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got
closer she jumped, yelled and laughed.
    "Thank God," she nearly shouted. And then it
hit her. My God, he was the one she had run into. That silhouette
stood out in the evening sun like a ghost come back to haunt
her.
    It was the boss on horseback. Like a knight
in shining armor. She'd be rescued, or would she?
    Feeling that same strange tension she had
felt when she first met Deke Travers on that stormy night, she
gathered herself. Her heartbeat quickened, her palms itched, and
she felt all of fourteen again. She didn't want to feel fourteen,
she didn't want to be attracted to this man that might soon be an
enemy, but darn it, she couldn't help herself. Something about this
gorgeous cowboy made her feel things she'd never experienced
before. Not even with Charlie.
    Shutting the truck door, she approached the
rider on his big black stallion.
    "I'm so glad you happened by this way, Mr.
Travers. The truck blew a hose, I think. Got too hot. I tried to
restart it, it just won't budge. I should have known better." She
was talking too fast, but the look on his face was stern and he
didn't seem happy to see her, like she expected.
    Of course he wasn't happy. She was late.
    He eyed her keenly. Electric blue eyes caught
her attention and she couldn't stop staring. His eyes seemed to
look right through her as though he could see past all those lies
to her soul.
    He looked like something out of the past, in
his rough-worn jeans, checkered shirt, and sweat-rimmed straw hat.
Big and formidable and all cowboy. The kind her brothers had warned
her to stay away from, the kind Kate had warned her to stay away
from. The kind that made her heart beat a little faster.
    She'd have to control that reaction, she
quickly decided. He was the boss. She was the employee. Best kept
that way. Especially till she found out if she still had a job. She
had a mission and she was going to carry it through no matter
what.
    Emma continued to stare, while he dismounted
and brushed past her to the hood of the truck. Emma got a quick
whiff of cowhide and leather. Familiar and appealing in the same
breath. He paused for a second, his head dipping to her fender,
then he continued toward it.
    Dear God! It was him! The man she ran into a
couple of months ago on the road. She hoped she was wrong, but
something in his pause by the fender told her she wasn't.
    "You were right, it was a water hose," he
said simply slicing it with his pocket knife and trying to fit the
remainder of it back in place. A trick she'd seen her brothers do a
time or two. Why hadn't she remembered it? She wasn't some helpless
little ninny. Had she been thinking straight she would have
remembered and been on her way by now. She kicked herself
mentally.
    After maneuvering about for several minutes
he turned to look at her and he grinned. "Try it now."
    His smile slid over her like Jello on a hot
rock, melting what little reserve Emma could muster. The man could
be lethal with a smile like that. Her legs felt like butter and she
wasn't sure they'd hold her, but somehow she managed to walk back
to the truck. She shouldn't let any man, especially this man,
affect her, but darn if she could help it. He was the kind of man
that women were naturally drawn to–beyond their own will. A man's
man.
    Emma's heart plummeted to the ground
suddenly. Hadn't Charlie's memory punished her enough? She didn't
want another man, ever. She didn't need to be kicked in the gut
again. Once was enough.
    No sir, she didn't need another man.
Especially another cowboy. Charlie had loved her, or so he had
said. But when she'd arrived that evening after the funeral with
the baby in tow, Charlie wanted no more to do with her. He didn't
want any part of a ready-made family.
    She climbed back into the cab of the truck
and turned the ignition. It stirred this time, but still didn't
start. She no longer cared whether it did or not. She wouldn't have
a job waiting at this man's ranch.
    "Probably lost most of your water." He