Rich Rancher's Redemption

Will looked up at him. “Jesse?”

“Go ahead. Don’t let me interrupt.” He ignored the flash of irritation on his little brother’s face as he moved farther into the room and took a seat in one of the chairs.

Will’s frown only lasted an instant, probably because he knew it wouldn’t have the slightest effect on Jesse. He focused on Jillian again. “If I could make this easier on you, I’d like to.”

Jesse watched the woman. She looked…embarrassed, and he wondered if she’d had that expression before he’d intruded on this meeting. He should probably regret coming in here, but he didn’t.

“And I appreciate it,” Jillian said, her voice soft enough that Jesse had to strain to hear her. “But I’ve told you. You don’t owe me anything. Mac’s not your daughter.” She took a breath, then sighed a little. “I know that now.”

Will got up from behind the desk and walked around it. Leaning back against the front edge, he said, “I’m not her father, no. But the man who is was pretending to be me and that hits close enough to home for me that I can’t ignore it.”

She stiffened in her chair and folded her hands tightly in her lap. “Look, I don’t need your help. Mac and I will get along fine—”

Jesse heard the pride in her voice and knew Will did, too, when his brother spoke next.

“This isn’t charity, okay?” He flicked an impatient glance at Jesse, as if silently trying to tell him to go away.

Jesse shook his head.

Sighing, Will turned back to the woman who was saying, “What else would it be?”

“A favor,” Will said. “To me.”

She laughed, and even in this weird situation, Jesse’s insides responded to that low, throaty chuckle. He shifted uncomfortably.

“You want a favor. From me.” Disbelief rang loudly in her tone.

“Absolutely.” Will laid his hands on his thighs and leaned toward her. “The bastard—excuse me.”

She laughed. “I’ve heard worse and I think we can agree whoever the man was, pretending to be you, he deserves that description and more.”

Jesse admired that. She had her pride, but she was also willing to look at a situation and see it for what it was, not what she’d like it to be.

“Well,” Will said, “my mom would have a fit if she heard me cussing in front of a lady, so excuse me anyway.”

She nodded.

“As I was saying, the man who stole my identity stole more than my name. He took my reputation, too, and ran it into the ground.”

Jesse scowled, seeing the look of frustration on his brother’s features. He knew Will was having a hard time with all of this, but he hated seeing evidence of it.

“You didn’t do anything to me,” Jillian said softly.

“I know that, but as I said, it was done in my name and I’m going to feel terrible about that unless you help me out.”

A second or two passed before Jillian shook her head and smiled wryly. “Oh, you’re good at this, aren’t you? Getting people to do what you want, I mean.”

“Used to be,” Will admitted.

“Still are,” Jesse said quietly.

Jillian turned her head to look at him, and their eyes locked. Even on opposite sides of the room, there was a thread of connection that snapped and crackled between them. And Jesse saw by the flash of acknowledgment in her eyes that she felt it, too. Not that he cared.

“My big brother over there knows how hard-headed I am,” Will said and Jillian shifted her gaze back to him. “What I’m trying to say is, it’s important to me to rebuild my good name. So let me help. If I’m worried about you and your daughter, it’ll take time away from me getting back to my own life.”

Jesse watched for her reaction and he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t buying it. That was the only reason he spoke up when he did. “He’s not lying.”

She turned her head to look at him again and that electrical pulse between them erupted. Her gaze fixed on his and Jesse could have sworn even the air between them burned. He wasn’t interested in this. Had no time for the distraction of a woman—and this woman would be the Queen of all distractions. So he pushed away any sense of attraction he was feeling and focused on making his point known. “Will’s got a lot going on right now.”

She laughed shortly, but her eyes remained cool and flat. “Yeah. I know.”

“Then you should know he’s not going to rest until you and your daughter are taken care of.”

“I’m not a problem to be solved and neither is my daughter.”

“He didn’t mean—” Will said.