Heather Graham by Maverickand the Lady

her to the hay bale, curious about his next move.
    But it wasn’t moves he had in mind. Not the type she had been thinking of at any rate.
    “Martine, I want to bring in more cattle. I talked to Holliman on the phone just now, and he gave me a great lead on some young Brahmans. What do you say?”
    She stiffened. “That puts me a lot further into debt, doesn’t it?”
    He spit out an impatient oath, releasing her hands to stand and pace the dirt floor in front of her. “Lady, you took one hell of a chance when you signed that note to Ken Lander. What is your problem with doing something legitimate?”
    She hesitated, staring down at her hands.
    “Martine, I’m trying to help you make a go of this place!” he said, coming before her earnestly to get down on one knee and grip her hands again, heedless of the dirt. He smiled suddenly and pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket to wipe a speck of dirt off her nose. “Admit it. I gave you one of the best loans in history! If you fired me tomorrow, the terms wouldn’t change. Tell me, just what is your problem with this?”
    “I don’t know,” she muttered. Then she smiled at him a little ruefully, a little cynically. “No strings attached?”
    “No strings attached.”
    “If I fired you tomorrow, you’d leave?”
    He hesitated. “Would you do that?”
    “I could. You never know,” she murmured, seeking his reaction. Surprisingly she did get one from him. He stood up and absently rubbed his chin as he wandered over to Cheyenne and then back.
    “Okay,” he said a little harshly. “You seem to want terms. You seem to think that something has to have a catch for it to be real.”
    She leaned back in the hay, bracing herself mentally and physically. “I just can’t figure this out, Kane,” she said bluntly. “You don’t look or act a thing like Mary Poppins or the Rainmaker. So what is this? You walked in—rode in, actually—out of the blue, right in the nick of time. My ranch is saved from the dastardly villain.”
    “More than your ranch was saved.” He reminded her sharply.
    “I never questioned that,” she said smoothly. “Nor have I shown a lack of gratitude. I just don’t understand what’s going on. I thought you were a drifter. Few drifters drift around with your kind of money. And with your kind of money you don’t seriously need a job. So what are you really after?”
    Outside, a cloud must have passed over the sun. The barn was suddenly cast into shadow when she most needed clarity.
    She could see nothing but his tall form, hands on his hips, feet firm on the ground, his profile rugged and harsh.
    “You,” he told her flatly.
    She started to laugh. “But you’d never even seen me before the day you came here!”
    “That’s true,” he said, and even with the shadows suddenly filling the barn, she was clearly aware that he was stalking toward her. She thought to back away too late; he caught her shoulders, and she was suddenly lying in the hay with him above her, not hurting her but trapping her between the span of his arms.
    “Kane—”
    “I came here that day,” he interrupted with raw determination, “because Joe Devlin suggested it. We both know that. But I didn’t offer you the loan until I’d seen you. And I didn’t offer another loan for the cattle until I’d seen the ranch—and more of you. Now, Ms. Galway, we both know that there’s something going on between us. Call it chemistry, call it whatever you like. It—”
    “It might well be a figment of your imagination!” Martie exclaimed, angry and suddenly more than a little frightened. Not that he would hurt her, but he was very right, and he could prove it—and she would still be as lost as she was now.
    “I don’t think so,” he told her, his eyes narrowing still further in the dim light. “Not after last night—not before last night really. Now I’m not sure what your problem is, not with the loan but with me. You’re like fire and ice. If you want