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being more than a little bit curious about what had happened leading up to their strange meeting in the parking lot.
    Odds were it had to do with a woman. When a man that good-looking and wild got into trouble, the cause was usually a female. Tyler certainly was both, handsome and wild, and the last thing she needed to be doing was thinking about him.
    She shouldn’t think about how the cowboy hat pulled low over his sky blue eyes only made his jawline look more chiseled. Or how his well-defined muscles had flexed beneath his T-shirt as he’d hoisted the fence post effortlessly into the back of the truck. And she really, really shouldn’t be remembering his hand sliding down his flat, hard stomach as he tucked that shirt into his open jeans.
    Damn. He was making her think things she hadn’t thought about in a very long time, and that had to stop. She’d never been a wild woman herself. She’d gotten married young to an older man. Things had been good with Tom, but the sex had never been romance novel–worthy.
    Sex hadn’t even been a thought in her head all through the rapid decline in Tom’s health. She certainly hadn’t thought about it since his death. She was too stressed over simply surviving. Maintaining the property and paying the bills occupied every ounce of her resolve.
    It seemed odd that one brief meeting with Tyler had her craving the wild sex she’d never known and had never thought she’d been missing out on. Fantasizing about a man, especially one so much younger than herself, was about as foreign a concept to Janie as being a widow at thirty-six and trying to hold on to the ranch alone.
    Stranger things had happened in her life lately than having inappropriate thoughts about a hot, young cowboy. Given that, she’d just chalk this up to stress. She decided not to worry about it, though it might be best if he did renege on their deal and failed to show up to help with the fence. She didn’t need the image of him sweaty and breathless from work adding more fodder for her libido’s already overactive imaginings.
    Her crazy thoughts were most likely caused by sleep deprivation. It was time to get her head on straight and get moving for the day. The best way she knew of to do that was to get her butt in motion and make some coffee.
    Simple enough, but even that was not without its challenges. Walking into the kitchen every morning and finding it empty had been the hardest change to get used to since Tom had died.
    He’d routinely been up before her. She’d married a man much like her grandfather. A farmer, born and bred. Tom had always been outside working with the hired hands, checking on the stock at sunrise. By the time she woke and had dressed, washed, and gotten ready for the day, which still was only about an hour past dawn, he and the guys would be on the way back to the kitchen in search of coffee.
    Considering how much she dreaded facing that empty kitchen each morning, it shouldn’t be a surprise to her she’d gotten into the habit of lazing around in bed. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and saw how late it was already.
    With no hands to cook for and not much in the way of stock on the property, there wasn’t usually motivation to get up extra early. Today, however, she did have incentive. Tyler could be arriving any moment. It would be rude to keep him waiting when he’d come to help her with the fence.
    Even though it was spring and the days could get hot, it felt cool this morning. Janie threw on a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and boots, and then headed for the bathroom to finish getting ready.
    With the toothbrush in her mouth, she evaluated her reflection in the mirror and tried to see herself as a stranger—as Tyler—might. Her brown hair desperately needed a trim. It was much too long, past her shoulders. The last thing she’d thought about in close to a year was going to the salon.
    Her lack of sleep showed in the rings beneath her eyes—the green eyes with