Page 7 of Colton Family Bodyguard (Coltons of Mustang Valley)

“My father is chairman of the board of Colton Oil and owns Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch just outside of town. But we do all work hard for our money,” he said.

Then it dawned on her. She had heard of a man who had been shot and was now in a coma, a prominent local rancher and businessman gunned down for no apparent reason. She hadn’t paid any further attention to the story. Until now.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she finally said. Callum came from lots of money, then. Hazel felt herself stiffen and erect a barrier. She was from a very humble background and her last encounter with a rich guy hadn’t turned out so great.

“Don’t be.”

“I grew up in a small Colorado mountain town where everyone knew everyone and there were no conveniences, no big-box stores, no chain restaurants or movie theaters. We lived outside of town on several acres in a small colonial. I spent my childhood reading or watching satellite television and going to community events with my older brother and our parents.”

“Sounds charming.”

His handsome grin disarmed her a moment. She should go pack but she didn’t feel she knew enough about him to stay with him yet. And if her daughter was going to be near him for the unforeseeable future...

“In some ways. But growing up that way made me a little naive. I met Evie’s father, Ed, when I went to college and moved to Arizona with him. When I got pregnant, he left.”

“How does that make you naive?”

Edgar Lovett had lied to her about almost everything about himself. The only thing he hadn’t lied about was his college degree. “I should have known he wasn’t reliable. I had never met anyone so experienced at duping

people. He wasn’t at all what he pretended to be. He told me he came from an average family and that his parents were dead.”

He also told her that he had never been married before. “I didn’t find out until after he left that he was the son of a wealthy Arizona senator and his parents were very much alive. He also was married before we met in college. He divorced his secret wife before I met him and we moved to Arizona.”

Hazel didn’t know why he had lied. She could only guess he had done so because he was afraid she was using him for his money. The last she had heard, he was living in Florida off his trust fund. Hazel had tried to get child support but he always evaded the attempts. Eventually she gave up and chalked him up as a deadbeat dad, albeit a wealthy one. She didn’t have to be told he had abandoned her and Evie because he was incapable of accepting any real responsibility. She wanted to thank him for leaving instead of putting her through a life of struggle with a man like him. She also held a lot of animosity toward him, a man who could have easily afforded to help her out but had not. What kind of person did that? And how had she never seen that about him?

“You weren’t naive,” Callum said. “I bet he liked you, maybe even loved you, but he must have known you had higher expectations than he could deliver on when it comes to making a family. He misled you because he was probably tired of being identified as a senator’s son.”

Of course, she thought the same, except her expectations were pretty simple. She didn’t require anyone rich or anyone with specific personality traits. She only wanted someone decent. She had told Ed she wanted a good and honest man like her father had been, like so many other men she had grown up around.

“Why bother lying, though, about who he was and about his ex-wife?” Hazel still wanted to know, to this day. “He must have known the truth would come out eventually.” Hazel would have left him after learning about his deception.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Hazel. Any man would be a fool not to want you.”

Ed had lied in order to have her, even if for just a little while. He had never talked about marriage with her, a fact she’d only thought of after he was gone. Then she realized what Callum had just said. Did he want her?

“What about you?” she asked, flirting back.

“I’ve never been married,” he said, “and I’m not lying about that.” He grinned.

She laughed lightly and briefly, believing him. It was easy to talk with him. Feeling much more comfortable with him, she stopped herself from enjoying this too much. Hadn’t she just finished telling him about the biggest mistake she ever made with a man? She would never regret Evie, obviously, but Evie’s father was nothing to brag about. She’d rather not wind up having to say the same thing about Callum—or any man. And despite knowing she was biased, she didn’t trust anyone wealthy.

“You better get packing,” Callum said.

Yes. They’d better pack—rather than play on their attraction to one other.

Chapter 2

Callum leaned against the door frame of Evie’s bedroom, watching Hazel pack a bag. She glanced up and saw him.

“Bored?” Her eyes glowed a green hint of her name. Long and dark, finger-tempting wavy hair fell over slender shoulders and framed a remarkably pretty face. Tendrils of that silky splendor curled around melon-shaped breasts. He felt his defenses rise. She had a daughter. A really cute one.

“No.” He would just rather stare at her. This sudden chemistry threw him off balance.

With a soft smile, she resumed packing.

In just the brief time he had been around Evie—rescuing her, watching her fascination with Kerry and then her bravery in going with the detective—the child had already touched his heart. Now he knew more than ever why he tried so hard to avoid protecting kids. The mothers were another issue completely.

Evie had punched her way through his usual, iron-walled barrier. She was about the same age his daughter would have been, had she and her mother survived. Callum shook off the thoughts. He was better shutting that off, contrary to what Charles said. Despite his cardinal rule never to protect mothers with kids, to leave that up to other bodyguards who didn’t share a history similar to his, he could not leave them at the mercy of a man who knew Evie had witnessed him dump a body in a trunk. Now here he was, in Hazel and Evie’s apartment, about to take them to the Dales Inn and live with them for however long it took to catch the bad guy.

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