Page 13 of The Cowboy Fix

Not wanting him to see how much he challenged her, she looked around. A city girl, mostly, the barn smells should have put her off. They didn’t. “So, what am I supposed to see?”

A faint meow came from inside the room. He pushed the door open.

“Look in the bottom cubby in the corner. Mama was hiding them. I just moved them in here this morning.”

When she stepped into the room, she saw the kittens. Mama, a gray-and-black tabby lay on a clean blanket while four kittens of varying colors nursed. Two were the same color as their mom. Izzy squatted down. “Oh, my gosh. They’re so cute.”

Nathan squatted beside her. Izzy didn’t miss his wince but figured he wouldn’t tolerate any sympathy. “The mama is Zelda—”

“After your mom?” She grabbed the flat step stool within reach and gave it to Nathan. When he got comfortable, she sat on the floor next to him. “Can I hold one?”

He nodded and reached over and scratched Mom between the ears. She purred, the cat, not Izzy, though she was tempted. “Hi, Zelda. This nice lady wants to hold one of your babies.”

He thought she was nice? Little did he know. “How old are they?”

“Two weeks.” Picking up the orange kitten, he handed it to Izzy. “When she’s old enough to leave Mom, this one’s yours. What are you going name her?”

He’d paid attention to her parting shot when she’d said goodbye the last time. Izzy grinned at the crazy man as she tucked the little one under her chin, her fur soft, and cuddled her close. “Um, how about Cookie?”

“She looks like a Cookie?” His brows shot up as he watched her closely. His cranky face had disappeared entirely.

Izzy held her in both hands and took a good look at the kitten’s sweet face. Dark eyes blinked back at her as the baby cat mewed. “Yup. She’s cute and yummy looking.”

“Cookie it is then.” He reached for one of the gray kittens and held it next to his chest.

Izzy’s breath caught. Who would have thought that the man who could be so easily irritated had a soft spot for the babies of this world? “Does that one have a name?”

“Boss.” Nathan held him up, showing Izzy the kitten’s face. “Right, little man? You’re the boss.” He looked at her, all the tension he usually carried around with him banked. “He’s always pushing the others around. I almost named him Jonas because he reminds me so much of my brother.”

Izzy laughed. “I’ll bet Jonas would be happy to have a cat named after him.”

“I didn’t want to test my luck, which is why this guy got Boss.” He pointed at the kittens who’d stopped nursing but were bumping their noses as they explored close to their mother. “What are you going to name those two?”

“Boy, girl?” She gently rubbed Cookie between the ears.

“The black and white one with swirls on both sides of his body is a boy. The other one is a girl.”

“Hmmm. How about Desi and Lucy.” At his surprised look, she said. “My mom’s a fan ofI Love Lucyreruns.” While Nathan went all soft over the cats, and her heart took an unexpected little tumble, Izzy changed directions and chanced a question that would probably chase this surprising version of the rancher away. “What do you do for a living?”

As she expected, his frown returned. “Why?”

“Just curious, mostly, but also, I need to find out if you have any skills we can take advantage of.” That sounded innocent enough, didn’t it? There was no point in telling Nathan that saving the ranch wasn’t her only motivation.

He stood and put Boss back with his mother and siblings. “I train horses and riders for barrel racing.”

The underlying deep timber of his voice that said she was getting too close to guarded territory didn’t bother Izzy in the slightest. In fact—

She put Cookie next to her sister and brothers. As the kittens stumbled into one another, all she could think was how fun it would have been to have a brother and sister. Then she remembered her first encounter with the Lohmen brothers and she nearly changed her mind. They didn’t seem to like each other much. “Would you take me on as a student?”

“Maybe. Depending on how much riding experience you’ve had.” He stuck his hands in his front pockets. “But don’t get any ideas about paying for lessons. You can’t single-handedly pay to save the ranch.” He had her number, that was for sure. How did he know that after seeing the Triple L for the first time, she’d thought about offering to become an investor in the ranch? “If I give you lessons, we’ll include them as part of your rent.” He obviously expected her to object, which she would eventually. “Now what?” He gave her a stern look. “You have that look on your face. Like you’re scheming up something.”

The man was too sharp. She wiped the excitement from her face. “What look? Usually, a guy tells a girl she’s pretty, not that she’s a no-good schemer.”

“I didn’t say no good,” Nathan said, keeping an I’m-not-fooled eye on her. “Do you know how to ride?”

She tried not to smile. “Yup. Had lessons and everything. I don’t suppose you’d take a loan from me.” She had some money tucked away and was more than ever convinced the Triple L could be a good investment.

As she expected, he spun and headed for the door. “Don’t even think about it.”

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