The unremarkable jeans and T-shirt she must have put on when the alarm sounded only emphasized the gorgeous mold of her body and long legs.
First light had already crept across the sky. That pink tone added a tint to her skin and highlighted the shape of the delectable mouth he’d dreamed of kissing and tasting every night.
Her hair hung to her shoulders. He picked out the streaks of gold among the light chestnut sheen no artificial color could improve upon. Once again her natural beauty took his breath.
Maybe she heard his quickly indrawn breath because her eyes suddenly swerved to his. Though she made no motion of any kind, he could sense the stiffening of her body.
“I’m sorry about the fire, Tamsin, but I’m happy to see all your horses are safe. If you need a place to stall them for a while, I have space in my barn and will transport them for you. I’ve already informed the captain. All you have to do is say the word and I’ll be back to load them within the hour.”
“Thank you,” she said through wooden lips. “We’ve already had three offers and my brother-in-law is taking care of the arrangements as we speak.”
“Tamsin—” He said her name again, but by now another man with brown hair wearing chinos and a polo shirt had come running into the corral and threw possessive arms around her as if she belonged to him. Cole watched her melt against his body. She’d obviously done it before and buried her face against his shoulder.
If this was the kind of peril Sally had been talking about, then Cole got the point. It was more like he’d been run through by Tamsin’s twelve-foot lance on the field of battle. He turned away and walked back to the burned barn where Wyatt was waiting for him.
The ladder truck had already started back to town. Cole climbed in the tender truck and they took off. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
Wyatt flashed him a side glance. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. Ask me in the morning.”
“It already is morning.”
So it was.
“Do you want to stop for coffee and doughnuts at Hilda’s?”
No, but he knew Wyatt wanted to. “Sure. I could use both. Does this mean you don’t have a wife at home who will fix your breakfast when you get there?”
“What woman would that be?”
Cole actually chuckled. “Amen to that. You’ve just described my life, Wyatt. A half hour ago I was warned that if I approached the woman I was looking for, I had to do it at my own peril. That turned out to be true, unfortunately.”
“You’re talking about Tamsin. I remember back in high school when you two were so close during our senior year, I couldn’t imagine that changing.”
“At the time, I couldn’t, either. Now we live in separate universes.”
“So that’s why you came back to the truck looking like one of the walking dead.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey—have you taken a good look at me? We could be brothers. Welcome to the club. We’re great at wrangling steers, herding sheep or fighting fires. Give us any task, but get us around a woman and we just don’t know how to do it right.”
“You said a mouthful.”
“I don’t mean you, specifically, Cole. I’ve been a mess for a long time and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There are more guys like us in the department. Take Porter Ewing, who’s a recent transfer with the forest service from New York. He swings in when needed. The dude’s convinced there’s no woman alive who would want him.”
Cole laughed out loud despite the pain of seeing Tamsin in that other guy’s arms. He’d always liked Wyatt. His sense of humor was a welcome balm to the horrific experience he’d just lived through. Only one thing saved him from oblivion. She wasn’t married yet.
Welcome home, Cole.
Copyright © 2018 by Rebecca Winters
ISBN-13: 9781488082306
Twins for the Rancher
Copyright © 2018 by Trish Milburn
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