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  “I feel ridiculous, Isabella,” Colin complained.

  “This won’t take long,” she said. “Sit on that rock.”

  As soon as he sat down, Isabella turned his head slightly, ran her fingers through his hair to muss it and stepped back, studying him.

  “This is damn foolishness,” he rumbled, embarrassed to have all the fuss over him while she snapped his picture. He knew Boone was openly laughing at him and some of the cowboys were grinning.

  “Shh. I know what I’m doing. You’ll see,” she said, turning the collar of the military shirt she had borrowed from Boone. “That’s perfect. Now be still.”

  “Dammit, you hurry.”

  “Do not rush me,” she said in a haughty voice. “I know what I’m doing. Just sit still and do what I tell you.”

  One corner of his mouth lifted slightly and she frowned. “Don’t smile. That ruins the whole effect.” She held a camera. “There. Now look at me and think about something terrible.”

  “When I look at you, I can’t think about anything terrible,” he said softly and Boone shot him a quick look.

  “Then I’ll start reminding you of terrible things like when you were in the hospital and no one knew you were alive—”

  “Isabella!” Boone snapped, but she waved a hand at him to shush him while she snapped pictures. “Good, that’s a perfect scowl.” She kept up a chatter of talk, moving around Colin and snapping pictures.

  She changed where and how he sat and took more until he was exasperated.

  “Isabella, I’ve posed and you have a million shots. Make this the last one.”

  “Just a couple more. Put on the navy T-shirt.”

  “Dammit. Boone have you done this for her?”

  “Thank God, no,” Boone answered, giving them a quick glance before looking away. He circled them steadily, watching the woods, moving quietly.

  “Wait,” Isabella said and Colin glanced at her. He held the navy T-shirt in one hand, having shed the green and brown military shirt. She clicked his picture while he was bare-chested and he wanted to gnash his teeth. He yanked on the navy T-shirt and scowled at her.

  “Make this quick.”

  “Sure thing.” She snapped more pictures until finally, she said, “Colin, smile.”

  He smiled and she took his picture.

  “Thanks, I’m finished,” she said, twiddling with her camera while he gathered up the discarded shirt.

  As they rounded up the cowboys and headed back to the house, Colin chatted with Boone.

  Boone told them goodbye and crossed the drive to enter his house where he tossed his hat on a hook.

  Erin turned to smile at him. “My goodness! What happened? Is everyone all right?”

  “Everyone is fine,” he said, crossing the room to take his wife into his arms lightly. She was in a T-shirt and jeans and she looked beautiful even if she was almost at her due date in her pregnancy. “Am I glad to see you.”

  “I’m glad to see you, too,” she said, smiling at him. “Why the grump?”

  “Because I want to punch out Colin for seducing my sister. And I want to shake my sister for seducing Colin when he’s on the rebound and vulnerable.”

  Erin laughed. “Stay out of it, buddy! It’s none of your business and maybe they’re falling in love.”

  “You know Izzie isn’t falling in love—not the marrying kind of love. She won’t let anything get in the way of that career of hers. As for Colin, who knows? He may get another heartbreak.”

  “Come sit down and forget it. It’s not your problem, Boone. Izzie is grown up now and she can definitely take care of herself and Colin’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. Since when do you worry about some guy you know getting his heart broken? Give me a break!”

  “I know, but it aggravates me. That wasn’t what I intended when I suggested he move in with her.”

  Erin laughed. “Stop getting bent all out of shape because Colin and Izzie have found each other. They’ll work it out and no matter what, you can’t change what’s happening.”

  “I suppose you already knew all about this,” he said, kissing her throat and forgetting about Izzie and Colin.

  “As a matter of fact, anyone who pays any attention to what’s going on around them would’ve noticed the sparks between those two. Particularly at our barbecue. When they danced, they were all but going up in flames.”

  “Miss Smarty,” Boone said, sitting and smiling at her, pulling her into his embrace, forgetting all about Izzie and Colin.

  Late that night as Colin held Isabella in his arms in the family room and they finished watching a movie, he clicked off the television. A light from the hall spilled into the room, giving a soft glow. He was bare-chested, in jeans, and Isabella wore one of his shirts. She had rolled the sleeves back. He brushed a kiss on her forehead. “Isabella, would you ever seriously consider getting married?”

  Surprised, she twisted around, turning on her side to look at him. “Sure. I just think of it as something in the future.”

  “Don’t you want children?”

  “I used to not. Neither did Boone, but I guess we’ve both changed. I really don’t want a big family. I’ve been there and done that. Boone and I had so much responsibility for our siblings. Now, I don’t know. A child or two could be wonderful someday.” She gazed into his gray eyes, studying him. “What about you?”

  “Oh, I want a family. We had two—my brother Kevin and me. I’ve never thought about a number, I just know I want a family.

  “I know the importance of family now.” He stroked her hair away from her face. “You could marry and still keep your career.”

  She thought about marriage to Colin and her heart skipped. Was that what he was working up to? What did she really want? In the past, she had never wanted to get tied down in marriage, but she felt differently about Colin than she ever had any other man before.

  “I suppose. I never have given the thought consideration.”

  “Why don’t you give it consideration?”

  “Now why should I?” she asked, becoming exasperated with his convoluted questioning.

  “I don’t know what I want,” he admitted honestly. “Tomorrow’s a blank because I don’t even know if I’ll survive for to—”

  She clamped her hand over his mouth. “Don’t you say such a thing! You haven’t come all this way to have something terrible happen now.”

  When she moved her hand away, he wound a tendril of her hair around his finger. “You can’t predict the future. I just wanted us both to think about it.”

  “Colin, really! That’s the most backhanded proposal—actually not a proposal. You want me to think of marriage while you’re thinking of sex.”

  He laughed. “That’s not so at all and not what I said. Shut up, Isabella, and come here.” He kissed away her next words and the conversation was gone.

  She didn’t think of it again until the next day. Would she want to marry Colin? Was she falling in love with him? Would she know true love if she was standing in the middle of it? She couldn’t answer her own questions. All she knew was that he was incredibly exciting. When she was away from him, she waited in breathless anticipation to see him. He could turn her into jelly with a kiss and his laughter warmed her more than the hottest sunshine. Was that real love? Or infatuation?

  Did he mean as much to her as her career? That was the real question. He didn’t know his own feelings, either. She knew one thing, he was taking too much of her attention during her waking hours because she was making silly mistakes at work. Mistakes she had never in her life made and she knew Nick and Sandy both thought it amusing.

  Tuesday morning Colin drove to San Antonio, trying to lose any tail, but hoping Brett kept up with him. The thought that Brett was back there somewhere was always reassuring to him because he knew how good Brett was at what he did.

  In San Antonio he saw Mike, made contact with the general, ran some errands and then headed back to Stallion Pass to have lunch with Is
abella.

  In town he stopped at Murphy’s Steakhouse to pick up boxes of salads he had ordered. He climbed back into his car, locked his pistol in the glove compartment and began to drive circuitously through town to lose any tail.

  Making certain he wasn’t being followed, Colin arrived at her office on time, his blood pumping because he knew the moment they were alone in her office they would make love.

  He parked in the alley and rushed inside her office. He didn’t have any other appointments today and he wore his jeans and a green knit shirt.

  “Isabella?” he called when he let himself inside through the back door and pocketed the key she had given him last night.

  She appeared in the doorway of her office. She wore her a yellow blouse and skirt and her hair was tied behind her head.

  While she talked, she motioned to him to enter her office. Carrying the sack with the two boxes of salads, he entered her office and closed the door. Her eyes were sparkling and he wondered what the call was about.

  “Of course. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this and how excited I am about it. Yes.” She paused and said some more yeses while he got out bottles of water and their salads.

  She said goodbye, hung up, and gave a whoop of joy, flinging herself into his arms.

  “Hey! I know you’re glad to see me, but I suspect this is about that call.”

  “Right on both counts!” she cried, kissing him soundly and then pulling back. “That was the magazine I freelanced for in New York, Colin, In Our World Today. They’ve offered me a full-time job on their staff!”

  She spun away from him, dancing around the office. “I can’t believe it! This is so grand!” She flung open the door and raced down the hall. “Nick! Sandy! Guess what that call was!”

  Colin strolled after her as she told them. They all shouted with joy and congratulated her, joining hands and dancing in a circle like three little kids who’d been given a wonderful surprise.

  She glanced over and saw him watching and broke away. “Colin and I are going to have lunch,” she called over her shoulder, taking his hand and rushing him back into her office where he closed the door and pulled her into his arms.

  “So you’re going to New York?”

  Suddenly she sobered and looked up at him, touching his cheek. “That doesn’t have to mean the end of us.”

  He wanted her and he wanted her to stay in Texas, to decline the offer, but he knew she wouldn’t. He leaned down to kiss her, letting all his hungry need for her pour into his kiss. She was as vital to him as his breath or his heart. The thought shook him and he knew he had gone from an impossible love to another unattainable love. Only this time he had known better and walked into it with eyes wide open.

  Tightening his arms, he leaned over her and kissed her with all the pent-up passion in him, feeling as if a volcano of need had erupted inside him.

  Colin’s hungry kiss stunned Isabella. They had been wildly passionate, but this kiss seared like hot flames and drove every thought from her mind except need for Colin. His kiss consumed her and at the same time stirred a rush of longing in her. Never in her life had she felt as wanted by a man.

  And never in her life had she wanted a man as she did Colin right now. She clung to him, kissing him in return until she could feel his pounding heartbeat match her own and they both trembled. Clothes were discarded and in seconds he was holding her while she wrapped herself around him. He used protection and then he was inside her, moving with her, a union that bound them body and soul.

  Release came, but it didn’t stop the need that she felt radiating through Colin, a hunger that went far beyond physical satisfaction.

  Still stunned, she raised her head to look at him. Desire burned in the depths of his gray eyes that had darkened to the color of storm clouds in summer.

  “I want you, Isabella,” he said.

  “Ah, Colin,” she replied, clinging to him and holding him close while she kissed him again. He lowered her and in minutes released her, leaving her, to shut himself in the bathroom.

  While he was gone, she had a moment to get herself pulled together. She remembered her phone call and the offer from the magazine.

  What had been incredibly exciting a short time ago had paled next to Colin’s dazzling kisses and hungry lovemaking. She straightened her clothes and combed her hair. When the bathroom door opened, she turned to face him.

  He crossed the room to her to brush a feathery kiss on her lips.

  “That was sort of overwhelming,” she declared breathlessly.

  “The magazine or me?”

  “You, Colin. You made me forget the magazine offer—I didn’t think I’d ever meet a man who could do that.”

  “Great,” he answered solemnly. “I’d like to dazzle you and make you forget everything except me.”

  “You succeeded beyond your wildest imaginings.” She touched her hair. “I’ll be right back.”

  She left for the bathroom and when she stepped back out, he had their lunches on her desk.

  “Now come tell me about this job offer that’s got you dancing a jig all over the office.”

  “It’s an invitation to become part of their staff. It means I’d get assignments all over the world, Colin. Since I started as a photographer, I’ve dreamed of this.”

  “Then we should go out tonight and celebrate. I’ll surprise you when you get home. ’Course the circumstances sort of clip my wings about taking you out, but I’ll work out something.”

  “No. Let’s stay home and celebrate. Just the two of us. That’s what I’d really like.”

  He inhaled and leaned close to kiss her long and thoroughly again.

  When he released her, Isabella leaned back in her chair. “They’re sending the papers to me about the company and they want me to come to New York next week to interview and meet everyone. They’ve booked my plane and my hotel and they’ll meet me when I arrive in the city. They want me to stay two days.”

  “That’s fantastic! I’m happy for you.”

  “So you want me to take it?”

  “If it’s what you’ve always dreamed of, sure. I’ll miss you, but offers like that are rare, Isabella. And having a job you love is important.”

  She nodded. “I’m so excited. They said there would be a lot of traveling after this first year. The first year I would train and get to know how they work and have assignments that are local or at least, not out of the country.”

  Colin sat back in his chair, one foot propped on his knee as he listened to her. His gaze ran over the pictures on the wall. “You’re a good photographer, Isabella. They must think you’re really super.”

  “Don’t sound so surprised,” she said, smiling at him.

  “I’m not. And they must think so because they’re giving you red-carpet treatment.”

  “I’ll have dinner with some of them the night I get in. I know one of the vice presidents, Natasha Harding, from conventions I’ve attended.”

  “So in the future, if I want to see you, I’ll have to fly to New York,” he said.

  The twinkle disappeared in her eyes and she gazed at him solemnly. “Yes, you will, but you’re used to going all over the world yourself and you haven’t lived any one place very long in years.” She leaned forward and ran her fingers along his knee. “You will come see me, won’t you?”

  “Of course,” he answered, wondering what he would do in the future, but he knew it was the immediate future. Isabella would soon be gone from Texas. He wasn’t happy to see her go, but he was glad for her sake that she was getting what she had always wanted. And he didn’t want to throw a damper on her excitement.

  When Isabella told him goodbye, she returned to her office, mulling over the offer as excitement coursed through her. She picked up the phone to call and tell Stacia Longstreet, one of her long-time friends in California. As soon as she finished that conversation, she called Boone to tell him. She and her brother had a close relationship and she always shared her career moves w
ith him. He congratulated her. They talked awhile before she told him goodbye.

  When she replaced the receiver, she was lost in thought, thinking about her coming trip to New York to talk to the prospective employer. She spun around, joyous with anticipation, realizing that a dream was coming true for her. She couldn’t wait to get home to the ranch tonight to celebrate with Colin.

  The instant she stepped into the house, she and Colin were in each other’s arms and they made long, leisurely love before thinking about dinner. It wasn’t until she went in to eat that she noticed the huge bouquet of three dozen red roses.

  She shrieked with delight and threw herself into his arms.

  “You got me flowers and they’re gorgeous!”

  Colin was in jeans and a T-shirt and he held her tightly, kissing her again before he set her on her feet. “That I did. And I have steaks ready to grill. I ordered a cake today,” he said, leading her across the kitchen.

  For the first time she saw a cake box. He opened it and she looked at a dark chocolate cake with Congratulations written across it in pink icing.

  “Oh, Colin, thank you!”

  “There’s more. Champagne,” he said, producing a wine bucket filled with ice and a bottle of champagne set in it to chill.

  “And for you to remember me by…” he said solemnly, reaching to pick up a box that sat on the kitchen counter. He handed it to her.

  “I didn’t see any of this when I came home,” she said.

  He laughed. “We were otherwise occupied.” She wore a T-shirt and cutoffs and he placed his hands on her shoulders as she looked down at the large white box tied in a red silk ribbon.

  “It’s too pretty to open, but I’m going to open it,” she said, yanking off the ribbon and putting it on the counter. She opened the white box, pushed aside tissue paper and then lifted out a black-velvet box. Her eyes widened with curiosity as she opened the black box. “Oh, Colin, how beautiful!” she exclaimed, taking out a gold bracelet, a chain made of dainty links.

  “I love it!” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and standing on tiptoe to kiss him.