It’d only ever be him living here, but he wanted a few extra bedrooms. One for his office, another in case a friend needed a place to crash. He supposed his future nieces and nephews might spend a night or two. So, yeah, four bedrooms, no more.

Okay, back at it. The moment he accelerated, the engine roared, and a woman came dashing out in front of him, waving her arms hysterically.

Oh, fuck. He jammed on the brakes. Shifted into park and killed the engine. Grabbing the bar, he swung out and landed on the soft earth. “What’d I hit?” He crouched at the front of the machine, looking for a body. A nest. Anything. “What?”

She had her hands on her head, her eyes wide, like he’d run over her dog.

“Jesus, just tell me,” he shouted.

“What are you doing?” She had an accent—French? She had to be part of the princess’s entourage.

“Did I run over something? What’d I do?”

Bending low, she snatched a handful of earth. She shook off the dirt to reveal a bulb and one of the plants with the red flowers. “This is lyantha. I’m not sure which species, because I’ve never seen it before.” She thrust it at his face. “Smell it.”

He breathed it in. Nice. “That’s why you’re pissed? Because I drove over some flowers? It’s June. The county’s full of them.” What a nutjob. “It’s cool.”

“It’s not cool, and I can guarantee you won’t find this flower anywhere but right here. It grows in very particular soils and climates, and it only blooms in late spring and early summer, and only for a few weeks. It’s precious. It’s rare. It’s…” She blew out a breath. “Were you going to plow up the whole field?”

“’Course not. Just right there, where I’m building my house.” He pointed to the site. Wooden stakes with neon orange flags delineated the area.

“You can’t build anything here.” Her pale features flamed red. “This is a national park.”

Well, that explained what she was doing on the Bowie ranch. “Nope. You’re standing on private property.”

“You own this lot?”

Lot. He suppressed a grin. “It my family’s ranch, but yeah, I’ve staked out this parcel for me.”

She surveyed the acreage. “Just one house?”

He kind of wanted to play with her for a minute, given how worked up she was over some flowers. “Might turn it into a development. I’m thinking forty-fifty nice little ranch-style houses. Community center and a gym.” He cast an assessing look on the land. “Probably have room for a tennis court. Maybe an Olympic-size pool.”

Sweat beaded over her lip, and her body vibrated with tension. “Okay, look, I will buy this whole piece of land from you.”

“The whole thing? Land’s pretty expensive here.”