“Oh, Zack, you turned my world upside down the moment I first saw you sitting here with my dad. I didn’t know then what to do with the crazy feelings I had.”
“Katie, your father loved you very much. He was so proud of you.”
“I know. While I was standing on that bucket contemplating my death, I had time to think about my relationship with Dad. I know he loved me.”
“And he was proud of you. Many a night he sat next to me and talked about you, about how strong you were, about how capable you were of anything you wanted to do.” Zack framed her face with his hands. “He thought you hung the moon and stars…and so do I.”
Her heart couldn’t be any more full. His lips met hers in a kiss that brought tears to her eyes, happy tears. The kiss was filled with love, with tenderness and sweet, hot passion.
He pulled his lips from hers and gazed at her with those beautiful green eyes she’d loved almost all her lifetime. “So what happens when a not-exactly Prince Charming falls in love with a not-exactly Sleeping Beauty?”
She smiled up at him. “They live happily ever after.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he murmured before he captured her lips once again in a kiss that promised a modern fairy-tale kind of love.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6731-6
DEFENDING THE RANCHER’S DAUGHTER
Copyright © 2005 by Carla Bracale
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Visit Silhouette Books at www.eHarlequin.com
†Sisters
†Sisters
‡Mustang, Montana
‡Mustang, Montana
‡Mustang, Montana
‡Mustang, Montana
**The Delaney Heirs
**The Delaney Heirs
**The Delaney Heirs
**The Delaney Heirs
‡‡Cherokee Corners
‡‡Cherokee Corners
‡‡Cherokee Corners
‡‡Cherokee Corners
ΔWild West Bodyguards
ΔWild West Bodyguards
*The Baker Brood
*The Baker Brood
*The Baker Brood
*The Baker Brood
‡Mustang, Montana
††The Pregnancy Test
††The Pregnancy Test
Defending the Rancher's Daughter Page 20