“OKAY, WHAT WAS that all about?” Ida asked when the others had gone.

He chuckled. “Just heading off trouble.”

“Mina’s not forward,” she said, her eyes curious. “She’d never chase you.”

“I’m making sure. Do you mind?” he added.

She smiled sadly. “No, of course not.”

“Why do you think she’s going places with McGuire?” he asked shortly.

She blinked. “Well, because she likes him, I suppose.”

“He’s filthy rich,” he returned. “Even richer than her cousin Rogan.”

“Both of them put together wouldn’t equal half your net worth,” she pointed out, keeping her voice low so that she wasn’t overheard.

“Nobody around here knows that,” he replied. His face tautened. “I’ve been hunted like an elk by women for years. I got jaded, I guess. I don’t mind paying my way, but there’s a limit. I wanted to be liked for myself, not my wallet.”

“I’ve had the same problem,” she confessed on a sigh. “So I developed this scandalous reputation that puts most men off. With an exception here and there,” she mused, eyeing him.

He chuckled. “Well, I did take the reputation at face value, just at first.”

“I noticed.”

He cocked his head and studied her. “You really are beautiful,” he remarked quietly.

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“You could marry me, you know,” he said. “At least I’d be sure it wasn’t for what I had.”

She slid her hand over his on the table. “That’s very flattering and I appreciate the offer. But I’m done with marriage.” She pulled her hand back. “Never again.” Her eyebrows rose. “And you’ve been looking for a wife in all the worst places,” she added. “Models and actresses and debutantes aren’t looking for a man who digs postholes and babies calves.”

He chuckled. “I suppose not.” He had a sudden picture of Mina on her horse, holding the orphaned calf in front of her on the saddle. It made a warm place inside him. “But most women in that category aren’t rich. Some of them are predators and they can put on a good act. I’ve been with women who swore they were virgins.” He gave her a droll look. “And they never were.”

“I was, when I first married,” she said. “My husband never touched me. I felt absolutely worthless as a woman. After he died and I was rich with what he left me, I was infatuated with a man who seemed like the toughest, manliest man alive. So I married him.” She shivered. “I’d never really believed all those stories I heard about brutal men. I do now,” she said coldly. “I believe every word.”

He shook his head. “What a hell of a shame they don’t still have public stocks for men like that.”

“Jail is much better. My ex-husband is residing in a state prison for assault and battery. He killed another inmate five months into his sentence, so he’ll never get out now.” She smiled, a smile that was icy and never reached her eyes. “I like to think of him being some other inmate’s significant other.”