Catching up the reins, he waited for Sam to dismount.
"Here," he said, reaching for her reins, "I'll put the horses up."
"No, I can do—"
"Sam!"
Sam whirled at the sound of her little sister's voice. "Merideth!" she cried and dropped the reins, running to throw her arms around her.
"Yuck! Get away from me!" Merideth complained, peeling off Sam's hands. "You smell like you've been rolling in cow manure all day."
Sam laughed, but kept one arm draped around her sister's shoulders. "I have. When did you get here?"
Using two fingers, Merideth plucked Sam's hand from her shoulder and slipped gracefully from beneath her arm. "About ten minutes ago," she muttered in disgust as she brushed from her silk blouse the dust Sam had left there. She shifted her gaze and presented Nash with one of her most dazzling smiles. "Who's your friend?"
Sam looked over her shoulder. "Oh, that's Nash. Come on. I'll introduce you."
"Nash, I'd like you to meet my sister, Merideth McCloud. Merideth, this is Nash Rivers."
Merideth extended a hand, diamonds winking in the sunlight from a bracelet that swung at her wrist. "Hello, Nash," she said, with a sultry smile.
Nash had to swallow hard in order to work up enough spit to reply. Marty hadn't been wrong when he'd described her, he thought fleetingly. She was a knockout. He wiped a hand on the back of his jeans before taking her hand. "Pleased to meet you," he replied. "I've heard a lot about you."
Merideth batted those baby blues at him and Nash felt his knees weaken. "All good, I hope," she replied coyly.
Sam heaved a sigh. "Give the man a break, Merideth," she muttered under her breath. She snatched the reins from
Nash's hands and led the horses to the barn, leaving Nash with Merideth, his tongue all but hanging out of his mouth.
Sam wanted to be mad at her sister, but she couldn't. Merideth had that effect on men. All men, no matter what their age or marital status. She tied her horse to the stall gate, then backtracked to Jesse's gelding's stall. Hooking a stirrup over the saddle horn, she unwound the cinch strap, then let the girt drop to dangle beneath the horse while she fed the strap back through the ring.
"Here. I'll do that." Nash shouldered her aside and reached to drag the saddle from the horse's back. Sam stepped out of the way, surprised by his appearance. She'd figured that by now Merideth would have him following her around like a lovesick puppy, the way she did most men.
She'd seen how Nash had looked at Merideth. She'd even seen her brother-in-law, Jesse, look at Merideth in much the same way, and Jesse was a happily married man who was madly in love with his wife. Merideth just had that effect on men.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Sam offered quietly.
Nash cocked his head around to look at her. "Who? Merideth?"
Sam dug a toe into the loose dirt in the alleyway. "Yeah."
"She's that all right, and then some." Seeing the—it wasn't jealousy really, more like wistfulness—in Sam's eyes, Nash took a step toward her and cupped a hand around the back of her neck. Startled, she looked up at him. "But not a bit more beautiful than you," he murmured.
Sam felt heat crawl up her neck to stain her cheeks. Embarrassed, she dropped her chin. "I wasn't fishing for a compliment."
Nash pressed a knuckle to her chin, forcing her head back up. "No, you wouldn't. That's part of your charm."
Then, to Sam's utter amazement, he dipped his face and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't a passionate kiss, not by most women's standards, she was sure. But she felt the heat in it burn through every nerve in her body. She closed her eyes, wanting to absorb every sensation, every second of this unexpected pleasure, and when he ended the kiss, she was left breathless and weak. Her eyelashes fluttered up and she found him smiling down at her.
Before she could catch her breath, she heard laughter and the sound of footsteps coming toward the barn. Quickly she shifted away from Nash.
"There y'all are!" Mandy called out. "The kids just returned from the lake and have a nice string of catfish to add to our dinner tonight. We're hoping Nash and Colby will join us."
"We wouldn't want to impose," Nash began.
"Impose my foot!" Mandy cried in dismay. "You both earned your supper."
"Well," Nash said hesitantly. "I'm not sure what Nina has planned."
"I'll call her," Mandy replied, not willing to take no for an answer. "In fact, I think I'll invite her to join us."
Nash and Sam shared a worried look. "All right," he replied slowly. "If you're sure it's not an imposition."
Mandy ended up sending Gabe to fetch Nina, and Sam held her breath waiting for the two to arrive, not at all sure if Nina would be pleased about the invitation.
But no one worried more than Nash. He prayed Nina would be on her best behavior and that she wouldn't create any ugly scenes. When at last he saw Gabe's truck on the long drive leading to the house, he rose from his lawn chair, prepared to greet her.
Colby beat him to the draw.
"Nina!" she screamed, racing for the truck. She had the passenger door open before Gabe came to a full stop. "I'm so glad you're here!" She caught her grandmother's hand and tugged her from the truck.
Nina adjusted her dress over ample hips. "Didn't see that I had much choice," she muttered, casting Nash a dark look. "And this man," she complained, shooting a glare Gabe's way, "has a lead foot. I'll be lucky if I didn't suffer a whiplash due to his poor driving."
Accustomed to her grandmother's complaints, Colby ignored them and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the patio where the others were gathered. "I went fishing with Jaime and we caught catfish for dinner and I helped clean them and everything!"
Nina looked down at her in a mixture of disgust and dismay, but before she could begin her familiar lecture on girls not being allowed to do such things, Colby stopped, looping her arm through her grandmother's.
"These are my friends," she said proudly. "That's Jesse and Mandy," she said, pointing to the couple working at breading the catfish. "Mandy's Sam's sister and Jesse's Mandy's husband," she explained, then turned a bit. "And that's Merideth. She's Sam's sister, too. And guess what?" she whispered, tipping her face up to grin at her grandmother. "She's a movie star!" She tugged Nina forward. "And this is Jaime." The hero worship in her voice was hard to miss. "He's Sam's nephew and Mandy and Jesse's son."
Mandy, always sensitive to others' feelings, must have noticed the overwhelmed look on the woman's face, for she stepped forward, wiping her hands on her apron. "Hello, Nina, and welcome to the Double-Cross."
Nina accepted the hand extended to her and managed a nervous smile. "Thank you. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Do you know anything about preparing calf fries?"
Nina's brows shot up. "You mean mountain oysters? Oh, my goodness! I haven't eaten mountain oysters in years, but I think I remember my mother's recipe. She added a few extra spices to the breading mixture. A little garlic, I believe, and a pinch or two of cumin."
Mandy laughed, catching Nina's hand in hers. "You've just been elected head chef."
Nash watched them walk away and let out a long breath. Maybe the evening would work out after all.
If Nash hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. Nina dancing the two-step. And with Gabe, no less. She'd complain later, he was sure, that the man had two left feet, but he could see the gleam in her eye and knew that she was having a good time. Maybe this is what she needed, he thought on reflection. She rarely went anywhere except with him and Colby. Perhaps spending time with other people, and people closer to her own age was what she needed to distract her from her grief.
With a sigh, he stood, looking around for Sam, thinking to ask for a dance. But he didn't see her anywhere.
"Looking for Sam?"
Nash turned at the sound of the sultry voice, to find Merideth standing behind him. Dressed in ivory silk slacks and a tunic top of the same color, she stood out f
rom the others like a pearl in a sea of blue denim. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. I was going to ask her to dance. Have you seen her?"
"She slipped off to the barn a few minutes ago. Said something about checking on one of the horses who suffered a cut on his leg this afternoon."
Nash smiled. "That would be Judas. A calf kicked him."
Merideth eased closer. "Since Sam isn't here, you could dance with me."
Though tempted, Nash realized that it wasn't just any woman he wanted to hold in his arms. It was Sam. "Thanks. But I think I'll see if I can help Sam out."
The offer of a dance had been a test, and Merideth was relieved that Nash had passed it. She teased him with a smile. "I'm sure she'd appreciate all the help you can give her."
The suggestion behind the comment made Nash chuckle. "Can't blame a man for trying."
Turning, he headed for the barn. The lights were off, but that didn't surprise Nash. Sam could doctor a horse blindfolded if necessary. He stepped into the barn, and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He didn't see Sam, but he heard her soft crooning coming from one of the stalls ahead.
"Sam?" he whispered, in deference to the quietness.
"In here," she whispered back.
A stall door opened and she stepped out, dusting off her hands. "I was just checking on Judas."
"Is he okay?"
"Yeah. It's just a bruise. I put some liniment on it to take care of any soreness."
Nash stepped closer, liking the way the moonlight played on her features. "Dinner was excellent. I really appreciate your family's hospitality."
Sam flapped a hand. "No problem. There's always room for a few more at our table."
"Just the same, I appreciate it." He stepped closer, catching her hand in his. "I was looking for you, hoping to ask you for a dance."
Sam stiffened. Dance? She hadn't danced in years. More than ten, to be exact. "I'm not much of a dancer," she hedged.
"That's okay, I wasn't really wanting to dance." He caught her other hand and pulled her toward him. "I was just looking for an excuse to hold you." He dropped her hands to slip his own around her waist.
"You were?" she asked, her eyes as large as half-dollars as she peered up at him.
"Yeah, I was." He tightened his arms, pulling her closer.
"I like the way you feel," he murmured against her hair. "The way you smell."
Sam snorted, pressing her hands against his chest, sure that he was teasing her. "I'm sure I smell real nice right now. Horse liniment has a real fragrant bouquet."
"You smell wonderful," he insisted, rubbing his cheek against her hair. "Like honeysuckle."
His cheek brushed hers and Sam couldn't help relaxing against him. She rather liked the feel of him, too. Damn, but she could get used to this. There was a comfort in being held so close, and an overall feeling of security that she couldn't remember ever experiencing before.
Gathering her courage, she eased her hands to his shoulders and then over them to rest on his back. Muscles bunched and corded and she couldn't resist smoothing her hands across them, marveling at the strength she sensed there.
"But it's your taste I like best," he murmured, teasing her lips with his. "I could easily become addicted."
His tongue darted out, tracing the shape of her mouth with an infuriating slowness, and electrical shocks ricocheted through Sam. "Yeah, me, too," she muttered, framing his cheeks between her hands, impatient to taste him, as well. She closed her mouth over his, sipping at his lips. "Beer," she whispered. "And maybe a touch of coconut from Mandy's pie." She pressed her mouth more firmly over his and he groaned, pulling her closer.
But close was simply not close enough. Nash nudged her toward the wall, catching her hands in his. Stretching them above her head, he leaned into her, and closed his mouth over hers, drinking deeply.
Sam stiffened, the blood in her veins turning to ice. Images pushed at her from every direction, a nightmare chipping away at reality. She felt the heat of the body pressed against hers, the roughness of the wall against the back of her hands, the mouth that threatened to suffocate her.
Reed Wester. He was going to rape her.
Tears burned behind her closed lids while a scream built in her throat. A hand slipped to her breast, hot fingers burning through the fabric of her blouse. A thumb grazed her nipple and she felt her lungs turn to fire. She had to get away from him! Lifting her boot, she brought it down hard on his instep. With a howl, he dropped her hands, leaping back to hop on one foot, while cradling in his hand the one she'd stomped.
"Jeez, Sam!" he cried. "What did you do that for?"
With her breath coming in ragged gasps, Sam stood staring at him, slowly bringing him into focus as the edges of the nightmare receded … and realized that it was Nash, not Reed who'd held her.
With a strangled sob, she whirled and ran from the barn.
* * *
Six
« ^ »
"Sam! Wait!" Nash started after her, but a hand grabbed him from behind, stopping him. He whirled as fingernails dug into his skin.
"What did you do to her?" Merideth demanded angrily.
"Nothing! We were just kissing and she—I don't know," he said helplessly, remembering the fear in her eyes, the wildness. "She just went crazy."
Merideth dug her nails a little deeper. "Did you force yourself on her?"
Nash's mouth sagged open. "Of course not! I only kissed her."
"Have you kissed her before?"
"Yes," he replied, beginning to resent the inquisition. "A couple of times."
"So what was different about this time?"
Nash frowned, trying to think over the events. "She seemed more aggressive. It was when I backed her up against the barn wall that she went a little crazy."
Merideth groaned, dropping his arm. "I was afraid of this."
"Afraid of what?" Nash asked in growing frustration.
Merideth turned her gaze toward the far end of the barn where Sam had disappeared. "This is where it all happened."
Nash dug his fingers through his hair, knowing somebody was crazy and fearing it was him. "I wish to hell you'd tell me what you're talking about. I haven't a clue."
Merideth lifted a brow and looked at him. "She hasn't told you?"
"Told me what, for God's sake?"
Heaving a sigh, Merideth took his arm and led him to a line of hay stacked against the wall. Pressing a hand to his chest, she forced him to sit, then sat on the bale next to him. "Sam was nearly raped."
Dumbfounded, Nash stared at her then dropped his face to his hands. "Oh, my God, no," he moaned.
"When she was eighteen," Merideth continued. "One of the ranch hands attacked her late one night when she was coming in from a rodeo. He knocked her up against the wall there, pinned her hands above her head and tried to rip off her clothes. When she screamed, he dragged her into a stall, and would have raped her, if Gabe hadn't heard her and come running."
The scene she described was so damn close to the one he'd just made Sam suffer through, Nash could understand why she'd panicked, why she'd run. "Oh, my God," he mumbled.
"That's not all."
He cocked his head to look at Merideth, wondering what more could possibly have happened to Sam.
Merideth sighed and plucked a piece of straw from the bale to twist between her fingers. "Daddy died that same night. He came to the barn to see what all the commotion was about and when he discovered that Gabe had fired the ranch hand, he was furious. To make a long story short, he suffered a massive heart attack and died. Even though we all knew that he had high blood pressure, Sam blamed herself. Somehow all of this—the near rape and daddy's death—twisted itself around in Sam's head and she's never recovered from it."
Nash had heard enough. He bolted to his feet. "I've got to find her. Talk to her."
"She may not want to see you. She'll be embarrassed."
"She may not want to see me, but I have to see her. Oh, God, Meri
deth, do you realize what I've done to her?"
"No, I can't imagine," she replied slowly, watching him closely. "But you may be the only one who can help her right now." She stood, brushing straw from her slacks, hoping her instincts to trust him were correct. "Try the old smokehouse down at the foot of the hill. She used to hide out there when we were kids and she was upset."
Nash cursed himself with every step he took. He should have known something was wrong. He should have been more sensitive to Sam's behavior. Now that he knew what had happened to her, the signs were all there, warning lights that he should have picked up on from the very first. The swagger and bluff she used to hide her femininity. Her reluctance to let him get near her, to touch her. Her nervousness the night he took her to dinner. The fact that at her age she didn't seem to have ever dated. Her innocence the times he had kissed her.
He worried if he'd be able to find her, if she'd even talk to him if he did. And what would he say to her? "I'm sorry that I treated you so roughly? That I reminded you of a night you'd rather forget?"
He dragged off his cap and slapped it against his leg. Sorry? Sorry didn't come close to expressing how low he felt.
Before he reached the smokehouse, he heard her. A high, keening sound, followed by a gut-wrenching sob that froze him in midstride. He was tempted to turn right around, head back to the house and send one of her sisters to see to her, but he knew he couldn't. He was the one who'd brought back the memories. He was the one who'd made her cry.
Slapping the cap back on his head, he strode for the smokehouse's low door. He pushed it open and stuck his head inside. "Sam?" he called softly. When she didn't answer, he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Though the building hadn't been used in years, the scent of smoked meat still hung in the air. A portion of the roof was missing and moonlight poured through the gap.
He saw her huddled in a corner, the moonlight ending at the toes of her boots. Her knees were pulled to her chest, her face pressed against her folded arms. He crossed to her, dropping to a knee in front of her, and stretched out a hand. She shrank away and he caught himself just shy of touching her.
THE RESTLESS VIRGIN Page 11
