Wild Ride Rancher

She got a quick thrill when she saw the title, the name of her soon-to-be-camp, Girls Can Do Anything. The man behind her snorted.

Chloe sent him a quick, hard look. Gorgeous or not, she didn’t like the attitude. “Do you disagree with my website design or the theme?”

If anything, his frown deepened. “I just think it’s crazy to have to tell a kid they can do anything.”

“Really? Even today, girls aren’t given the kind of opportunity that boys are.”

He snorted. “Please.”

Irritated, she snapped, “Are girls told they can be ranch hands? Raise and breed horses? Herd cattle?”

With a patient sigh, he asked, “Well...they’re not told they can’t, are they?”

“Some are,” she countered, remembering how her father had shattered her own dream of working a ranch, breeding horses. “And can I just say, you’re not exactly displaying to me how objective you’re going to be.”

He shrugged, but she could see she’d hit her target.

“Sorry.” He didn’t look sorry, but okay.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, show me what you’ve got.”

Chloe took a deep breath and probably shouldn’t have because he smelled really good. Not to mention that standing this close to him was making her body hum and her blood burn. Plus he was so tall. And broad shouldered. And—Keep your mind on business, she warned herself silently. But it wasn’t her mind that was veering out of orbit.

It was her body responding to the man, and there was no way to stop it. Chloe had never experienced anything like this. Attraction? Sure. Lust? Of course. But this bone-deep burning was something new, and she was finding it hard to breathe without shattering—or worse yet, climaxing—just thinking about him touching her. Oh, boy.

“Problem?” he asked, and his voice sounded like a whisper in the darkness.

She swallowed hard. Seriously, Chloe? “Nope. No problem.” She looked up at him and wondered if he’d moved even closer to her. How was she supposed to concentrate?

“Are you doing that on purpose?”

A knowing gleam shone briefly in his eyes. “Doing what?”

“Looming.”

“I don’t loom. I stand.”

“Really closely.”

“Worried?”

“No.”

“Then no problem, right?”

“Right.” All she had to do was get a grip on whatever was happening to her body. Nodding, Chloe turned back to the computer. “As you can see, I made up this website—it’s not live yet, but I wanted to be able to show you exactly what I have in mind and—”

“You did the website?”

She looked at him and clearly saw the surprise in his eyes. “Yes, why?”

Frowning, he shook his head. “Nothing.”

She knew exactly what he was thinking. How could Chloe Hemsworth have done something so complicated? Something that required talent, skills. This was not new. She was used to being dismissed. Her whole life had been spent convincing people that she was more than they thought her to be. Apparently, as gorgeous as he was, Liam Morrow was no different from anyone else she’d ever known.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Chloe said. “I’m used to being underestimated.”

“What?”

“You know how people are,” she said, looking him directly in the eye. “They take one look at me and think, useless daughter of a rich man. They never actually stop to think that maybe when I went to college I learned things. That I earned my degree in business.”

Something flickered in his eyes, and she was pretty sure it was respect. Well, good. Chloe had dreams and aspirations well beyond the next charity luncheon. But why should anyone else believe in her when her own father didn’t? And why did she care what Liam Morrow thought of her anyway? A question she couldn’t answer.

“I’ve come across the same kind of thing,” he said, and his voice was a low rumble that rattled along her nerve endings.

“Really?” Chloe smiled and shook her head. “People think you’re just pretty and empty-headed?”

He grinned briefly, and that quick twist of his mouth sent a flash of heat zipping through her. Oh, probably not good. But in her own defense, she didn’t think any woman would be immune to this man.