“Only a few special ones,” he teased and she fought the urge to smile.

“Like Dad.”

“Or you.” He pocketed the sunglasses and stared at Bliss with eyes that were as seductive as cool water in a blistering desert at high noon.

“Wonderful.” She managed a bit of sarcasm.

“Look, I just want to talk to your father.”

“You talked to him yesterday.”

“I know, but I’d like to finish the conversation.”

“It’s finished, Lafferty. Take a hint.”

“I forgot to give him the offer.” He glanced over her shoulder. “Is John around?”

“You bet I’m around,” John answered, walking in his stocking feet along the dusty patina of the hardwood floor. “What is it you’re lookin’ for—as if I didn’t know?” He glanced at his daughter and scowled. “I already told you. I ain’t sellin’. No matter what the price.”

Bliss lifted a lofty brow, encouraging Mason, if he had the guts, to draw her father into a battle he would surely lose.

Mason leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb.

“Since you and Brynnie are going to tie the knot, I thought you might want to retire, see a little of the world with your new bride, take it easy.”

“You mean the old stud should be put out to pasture?” With a hoarse laugh and a scrape of his fingers against his empty shirt pocket where he searched by habit for a nonexistent pack of cigarettes, Bliss’s father shook his head. “One measly little heart attack isn’t gonna scare me away from doin’ what I want.” He rapped his knuckles against his chest. “The old ticker’s just fine and I’m gonna run this ranch like I always have.” Again his fingers scrabbled into his pocket and he frowned when he realized that his cigarettes were gone, as his doctor had insisted he give up smoking after the heart attack. Bliss suspected that he still sneaked a puff now and again along with his chew, but she’d never caught him with a cigarette. Not that she could stop him from smoking. No one had ever been able to tell John Cawthorne how to live his life.

Mason reached into his back pocket and drew out a long envelope that he slapped into John’s hand. “I think you’d better talk to Brynnie about this. In the meantime, here’s a formal offer—for the acres in your name.”

“In my name?” John questioned.

“Fair price. Good terms. Think about it.” Mason slipped his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t need to,” her father insisted, but he didn’t toss the envelope back at Mason as Bliss had expected. Instead, his bony fingers clamped over the manila packet.

Mason’s gaze centered on Bliss. “I’ll see you later,” he said through lips that barely moved as he glared through his sunglasses, and Bliss had trouble drawing a breath.

John wagged the envelope at Mason. “Just remember that a few years back we had a deal.”

“A deal?” Bliss repeated.

“That’s right. Signed, sealed and delivered.” Her father’s smile was shrewd and self-serving and Bliss felt a sliver of dread enter her heart.