Caribbean Cowboy: Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 4 by Jenna Bayley-Burke Page A

you doing here?”
    “Me? I’m cleaning up. Things out this way get pretty dirty.” He winked, loving the way her shoulders jumped. Oh, yeah, she’d come for him, all right.
    “Whoa there, cowboy.” She held up her hands like he was robbing her train. “I’m only here to make sure you don’t think anything like what happened at the wedding is going to happen here.”
    “You came all the way out here, the day you get back, just to tell me that?”
    “I don’t want any confusion.”
    “Like how you told me that if I ever visited Holly, I ought to look you up?”
    “I never dreamed you would.”
    “Yeah, I don’t believe you.” He leaned against the side of the truck, watching the flickering firelight lick over her body. “You dreamed it. I’m literally the man of your dreams, Janny.”
    Her throat undulated as she swallowed. “That was a fantasy, and this is my reality. I don’t even know who you really are. You’re a different person every time I see you.”
    “I’m better as myself than playing a role.” He couldn’t help the wink. It made her breath hitch. Without touching her, it was the best he could do right now. He stretched out his arms. “This is me, at least right now. I’m gambling that I can raise cattle on limestone, but I’m going to try harder than anyone ever has before. I’m happiest when I can turn dirt and sunshine into food. I never thought I’d be piecing together a ranch between beaches, but on an intellectual level, it’s fascinating. My team at the university has become a virtual think tank.”
    “I’m confused. You work at a university?”
    He nodded. “When I left for college, I went to learn how to run fish hatcheries, since fishing was all I knew. Once I learned about food animal ranching, I never looked back. We’re standing on what will become my doctoral thesis. I hope. If this project works, the economic impact on Anguilla will be huge.”
    “The cowboy professor.” She gave a choking laugh. “Of course you are. I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
    “Me either. Who did you expect to find out here tonight?”
    She sighed, her shoulders drooped and the strap of her sun dress slipped. “I was hoping for a bumbling biker with more money than brains.”
    “High expectations there.”
    “I’ve had my share of disappointment, and I don’t want to get in line for another helping. I thought I’d come out here, you’d be wrong somehow, and I could file away our time in Alaska under lessons learned.”
    “Really? That’s why you drove out here tonight?” He grinned when she studied her sandals. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
    He opened the truck door and grabbed two bottles from the mini fridge in the center console. Harm’s truck had more add-ons than he’d thought possible. With a twist of his hand, he opened the bottles and turned. He offered one to Janny, but she shook her head.
    “I don’t drink on Anguilla.”
    “Ever?” He took a long pull from his bottle and the bubbles burst down his throat.
    “Very rarely. And never if I have to drive or might get called in to work.”
    “Fair enough.” He offered her the bottle again. “It’s mineral water.”
    “A cowboy drinking fizzy water? You expect me to believe that?” She took the bottle from the bottom, probably so she didn’t risk touching him.
    “Holly puts it in the truck fridge whenever I’m at her place. Her maternal instincts are in full effect.” Shit . He shook his head. He’d been so good at keeping the secret, but Janny threw everything off.
    “Relax, I’m her doctor.” She lifted the bottle to her full lips and took the kind of long drink that had him thinking of other things.
    “Good, because she wants it to be a surprise. She’ll skin me if I ruin it.” He leaned against the truck again.
    “If I’d have known you were her brother, nothing would have happened between us.”
    “Lucky for us, I was too focused on you to draw up a diagram of my family tree. But