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The intruder didn’t flinch, but slowly buttoned his shirt. His lips were tight over his teeth, making his mouth seem little more than an angry line. “I was told this land belonged to Daniel Summers.”
“Danielle Summers,” she corrected.
“And you’re she,” he deduced.
“That’s right.” Dani almost grinned at his reaction. “Now, suppose you tell me just who you are and what you think you’re doing on my property?”
“Why not?” he asked rhetorically and then muttered an angry oath under his breath.
“I’m waiting.”
He shook his head and looked up at the cloudless sky. “How do I get myself into these things?” he muttered with a grimace before letting out a long, angry sigh and dropping his gaze from the heavens to horse and rider. “Okay, if you want to play out the bad B Western scenario, I’ll state my name and business.”
“Good.” She stared down at him without a smile, her eyes glued to his chiseled features. She guessed him to be around thirty-five, give or take a couple of years. From the looks of him, the poor bastard had probably been on Caleb Johnson’s payroll less than a week. Otherwise he wouldn’t appear so clean-cut or have been so stupid as to wander blatantly over the property line in broad daylight.
“The name’s McEnroe.”
“Like the tennis player?”
He snorted at the inference, as if he’d heard it a million times. He probably had. “No relation. I’m Chase McEnroe.”
“And you work for Caleb Johnson,” she said, leaning over the saddle horn and pinning him with her wide gray-green eyes. Her braid of sun-streaked hair fell forward over one shoulder to settle over the swell of her breast and she forced a cold smile. “Well, let me tell you, Mr. Chase not-related to-the-tennis-star McEnroe, this is my land and I don’t like anyone, especially one of Caleb Johnson’s hands, snooping around. So you can take a message to your boss and tell him the next time he sends one of his flunkies around here, I’ll call the sheriff.”
McEnroe’s blue eyes sparked and his square jaw slid to the side as he stared at her. “I think the line you’re looking for is: ‘Tell your double-crossing boss that the next time one of his low-life ranch hands steps one foot on my property, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.’”
Dani fought the urge to smile and arched an elegant dark brow at the man. “You’re an arrogant S.O.B., aren’t you?” Not like the usual scum Caleb Johnson hired. Too smart. McEnroe wouldn’t last long with Johnson. Oddly, Dani felt relieved.
His brilliant blue eyes narrowed and his lips twisted cynically as he glanced again at the rifle. “Look, I’d like to sit around and trade insults with you, but I’ve got work to do.”
“Work? Like trespassing?”
“I was just looking at the stream.”
“On my side of the fence.”
“I know.”
“That’s your job?” With a disbelieving sigh, she sat back in the saddle, balanced the rifle on her thighs and crossed her arms under her chest. “Surely you can come up with a better excuse than that.”
Lifting a shoulder as if he didn’t really care what she thought, he stuffed the tail of his shirt beneath the waistband of his jeans and tightened his belt buckle.
“So why are you here? I’ve already told Johnson that I’m not going to sell my land to him. Ever. He can build his resort right up to the property line if he wants to, but the only way he’ll get this land from me is over my dead body.”
“Look, lady,” McEnroe said, his face relaxing slightly as he yanked off his hip waders, poured the water out of them and stepped into his scruffy boots. “I don’t really give a damn one way or the other what you do. Johnson just asked me to check out the stream, and I did. Since it runs through your property, I climbed through the fence and took a look.”
“Why?”
“I don’t really know if it’s any of your business.”
“You’re on my land aren’t you?”
“A mistake I intend to rectify immediately,” he said, grabbing his waders and creel before walking toward the sagging fence. He slipped through the slack barbed wires while keeping his eyes focused on the Winchester.
“You can tell Johnson one more thing,” she said as he turned toward the Jeep parked in the middle of the field next to hers.
Chase faced her again, impatience evident on his angular features. “What’s that?”
“Tell Johnson that I’ve hired a ]awyer and if he tries any of his underhanded stunts again, I’ll sue him.”
