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her the full benefit of his dimple.
    Flustered, Chloe searched for an answer and failed to find one. “I don’t know what you enjoy, Mr. Jones, nor am I interested enough to find out.” There, that ought to put him in his place, she thought smugly.
    It did nothing of the sort. Instead, he moved so close to her, she caught an intoxicating whiff of cigar smoke and musk. Her gaze was drawn to his, but she couldn’t stand the tension and quickly looked away.
    “I’m
very
interested in learning what you enjoy, Miss Sommers,” Desperado said in a voice so full of promise Chloe found it difficult to breathe. Instinctively she knew this man was dangerous. In more ways than the obvious.
    “You never said where I’m to bed down,” Desperado went on when Chloe continued to stare at him with a combination of fascination and fear.
    Finally finding her tongue, Chloe said, “I never said you were hired, Mr. Jones. Perhaps I no longer need a hired gun.”
    Desperado’s knowing gaze made a slow sweep of the area, lingering a telling moment on a group of cowboys engaged in various chores. When his inspection was complete he turned back to Chloe, his expression far too smug for her liking.
    “What did you do, empty out the schoolroom?” he asked, jerking his head toward the cowboys, who had stopped working to stare at him and Chloe.
    Chloe’s mouth thinned. She wasn’t about to tell him they were the only ones willing to hire on. She suspected Talbot had scared off all the experienced men, hoping that her herd would never reach the railhead. “They’re old enough to drive cattle, that’s all I care about.”
    “Those two over by the barn look to be about sixteen,” Desperado observed. “And those two walking across the yard can’t even be that old. How many drovers have you hired?”
    “Twelve. Do you have a problem with that?”
    “Are any over sixteen?” Desperado probed relentlessly.
    “A few.”
    “One…two?”
    “Dammit, what business is it of yours? I’m doing the best I can.”
    “I’m just trying to prove that you
do
need me, Miss Sommers. These young pups are incapable of defending your herd. You offered me a job today and I’ve decided to accept. How much does it pay?”
    “Fifty dollars a month and found.”
    Desperado nearly laughed in her face. The pay was chicken feed compared to what Talbot was paying him. “This should be a prosperous ranch. Why is everything in disrepair?” Desperado knew his father hadn’t been a wealthy man, but neither had he been a poor one. Their taxes had always been paid on time, with money left over to make repairs when needed.
    “The drought a few years back was hard on us. The water dried up and we lost most of our herd. And Mama never was good with money. Somehow the inheritance my stepfather left her slipped through her fingers. I’m trying to turn the last disastrous years around and make a profit this year. My hard work will have paid off once I sell my herd and pay the taxes. I’m not going to lose my land,” she said fiercely.
    Desperado’s dark brows slanted downward. Hearing Chloe speak so possessively of
his
inheritance gave him a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. And learning how Norie had dribbled away his father’s money gave him another reason to hold a grudge against the Sommers women. Nothing was going to give him back his inheritance, but he could make damn sure Norie’s daughter wasn’t the one to enjoy the fruits of his father’s labors.
    “Fifty dollars will do just fine,” he said, “but I’ll expect fringe benefits.” His eyes glinted with a predatory light.
    Chloe went still, but the wary look in her green eyes gave mute testimony to her confusion. “F-f-fringe benefits? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    Desperado’s grin was anything but comforting as he cupped her cheek in his callused palm. “Think about it,” he said in a raspy whisper most women found hard to resist. He dropped his hand and his