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other guys could be the baby’s father, she was on her own.
    She’d appeared so convincingly devastated, he’d had to steel himself against the hurt glittering in her tear-filled eyes. Her pain and despair had seemed so terribly real. But not once did she deny the awful rumors. Not once did she try and explain. She’d walked away from him, head held proud.
    He hadn’t talked to her since, hadn’t been close enough to touch her . . . until today. And damned if he still didn’t want her with the same fierceness of his youth, and that irked him more than he cared to admit.
    Seth scrubbed a hand over his jaw and let out a low growl of frustration. He hadn’t anticipated her seductive allure, the way her body had filled out with lush womanly curves that tempted and teased a man’s interest. She was an exciting blend of fire and spirit, and that fiery disposition made him burn hotter than any of the accommodating women he’d dated over the years.
    Gruff laughter escaped him. After eleven years of trying to pretend Josie McAllister didn’t exist for him, he found it ironic that he was going to marry her. He didn’t doubt that once her temper cooled she’d agree to become his wife. Despite her fury over her father’s gambling loss, he was certain marrying him was the lesser of two evils when it came to giving up the Golden M. And marrying Josie was a small sacrifice on his part for gaining a prosperous piece of land to call his own.
    Seth stood and headed toward his mare. He needed to tell Robert about this recent turn of events and let him know he’d be short a hand and would need to hire someone to replace him. He dreaded the discussion to come, suspecting that Robert was going to explode when he learned that a McAllister was about to become a part of their family.
    Robert blamed the McAllisters for every misfortune they had ever encountered. In Seth’s opinion, which he’d always been smart enough to keep to himself, their family’s misfortune was a direct result of mismanagement and too much resentment. He supposed it was easier to blame the family’s nemesis, than face the truth that their father hadn’t cared enough to nurture the fertile land they’d lived on, choosing instead to spend his time at the local bar, which had left him drunk and in a surly disposition more often than not.
    Refusing to dwell on the bitterness of the past, and the fact that his own father had disinherited him for reasons that proved how spiteful and unforgiving David O’Connor could be, Seth mounted his horse, determined to keep a clear focus on his future—which included Josie as his wife, and the Golden M as his new home.
    Turning Lexi north, he headed toward Paradise Wild and the unpleasant task ahead.

Chapter Three

    S eth found his brother in the spacious office located in the back of the main stable. The door was open, but since Robert seemed engrossed in the open journal on his desk and hadn’t heard him enter the building, he knocked on the wooden frame so he didn’t startle him.
    Robert glanced up, wire rimmed reading glasses framing his hazel eyes. “Where have you been?” he asked, his tone tinged with a hint of annoyance. “You missed Sunday dinner.”
    “Sorry ‘bout that.” Usually, he was courteous enough to let Robert’s wife, Sarah, know when he wasn’t going to be around for breakfast, dinner or supper so she didn’t prepare extra, and they didn’t wait on him. Though Seth lived in one of the two cabins located on the ranch, eating with Robert’s family was part of his wages as a hand. It worked for him, considering what a lousy cook he was. “I didn’t think I’d be as long as I was.”
    Robert’s gaze flickered over his tousled hair, noted the absence of his Stetson, then narrowed speculatively. “I noticed Lexi was gone. Were you out checking fences or something? If so, you know you don’t get paid for working Sundays.”
    “I wasn’t working,” he assured his brother, tamping down