“Really?”
Her brows leveled over suddenly serious eyes. “Really. That happens to be my new life motto.”
“Sounds kind of drastic, don’t you think?”
“Nope. Sounds good to me. It felt quite pleasant actually—” she scowled “—until I flew over the edge of the loft.”
“The little woman has anger issues,” he teased.
“This little woman has a lot of anger issues.”
Rowdy knew a lot about anger issues, but would rather not discuss them. Trying to figure out a change-of-topic comeback, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.
“Uh-oh,” he groaned, looking where he’d left the casserole. The oversize yellow cat had ripped through the foil and was face-first in the Cowboy Goulash. “Nana isn’t going to be happy about that.” Even so, Rowdy was grateful for the distraction from the conversation as Lucy raced toward the cat, arms waving.
He owed the hulking orange cat big-time.
* * *
“No!” Lucy yelled, tearing across the yard with the troubling cowboy on her heels. She was not happy with her reactions to the magnetic man. Not only had he saved her, he’d taken her breath away. And she didn’t like the air being sucked out of her. Nope. Not at all.
What was more, the fact that he—that any man— could do that to her was shocking.
“Bad kitty,” she admonished Moose when she reached him. The cat had adopted Lucy four days ago when she’d arrived. Now the moose of a cat—thus his name—looked up at her with a goulash-orange smile, then promptly buried his head in the noodles again. “Hey, how much can a hairy beast like you eat?” Lucy asked, pulling him away from the pan as his claws dug in, clinging to the wood.
“Shame on you. Shame, shame.” Lucy was so embarrassed. “Honest, I feed him. I really do.”
Rowdy chuckled. “In the cat’s defense, Nana’s food is pretty irresistible.”
Lucy’s gaze met his and her insides did that crazy thing they’d been doing since the moment she’d found herself in his arms.
“I would have loved to find that out for myself,” she snapped.
He gave a lazy, attractive grin. “Don’t worry, Nana will be coming by soon to invite you over for dinner. She figures you need to feel welcomed, but also she wants to introduce you to our wild bunch over at Sunrise Ranch. We can be a little overwhelming for some.”
His odd statement stirred her curiosity. “And how’s that?”
“So you don’t know. You’re living next door to a boys’ ranch.”
“A boys’ ranch—what do you mean exactly?” Envisioning a bunch of delinquents, Lucy felt her spirits plummet.
“No, no, I didn’t mean to make you worry. They’re good kids. We have a foster program of sorts. There are sixteen boys ranging from eight to eighteen who call our family ranch home. They’ve just had some hard knocks in their lives and we’re providing a stable place for them to grow up. Speaking of which, I need to run, they’re waiting on me.” Grinning, he started backing away. “No more flying, okay?”