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“Glad somebody’s in a good mood this mornin’,” a deep voice grumbled.
Caitlin looked up. Her stepfather was seated in a high-backed chair at the head of the massive dining-room table, his bushy brows drawn together. The king, holding court, she thought grimly, and tried her best to see the picture Marta had painted with words—Jonas with a pair of twitching mule ears—but it was difficult to manage. Difficult, hell. It was impossible.
No mule could ever look so coldly furious.
“Jonas,” Marta said, the word a gentle plea, but Caitlin looked at her and shook her head.
“It’s okay,” she said softly.
Marta sighed, gave her a quick hug, and hurried away. Caitlin waited a moment, until she was certain she had her temper under control. Then she walked to the sideboard and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“That’s all you’re gonna have for breakfast?”
She smiled pleasantly at her stepfather as she sat down at the table. “And good morning to you, too,” she said.
“Ain’t nothin’ good about this mornin’.” Jonas reached for a platter of biscuits and shoved them toward her. “Nothin’ good about goin’ around with an empty belly, neither. Eat somethin’, girl.”
“I’m not hungry, thank you.”
“Et too much last night, did ya?”
The first shot had been fired. Not that she was surprised. Jonas wasn’t noted for his subtlety.
“What’s the matter?” She looked over the rim of her cup and smiled politely. “Didn’t your spies fill you in on the menu?”
She was gratified to see two streaks of color arch across his cheekbones.
“Carmen ain’t a spy. She’s jes’ interested in your welfare.”
Jonas bent over his plate and attacked his bacon and eggs with more energy than was warranted. Behind him, the kitchen door swung open just long enough for Caitlin to see Carmen shake her head from side to side and roll her eyes. Caitlin nodded. The housekeeper’s message was clear. However she’d divulged the information about Tyler’s visit, it had been done innocently.
“Well?”
Caitlin jerked her attention back to her stepfather. He’d pushed aside his plate and was glaring at her over the oversize coffee mug he favored.
“Well, what?”
“Don’t you gimme no sass, girl.” He banged the mug down on the table. “You got an explanation for what you done, I’m ready to listen to it.”
“Explanation? Sass? Girl?” Caitlin put down her cup, too. “Is there someone else in this room, Jonas? Some child you think you can address like that?” Her eyes grew as chilly as his. “There must be, because you surely wouldn’t speak this way to me.”
The old man stared at her. His mouth narrowed, then twitched, and finally he grinned.
“You’re a chip off the old block, missy. There are times listenin’ to you is like listenin’ to a younger version of me.”
“Not enough of a chip, evidently,” Caitlin said coolly, “but let’s not get into that, this morning.” She rose, went to the sideboard and refilled her cup. “Yes, Tyler Kincaid came here last night. Yes, I went out with him. Yes, we had dinner, and—just to save you the trouble of asking—yes, I suspect he’ll ask me out again.”
“And? When he does, what’ll you say?”
“I’ll say, yes.” Yes? Where had that come from? Until the word left Caitlin’s lips, she’d have been willing to swear she would never agree to see Tyler again.
“Dammit!” Jonas slammed his fist against the table. “You listen to me, Catie. That man is up to no good. No good whatsoever.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do, that’s all. He came sneaking onto Espada, pretending to be something he wasn’t—”
“I’m sure he had his reasons.” What in hell was she doing, defending Tyler, especially since she’d made the same accusation just last night?
“Never mind that. I do not want you seeing him again.”
“Why not?”
Jonas glared at her. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, girl. You’re not to see the man again. Is that clear?”
“What’s clear,” Caitlin said coolly, “is that you’ve managed to lose that down-home accent of yours again. How do you Barons manage that, I wonder?”
Jonas kicked back his chair and stood up. “Did you hear me? You’re not to see Kincaid again.”
Caitlin’s jaw firmed. Her stepfather towered over her, but neither his temper nor his size had ever been enough to make her back off in a confrontation with him and she wasn’t about to start backing off now.
“I’d have to be deaf not to hear you!”
“Just make sure you do as you’re told.”
“You can’t order me around, Jonas.”
“I can and I will.”
“No, you cannot!” She stood, slapped her hands on her hips and jerked her chin up. “I’m not a child.”
“Well, you’re behaving like one! Letting that man suck up to you—”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Why would he suck up to me? I’m nobody. I have nothing he could possibly want.” Her eyes narrowed. “Tyler Kincaid’s got more money than God, Jonas. Did you know that?”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“No. No, it certainly isn’t. I’m just taking your remark to its natural conclusion. You obviously think Tyler’s interested in me because he thinks I have money, and I’m telling you he doesn’t need anybody’s money, much less what little I’ve got.”
“You can have all the money you want, girl. Have I ever denied you anything?”
“Dammit,” she said angrily, “that’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. You said Tyler wants something I’ve got, and I said—”
“I heard what you said.” Jonas tucked his hands into his back pockets. “Maybe he wants something other than money.”
“Maybe.” Caitlin flushed. “In which case, I’m perfectly capable of deciding for myself whether or not to let him have it.”
“You got a smart mouth on you, young lady.”
“I’m sorry you think so.” Caitlin pushed her chair toward the table. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
“I wasn’t r
eferring to sex.”
She looked at him. “What?”
“When I said maybe he wants something other than money, although I’m sure the son of a bitch wants that, too.” Jonas took a deep breath. “I was referring to Espada.”
Espada. Everything always came down to Espada in Jonas Baron’s world. Caitlin gave him a brilliant smile.
“Ah. Now I get it. Tyler wants to get his hands on the ranch.”
“Maybe.”
“The man’s a megamillionaire, he lives a thousand miles from here, he never heard of us and we never heard of him but he wakes up one morning and says to himself, ‘Kincaid, you know what I want? I want something only Jonas Baron can give me.”
Jonas looked at her for a long moment. Then he picked up his mug and turned to the sideboard.
Caitlin laughed. “I hate to burst this bubble, but Tyler’s already bought himself a ranch. The Wilson spread. You remember it, don’t you? Big, handsome house. A couple of thousand acres of prime pasture and woodland. Not the size of Espada, I’ll admit, but I suspect it’ll do.” She stared at her stepfather’s straight back, muttered a curse and started for the door. “I have news for you, Jonas. Not everybody thinks owning Espada is the most important thing in the world.”
“I do. And so do you.”
The cruel words stopped her in her tracks. She took a breath before swinging around. Jonas was looking at her, his face expressionless.
“Is that what this is about? You think Tyler’s sniffing around me because he thinks I stand to inherit Espada?”
Jonas folded his arms over his chest. “It wouldn’t be the first time a man’s tried to get at what he wants through a woman.”
“Well, not to worry. You and I both know Espada will never be mine. If it makes you feel better, I’ve told him that already.”
“You told him that? That you weren’t going to inherit the ranch?”
“Not in those words, no.” She flashed a brittle smile. “I just made it clear I’m not one of the anointed.”
“You’re sure of that, are you?”
“That Tyler’s not interested in me because he thinks your little kingdom will be my dowry?”
