Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

RAEANNE THAYNE
49
“Are you happy now?”
Despite her dusky skin, her cheeks burned with color
and she looked as if she wished him to perdition.
“No,” he said bluntly. “If you were my patient, I’d
recommend you put your leg up, rent a bunch of DVDs
with your mother and just take it easy for a few days
enjoying some time with Viv.”
“Too bad for you, I’m not your patient.”
He stood again. “And you won’t take my advice?”
She was silent for a moment and he had maybe five
seconds to hope she might actually overcome her stubbornness
and consider his suggestion, then she shook
her head. “I can’t. My mother needs help. She can’t run
Rancho de la Luna by herself.”
“Didn’t you say she was looking to hire help?”
“Sure. And I’m certain whole hordes of competent
stockmen are just sitting around down at the feedlot
shooting the breeze and waiting for somebody to come
along and hire them.”
In the late-afternoon sunlight, she looked slight and
fragile, with the pale, vaguely washed-out look of
someone who had been inside too long.
All of his healer urges were crying out for him to scoop
her off that log and take her home so he could care for her.
“Someone out there has to be available. What about
some college kid looking for a summer job?”
“Maybe. But it’s going to take time to find someone.
What do you suggest we do in the meantime? Just let
the work pile up? I don’t know how things work at the
Cold Creek, but Mama hasn’t quite figured out how to
make the Luna run itself.”