“There was a fire last month,” Ivy said, following his gaze. “An attack. That’s why I want to make sure another one doesn’t happen.”
He wanted the same thing, especially since Theo had read about that attack. His sister had been the target, and even though the guy was now dead, he’d clearly left his mark.
“I’ll have Gabriel come back here.” Ivy put the rifle on the top shelf of the storage closet, took out her phone from her jeans pocket, and sent off a text.
Theo had another look around, shut the back door and then glanced out the single window that was in the small room. Ivy reached for the light switch to turn it on, but he stopped her. Of course, that meant touching her, and he got another sucker punch of the old heat.
A third sucker punch when their gazes met.
She didn’t say anything, but Theo thought maybe she had felt it, too. He also thought maybe she was fighting to push it away as hard as he was. Yes, she was a widow, but after everything they’d gone through, she probably didn’t want to have another round with him any more than he did with her.
“It’s not a good idea to be this close to a window,” Theo insisted. And yes, he whispered. “We should at least get down.”
She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip for a couple of seconds. A gesture he’d seen her do so many times. Nerves. But she finally ducked down so that her head wouldn’t be anywhere near the glass. Theo ducked, too, but he stayed high enough so he could continue to glance out and make sure the killer wasn’t sneaking up on them.
The moments crawled by, and with each one of them Theo became well aware of the close contact between them. It was hard to fight the attraction and the old memories when they were this close. And when he caught her scent.
Hell.
For just a split second, the image of her naked body flashed into his head.
Thankfully, the image didn’t stay. It vanished when he heard the voice and the sound of footsteps. It was yet another voice he recognized. Gabriel’s.
Theo braced himself for whatever Gabriel might dole out. He could just order Theo out of there, but Gabriel barely spared him a glance when he stepped into the doorway. That’s because he was on his phone, and he took his sister by the arm and moved her out of the mudroom and into the adjacent kitchen.
Once Gabriel had done that, he finished his call, slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket and finally looked at Theo. This time, it was more than a glance.
“What the hell did you do? Who did you bring with you?” Gabriel demanded. But he didn’t give Theo a chance to answer. “One of the ranch hands just called. He spotted an armed man crawling over the back fence, and the man’s making his way to the house right now.”
Don’t miss
GUNFIRE ON THE RANCH by Delores Fossen,
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Copyright © 2017 Delores Fossen
ISBN-13: 9781488096204
Just a Little Bit Dangerous
First published as Just a Little Bit Dangerous by Silhouette Intimate Moments in 2002
This edition published in 2018 (Delete if applicable)
Copyright © 2002 by Linda Castillo.
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