No, she’d done something stupid. Not Lance’s fault. How could he have known she’d climb the small knoll and attempt to swing out and drop into the river? And drop she had. Her plan didn’t have the outcome she’d expected.
She could only blame herself. She was a good judge of people and Lance had not tried to kill her.
Great, after all that hot, yummy sex, he thinks I’m a doofus.
“I just got the wind knocked out of me. Other than being embarrassed as hell, I’ll live.” She gratefully took the hand he offered and pulled herself up to a sitting position. The world swam in front of her. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, everything was back in focus.
“So, how about that swim?” she said, knowing her smile came off a little wobbly.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I think I’ll just walk into the water this time.”
Nina had refused Lance’s offer to take her to the emergency room. Maxine had even said Nina would be fine after a short rest and gave her a couple of Tylenol.
Maybe they were both right, because when Nina came down to supper after a couple of hours, other than her movements being a little stiff, she looked as if nothing had happened.
She looked damn good, in fact. Lance’s gaze swept over her. She’d changed into blue shorts and a sleeveless knit top and had pulled her hair into a ponytail. No makeup—the damp tendrils of hair told him she was fresh from a shower, her face scrubbed clean—and she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.
Maybe because the knit top hugged her body and when she raised her hand to brush back a tendril of hair that had escaped, the hem of her top inched upward, displaying just enough creamy flesh that it became increasingly hard to concentrate.
“Are you feeling better?” He took a deep breath as he quickly turned back to the stove, scooped up the home fries into a bowl, and moved the skillet off the hot burner.
“I’ve had better days, but the Tylenol, and lying down for a while, helped. There are other parts that are sore, though.”
He frowned. “From the fall?” He briefly wondered if she meant from sex but refrained from asking. He wouldn’t bring up their interlude if she didn’t. Women were funny about sex after the fact, but damned if he didn’t want her all over again.
“No, from sitting in a saddle most of the day,” she wryly stated, rubbing her bottom.
His frown turned into a grin. “Sorry about that. I forgot you’re not used to riding. I have some liniment in my room that I’ll give you. Just rub it on and you’ll feel better by morning.” He casually added, “I can apply it if you’d like.” For just a moment, he closed his eyes and pictured her lying naked on the bed, his hands sliding over her body….
“I’m sure you could but I don’t think I would fully appreciate the gesture. Maybe tomorrow night, though,” she murmured.
It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, dispelling the image, but not the damn hard-on his lascivious thoughts had given him and the fact she’d mentioned tomorrow night. Good thing he had a towel tucked into the front of his jeans.
She glanced at the table he’d set earlier. “This looks and smells wonderful,” she said, changing the subject.
Pleasure ripped through him that she’d even noticed. He was a pretty decent cook, but on the few occasions he’d thrown a meal together for the men, they’d wolfed it down. He had a feeling if he’d opened cans of dog food they would’ve appreciated it just as much. It was nice Nina noticed.
“It’s not fancy by any means.” He shrugged off her compliment. “I sent Maxine on her way and told her I’d get supper tonight. Her canasta group meets on Thursdays.”
“That was nice of you. Can I do anything to help?”
He shook his head. “You can grab us a couple of beers, unless you’d rather have something else.”
“Beer is fine,” she said and went to the refrigerator.
They didn’t talk again until the meal was over, but it was a comfortable silence. When she stood, picking up her plate, he took it from her, noticing that she still moved a little slow.
“I’ll get those later. Come on, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a Texas sunset.”
He led her to the back porch. It wrapped around the house, with aged cedar posts and a split-log floor. The red plaid cushions in the rocking chairs were just old enough to be comfortable.
“How long have you worked for my grandfather?” she asked after easing into one of the rockers.
He sat in the rocker beside hers, pushing off with the toe of his boot. The sun was just starting to set, casting a bluetinged orange haze across the western sky.
His first day as a wrangler had ended just like this, except with him and Pete Maddock sitting in the rockers. Damn, he missed the old man. He’d taught Lance what no book, no school, ever could. He’d taught him about human nature, about ranching—about life in general.
“I started working for him right out of high school,” he told her.
“You didn’t want to go to college?”
He shook his head. “Pete taught me everything I ever needed. He had the best head for business of anyone I know. Not just with the ranch, but the bar and the hotel as well. Not that he had that much to do with the bar. That was Rod’s baby. Pete might have bought it, but Rod took it from nothing to what it is today. He turned the Ragged Rooster into something anyone would be proud of.”
“Until Juliet took his dream away from him.” She looked down at her hands, then at the sunset. “Have you met her?”
“Yeah. She’s sexy as…” He cleared his throat. “Redheaded, not real tall. She was kind of quiet, but you know it’s like they say, the quiet ones are always the ones who fool you. I suspect she’s giving Rod hell.”
“And you know Rod?”
“We went to school together. Hardheaded. Always has been. But he’s pretty decent, most of the time. In fact, they’re probably giving each other hell. If you want, I’ll take you to the Ragged Rooster to see your sister.”
“Maybe in a few days.” She stopped the motion of her rocker with her foot and stood. “My head’s starting to hurt. I think I’ll go back to my room.”
As he followed her inside, he wondered if her head hurt because of the fall or hearing about her sister. He knew they’d never met.
Drew Maddock had been a real bastard, but Lance refrained from telling Nina exactly what he thought about her father. Drew was a disappointment to the old man. Maybe that’s why Pete had taken Lance under his wing.
Damn, he just wished Nina wouldn’t sell out. He swallowed past the bile that rose in his throat. He’d lied when he’d said he’d adjusted to the fact it wouldn’t be his. He’d do just about anything to keep the ranch out of a stranger’s hands.
As she started toward the staircase, he remembered her sore muscles. “Hold on a second and I’ll get that liniment for you.” He hurried to his room and grabbed the jar of cream.
She waited at the bottom of the stairs. When he handed it to her, their hands touched. A spark of electricity passed over him, and from the look on her face, he knew she’d felt it, too.
Just one word, Nina, just one word and I’ll carry you up the stairs just so I can apply the liniment.
“Thanks.” She turned and went up the stairs. He watched the way her hips moved from side to side, the sexy shape of her bare legs in those incredibly short shorts. He closed his eyes, gripping the newel post so he wouldn’t be tempted to hurry after her.
It was going to be damn hard sleeping right below her bedroom and remembering how they’d made love that afternoon and how damn much he wanted a repeat performance. This was going to be a cold-shower night.
Nina could feel him watching her. The heat of his look sent small tremors over her body. Had he felt the spark of electricity when their hands had touched? It had taken all her willpower not to fall into his arms.
Are you that desperate, Nina?
She had a feeling she was, but s
he’d needed a little space between them. She hadn’t meant to seduce him. Okay, maybe it had been in the back of her mind, but what she’d really wanted was the photo shoot. She still did. He’d thrown her off balance and she needed to regroup. Mica had challenged her and she’d be damned if she’d lose their wager.
There would still be time for sex after the shoot.
She opened her door and went inside, setting the jar of liniment on the dresser, but she couldn’t stop picturing Lance bare assed and leaning against a tall pecan tree. She’d always had a weakness for nuts.
A noise from the next room startled her out of her musings. Her grandfather’s ghost? An intruder? She swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat.
A weapon. She needed a weapon. She grabbed the jar of liniment. Yeah, that would make a great club. She set it back down as her gaze flew about the room. The only thing that even came close was her blow dryer. If it was an intruder, maybe he’d mistake it for a gun.
And if it was a ghost?
She’d scream really loud.
Lord, she’d hit her head harder than she’d thought.
She slipped from her room, blow dryer at her side, cord trailing behind her as she crept to her grandfather’s door. She listened for a moment. Nothing.
Had she imagined the noise?
No, she didn’t think so. Living in the city had made her accustomed to noises. This had been different. She couldn’t explain why; it just had been. The sound had been more like someone moving about. Well, the person had met his match!
Holding her breath, she slowly turned the knob and quietly pushed the door open, her grip tightening on the blow dryer. She might not be able to inflict much damage, but she’d be prepared.
She opened the door enough to peer inside. Still nothing. She straightened, pushing the door open the rest of the way and turning on the light. Empty. She frowned, stepping farther inside.
The closet?
Maybe. She crept closer. “Okay, you’d better come out right now,” she warned in her toughest voice, knowing she’d crap her pants if someone were to jump out. Her gut told her that whoever had made the noise was long gone.
She jerked the door open, blow dryer raised.
“You don’t really think you would hurt someone with a blow dryer, do you?” Lance spoke directly behind her.
She screamed and whirled around, blow dryer raised. Lance caught it in his hand before she could do any damage.
“Whoa, easy now.”
“Yeah, right, you’re not the one ghost hunting. You’ve just aged me by at least ten years.” She took a deep breath, willing her pulse to slow to something less than 200 beats per minute. When she could breathe a little easier, she glared at him. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“My room is directly under yours. I heard you moving about and wanted to make sure you were okay. Apparently you aren’t. What’s all this about ghost hunting?”
“I heard a noise.” Had she really told him she’d been hunting for a ghost?
“First rule around here is that if you see or hear anything suspicious get help.”
She squared her shoulders. “I didn’t need any help. I was only checking out a noise. No big deal.”
“With nothing more lethal than a blow dryer?”
“I’ll have you know it made a good weapon.”
He took it from her. She could tell he was holding back a smile as he tried for a serious look while he examined it.
“Yes, I can see how you might blow someone away with this.”
She grabbed it from him and set it on the small oak desk that graced one wall. “Very funny. I heard a noise and I knew if I didn’t check it out I’d never be able to go to sleep. Rather than make fun of me, you can at least see if anything has been disturbed.”
“Can’t help you there, either. I’ve never been in Pete’s bedroom.” He glanced around, then frowned. “I’m surprised Maxine hasn’t cleaned in here.”
One eyebrow rose. “What do you mean?” The room looked fine to her. The bed was made, the pillows plumped.
“Peppermint candy wrappers.” He walked over to the dresser and bent down, picking up the clear cellophane.
When he stood, she noticed a sad smile on his face. She had a sudden urge to pull Lance close and comfort him.
“Pete loved peppermints better than anything else. For as long as I knew him, he nearly always had one in his mouth.”
Realization came slow. Wrappers on the floor? They hadn’t been there before. Or had they and she just hadn’t noticed them? And hadn’t the jar of peppermints been on the bedside table earlier? No, they’d been on the dresser, then the bedside table, and now they were back on the dresser.
She closed her eyes. Or could she be mistaken? The last few days had been long and stressful. Her arrival in a small Texas town, when she was definitely a city girl, and meeting with a very condescending lawyer to sign legal documents sure hadn’t been a piece of cake. She had a sister in town and another expected any time neither of whom she’d ever met. Her grandfather’s body had never been found.
Sex with Lance had been incredible, though. But then she’d made a doofus of herself by falling into the river. And how could she have thought Lance might have had something to do with her accident?
And to top it all off, she still had to convince him to do the centerfold.
Stress? Nah, why would she feel stressed?
Okay, time to regroup again. Maybe she’d only imagined the jar of peppermints had been in a different spot. She’d landed pretty hard when the rope broke.
“You okay?”
She drew in a deep, steadying breath. “Fine. I think I’ll feel better in the morning. Night.” She hurried out of the room.
But when her door was locked and she was burrowed down in bed, everything that had happened that day played out in her mind as if she were watching a movie.
Especially the part about making love.
Warmth spread over her like a wildfire. Heat that was totally out of control as she remembered the way his hands had caressed and kneaded her breasts. The way it had felt when he sucked on them, his teeth scraping across her sensitive nipples.
Good Lord!
She flipped to her side, clamping her legs together. It didn’t help. She swore under her breath, but it didn’t stop her from remembering what it had felt like when he’d buried himself inside her and began sliding in and out, her moving on top, their thrusts becoming harder and stronger until the very air exploded around her from the intensity of her climax.
She bit her bottom lip and tugged the covers under her chin. Ah, damn, this was going to be a really long night.
Six
Nina awakened slowly. Noises came in through the partially opened window, which also let in a light breeze. They weren’t the normal city noises that she was used to. No, these were the sounds of a working ranch. A horse’s whinny, the jingle of a bridle, men laughing and talking as they started a new day.
She snuggled into the plush mattress, sighing deeply. A person could get used to this.
No, she couldn’t let anything influence her decision to leave. As soon as she checked out the ranch and where it stood financially, her days here would be numbered. It would be back to the city for her. The crowds, the traffic, concrete everywhere you looked.
No, she really did love the city. She did.
But just for a moment, she wondered what it would be like to wake up to this every morning, to be able to photograph more than naked male models. She’d always wanted to take pictures of nature: hills and streams, the animals in their natural habitat. Not something painted on a canvas background with a fake cowboy posing in front of it. She wanted the raw reality of men who actually tamed this wild land.
Like Lance had tamed the horse. Like Lance had tamed me.
The thought flashed across her mind before she could stop it. She snuggled deeper into her pillow—at least he had for a little while. The man did know how to make love. She wouldn�
�t mind a couple of repeat performances before she left.
Damn, the sex had been fantastic. She luxuriated in the memories of making love with him until she couldn’t stand not having the flesh-and-blood man in front of her and shoved the covers to the side before jumping out of bed.
She did a quick sponge bath and pulled on a pair of jeans and a green tank top that left half her midriff bare. A pair of tennis shoes on her feet, a rubber band pulling her hair back, and she was set to go.
Grabbing her camera off the chair, she left the room, pausing outside her grandfather’s door.
Had she really thought she could face a possible attacker with a blow dryer? That had been so lame.
She bounced down the stairs and almost straight into Lance’s arms. A giant condor flapped his wings inside her stomach.
“Good morning,” she said, in what she hoped was a normal-sounding voice, then smiled brightly.
“You look like you’re feeling pretty good.”
“All this country air.”
“Told you it would grow on you.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I still plan on leaving. I’m thinking of this as a nice vacation. Like all vacations, this one will end, too.”
“We’ll see.”
His gaze moved slowly over her as if to refute her claim. When he met her gaze he wore a perfectly innocent expression.
She knew better.
There wasn’t a thing innocent about him. For which she had been oh so grateful yesterday. He’d scratched an itch that had been bothering her for way too long. Problem was, she was starting to itch again. This wouldn’t do at all.
“So, what are your plans today?” he asked.
“I thought I’d go over the finances. I didn’t pay a lot of attention when I met with the lawyer. I just glanced through the papers. They all seemed to be in order.”
“I have some free time. I can help you if you’d like.”
She gave him a grateful smile. She’d never really had a head for business. “Great, but first I really need a cup of coffee.” A pot might even be better if she was going to have to do anything more than add two and two.
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