Katie felt a jab of disappointment that he wasn’t glad to see her, then swept that wayward emotion aside. Feigning disinterest in his sun-bronzed chest with its mat of gold hair, she pretended not to notice how those curly, sun-kissed sworls arrowed down to his navel to disappear in a gilded ribbon past the worn waistband of his jeans.

Her heart fluttered and her stomach did a slow, sensuous roll as he straightened, crossed his arms over his chest and she noticed the striated ridges of his flexed shoulder muscles. Perspiration glistened on his chest, face and arms; dust clung to his skin.

She climbed out of the Jeep and managed a smile that felt as frail and phony as it probably appeared. Just being on Sorenson ground gave her pause. “Hi.”

“The convertible’s still not workin’?” He kicked the remainder of the stones into the hole, then tested the post by trying to move it with his hands. It held and he grunted in satisfaction.

“No . . . And Len seems to think it’s a goner.” Lifting a shoulder, she tried to sound cheerier than she felt. “I guess I’m in the market for new wheels.”

“Humph.” He yanked off his gloves and stuffed them into a back pocket. “Somethin’ I can do for you?”

Her heart pounded and her throat went dry. She remembered his hands on either side of her face as he’d kissed her, the desire that had burned through her body. Clearing her throat, she looked away. “Thank you again for helping with the car . . . it’s been acting up a lot. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along.”

“It was nothing. Really. Don’t think anything of it.”

She managed a smile and glanced around the outbuildings. “So this ranch was the Sorensons’.”

“That’s right.”

“And you said you knew Dave.”

Luke nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing. “Since I was about twenty when I went to work for his old man. I was hell on wheels, in trouble all the time, and Ralph took a chance on me. Gave me a job. That’s how I met Dave.”

“You became friends?”

“For the most part, when he was around,” Luke said as he walked toward the ranch house. Katie fell into step with him. “He joined the army a little while after high school, became career military.”

“What happened to him?” Katie asked as they reached the shade of the wide front porch.

Luke frowned. “I’m not sure anyone knows all the details, but he was killed this past year in a freak accident. Helicopter crash during routine maneuvers.”

Katie’s blood turned to ice. She closed her eyes and held on to the rail by the steps to steady herself.

“Ralph and Loretta took it pretty hard,” Luke said.

“I don’t blame them.” She ran a trembling hand over her forehead. “Lord, what a blow.”

“I’m sorry.”