"What are you looking so furious about?" she asked in confusion.
"You. I should never have let you go back down."
Her mouth relaxed and a warm concern entered her eyes. She lifted a scratched and bruised hand and ran her fingertip along his cheek.
"You've had one heck of a worry, haven't you?"
"You're covered in head-to-toe bruises. I've never seen such a body."
"Thanks, glad you noticed." She grinned at him and stretched languidly, apparently not adverse to showing him more of it.
He tried to look annoyed, but his lips twitched.
"You're not getting out of it that easy." He indicated the tray. "I brought you water for tea. But first you should get into the tub, take away the sting of those bruises."
"The tea will get cold."
"It'll keep. Come on."
She sat up and pulled the covers with her. "Awful bossy, aren't we?" she queried mockingly. "However, I will let you have your way for the moment."
He picked up a large blue robe and turned to her. "By the way, the rest of your brothers showed up early this morning."
"All of my brothers are here?" she squeaked. "Did they give you a hard time?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," he assured her.
She arched a brow at him, opening her eyes wide. "You handled my brothers?"
"That’s right. I understand your parents are already on their way here, too. Come on, I've got the bath ready." Without looking at her, he held out the robe and she slipped into it and followed him into the bathroom. The small room was steamy, the floor-to-ceiling mirror fogged. He turned to leave, doing his level best not to look at her. She needed time to heal.
"Sloan, wait." She was looking at the over large bathtub, a doubtful expression on her face. "My legs are terribly sore." She pulled the robe aside and exposed a bruise high on her thigh. "I don't know if I can get in by myself."
He muffled a curse. "I'll help you," he said grimly. Again, he reminded himself she was bruised and he should put his lustful thoughts aside.
He almost lost his control when she dropped the robe off her shoulders, down to her waist, and finally to her feet. He groaned, and tried to cover the sound by clearing his throat.
She lifted her hair from her shoulders with both hands and threaded her fingers through it as she stood naked in front of him. She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Can you help me?"
He grunted in response, it was all he could manage.
She leaned heavily against him as he helped her into the bath. The water was warm. With a moan, she leaned back and closed her eyes.
"Okay now?" he asked as he backed away. He didn't know how much more he could stand of this.
"No, my hair...it's going to get all wet and it'll take forever to dry." He frowned at her. He had never heard her whine before. Her eyes were closed as she plucked fretfully at her hair. "Could you help me? My fingers are sore."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Tie my hair back. Do you have a rubber band?" She lifted several strands where they had fallen on her breast. His mouth went dry. She peeked up at him. "Please?"
With an almost inaudible groan, he sat on the edge of the tub. "Turn around."
She twisted slightly so he had better access to her hair. He looked at the curve of her neck, its slender arch. The lightly tanned skin of her back begged for his lips, as did the delicate shaping of a rounded shoulder as it curved down to her breasts.
He looked at the wall, ignoring the tightening of his body. She shivered and he couldn’t help but notice the goose bumps spread down her arms.
"I have goose bumps," she said, a laugh in her voice.
His hands went still in her hair as his eyes ran over her body, seeing every single goose bump.
"Are you through?" she asked breathlessly.
"I don't have any rubber bands."
She ran her fingers over her collarbone and between her breasts. He stood. He’d had enough.
"This bath feels so good," she said softly. She swept her hand through the water and splattered him from his neck to the floor. "...doesn't it?" she added.
He saw the mischievous smile on her face and knew she had been playing him all along. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with not looking at her...
"Here I am trying to be a nice guy." Slowly unsnapping his wet shirt, he tossed it into the corner. Standing on one foot, he removed first one boot, then the other. "I'm not usually so slow, Jacie."
Her gaze openly admired him. "Took you long enough," she jeered softly.
He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and jerked. The jeans landed in a crumpled heap. His boxer shorts followed.
"My word," she said, fluttering her lashes.
"Lady, you better hope this thing is big enough for both of us," he warned as he slid into her arms. The water sloshed dangerously close to the tub rim.
"I think we’ve already established that," she said coyly.
Ω
Sloan handed Jacie a cup of steaming tea and sat on the couch beside her. She took a sip, then leaned her head back against his chest. His heart beat steady and strong, like him, she reflected.
"I was trying to be considerate," he murmured. "I put you in the guest room when I saw the shape you were in." He’d helped her undress the night before and it was all he could do to keep his mouth shut at the bruising she had taken. He lifted one of her hands. "And your hands, they're a mess."
"I'm fine." She placed her cup on a table behind the couch, then trailed her fingers across his jaw, liking the rasp of his whiskers.
"I wanted you to take it easy today."
"I didn't need consideration or gentleness earlier. It's a sorry thing when I have to seduce you."
"I enjoyed it." He cupped a bruise in the hollow of her shoulder and frowned. "This is serious, when I think of the risk..."
"Sloan," she said gently, "please stop. It’s over." She sat up. "Brad is okay, right?"
He nodded, his mouth grim. "Yes, you were both damn lucky. They set his arm and operated on the gun wound."
"I'm relieved he's okay. He prevented Bonnie from shooting me."
His palm slid down to her wrist and his mouth touched several scratches on her neck. Heart racing, she arched forward, letting him pull her gently against him.
"I think it’s time you told me everything about Brad and Angel Falls." His beautiful eyes were on her.
"The helicopter pilot should have been on standby, but Brad had released him prematurely. They radioed him back, but it took four hours. While I was in the tree the wind came up and I thought I'd fall before he got there. They got it all on film." She clenched her hands. "Brad used that footage."
"I watched the video," he said grimly.
"I've never seen it."
"What about Carlton?"
"I never saw him." She clenched her hands. "I have to let it go, it's past history. Brad's been history for a long while. It just wasn't right. I have him to thank for cutting it off a year ago." She grimaced. "If he had hung on, I might have settled for a lot less. I’m not happy admitting that either."
"Abandoning you, you mean?" he cut in, a hard line to his jaw.
"Whatever..." she shrugged. "It's over, before it began, really. I still can’t believe after the last year, Bonnie’s friendship was nothing more than a way to access my private information."
"Apparently, you’re not the first person she’s run a scam on. They don’t even know yet if that was her real name."
"I guess it's lucky I'm weak," she said smugly.
He raised his brows skeptically. "You?"
"When Brad walked out, I told myself not to trust in any man's smile again. It took me a while to sort out the difference between you two. Good thing I've got a soft spot for cowboys."
"Make that cowboy and I'll agree," he said with a grin.
She stretched. "Well, it's over and done with. It's a great release."
"Does this mean you're going back to your family's bus
iness?"
She opened her mouth, but he forestalled her. "Wait, let me get this out. I might not be crazy about your line of work, but I know how important it is to you. I'll work through it. Somehow, I was seeing you and my mom in the same mold...risk-takers, period. I know now that's not true. You're a responsible adult and you’re good at the job you do. God knows I don't want to talk you out of staying, Jacie, but this is a pretty quiet place, not much happens here."
She raised her brows. "You're kidding, right?"
"Let me put it this way, quiet until you arrived." He smiled and then sobered. "I won't ask you to walk away from skydiving because it's not on my agenda. I don't want that spilling over into our relationship. If skydiving is what you have to do, then I'll be there for you."
She blinked hard, emotion closing her throat. Sloan was a man who wanted stability, maybe a family life. He thought he would have to forego that, thinking such a step was necessary to make her happy. "I've had that career, still have it, if I want it. The idea has gone over pretty good right here. The thing is, I'm not willing to forfeit you.
"When I hung upside down in that tree, I saw every small detail of my life, like a video rolling. I've done a lot of things, been a lot of places, and yet I never really belonged.
"They say I was unconscious; I don't remember. I could have died, but I didn't. My whole life is ahead of me, the possibilities are endless. Life doesn't add up to much if you don't share it with someone special," she ended fervently. "If that's all I've learned, I count it as the most important."
"You're one hell of a woman, Jacie."
He wrapped her close, then loosened his arms with an apology.
Having none of that, she pulled him back. "I've told you, I'm tougher than I look, even though you once said a strong wind could blow me away." She poked her fingers through the opening of his shirt.
He grabbed her fingers. "That first night I came to your cabin you looked like death warmed over when I turned your light on."
"So it was you."
"I wouldn't let anyone else over there, not even James." Ruefully, he shook his head. "When I caught you coming out of the shower, I was lost."
"Don't be misled. I am tough."
"You don't have to be tough with me. Just be Jacie." He set her away from him. "There's one last thing we have to clear up," he said brusquely. Before she could get alarmed, he continued, "We have to get married. My reputation is at risk since a lot of people saw me bring you in here last night. Not to mention your family knows you’re staying here. The most important factor, of course, is that I love you."
Jacie wanted to laugh and she wanted to cry. He looked so serious, this man she loved. "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"
"No, just desperately optimistic."
"Well, you're in luck. I'm a romantic at heart, and I can’t envision a better happy ending than marrying the man I love." She looked at him with raised brows. "By the way, where are my brothers? I’m surprised they’re not knocking down the door."
"My dad convinced them to help him round up the herd, which is by now scattered far and wide."
Jacie started laughing. "You’re really in trouble now."
"I kind of figured that when my Dad started giving your brothers instruction on which side of the horse to mount. I think we’d better drive out and break the news to your family before there’s a serious injury."
Jacie pressed her mouth to his. "Okay," she murmured, "but I need another kiss before we leave. I’m feeling neglected."
Sloan grinned. "You realize, of course, I won’t stop at one kiss."
"I’m counting on it." And she was right.
§ Epilogue §
"Relax," Jacie said.
Some part of Sloan’s brain heard Jacie's raised voice above the noise of the plane's engine.
"Don't think about the distance to the ground, just think about soaring on a current of air. You'll love it. I won't let go of you."
He looked at the ground far below them, knowing he would love it once he was on terra firma. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can’t believe I’m doing it in a tuxedo!" he yelled as together they jumped from the small plane. Immediately, her satin wedding dress billowed up to her waist, exposing her skin-tight white spandex leggings. They held hands as they spun slowly in the sky, first one way and then the other.
He released his chute and they were pulled upwards. Their landing was effortless, right on target in the midst of cheering family, friends, and the minister who waited to marry them.
Jacie looked at Sloan, noticing that although he seemed to have made a good landing, he was now sitting on the grass, hands on his knees and staring at the ground.
She bent down and looked into his face. "Sloan, are you okay?"
He looked up at her and gave her a slow grin. "I sure am, sweetheart, although I think I've got grass stains on my tux. Call the pilot back, we'll have to do it again after the ceremony."
§ THE END §
Women of Character Series
Excerpt Wishing on a Rodeo Moon
Someday, that bull would kill someone. Tye Jenkins just knew it. She straddled the top rail of the bull chute as old Hit Man moved restlessly from side to side.
Tye let her gaze roam the rodeo yard. Her heart jumped like a young colt on a brisk morning as she stared, transfixed, at a dark-haired man. Jake Miller. He stood close by, a cocky look of assurance on his lean face. He was a head taller than most of the men around him, a stranger in business clothes among mud-spattered cowboys. His suit looked expensive, not the most common attire down by the pens. She had never before seen him dressed like that, yet he carried it off with nonchalance and elegance. He stood, feet planted on ground churned up by countless boots and three days of rain, his dark head bare to the falling mist. Tye didn’t try to stop the smile spreading across her face. Only Jake could pull off a suit at a rodeo in the drizzling rain.
She hadn’t seen or heard from Jake in ten years, not since that terrible night she’d left. He’d showed up now, the night she planned to remember for the rest of her life―the night she’d make the rodeo finals. With the bittersweet knowledge of the past firmly in her mind, Tye sensed it was fitting Jake should be here to see her triumph.
Even knowing she was short on time before her ride, she continued to stare at Jake. Why was he here? What was that expression in his face―a mixture of pain and want? Tye wiped the mist from her eyes, knowing she was wrong. She drew a deep breath.
He had changed, matured, yet something in his eyes remained the same. How long had she loved that strong face with its wide cheekbones, no-nonsense jaw touched by the faintest shadow of beard and deep-set eyes of the lightest blue? Her seventeenth summer she had loved him with a young woman’s vibrancy. They’d spent endless time together, planning, talking, dreaming. Back then, Tye had thought Jake could do no wrong.
She drew a deep breath and looked around. Why was he here? It wasn’t to see her! He was already drawing attention: she could see some of the girls nudging each other. Her throat dry, Tye drew a deep breath and then pressed her lips together. There were a lot of handsome faces like Jake’s, but he had a presence. He always had. Jake was special, that’s why she had loved him so much, until she had walked away.
"Tye Jenkins!"
Hearing her call, Tye stood up against the metal bars, gripping the top rail tightly. As she did so the bull in the chute hopped sideways, rattling the metal gates.
Adrenaline pumping, Tye jerked her gloves on, her gaze sweeping the yard, oblivious to everything until her glance lit once more on Jake. He was still there. Seeing him broke her concentration, brought in a flood of memory. Live, intense heat struck Tye and she closed her eyes tightly for a brief moment in exasperation. She had gotten over him. Anyone with a lick of sense knew ten years was a long time to pine over any man.
Deliberately, she looked away. Rubbing rosin on her gloves and rope, Tye centered her attention one hundred percent on what she knew of the bull, Hit Man.
True to form, he was bouncing in the chute like a young kid throwing a temper tantrum. Hit Man shot her a glance now and then, probably to see if his head games were rattling her. He was one of the oldest bulls on the circuit, but anyone in rodeo knew he’d give you the ride of your life.
Tye's heart pounded wildly in her chest and up into her throat as she threw her leg over the chute and climbed down on the bulky-muscled bull. Quickly, she gripped the flat, braided rope as the bull lunged from side to side. Dry-mouthed, Tye wrapped her hand while the bull bellowed. He turned his head and seemed to glare at her with one eye, then with a quick twist tried to horn her.
"Watch your legs there, Tye!" someone shouted, but she had already pulled them up. Tye focused on keeping her feet from being pinned between the animal's sides and the metal bars. Steadying hands of the cowboys at her back helped her stay upright as the bull continued to ram the sides of the chute.
Her fingers tightened on the rope and she gave the signal to open the gate. With vivid clarity Tye saw the gate swing open, felt the rush of air from her lungs. Like a race car in its first heat, a ton of Brahma bull exploded into the rodeo arena; twisting and spinning. His cloven hooves sank into the mix of mud and manure. He knew his job and damn! he did it well.
The ornery bull did his best to defy the laws of gravity. He lunged forward, coiled to the right, came down, whipped to the left and dove again. Tye had watched this bull and knew what to expect, but every bone in her body was being jolted to hell and back. She was determined to ride it out and do it in style. As the bull spun, she spurred him, her concentration intense.
The clock in her head ticked off. Tye held fast like a winter's burr on a blanket. Two. Three. . .this was the longest six-second ride of her life. Five. Triumph began to burgeon in her chest. She had him. Hit Man wasn't getting away.
As the bull reared his head up, they hung suspended in the air for a moment. Then, with surely no more than a quarter of a second left, Tye felt him twisting, going over, taking her with him.
All time stopped, silence reigned, the cheering crowd disappeared. There was only she and Hit Man. It seemed to Tye, in that split second of realization that the bull had won. She tried to throw herself clear, but she couldn't get her hand free.
Heartstealer (Women of Character) Page 21
