a chocolate bar on the dashboard.

Cookie’s air-horn laugh blasted. “This one got your number in a hurry, boy. Better watch out.”

Suddenly the rotund cook froze and cast a wary eye toward the doorway. “Uh-oh.”

Following his gaze, Colt stiffened. Slowly he raised his fork and pointed. “What in blazes is that?”

Caesar, tail twitching, pranced regally into the dining room as if to say, “You started dinner without me?”

Kati grimaced. Great. Leave it to the recalcitrant cat to make a grand entrance the very first night. “Caesar. Come here, boy.” Kati patted the side of her leg, hoping against hope that for once in his life, he’d obey.

The cat ignored her, making a beeline for Colt instead. “You didn’t tell me you had a cat.” He sounded as though she had leprosy instead of a pet.

“Sorry. I never thought…”

“I’m not exactly a cat hater,” he said slowly. “But in my book cats were put on this earth for one purpose—alligator bait.”

Kati didn’t know if he was serious or kidding. “I’ll keep him in my room,” she said hurriedly. “He won’t bother you.”

Making a liar out of her, Caesar chose that moment to begin a slow, seductive weave through Colt’s legs. The cowboy glared down at him. “Cats belong in the barn.”

Caesar sat and raised a plaintive paw to Colt’s knee. Suspiciously the cowboy drew back. “What’s he doing?”

Why, oh, why had she spoiled her cat by feeding him from the table? Kati made a face and in a small voice said, “I think he wants a piece of your steak.”

“My steak! Not a chance.” After a second, more-insistent pat from Caesar’s paw, Colt ripped off a bite of the meat and jabbed it in the general direction of the cat, muttering, “Anything to make him go away. Blasted feline.”

As Cookie sounded his air-horn laugh once again, Caesar carefully, daintily took the offering between his teeth and retired to the corner to dine.

Between bites, Colt kept an anxious eye on the corner. Finally he frowned and said, “I hope that’s not a tomcat. They roam, you know, and caterwaul all hours of the night.”

“No, no. Don’t worry. He’s not a tomcat. Caesar’s been neutered.”

Cookie stopped dead in his tracks, turned and gazed at the cat. Colt swallowed hard and did the same. Then the two men looked at each other in horror.

“Poor guy,” Colt commiserated, casting a long sympathetic look toward the animal.

“Yeah,” Cookie breathed, then rushed back into the kitchen as though the same fate awaited him if he stuck around any longer.

“Well,” Colt twisted uncomfortably in his chair. “Since the poor critter doesn’t have much else to live for, I guess he can stay. But he’s confined to your room. Understand? I can’t abide a cat underfoot.”

“Absolutely. That’s fine. No problem. Thank you so much,” she gushed. Shut up, Kati. Stop gushing as though he’s handed you the winning lottery ticket. But her relief was genuine. She couldn’t let anything happen to good old Caesar. He was all the family she had.

In her rush of gratitude, Kati leaned forward and placed her hands on the tabletop. The fingertips of one hand made inadvertent contact with the hot pie plate.

“Oh!” she cried out, yanking the burned hand to her chest.

Instantly, Colt was beside her. He pulled her fingers into his and pressed them against his lips for two quick kisses.

Shocked, Kati didn’t know what to do, but her heart reacted violently. No one had ever kissed her fingers. Certainly not a gorgeous man she barely knew who made her heart flutter by just being in the same room.

As soon as Colt realized what he’d done, he froze, blinked at her fingers in confusion, then plunked them into her tea glass. The icy plunge shocked her back to her senses.

“There. That should take the edge off.” Releasing her as though he’d been the one burned, Colt backed around to his chair. After a moment’s silence he cleared his throat. “If you get blisters, Cookie has some ointment that might help.”

“I’m fine, really. More surprised than hurt.” She was surprised all right but not by the hot plate. Kati withdrew her fingers from the glass and laid them in her lap, the gentle heat of Colt’s mouth lingering much longer than the burn.

An uncomfortable silence hovered over the table until Colt ripped off a bite of hot buttered bun and leaned toward her. “Say, do you ride? I’ve got plenty of gentle horses if you’re interested.”

Clearly, Colt was eager to guide the conversation to safer ground.

“I love to ride,” she admitted, struggling to concentrate on horses when all she could think of was Colt’s mouth against her skin. “Though I’m not very good at it.”

“Wes Patterson’s wife, Becky, is an expert rider. She comes out twice a week to do my bookkeeping. I’ll bet she wouldn’t mind showing you around.”

“What about them college gals, boss?” Cookie poked his head around the corner. “They’ll be coming soon and Miss Kati could ride out with them. They ain’t much use for nothing else.”

“College students?” Kati’s curiosity piqued.

Nodding, Colt jabbed a fork into his pie and held it aloft, letting ice cream drip onto the saucer as he spoke. “Every summer we take on a few agri-business interns from the university. We get some cheap help during a busy time and they gain a summer of living and working on a real ranch. Works out pretty well for all of us.”

“Hmpf.” Cookie whipped into the room to whisk the emptied dishes from the table. “Half-baked greenhorns is more of a nuisance than a help.”

“Everybody has to start somewhere, Cookie.”

Impressed and touched that Colt generously allowed greenhorns the opportunity for hands-on ranching experience, Katie couldn’t help smiling when Cookie barked back as he retreated into the kitchen. “I never said they didn’t. As long as they stay out of my kitchen, we do fine.”

With a chuckle, Colt winked at Kati. “The students we get out here would rather muck out barns than cook a meal. I think his kitchen’s safe. But the offer still stands. Anytime you want to take a horse out, just let me know. I’ll arrange for someone to ride with you until you feel comfortable on your own.”

Fingers tingling, insides warming with each kind word, Kati said, “As much as I’d like to, I doubt I’ll have the opportunity. Evan will take up all my time.”

Colt waved off the worry. “Ah, Cookie can watch him sometime when he’s napping.”

Once again Cookie appeared. “I ain’t no baby-sitter. Don’t know a thing about young’uns.”

Carrying a cup of coffee, the rotund cook scraped back a chair and settled his bulk next to Kati.

“Don’t let him fool you, Kati,” Colt said with an ornery grin. “I’ve caught him in the nursery a few times.”

“Some dumb cowboy was off somewhere and the little critter was crying.” With a huff of disapproval, Cookie folded his tree-trunk arms atop his generous belly. “I couldn’t leave the boy like that.”

“Feeds him mashed potatoes, too,” Colt whispered conspiratorially. “If we leave Evan with him too much, they’ll be sporting matching bellies.”

Enjoying the joke, Kati eyed the cook’s sailing battleship with a grin. “Just as long as he doesn’t get the tattoo to go with it.”

As soon as the teasing words popped out, Kati covered her lips with her fingers, aghast. Had she offended the kindhearted old cook?

For two eternal heartbeats both men stared at her, surprised. Then they looked at each other and nearly fell out of their chairs laughing.

The tight muscles in Kati’s neck eased as she joined them.

“I told you she’s a good one,” Cookie said.

Eyes dancing with laughter, Colt sat back in his chair and smiled at her.

Her accursed heart began another, most unwelcome, round of gymnastics. In the interest of self-preservation, experience had taught her to keep emotions firmly in check. But this time her heart paid no attention at all.

Over the years she’d been in enough new places to know how to make herself at home, but Colt Garret, with his innate kindness and warm humor, made her feel welcome. And it was the scariest feeling she’d ever experienced.

Chapter Three

Evan’s screams jolted Kati upright in bed, sending a disgruntled Caesar flying. Scurrying into her robe, she glanced at the clock and rushed across the hall to the nursery. Two hours of sleep again tonight. Little surprise that her head ached and her legs moved like blocks of concrete. Since her arrival Evan had kept her awake most of every night suffering bouts of colic.

No wonder Colt had been so exhausted he’d agreed to marry her.

Anxious not to awaken the entire household, Kati scooped the stiff, squalling child into her arms, rushed to the kitchen for a bottle—which the baby refused to take—and slipped out the back door as quietly as possible.

The rich butter of summer moonlight lit the grassy backyard, and the stars were so bright and near she could see plainly. She paced the yard, jouncing and bouncing, singing and patting, while Evan suffered the misery of colic. Each time she thought he was settling, and started toward the house and precious sleep, the crying began again. Having no other way to ease him broke her heart.

“Poor little man,” she crooned to Evan’s contorted face. “You must hurt so bad.”

The cool summer grass was damp with dew, so Kati took an old blanket from the patio, spread it on the ground and lowered her exhausted body. In the warm night air, frogs trilled and the scent of honeysuckle wafted in gentle waves.

The back door opened and she turned to see Colt silhouetted in the doorway. Quietly easing the door shut behind him, he came across the patio toward Kati and Evan. Kati’s heart lurched. Bare-chested and barefooted, he’d pulled on a pair of jeans without bothering with the top snap. His hair was disheveled and a five o’clock shadow had deepened the color of his cheeks so that he looked dark and dangerous and incredibly sexy.

“Boy sick again?” His quiet baritone carried on the still night air.

She nodded. To prove the point, Evan’s voltage went from whimper to wail.

“He’s miserable.” Kati laid him on his back and tenderly stroked the rigid tummy. The baby’s legs thrashed, but the wail eased to a fussy whimper. He gnawed repeatedly on his fist.

Colt hunkered down beside them. “Can’t the doctor give him anything for this?”

“I don’t know.” Kati’s braid fell forward and she tossed it back, suddenly self-conscious to have the half-dressed Colt so near. “Have you taken him for a checkup?”

Colt blinked at her, bewildered. “Hadn’t even thought of it.”

“We need to do that soon. He probably should start his immunizations.”

“Yeah.” He eased onto the blanket beside her. “Why don’t you give Doc Armstrong a call tomorrow and set up an appointment?”

“Okay.” With all her might, Kati concentrated on Evan. Not that it worked with Colt’s living, breathing body only inches away. Fortunately, he was watching her hands massage and soothe the fussy baby, but when he tilted his head, turning his full attention to Kati, her breath jammed in her throat. “You been coming out here every night?”

“I didn’t want to disturb anyone.” She fidgeted with Evan’s pajamas with one hand while the other patted and soothed. “Sorry if I woke you.”

“Not your fault. And Evan sure can’t help it.” His gorgeous lips tilted in a smile. “Good thing the mosquitoes aren’t out yet. They’d eat you alive.”

Kati replied with a tremulous smile. “If coming out here helps Evan and lets you sleep, I’d still do it. You need your rest to run a ranch this large.”

“Yeah. Well.” He stretched his shoulders upward and rolled his head from side to side. “You’re doing a good job with Evan. I just want you to know I’ve noticed, and I appreciate it.”

A purl of pleasure lifted some of Kati’s exhaustion. “He’s a wonderful baby most of the time.”

“Don’t go getting attached.” He said the words lightly, casually as if he meant them for himself as well as for her, but Kati needed the reminder. Evan was fast winning her heart.

“Don’t worry. I know better than that.” Relationships were unfailingly temporary, as every foster kid learned early on. That’s why Kati’s Angels was so important. The wonderful place filled with children who needed her would be permanent in a way nothing else ever had been. She was sorry Colt felt trapped by their marriage contract, but someday he’d understand all the good that would come of it.

Long legs stretched out on the small quilt, Colt propped himself up on one elbow and curled in toward the baby. “My attorney should find Evan’s mother anyday now, and he’ll be going home where he belongs.”

“You really think so?”

He looked up at her. “Sure.”

Kati’s heart sank like a battleship. As much as she wanted a real home and family for Evan, if the mother showed up before the month was out, Kati would lose her dream, her chance for one permanent thing in her life.

Colt shifted, bringing his warm, partially clad body closer to Kati. The scent of clean sheets and lime soap came with him. “You have to be tired of doing that,” he murmured, motioning to her ever-massaging hands.

“It seems to help. See how he’s beginning to relax?”

“Let me.” He lifted her hand, replacing it with his own. A delicious fluttering began in Kati’s stomach at the sight of Colt’s cowboy-strong hands, large and dark against the small baby’s blue-fleece bunny pajamas. The picture was beautiful, moving. She couldn’t look away.

The baby sighed deeply, his little arms and legs going limp, and Kati couldn’t help thinking, Lucky baby, as Colt’s hands worked a magic rhythm.

“I think you’ve got the touch,” she said.

“Yeah?” Colt looked pleased. “I never thought he liked me.”

Kati grinned at the admission. Who wouldn’t like Colt Garret? “I think he’s finally comfortable enough to sleep.”

Colt withdrew his hand and sat up, resting on his heels.

“It’s late. Maybe we can all get a little shut-eye before the sun comes up.” Very gently he lifted the baby and stood, cradling the child in one arm while he extended the other to Kati. She knew touching him was a mistake, but she just couldn’t help herself. Taking his hand, she let him pull her up until she was no more than a breath away from his naked chest. Moonlight gilded them, the cowboy, the sleeping baby and the nanny. The nanny, she had to remind herself. She was only and forever the nanny.

Colt rinsed the day’s grime from his body and stepped out of the shower, eager to collapse in his big leather recliner and catch the farm market news and tomorrow’s weather report. If rain didn’t come soon, the wheat wouldn’t grow, livestock prices would fall and his profits would decline for the second year in a row. Not that a bad year would break him, but he was in this thing for money, not love.

At the thought of love, he came up short, whisked the oversize white towel across his body, leaving his skin damp and drippy, and stepped into clean jeans and T-shirt. Love was not an emotion that impressed him much. Hadn’t his sister been “in love” at least a dozen times now with a string of ex-loves so long he’d stopped keeping track of her latest husband? And he didn’t even remember when his parents had been married to each other. Nor his grandparents. The Garret family’s notion of love and marriage consisted of two months of bliss followed by two years of fighting and divorce courts. Not his idea of a good time. He shuddered and headed for the living room.

A game show flickered across his big-screen TV. Legs curled beneath her, the nanny, wearing shorts and a tank top the color of a sunset, sat in his recliner. Evan lay on a blanket on the floor babbling to his feet, and that blasted cat snoozed next to the baby. As soon as Colt entered the room, Kati popped up, looking at him with her huge gray eyes. What was she doing in here? In his chair?

“I hope you don’t mind…” She indicated the TV as she vacated his chair and moved to the couch, folding her legs under her again. Dark circles rimmed her eyes.

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