Felicity sighed. "Except that I won't be around here much longer to teach you anything." There, she had said it, and it sounded even worse than she could have imagined.

"Where are you going?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"I… I don't know," she admitted reluctantly.

She heard Cody turn to face her in the confines of the wagon. "What do you mean, you don't know?" he asked.

"I mean, I haven't decided yet," she amended, trying to soften the impact of her words, as much for her own benefit as for Cody's. "Mr. Logan has told me I can't stay here and-"

"I know. He told me that, too," Cody said. "But surely you'll settle someplace nearby."

"Like I said, I haven't decided yet," she said, feeling all the hopelessness of her situation.

"Don't you worry none," Cody comforted her. "Mr. Logan'll see that you're taken care of."

"Thank you, Cody," she said, grateful for his concern but uncertain whether she was grateful that Mr. Logan would be taking care of her. She found the idea quite disturbing.

Josh stood outside, leaning up against a live oak tree and smoking a cigarette. He was watching the wagon, waiting for Felicity-and Cody-to come out. The other men were busy carrying the props from the photographs back where they had come from, but Josh was only vaguely aware of their movements at the corner of his range of vision. All his attention was focused on the wagon. All his thoughts were focused on the occupant of the wagon.

So she was going to be around for a while, he thought, knowing that the fact should disturb him but only mildly surprised to find he was rapidly getting used to the idea. She really was a pretty little thing. And she could cook. And although he hadn't kissed another woman in quite a while, he could not remember ever enjoying it more. Felicity. Even her name had a pleasant sound about it.

Candace had been watching the direction of Josh's gaze and finally strolled over to where the rancher was standing. "What do you suppose is taking them so long?" she asked casually.

Josh frowned. He had been wondering the same thing himself. He threw down his cigarette and ground it out with his boot heel. Then he strode purposefully over to the wagon.

Just as he reached it, though, the door came open, and Felicity stepped out. "All we have left to do is put the camera away…" She completely forgot what she was saying when her gaze met Mr. Logan's. "Is something wrong?" she asked, certain that there must be from the look on his face.

Cody ducked out the wagon door behind her and reared back at the sight of Mr. Logan's expression.

Josh looked at her and then at Cody and then back at her again, comforted by how innocent they both looked. If Cody had designs on the girl, he was moving very slowly. Josh forced his tensed muscles to relax and managed a reassuring smile. "No, nothing's wrong. I was just coming over to see if you were about finished."

"Almost," Felicity murmured, a little nonplussed by the sight of his smile. "We just have to…" His eyes narrowed, making her lose her train of thought again.

Cody watched the exchange in fascination, knowing that neither of them was even aware of his continued presence. "I'll get the camera," he offered, but they paid him no mind.

"Hey, Cody," Gus called from across the yard. "We're all going into town tonight. You coming?"

It was Saturday night. They always went to town on Saturday night. Cody considered his options. "No," he called back. "I'm broke. I'll just stay here." And see what happens, he added silently.


Josh thought it surely must be time for bed. He was certain the four of them had been sitting in the parlor for hours. Unfortunately, when he glanced at the clock on the mantel, he saw that barely an hour had passed since supper.

He looked around the room. Candace was sitting off in the corner, quietly sewing and looking very smug about something. Josh shifted in his chair, the same chair that Felicity had photographed him in earlier that day. He let his gaze wander over to where Felicity and Cody were sitting on the settee.

The two of them were deep in conversation, Cody's brown head bent over her golden one, an expression of intense interest on his boyish face. Of course there would be, Josh thought acidly. The boy had every reason to be intensely interested. But he doubted that Cody was really all that concerned about photography, which was ostensibly the topic under discussion. Nobody was that interested in photography. The boy had Felicity fooled, though. She was explaining it all to him with an earnestness that indicated she was afraid he might just keel over and die if he didn't fully understand the process.

Felicity tried not to notice that Mr. Logan was staring at her. Again. He'd been watching her on and off all evening, as if he expected her to do something untoward. Earlier, after she and Cody had packed everything away for the night, she had gone into the house and washed up in preparation for supper. When she got to the dining room, the two men were there waiting, and she experienced the oddest sensation that they were waiting there for something special to happen. Nothing did, however, or at least nothing that she was aware of, and the meal passed in strained silence. With all the other men except Cody gone to town, she had nothing to distract her from the fact that Mr. Logan kept glancing up at her throughout the entire meal. It was very unsettling.

After she had helped Candace clean up the few dishes, she discovered Mr. Logan and Cody sitting in the parlor, looking every bit like two dogs about to quarrel over the same bone. But as soon as she entered the room, the two of them suddenly cheered right up and started acting as if they'd always been the best of friends. Mr. Logan even teased Cody a little about becoming a photographer himself. That was what had gotten the conversation started, and Felicity had been only too happy to begin his instruction. Talking to Cody kept her mind off the fact that Mr. Logan kept watching her.

Josh knew it was crazy, but he couldn't seem to help himself. He kept remembering what Candace had said about a wife. A sweet young wife. He could not seem to get the idea out of his head. Almost unconsciously, he compared Felicity to the other women who had been thrown in his way through the years. None were even half as pretty as Felicity. And none of them kissed like her, either. No wonder he had never seriously considered marriage before.

A vision of Felicity the way she had looked that first morning, wearing only his shirt and standing silhouetted in front of the window, flickered across his memory with tantalizing clarity. For one long moment he imagined what might have happened if he had come up behind her and slipped his arms around her. He vividly remembered how she felt in his arms, soft and warm and round in all the right places. Josh shifted in his chair again, wondering why the room had suddenly grown so warm.

His gaze drifted over to the couple on the settee again. Cody was obviously smitten, and Josh recalled how the boy had mentioned marriage only last night. Would Cody really have the nerve to propose to her? And if he did, would she accept? Cody was good-looking enough but awfully immature, although Felicity might not notice that, since they were probably about the same age. Cody didn't have anything to offer her, either. As a cowboy he only earned thirty dollars a month and didn't even have a room of his own. Josh had it all over Cody when it came to that. He was a successful rancher with a fine home-hadn't Felicity said that very thing with her own lips? He could give her things she'd never had, things much fancier than gingham or calico dresses.

He wouldn't make the mistake his father had made, though. He wouldn't fall in love with her. That was what tore a man's guts out, whether the woman stayed or not. Josh would never trust his heart to any female ever again, not after what his mother had done. A woman could make a man's life hell. He recalled only too clearly his father's trials with his mother and how she had finally deserted them both for her family back East.

But Felicity didn't have a family back East, or anywhere else, for that matter. She would have no place to run away to, no one to shelter her except him. And she wasn't a bit like his mother anyway. His mother had known another kind of life, an easier life, far from the frontier, but Felicity knew only hardship and poverty. What Josh could offer her would be the most luxury she had ever known. Why would she ever want to leave it? Or him?

The longer Josh considered the idea, the more appealing it became. A wife, just what he'd been needing-although he might not have realized it until now. A woman to share his bed. And children to keep his ranch alive. Felicity was a perfect candidate to provide him with both. She'd be so grateful to him, she couldn't possibly want to leave. And she was so pretty, he knew he'd never mind having her around.

In fact, just the thought of having her in his bed, to do with as he pleased, made his mouth go dry. Even her name, Felicity, had a soothing sound, suggesting quiet nights and peaceful days. Josh almost sighed aloud.

Putting her sewing aside, Candace got up from her chair in the corner. She came slowly across the room to the hearth, picked up the poker, and prodded encouragingly at the fire. Then she turned to Josh, whose chair was nearby. She gave him a long, considering look. When she had his full attention, she lifted her elegant eyebrows and inquired softly, "Are you gonna let him steal her right out from under your nose?"

Josh briefly considered telling Candace exactly where she could go to mind her own damn business, but he didn't bother. First of all, she probably believed that Josh was her business. Secondly, he had just asked himself that very same question.

"No, I'm not," he informed her, and turned his determined gaze back to the couple on the settee.

Felicity was gritting her teeth. Just who did he think he was to sit there staring at them like that, as if they were doing something indecent? Even poor Cody had finally noticed and was squirming under the intense scrutiny of those gray eyes. She had a notion to ask Mr. Logan if he saw her petticoat showing or something, but she was afraid such delicate sarcasm might be wasted on him. For a long moment she indulged herself by imagining what else she might have said if she hadn't been a lady.

"It's getting late, Cody," Josh said at last. "You better hit the hay."

Cody wanted to protest that it wasn't late at all,, but something in Mr. Logan's expression stopped him. Cody couldn't imagine what had gotten into the man. Earlier, Cody had suspected his boss of being attracted to the girl, but he certainly showed no sign of it now. In fact, he'd never seen Mr. Logan looking so disagreeable. "Yeah, I reckon I better," he said, only too glad to escape Mr.

Logan's scrutiny.

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief. Soon she would be alone, away from those condemning gray eyes. As Cody rose, she rose, too, and wished him a good night. Then she turned to Mr. Logan, prepared to see him leaving, too, but he wasn't. He was just sitting there. Staring. She gritted her teeth again. Now what was he up to?

Seeking support, she glanced over to the corner where Candace had been sitting but found her chair empty. How long had the woman been gone? Felicity could not remember anything past the time Candace got up to poke the fire. Had Mr. Logan told her to leave? Had he planned for them to be alone? He was certainly doing his best to get rid of Cody.

What was he going to do? Was he going to try to kiss her again? And if he did, what should she do? Felicity swallowed with effort as she realized the question really was what would she do? She knew instinctively he would not force himself on her. If she struggled, he'd let her go as he had before. If she screamed, Candace could hear her out in her little cabin behind the house or Cody would come running from the bunkhouse. The problem was, she didn't think she wanted to scream or struggle or resist at all. Panic welled up in her, stretching her nerves taut until they seemed to hum in her ears.

Josh studied her face, easily reading her anxiety. That would work in his favor. Of course, he didn't plan to propose or anything, not just yet. He'd feel her out on the subject a little first, see what her initial reaction was to the idea. If she was too eager, he'd back off, knowing she only had designs on the wealth and security marriage to him would bring.

He briefly considered the possibility that she might refuse him completely, but then dismissed it. What other choice did she have, after all? She needed wealth and security. He could give her what she had never had: a home. That seemed more than a reasonable exchange for what she would give him in return.