by Lisa Jackson
He looked up again, his piercing sky-blue eyes causing her stupid heart to flutter. “At least this time you didn’t bring that damned rifle.”
“I hoped that I didn’t need it.”
“You don’t.” He offered her a brilliant smile that was meant to dazzle away her worries. It softened her heart, but didn’t quite convince her head that he was on the up-and-up.
“What’re you doing?”
“Taking samples.”
“I can see that, but why?”
“I just want to check the creek. Remember, I did ask for permission.”
“And I didn’t grant it.”
“Right.”
“So you just barged right over here anyway.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and didn’t bother to hide her exasperation.
He grinned again and muttered, “Actually I tried to sneak.”
“In broad daylight? When I was up in the garden?” She smiled despite the headache beginning to pound at the base of her skull. “I’ll admit that I don’t know you very well, but I doubt that you were trying to sneak. You did a much better impersonation of a cat burglar last night.”
The corners of his lips were drawn down and deep furrows lined his tanned brow. “Maybe we’d better not talk about last night.”
Dani couldn’t agree more. “I don’t want to talk about anything. I just want to know why you’re defying me.”
“I don’t like edicts.”
“But this is my land—”
“So I’ve heard. About a hundred times. From you.” He sighed and placed another small vial into his fishing creel before wading downstream deeper into her property.
“I know why you’re here.”
“Sure you do. I told you, I’m taking samples.”
“That’s not the only reason. You’re proving to those men—” she made a sweeping gesture to Johnson’s land where Ben Marx was pretending not to see the ensuing argument “—that I can’t tell you what to do.”
“They have nothing to do with this.”
“Like hell!”
His face went taut, his chin tight with determination. “For once, just trust me.”
“Chase—”
But he was backing up again, watching the water as it rushed into a thicket of brush and trees at the corner of the field. The stand of cottonwood and pine offered the only seclusion and shade in the entire field. Beneath the leafy trees, hidden in the brush, Chase was out of view.
Dani had to walk into the thicket to carry on the conversation. She had to bend to avoid the low branches that caught on her blouse. Chase had stopped between the scraggly cottonwoods clinging to the banks of the stream. Ignoring her, he began once again to take samples of the water.
Furious, Dani stood on a large boulder near the water’s edge. “I thought you understood.” She glanced upstream, but couldn’t see if Chase’s men were watching. The branches offered both shade and privacy as a slight breeze whispered through the canopy of leaves above the creek.
“I do. But this was something I had to do, okay?”
“And leave it at that?”
“For now.”
“No, Chase. No, it’s not okay. Look, I thought you were different from the rest of Caleb’s hands. I thought you would keep to your part of the bargain.”
His muscles tensed and he replied flatly. “My bargain’s with Johnson.”
“I see,” Dani said, her stomach tightening with disappointment. Despite his arguments otherwise, Chase was solidly in Caleb Johnson’s corner. He was the enemy. “Then I think you’d better move it and get out of here because I really am going to call Tim Bennett.”
Chase raised a skeptical brow but continued to work. “He’s the sheriff,” Dani clarified.
“I know who he is. I just don’t give a damn.”
“You’ve certainly got a lot of nerve! More nerve than brains.”
His shoulders slumping slightly, Chase dropped the final vial into his creel and stared up at her. Even enraged, she was beautiful.
Standing on the bank, with the warm morning sunlight drifting through the shimmering leaves of the cottonwood, her arms crossed angrily under her breasts, her chin held high, Dani looked almost regal. She hadn’t bothered to tie her long hair back and it billowed away from her flushed face in the heavy-scented summer breeze. “And you’re gorgeous,” Chase replied, studying the pucker of her lips and the fire in her hazel eyes.
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Sure you do.”
“Calling attention to my looks right now in the middle of this argument is a typical male trick to change the subject!”
“It’s no trick,” he said calmly, wiping his wet hands on his jeans while he stared at her.
Dani’s eyes followed the movement and she had to tear them away from his flat abdomen and the tight faded jeans that rested on his hips.
She licked her dry lips and he smiled; that same lazy, seductive grin that made her heart flutter expectantly. “Just get out of here,” she said, hating the breathless tone of her voice.
“Dani—”
“What?”
“Why don’t you ask me to stay?” He stuffed his gloves in his back pocket and began slowly walking through the knee-deep water and toward the shore.
Her defenses melted and she leaned against the white bark of a cottonwood for support. “Are you always going to fight me?” she asked.
“Only when I have to.” He waded out of the stream and stood next to her, kicking off his boots.
She tried not to notice the way the sweat ran down his throat, or the way his hair curled at his neck, or the fluid movement of his shoulder muscles when he leaned back against one of the lower branches of a scrub oak. “And when is that?” she asked, her throat suddenly tight. “When Caleb tells you to?”
His jaw hardened and he stretched out an arm along the branch to break off a small twig and rotate it between his fingers. “Contrary to what you think, I don’t do everything Caleb suggests.”
“You could have fooled me.”
His eyes stared deep into hers and her chest seemed suddenly tight. Breathing was nearly impossible. “Why do you hate him so much?”
She smiled despite the tension charging the summer air. “Hate’s too strong a word,” she said, remembering that Cody had accused her of hating her neighbor earlier in the morning.
“What would you call it?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“So I gathered.” He cocked his head to the side. “But you never really said why.”
“He’s done a few things that, though I can’t prove . . . I’m convinced—Wait a minute. Why should I tell you?”
“Because I asked. Look, Dani, I’m not against you.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Is it?”
She stared into the honesty of his clear blue eyes and wanted to trust him with all of her heart. Instead she shrugged. “I thought I already explained all that.”
“Not really. Why are you so dead-set against Summer Ridge?”
“I’m not against the resort, not really. I’m against the fact that come hell or high water, Caleb Johnson thinks he can manipulate me into selling my property. It might sound corny, but this land means a lot to me.”
“Meaning that you want a higher price.”
She ran her fingers through her hair and sat near the edge of the stream. Linking her arms around her knees, she stared at the rushing water. “You’d better watch out, McEnroe. You’re starting to sound like him.”
Picking a blade of dry grass and chewing on it, he sat next to her with his bare feet sticking out in front of him, his thighs nearly brushing hers. “So if it’s not money, what’s the problem?”
Dani glanced into his concerned eyes. “Did Caleb tell you I was willing to sell some of the acreage to him?”
“No.”
“About two years ago, I think,” she said remembering the meeting at Caleb’s house. “He’d even agreed to the sale. But then he
changed his mind, he wasn’t satisfied; he wanted the whole farm.”
“And you didn’t want to sell.”
“Not all of it. My great-great-grandparents homesteaded here and I wanted to keep it in the family.” She picked up a handful of dirt and let it slip between her fingers. “This land is all my folks ever had and they worked until they dropped to keep it.”
“So you’ve been preserving the heritage—for what, your son?”
“If he wants it.”
“And what if he doesn’t?”
Dani frowned and clasped her hands together. “I’ve thought about that, and I suppose if Cody inherits it and wants to sell, he has that right.” She pushed the hair out of her eyes and smiled. “It certainly won’t matter to me then.”
“So you don’t trust Caleb because he tried to buy all of your farm.”
She avoided his eyes. “There were other reasons.”
“Name one.”
“I can’t,” she admitted. “It’s just a feeling that I have; nothing I can prove.”
“Prove?” When she didn’t respond, he reached over and touched her cheek with his index finger. “Prove what?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly.
“Dani,” he whispered, pulling her chin so that she was forced to stare into his eyes, “you can trust me.”
“Aren’t you the man who just said he had a bargain with Johnson—not with me?”
His gaze slid to her mouth. “What do you think Caleb has done to you?”
Gambling, she said, “I think he’s done everything he could think of to discredit me, make me sell my land to him and ruin me financially.”
Chase dropped his finger and whistled softly. “Heavy charges.”
“Like I said, there’s nothing I can prove.” She tossed a rock into the creek. “At least not yet. So, how come you’re involved with him?”
“Good question.”
“You went to him when you needed financing.”
“Actually, I’d never laid eyes on him before. But he knew all about me and my company.”
“Isn’t that odd since your company is located in Boise?”
“I don’t know,” Chase admitted, his blue eyes clouding as he pondered the question that had been nagging at him for over two years. “There wasn’t much competition in the business at the time. Relive Inc. had a corner on the stream-rebuilding market and Johnson claimed to have known my mother, before she was married.”
“She’s never mentioned him?”
Chase shook his head. “She’s dead.”
“Oh . . . I’m sorry.”
Shrugging off the uncomfortable feeling that settled on him each time he thought about his mother knowing Caleb, Chase placed his hands behind his head and leaned against the trunk of a cottonwood. “So why don’t you tell me what, specifically, Caleb’s done to make you so damned mad?”
“I don’t think that would be wise.”
“Why?”
“Probably for the same reason you won’t tell me why you decided to ignore my edict, as you called it, and crossed the fence.”
A slow smile spread across his rugged features and his eyes warmed as he looked at her. “Maybe I just wanted to see you again.”
“So you waded in a frigid creek with all those bottles of yours? No way.”
Seductive blue eyes delved into hers. “It worked, didn’t it?” he asked, brushing a golden strand of hair from her cheek and letting his fingers linger at her nape.
Dani’s breath caught somewhere in her throat. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“Probably.” He inched his head closer to hers until the warmth of his breath fanned her face and his arms surrounded her shoulders. With eyes fixed on hers, he leaned closer still, and his lips brushed slowly over hers in an agonizing bittersweet promise that destroyed all her defenses.
I can’t let this happen again, Dani thought, but didn’t stop him. His fingers caressed her arms as he drew her closer, tighter against his chest and she could hear her thundering heartbeat echoing his. When he pressed his mouth over hers and kissed her, she felt the raging passion that had been destroying his nights and driving him insane during the day. Its fire ignited her own blood and it coursed in wild, hot tandem through her trembling body.
His tongue sought and danced with hers and she didn’t protest, but linked her arms around his neck, moaning his name as he unbuttoned her blouse and caressed her breast in slow, sensuous circles that awakened dangerous fires deep within her soul. His hands were warm and comforting against her skin and a fine tremor in his touch told her just how easily his control could slip.
He kissed the top of her breast, letting his tongue wet the lacy edge of her bra and the warm skin peeking through the sheer fabric.
“Please, Chase,” she whispered brokenly, knowing she should break off the embrace but unable to find the strength to do anything but surrender to his lovemaking.
Looking up, he saw the doubt in her eyes. He groaned and rolled away, closing his eyes and mind to the thundering desire.
Dani felt suddenly cold and very much alone.
“Oh, Dani,” he whispered hoarsely, lying on his stomach and willing the swelling in his jeans to subside. “If you only knew what you do to me.” Though his eyes were still closed, he rubbed them with his thumb and finger and massaged the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat along with her pride. “Why are you trying to confuse me?” she asked, her voice raspy as she buttoned her blouse.
“I’m not.”
“Then why don’t you make up your mind?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, Chase. But it sure looks like you’re playing both ends against the middle.”
“Meaning?”
“That one minute you’re telling me that your only allegiance is to Caleb Johnson, a man who’s tried everything he can think of to ruin me, and the next minute you’re . . . you’re . . . acting like you care for me!”
“It’s not an act,” he admitted. “I do care for you. Too much, I think.”
She smiled sadly. “I wish I could believe you.”
“Just trust me—”
The same old words! Trust me! Sadness sizzled into anger. Anger at her twisted emotions and anger at him for confusing her. “Trust you? How can I? I don’t believe in blind trust, Chase.” Not since Blake left me. “You promised that you’d stay off my land and leave me alone. The minute my back was turned you were here again, digging in the mud and taking water from the creek.”
“Dani—”
“I’m not through!”
“Just wait a minute! Listen to you! Why do you care if I’m on your land? I’m not hurting a damned thing!”
She was trembling with passion and rage, confusing the two, wishing that she’d never laid eyes on the enigma that was Chase McEnroe. “Not hurting anything?” she repeated. “Well, maybe not yet! But you’re working for Johnson and God only knows what he’s got up his sleeve!”
She started to get up but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him. “You know, you act like you’ve got something to hide.”
“Me!” She laughed at the absurdity of the situation but couldn’t help being mesmerized by his gaze. “Why don’t you go track down your boss? Ask him about my dead cattle. Ask him about the time I was going to sell off part of the property to him. Ask him about my hay baler! And ask him about the time he tried to siphon off all the water in Grizzly Creek for his private lake!”
She wrenched her arm free and stood staring down at him. She was shaking with rage. “For all I know, you’re just part of one of Caleb’s schemes. I wouldn’t put it past him. He probably asked you to come over here and try to work your way into my confidence by any means possible!”
Chase’s square jaw tightened and his clear eyes clouded when he remembered Caleb’s suggestion that he bed Dani. He tried not to let his thoughts show, but his very silenc
e was incriminating.
“Oh my God, Caleb is behind this, isn’t he?” she guessed, feeling suddenly sick. She could read the evidence in Chase’s eyes. Bitterly she turned away in disgust and self-loathing overwhelmed her. “And it’s laughable what easy prey I am!”
“What happened between us has nothing to do with Johnson,” Chase said, rising to his feet.
“Like hell!” She backed into a tree and stood looking at him. Her face was pale, her expression stricken. “Just get off my property and don’t ever come back!”
“Dani—”
“You’re a bastard,” she said. “A first-class A-1 bastard, and I never . . . never want you to set foot on this place again!”
“You’re making a mistake,” he said slowly. A muscle worked in his jaw and the skin over his forearms tightened.
“Not nearly as bad as the one I almost made.”
He pushed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and looked upstream through the leafy overhanging branches of the trees to the fence and beyond, where his men and machinery were still in position on Johnson’s property. When he turned to her again, he was able to control some of his rage. “I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“Good. Then we can both forget that it did.”
“I want to help you,” he admitted, and the torture in his voice almost convinced her. But not quite.
“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. Now just get the hell off my property!” Reaching down, she scooped up his fishing creel. “And take all of this with you!” She threw it at him, but the toss went wild. Chase scrambled to catch it, but the creel fell on the rocks near the bank. The glass within the wicker basket tinkled and shattered. Mud and water started trickling through the woven bottom of the creel.
“No!” Chase was horrified. He picked up the creel and opened the lid, eyeing the shattered vials, oblivious to the water running through the wicker and down his jeans. “Do you realize what you’ve done?” he accused, fire returning to his eyes as he looked up at her. “Every vial is ruined!”
“I don’t really give a damn!”
He let the creel fall to the ground and advanced upon her. “What was in those jars might just have been the evidence you need!”
“Evidence?”
“That Caleb isn’t on the up-and-up!”
