Darci almost smiled. Some things never changed. He’d done the same thing when she was ten years old and he’d just pulled some prank. He always waited, watched to see what she’d do. She’d learned young to bury those reactions and never let him or anyone else see what she was feeling.

She brushed a hand across her blond hair, checking the neatness of the tight chignon she wore to work, trying to buy a few seconds to gather her wits. She hadn’t seen Cole in thirteen years, but she’d never quite gotten over that schoolgirl crush. He still made her pulse race and her body temperature rise with little more than a look from his smoldering eyes.

“What are you doing here, Cole? Last I heard, you were in Wyoming, trying to heal another broken bone.”

She winced at her words. He didn’t need to know that she had followed his career, that she’d saved every newspaper clipping and magazine article since he’d started riding the rodeo circuit. The scrapbook bulged with his successes, and she secretly hoarded her treasure, still dreaming little-girl dreams late at night when she was alone.

He shifted, and she noted the flash of pain that darted across his face. The papers had said it could be a careerending injury, that the hip joint might never completely heal. She wanted to reach out, needed to comfort him, but knew she’d be flatly rejected.

“I want the company, Darci. I’ve come to buy out your shares and take over like I was meant to.”

The words landed on her ears with the force of a small bombshell. This was her company. She’d run it for the past two years, without help, without guidance. Now he wanted to just waltz in and take it away? Her jaw tightened as determination flooded through her. She was the one who had worked late, lost sleep and tried to keep things afloat. Alone, with no help and little guidance.

“This is my office, Cole. And if you’ll notice, it says president on the door.”

“I own as many shares as you do. And I have as much right, if not more, as you to sit in that chair.”

The glittering anger in his eyes should have warned her, but she was fighting for everything she’d allowed herself to dream of. Standing, she braced her clenched fists on the desk as she leaned forward.

“You’ve never shown the slightest interest. The only way we even knew you were alive was when the dividend checks came back with your signature on them.” She gulped, trying to swallow the emotions roiling through her. “And when your daddy was sick, you made no effort to see him.” Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “You didn’t even come to your own father’s funeral.”