In light of that, her poor credit card could take this last flight, or so she hoped, but it would certainly max out soon and she’d be left with nothing in case of emergency.

Which made her laugh. An emergency.

What else could happen?

“I paid for the tickets already,” Cade told her. It was morning and they were on their way to the airport.

Her sisters had offered her money, too, when neither of them could afford this any more than she could. The ranch was on its way to solvency, but they were still deeply in the red. They wouldn’t even begin to recoup until summer, when business should pick up.

“No.” Delia refused to be a charity case, as she had for most of her life. “No, thank you,” she said firmly, staring out the car window and watching the stark white landscape fly by. “I pay my own way.”

“It’s too late.” He spoke mildly, but there was steel in his voice. “I already arranged it.”

“Cade-”

“Let me do this, Delia.” His large hands flexed on the steering wheel and he flashed her a quick burning look before returning his gaze to the road. “It’s the least I can do.”

Why? she wondered.

Because he refused to give her what she really wanted, which had nothing to do with his wallet? The thought stopped her cold. All her life she’d told herself she wanted security. And all her life she’d told herself that meant a certain social status. Financial stability. She’d even joked about finding her prince.

But that made her a fortune hunter and no better than her own unsympathetic mother.

She hated that thought. She was like her own mother.

No, she reminded herself, she was finding that wasn’t true at all. She’d thought she wanted those things, but in the end, it had nothing to do with money. It was about security of the heart.

It was a hell of a time to realize that, when she wanted so much more than Cade could give. And knowing his past, she certainly couldn’t blame him for his inability to give it. He’d loved his wife and child with all his heart, and now that heart was broken, without room for more love.

And that was okay.

No, that was a lie, too, a painful one. She might have hidden a lot of truths from her sisters, but with herself she’d always been brutally honest. And what she wanted from Cade scared her to death.

Everything about him scared her to death, and because of that, she wanted to fight him on the money issue. She needed to fight him, but she was exhausted from their last run of guests and the lack of sleep she’d experienced from thinking too much. “I’m paying you back,” she said stubbornly.

Cade’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing until they were on the plane.

When they’d hit full altitude, he turned toward her, put his hands on either armrest so that she was caged in by him and leaned close. “How long are you going to pull this ‘I’m too strong to need you’ act?”

Her stomach fell, and it had nothing to do with the altitude. “I don’t need you.”

His response was a low obscenity. “You’re good to go, right, Delia? Strong enough to take on the world, screw those who care about you.”

“Cade-”

“How long until you break down and admit that this is all too much for one person to handle and that it’s okay to lean on someone?”

“Who would I lean on?” she asked in a polite voice so he wouldn’t know how deeply he’d cut. She was strong enough, damn him. She leveled him with a look that would have withered any other male. Not Cade, who just met her gaze evenly. Steadily. Patiently.

“Your sisters for starters,” he suggested.

With a huge sigh, she broke eye contact. “I can’t,” she mumbled, feeling the shame heat her face.

“Why the hell not?”

She studied the cloud formation.

“Delia.”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I lied to them about the trouble I might have getting custody, okay? I couldn’t stand the thought of failure or the fact that I’ve made nothing of my life, so much so that I couldn’t even get custody of my own brother.”

“Oh, Delia.” With a gentleness that nearly broke her, he forced her to look at him. “You aren’t looking at yourself very clearly if you honestly believe that.”

“You’re the one with rose-colored glasses here, Cade.”

“You’re the most amazing woman. I wish you could see you the way I do.”

Embarrassed, she scoffed and tried to look away, but he held her, and in his touch she found the oddest thing. Comfort. In his voice she found honesty and an affection that made her swallow hard. “How do you see me?”

“As a woman strong and capable, yet warm and full of passion for life. You’re incredible, Delia.”

She turned away, she had to, for he’d touched her deeply, and embarrassed her, too.

“No, listen to me,” he said urgently. “I know your life hasn’t been easy, you’ve certainly never been given any advantages, and yet look at you. By sheer grit and hard work, you’ve made a life for yourself and your sisters. You run a guest ranch, for God’s sake. You’re still in control, Delia. You can do this.”

“Can I?” she whispered.

“Yeah. Oh, yeah.” His voice was strong and sure. It was full of a pride that made her want to believe him just to prove herself worthy of his trust.

“Delia…what about me?” His gaze held hers, his fingers stroked her cheek. “During those times when you can’t always be strong, when you need someone, why can’t you come to me?”

“I think that’s pretty obvious, considering you’re the one who runs as fast as he can every time we get too close.”

The golden specks in his eyes danced with a sudden heat. “I’m not running now,” he whispered.

“Running now would be detrimental to your health,” she said, glancing outside. But damn him, she was breathless. Just one touch and she was leaning toward him, oblivious to the passengers around them, hoping, craving, nearly begging for his mouth to meet hers.

“Delia,” he said. Just that, just her name on a little sigh as he kissed her lightly. “I think I have a problem.” His mouth touched hers again. “You.”

That had her spine stiffening, even as her mouth tingled from his kiss. “I’m no one’s problem. And I’m not going to fall apart. I don’t ever fall apart.” Turning away, she stared out the window, watching her mountains vanish as she headed back to her city.

The man beside her remained silent as she watched her two worlds mesh.

They drove directly to Scott’s office, but Cade could think of little else other than Delia.

She was an enigma, cool, sophisticated, elegant. And yet much of that was just a front for the woman beneath, the woman he was beginning to know better than he’d ever intended.

She had a heart of gold, though she’d probably freeze him over with one hard gaze if he dared to tell her so. She was the strongest, most compassionate, most vulnerable woman he’d ever met.

And he wanted her with everything he had.

What a mess. He’d told himself he’d never again open up his heart, not after suffering the loss of his precious family for eight long years.

Eight long years.

But didn’t he, maybe just a little, deserve some happiness?

Delia didn’t say a word as they were ushered into Scott’s office.

He was on the phone when they entered, and though Scott didn’t seem pleased to see them, he hung up and smiled politely. “Hello.”

“You haven’t been honest with me,” Delia said calmly before Cade could speak. “You want custody of Jacob and you never told me.”

“Why should I have?” He folded his hands and watched her with unreadable eyes. “You showed up out of the blue wanting Jacob. I couldn’t be expected to trust that you were who you said you were.”

“I showed up out of the blue,” Delia responded, “because I didn’t know Jacob existed until Cade started researching my past for the Triple M. And once I did come into the picture, you knew exactly who I was. You had me checked out before you approved visitation with Jacob.”