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old guy works,” he explained. “When his arthritis started making it hard for him to do some of the ranch work, I knew he didn’t want to leave the ranch. It’s been his home for as long as I can remember. So I started complaining about needing someone to cook and take care of the house.” Shane grinned. “I didn’t really need anyone to do that, and he knew it. But he couldn’t come right out and ask me for the job.”
    â€œSo that’s when the bets started?” she guessed.
    Shane nodded. “He bet me that I couldn’t beat histime at saddling a horse. If he won, I had to buy him a new pair of boots and if I won, he would take the housekeeping job.”
    She liked that Shane would go to those lengths to preserve the older man’s dignity. It told her a lot more about his character than he realized.
    â€œYou did it to save his pride.”
    â€œExactly.” Chuckling, Shane opened the door to the room he had shown her earlier. “So, with this latest bet, he not only gets to drive the tractor and pretend he’s doing ranch work again, he has something to gripe about while he’s doing it. And if there’s anything he likes better than complaining, I don’t know of it. He got his nickname because he’s prickly as a cactus.”
    Melissa smiled as she entered the room. “He sounds like quite a colorful character.”
    â€œHe is.” Leaning one shoulder against the doorframe, Shane folded his arms across his wide chest. “He can be an ornery old cuss, but he’s got a heart of solid gold. I’ll make sure you get to meet him sometime.”
    â€œI’d like that.” When he stood there as if he waited for something, she rose up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Good night.”
    Before she could back away, he put his arms around her. “It will be once we go to my room.”
    â€œI don’t understand.” With his strong arms around her and the feel of his hard body pressed to hers, she suddenly felt winded. “If you wanted me to spend thenight in your room…why did you put my case…in here?”
    â€œI thought you might like to have the privacy this afternoon when you freshened up,” he said, nuzzling the side of her neck. “I never intended for you to sleep here.”
    When his lips skimmed the hollow below her ear, a tingle raced up her spine. “Oh, I thought—”
    â€œâ€”I’d want you to leave my bed once we’d made love,” he finished for her. “Not a chance, angel.”
    That wasn’t what she had been thinking, but it was better than telling him that she thought he had lost interest in her now that she was pregnant. Some men couldn’t get away from a woman fast enough when they learned of an unplanned pregnancy. Not knowing him any better than she did, what else was she to think?
    But apparently she had been wrong about his desire waning. She sighed. It was just one more example of their lack of knowledge about each other, not to mention a serious breakdown in communication.
    Before she could point that out, he asked, “Where’s your bag? I’ll take it to my room.”
    Taking a step back, she walked over to open one of the dresser drawers and removed her nightshirt. “After I unpacked, I put it in the closet.”
    He frowned as he pointed to the garment she held. “I’ve never known you to wear nightclothes.”
    â€œThat’s because you always left my place before I put them on,” she shot back. “And since you seemedsurprised to learn that I do wear a nightshirt, I assume you don’t wear anything to bed.”
    â€œNope,” he said, grinning. “I don’t like the encumbrance.”
    She shook her head. “This is what I was talking about earlier, Shane. If we had spent more time get ting to know each other, we would know these things.”
    â€œYou never wanted me to spend