Free Texas Pride: Night Riders by Leigh Greenwood Page B

just can’t seem to hold my temper around you. That card game changed everything.”
    “Maybe you can buy the ranch back.”
    “I don’t have that much money.”
    “Maybe you will marry one of those rich men, and he will buy it for you.”
    Carla glanced up so quickly, she nearly ran into a boy weaving his way through traffic at a run. Ivan pulled her aside just in time to avoid impact. She momentarily lost her balance and fell into his chest. His arm came around her waist to steady her. And in a flash, Carla knew she’d never felt a connection like this with Kesney or Maxwell. With that one touch, she suddenly felt… safe.
    Before she could think on it any further, Ivan pulled away, leaving her oddly bereft. While she wasn’t one to allow liberties, Carla hadn’t reached the age of nineteen without having been embraced more than once. She’d even allowed a small number of chaste kisses, yet none of them had affected her as strongly as Ivan’s touch. Even after he’d stepped back, she felt as if his hands were still on her, like he’d left an invisible handprint on her skin, like he was saying she belonged to him.
    She didn’t understand that. Ivan hadn’t said or done anything to give rise to such a feeling. Why should a few polite gestures have this effect on her? Everything weighed against him, so why did she feel his touch was the first to reach beyond the surface of her skin?
    “Would you do something for me, and for you, too?” he asked.
    “What?” she asked, trying not to sound as breathless as she felt.
    “Go with me to see Lukey Gordon.”
    The ranch. Of course. She couldn’t forget for one second what Ivan was really after. “Why would I do that?”
    “We need to be clear that my claim to half of your ranch is valid.”
    “I’ve already told you Laveau cheated.”
    “You said no one knows how he did it.”
    “He also used undue influence to get my brother drunk. I intend to ask the judge to cancel the wager.”
    “Just because your brother had something to drink?”
    “Danny is only seventeen, too young to make a binding wager of such magnitude.”
    “You have a right to take your case to a judge. But until then, I want it clear that I have a valid claim.”
    Carla had no desire to have Lukey tell her again that Danny had lost his share of the ranch. Nor did she have any desire to be seen walking through town with Ivan. There would be rumors before noon that she found a new romantic interest. “Okay, but I don’t have much time before I have to meet Beth and her father for lunch.”
    “This will not take long.”
    Nor did it. Ivan had a document which stated clearly that he was to manage the property for Laveau diViere for one year, and that at the end of that year he would receive title to the property as compensation for his custodianship. It contained all the proper signatures and dates.
    “This contract is legal and binding,” Lukey told Ivan. “However, a question remains as to whether the card game can be accepted as a legal and binding agreement. You should understand Miss Reece intends to place the case before the circuit judge when he comes to Overlin.”
    “That could be weeks, even months,” Ivan pointed out. “Until then, Miss Reece and her brother should divide the ranch in half. If they do not want to do that, then I should be included in decisions affecting the whole ranch.”
    Carla didn’t know how it was possible for a man to make such brutal demands and still look like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. What did they teach people in Poland? “Do I have to?” she asked Lukey.
    “You don’t have to do anything, but if you don’t, Mr. Nikolai may ask the sheriff to force you. And it would look better to the judge if you at least try to compromise.”
    Carla was about to explode with impotent rage. Rather than say something that she would later regret, she rose to her feet. “I promised to meet Kesney and his daughter for lunch. If I don’t leave now,