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task force...and Beth.
    He’d watched the sun rise over his land, replacing the darkness. By the time it warmed his face on the second morning, he’d come to the conclusion it was better to cooperate or capitulate. He’d thought long and hard about his parents. His dad’s cancer and remission should have been enough stress for them both. Add Nick’s recovery from getting shot. Yeah, that was a lot for his mom to take on.
    Until Beth’s arrival at the house, he hadn’t thought twice about how his actions were affecting his mother. If Beth wanted to help him through a couple of nightmares, then he could talk about it for his mom’s sake. If Beth wanted to fake an engagement with him, then he’d take as much as she wanted to share.
    What was he fighting? The magnetism that was full-blown between them from day one? Or that McCrea had mentioned he’d been there to track smugglers not a beautiful woman?
    That’s exactly what he was fighting. He’d rescued her from a runaway horse instead of tracking the smugglers. She’d fallen into his arms and then into a cistern of water.
    Stuck together, neither of them had held back. Then on their way home, McCrea’s words echoed in his head. Had it been real attraction or defiance against a man who rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t have a conversation with Beth without a major disagreement. They just didn’t get along...except in each other’s arms.
    Whatever. He didn’t have to agree with her in order to make his mom feel better.
    His quarter horse tossed his head and whinnied. Nick reined to a stop and patted the animal’s neck, keeping him quiet. He could hear movement up ahead on the trail. Which was it this time—those two-year-old heifers or drug smugglers?
    He jumped to the ground, pulled his rifle and led his horse up an incline. Better to be overly cautious than dead. He’d given his word to his parents that he’d report criminal activity and not try to confront the criminals on his own.
    No cell reception. Not until he reached the next ridge. He’d been out here so much he didn’t need to check. Whoever was approaching, Nick was on his own. He secured the reins to a sturdy bush, got a good handhold and pulled himself to the top of a boulder.
    One man dressed in an army jacket and blue ball cap was casually riding a black horse up the trail. Nick cursed and hated the circumstances that made him assume the man worked for the cartel. But if the guy didn’t, he was trespassing.
    Wait. Weapons. Lots of them.
    No question. They were back. Probably using the same box canyon as always, moving in after he’d ridden past earlier. He was a good half day’s ride from the ranch and wouldn’t be able to get anyone here in time. But he’d call McCrea and keep his word to his parents.
    Right after he extracted some information from the guy riding toward him.
    His body tensed with anticipation, waiting. Having been shot in the back, he’d never faced his opponent. He hadn’t been needed to testify. Kate’s testimony had put Mac Caudwell in prison. The cartel had snuffed out his life after only a few days.
    Mac had never said why he’d been ordered to pull the trigger. Nick hadn’t faced him, but he faced not knowing the reason every day. It drove him to the mountains too often to look for an answer that would probably never come.
    This time his opponent had a face. This time the fear wore a blue ball cap and was nearly under the boulder. Nick had jumped onto the back of a horse once when he was younger. He hadn’t been able to sit comfortably for a week. It was a good twelve feet to the rocky path below.
    This is gonna hurt.
    He jumped, hitting the trespasser square in the shoulders and taking him to the ground. The horse bolted. The other guy took the brunt of the landing, sparing Nick’s limbs, but it didn’t slow either man down. He flipped to his back, sending Nick rolling, and was quickly on top of him cursing in Spanish.
    “Who do you work for?” Nick