Heartbreak Ranch by Kylie Brant

available asset tied up by the drug enforcement agencies, the IRS or a trust. It was a tiny sliver of irony that Marianne Craig had been correct about one thing; Julianne had come home with little more than her clothes, some jewelry and a few other personal belongings.
    She hadn’t planned very far ahead while she’d been in Florida. She’d spent years reacting to each new crisis of Andrew’s. But now she was home, and the details of the scandal were beginning to seem very far away. It was time to decide what she was going to do with the rest of her life. The one thing she was certain about at this point was that Jed wasn’t going to factor into those plans.
    She took a deep breath and released it, a little of her tension easing away. She hadn’t gotten a great deal of sleep last night. And the rest she had gotten had been filledwith hard gray eyes, a clever mouth and strong arms. But here she felt more at peace than in the strange hotel room. The air was filled with a bounty of freshness that couldn’t be found anywhere else. The sweet smell of the new grass and the lazy, droning sounds of the insects mingled with the sense of security she always had on the ranch. She let herself drift. Her last coherent thought was that she absolutely refused to dream of Jed Sullivan.
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    The pickup jolted over a hidden rut in the field with bone-jarring force. The bumpy journey did little to improve Jed’s disposition. When he’d checked on the men, they’d laughingly mentioned that Julianne had bolted by on the back of a horse. The mere mention of her name had been enough to signal the return of the dull headache that had been riding him for the past twenty-four hours. Common sense dictated that he turn around and head in exactly the opposite direction from the one she’d taken.
    Common sense had been in short supply recently. Certainly it had been completely absent a couple of nights ago. There had been no logic present when he’d covered her lips with his and discovered for himself the intoxicating flavor of that sweet, sassy mouth. And there had certainly been no sense in the desire that had knifed through him once he’d had her in his arms. The feel of that soft body pressed against his had ignited a fire in him that had yet to subside. Which was making sleep elusive, and his temper uncertain.
    Knowing her as he did, he could imagine too easily the speed with which she was riding. Jumping the stream, for God’s sake. She wouldn’t consider the fact that she hadn’t ridden in years. His mouth flattened. No, she was acting in typical Julianne fashion. Spoiled, reckless, headstrong. There was a time when he’d tried to save her from thosekinds of behaviors. Had tried to convince her to think before she acted. The way he remembered it, she’d never thanked him for his efforts. Deliberately he drove east, to check on several other hands who were working fence. He did his best to push her from his mind. She’d been lodged there for far too long already.
    The sun read close to two o’clock when he headed back toward the buildings. He hadn’t gone more than a mile when he caught sight of a mare, contentedly cropping at grass. His gaze swept the area, and when he caught sight of Julianne’s body sprawled out on the ground, the blood in his veins congealed. He threw the pickup into park with a speed that had the transmission grinding, and was out of the truck and by her side in one swift movement.
    â€œJulianne!” In contrast to the urgency in his voice, the hand on her shoulder was a bare whisper of movement. Already his gaze was sweeping her form, trying to detect any injuries.
    Then her eyes were flickering open, and the dazed, drugged look in them was so similar to the way she’d looked after their kiss that his stomach drew up in a tight, painful knot.
    â€œI thought I told you to stay out of my dreams.” Her voice was slightly