To Tempt a Cowgirl by Jeannie Watt Page A

that he was refurbishing—and Gabe was determined to take his time instead of blasting out the entire project in a few marathon sessions.
    He wandered outside and sat on the front terrace with his sketch pad. He’d barely touched his pencil to paper when a rooster tail of dust at the far end of his driveway caught his attention.
    Dani?
    She had his number and would call first.
    A salesman? A neighbor coming to greet him? A package delivery?
    No—it was law enforcement.
    Gabe got to his feet as the white sheriff’s SUV came to a halt at the end of the path leading to the house. The guy that got out was tall and lean, wearing a cop face.
    “What can I do for you?” Gabe called as he walked down the path, thinking he’d rather be on the offensive than the defensive. It’d been well over a decade since he’d had any kind of trouble with the law, but old habits and knee-jerk reactions were hard to shake.
    The deputy tipped back his hat, his expression shifting toward friendly as he held out a hand. “I just wanted to stop by and thank you for helping my sister-in-law the other night. I’m Kyle Randolph.”
    So this is the brother-in-law.
    “Gabe Matthews.” Gabe automatically shook hands, wondering what the real purpose of this visit was, because the message he’d gotten from Dani the other night was that Kyle wasn’t particularly concerned about the welfare of either her or the ranch.
    “Not a problem.”
    Kyle glanced around the property, assessing, then brought his attention back to Gabe. “I’m just glad someone was close by. I read the report and, frankly, it’s probably just a string of coincidences—kids getting their kicks—but you never know.”
    “That’s why she made the report,” Gabe replied. “Just in case it wasn’t.” He shifted his weight slightly before saying, “You used to live there. On the ranch.”
    “Yeah.”
    “She mentioned that she’d tried to call you to find out where the water main was.”
    “I was out of town on my first ever vacation, so I didn’t get the call.” He smiled ruefully. “And don’t think her sister didn’t give me an earful over that.”
    “If you didn’t get the call, I don’t know how you can be blamed,” Gabe said smoothly.
    “Exactly.” Kyle smiled distantly. “I still care about Allie and her sisters, even if we couldn’t make things work. You can’t just shut off feelings like that.”
    “No doubt.”
    “So...I hear you’re leasing this place. Are you considering buying?”
    Gabe shook his head. “It’s not that kind of lease. It’s a vacation deal...and I’m not thinking that far ahead. I just needed some time away from the day job and this seemed like a good place to do that.”
    “Not many people can do that,” Kyle said. “Just...take an unlimited amount of time from the day job.”
    “I’m an independent contractor, so I’m still working, actually.”
    “I see.” But Gabe didn’t think he did. In fact, he couldn’t quite figure why the guy was there. It wasn’t to thank him for looking out for Dani. So...
    Whatever the deal was, Gabe didn’t want to alienate the guy. Not right now anyway. Unless he messed with Dani a little too much.
    The thought startled him. Not only was Dani probably more than capable of fighting her own battles, but her affairs were also none of his business. He found her attractive, yes, but in the end, he was moving on and she was getting a new ranch. He needed to remember that.
    “What exactly do you do?”
    “I design parks and landscapes. A lot of my business is a matter of drafting up plans after site visits. I can do that here. I also consult.”
    “You own your own business.”
    Gabe thought he’d just said that, but since Kyle seemed to need reiteration, he smiled and nodded. “Yes. Which makes it possible to make my return open-ended.”
    “Return to where?”
    “The Midwest.” He wasn’t about to say the Chicago area, on the off chance that Kyle or anyone else put two and