Colton Cowboy Jeopardy (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

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“It’s better to have the option,” he pressed. Giving her the option to leave was the strongest argument he had. He couldn’t guarantee he’d be close if something did happen to her or the baby.

“I’d rather come up with a true exit strategy.”

No. Thankfully, he kept the reaction locked down. He was just getting to know her. To like her. He wasn’t ready for her to make an exit. Where was all this ridiculous need coming from? It felt bigger than infatuation, but this was hardly the time or place to start dating. Besides, the sooner she was out of here, the sooner he could get back to his search. Turned out a working ranch didn’t leave quite enough time for two secret side projects, and he wouldn’t abandon his grandfather’s last dream.

“About that,” he said when she finished eating. The baby was dozing in his arms, looking like an angel. “Something came up and maybe I can help you brainstorm a way out of your predicament.” Predicament made her situation sound almost palatable.

She froze, staring up at him. “What came up?”

“Your stepmother is hosting a party and I’ve been invited. Aggressively invited.” He’d thought this would be fine, that he could explain without hurting her, but the crushed look on her face stopped him short.

Her gaze darted all around, as if expecting her stepmom to jump out and attack her son. She crossed the porch and plucked Silas right out of his arms, holding the baby close to her heart.

“Regina invited you to a party?” Her lips parted and then closed into a flat line. “You said you didn’t know her.”

“I don’t.” His arms empty, he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He shoved them into his pockets. “She didn’t invite me, Selina did. Aggressively, like I said. When she gets her teeth into an idea, it’s hard to distract her. You told me those two run in the same circles. Selina got a call from Regina. About the party.”

Mia’s dark eyes narrowed, making him feel smaller than a bug under a microscope. “Go on.”

“Part of the gig at the Triple R is jumping whenever Selina snaps her fingers. Drives Asher nuts,” he added. “The rest of the guys, too. She’s a huge flirt and sometimes gets a little too familiar.”

“What?”

“Doesn’t matter. My point is Asher sent me to her place to install new fixtures in her outdoor kitchen.”

“Why does she even live on the Triple R?”

“The views and proximity to the Colton Oil offices,” Jarvis replied. “That’s what she tells us, anyway.”

“The views.” Her tone was snarly and her gaze raked over him rather than the nearby mountains. “She has no right to touch you or anyone without permission.”

She studied her son as if imagining him subjected to Selina’s unwelcome advances. It was a strange glimpse into that theory that mothers always saw their children as babies. Not that he had any experience of an adult relationship with a mother figure, having lost his own mom, Christy Colton, when he was still a baby-faced kid.

“She got off the phone with Regina and came at me, pretty much demanding I take her to the party.”

“Why you?”

He didn’t blame her for being suspicious. “She wants eye candy—her words—to flaunt in Regina’s face. For friends, they seem to be ultracompetitive in a nasty way.”

“They are.” Mia rolled her eyes. “That actually makes sense.”

“I only said yes to get close to your dad. I could warn him, or try to catch Regina making a threat.” And if he was super lucky, Selina would spill more details about the generations of history of the landownership or how he might get his hands on the original deeds from the late 1800s.

“You can’t confront her,” Mia protested. “You’re just as likely to put yourself and us in danger if you do that.”

Was she kidding? “Didn’t you hear me? I can get a message to your dad. She’d never know. Someone has to stand up for you. You’re out here alone and scared and—”

“I’m not helpless,” she snapped, cutting him off. “I’ll leave the ranch tomorrow morning. Tonight, if you drive me back to my car.”

He groaned and pushed a hand through his hair. At least the stick was out of her reach while she was looking so murderous. “I don’t want to drive you away, I want to help.” Hadn’t that been obvious from the start?

“Confronting Regina is the opposite of helpful,” she said, keeping her voice low for the baby’s sake. “I did my own due diligence on you today, Jarvis Colton.”

“What are you talking about?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“I assumed with a name like Colton you might have a share in the ranch. Especially from the way you talk about it.”