It’s hard to forget a beautiful woman who picks your pocket the first time you meet. Darby Cahill recognizes Mariah Ayres the moment she walks into his bar looking for a job. He shouldn’t hire her…or crave more after one impulsive kiss. But what starts as curiosity about her motives turns to concern when he senses how much danger she’s in. Mariah has been running ever since she left her fiancé at the altar. Now she’s playing the part of the perfect employee, terrified that her past will catch up with her. But Darby has already seen through her act. He’s the kind of guy who saves people. And even if Mariah’s given him no reason to trust her, he’s determined to protect her—and he’ll risk his life to do it…

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Darby Cahill adjusted his Stetson as he moved toward the bandstand. The streets of Gilt Edge, Montana, were filled with revelers who’d come to celebrate the yearly chokecherry harvest on this beautiful day. The main street had been blocked off for all the events. People had come from miles around for the celebration of a cherry that was so tart it made your mouth pucker.

As he climbed the steps, Darby figured it just proved that people would celebrate anything. Normally, his twin sister, Lillie, attended, but this year she was determined that he should do more of their promotion at these events.

“I hate it as much as you do,” she’d assured him. “But believe me. You’ll get more attention up there on the stage than me. Just say a few words, throw T-shirts into the crowd, have some fry bread and come home. You can do this.” Clearly, she knew his weakness for fry bread as well as his dislike of being the center of attention.

The T-shirts were from the Stagecoach Saloon, the bar and café the two of them owned and operated outside of town. Since it had opened, the bar had helped sponsor the Chokecherry Festival each year.

He heard his name being announced and sighed as he made his way up the rest of the steps to the microphone to deafening applause. He tipped his hat to the crowd, swallowed the lump in his throat and said, “It’s an honor to be here and be part of such a wonderful celebration.”

“Are you taking part in the pit-spitting competition?” someone yelled from the crowd, and others joined in. Along with being bitter, chokecherries were mostly pit.

“I’m going to leave that to the professionals,” he said, reaching for the box of T-shirts, wanting this over with as quickly as possible. He didn’t like being in the spotlight any longer than he had to. Also he hoped that once he started throwing the shirts, everyone would forget about the pit-spitting contest later.

He was midthrow when he spotted a woman in the crowd. What had caught his eye was the brightly colored scarf around her dark hair. It fluttered in the breeze, giving him only glimpses of her face.

He let go and the T-shirt sailed through the air as if caught on the breeze. He saw with a curse that it was headed right for the woman. Grimacing, he watched the rolled-up T-shirt clip the woman’s shoulder.

She looked up, clearly startled. He had the impression of serious dark eyes, full lips. Their gazes locked for an instant and he felt something like lightning pierce his heart. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Rooted to the spot, all he could hear was the drumming of his heart, the roaring crowd a dull hum in the background.

Someone behind the woman in the crowd scooped up the T-shirt and, scarf fluttering, the woman turned away, disappearing into the throng of people.

What had that been about? His heart was still pounding. What had he seen in those bottomless dark eyes that left him…breathless? He knew what Lillie would have said. Love at first sight, something he would have scoffed at—just moments ago.

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Born in Texas, B.J. has lived in Montana since she was five years old. A New York Times and USA Today bestseller, Daniels writes for both Harlequin Intrigue and HQN. She has won numerous writing awards, including a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times.

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