by Rachel Lacey
“Okay. We’ll bring it with us to put on her if we find her.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “Wish I’d gotten her microchipped when I was at Dr. Johnson’s on Wednesday. I always chip new dogs, but I was short on funds and hoping another rescue would take her.”
T.J. rocked back on his heels. He’d lost the damn dog, and she was blaming herself? “Look, I’m sorry I let her get away from me.”
She shook her head. “Amber was a stray. She’s nervous. These things happen, more often than you would think, actually. Let’s go find her, okay?”
Well, he certainly hadn’t expected that. He’d been fully braced for a lecture, but all right then. He walked to the fridge for the fried chicken, then pulled the high-powered flashlight he used on night calls from his vet bag.
Merry stood by the door, looking slightly forlorn. She followed him into the humid night, alive with the humming of insects and chirping frogs from the pond at the rear of his property.
“Trickier since she doesn’t know her name,” she mused as they walked toward the woods.
“Couldn’t be much worse, I guess.”
She snorted a laugh. “Oh, don’t say that. It could always be worse. At least she’s in good health and the weather’s nice, right?”
“True.” His boots crunched twigs, and he glanced back at Merry’s pink flip-flops. Dammit, girly-girl. Did she not own closed-toed shoes? She couldn’t have picked worse footwear for tromping through the woods in the dark.
They walked on, periodically calling for Amber. Merry took the bag of fried chicken from him, rustling the plastic and waving it through the air as they walked, hoping to entice Amber with its meaty, greasy scent.
That was his mom’s fried chicken, and it did smell damn good. His stomach rumbled.
T.J. shone the flashlight around them, hoping Amber’s eyes would reflect back at them in the darkness.
After fifteen minutes, they’d startled a couple of deer and a raccoon, but no sign of Amber. Merry tripped over a fallen log and swore, clutching at her right ankle.
“You okay?” he asked, shining the light on her.
“Stupid flip-flops.” She rubbed at her ankle and took a limping step forward. “Next time I run out of my house in the middle of the night half dressed, remind me to at least put on sneakers.”
“So you do own sneakers?”
She glared at him. “Of course I own sneakers.”
He offered his elbow, but she pushed it away, limping on beside him.
“Make sure you wear them to camp.”
She gave him a mock salute with her middle finger extended. “I’m not a total idiot.”
T.J. swept the flashlight around them and caught a pair of eyes glowing from the darkness.
Merry sidled closer. “That is so creepy.” She cleared her throat. “Amber?”
The eyes didn’t move. It was hard to see what was behind them, but they looked about the right height for the missing dog.
“Here, girl,” he said in his friendliest voice.
“Hungry?” Merry waved fried chicken in the animal’s direction. “I hope I’m not enticing a bear with fried chicken right now.”
“It’s not a bear. Could be a coyote though.”
“Oh, a coyote is so much better.” Merry backed into him, her soft curls spilling over his arm. She smelled faintly fruity, like fresh berries. “Amber?”
The eyes moved toward them, slow and steady. Merry pressed against him, and he rested a hand on her shoulder. He should’ve brought his shotgun with them, on the off chance it was a coyote.
“Jesus Christ.” She turned and grabbed onto his arm.
The animal picked up speed, loping toward them, two green eyes in a sea of darkness.
He pulled Merry closer against him. “Still got that can of doggy mace?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Merry resisted—barely—the urge to fling herself into T.J.’s arms. “It’s in my car.”
She never, never, left home without her citronella spray, and yet here she was, in the woods in the middle of the night with some friggin’ creature running at her, empty-handed.
T.J. kept the flashlight leveled on the pair of glowing eyes still moving toward them, and to her great relief, Amber’s honey-colored coat became visible through the trees.
“Amber!” Merry sank to her knees in relief, and the dog came and pressed her forehead against Merry’s shoulder. “Oh, my goodness, sweetie, are you a sight for sore eyes.”
Quickly, she snapped the collar around Amber’s neck, then snugged it a little to keep her from slipping out of it again the next time T.J. walked her.
“You gave us quite a scare,” T.J. said, sounding as relieved as she felt.
Amber’s tail wagged.
Merry stroked her soft fur. “You don’t want to be homeless anymore, do you?”
“There’s a warm bed waiting for her at my house. She’s not stupid.”
“No, she’s not.” Merry fed her a bite of fried chicken. “Now if you don’t mind, these woods are creepy at night. Let’s go home, shall we?”
“Sounds good to me.” T.J. led them through the trees until the lights from his house shone through.
Merry heaved an internal sigh of relief. Around them, the darkness vibrated with a chorus of creepy-crawly creatures she had no desire to identify. Probably she’d gained at least twenty mosquito bites to go with her sore ankle. Ick.
But they’d found Amber. Now that she was safely at her side, Merry could allow herself to realize how scared she’d been for the poor, lost mutt. She hated to think of Amber wandering these unfamiliar woods, frightened and alone.
T.J. led them inside the house, and Merry lingered self-consciously in the hallway. Here she was in his house, in the middle of the night, wearing nothing but a flimsy tank top and yoga pants. It felt way too cozy for a man she barely knew.
“Thanks for coming. Not sure she’d have come back without you.” T.J. stood in the doorway to the living room, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.
Still fully dressed, right down to his boots.
Merry might as well have been standing there in her underwear.
“No problem.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, mindful of the fact she didn’t even have on a bra. Jesus.
T.J.’s gaze slid down, and her nipples hardened in response. Her skin flushed, and desire tugged low in her belly.
His expression heated until his eyes practically burned her.
She nibbled her bottom lip. “I should, uh, I should go.”
“It’s late,” he said, his voice like gravel. It tickled all her sweet spots.
She stared at his hands, those big calloused fingers. Damn, but she wanted to feel them on her skin. Like, now.
“Really late.” She took a step, but her feet accidentally carried her toward T.J., not the door.
He sucked in an audible breath, his eyes scorching hers. “I thought you were going.”
“So did I.” But fuck it. If she was going to be in his house in the middle of the night in her underwear, she might as well give him a kiss goodnight.
She’d never been known for her self-control, after all.
He watched her, not moving a muscle, as if he’d become rooted to the floor.
She put her palms on his biceps and pressed her lips to his. Just a quick kiss to test the waters, because they did have to work together for the next month.
His scent wrapped around her, filled her lungs, and stole her sanity. She lingered for a moment, her lips on his, so soft, so warm. Just enough to make her want more. So much more.
Her body pulsed with it.
She was about to pull back and tell him goodnight when his arms slid around her waist, securing her against the firm column of his body, and oh God, she was a goner.
“What was that?” he whispered against her lips.
She slid her hands up to encircle his neck. “A goodnight kiss.”
“And why would you do something like that?” His vo
ice vibrated through her.
“Because I wanted to.” Their bodies were pressed together, and though he hadn’t kissed her back, he wanted to. She felt the evidence pressed against her belly.
“Bad idea,” he growled, his lips still touching hers, teasing, tempting.
“Oh yeah?” She could hardly breathe. Every nerve tingled with awareness, desperate for his touch, his kiss. More. More of everything.
Her heart throbbed in her chest.
T.J.’s eyes smoldered into hers, his pupils blown with lust. His body vibrated with tension, his arms like steel bands around her. “Yeah.”
“Then send me home.” She wiggled in his arms, pressing into his erection, tempting him, willing him to kiss her back. Just for tonight.
She needed to be kissed. She needed to feel.
And he could make her…
His lips crushed hers, taking her so suddenly, so thoroughly, that she didn’t have time to draw a breath. She heard herself groan, felt the desire inside her explode into something so completely out of control it almost frightened her.
Her back slammed into the wall, and her legs wrapped around his waist. His tongue plunged into her mouth, gliding against hers in a rhythm so perfect she shuddered in his arms. He lifted her hips, grinding himself against her until her eyes rolled back in her head, and…
Holy shit, holy shit.
She must have lost her mind. Her body burned, quaked, shook for him, and he felt so fucking good. He tasted like sin, sweet and sexy, like leather and cowboy boots, and…
Holy shit.
She needed more. She needed everything. She needed him buried deep inside her, groaning her name as he drove her over the edge, as he came inside her, and…
Holy shit.
This was completely out of control.
“Holy shit.” The words came from T.J.’s lips, not her own, as he tore his mouth from hers and speared her with his gaze. He panted for breath, his body coiled against hers, so hard, so ready. She felt every inch of him still pressed between her legs, right where her body burned hottest for him. “What the hell was that?”
She laughed. “If you don’t know, then you’re more out of practice than I am.”
He lifted her free of him and set her feet on the floor. She nearly melted in a puddle at his feet. Her knees shook as she locked them to hold herself up.
“Seriously.” T.J. took a step back and raked a hand through his hair. “Bad idea.”
She bit her lip. “Why?”
“Because we have to work together, for one thing.”
“So what? I feel certain we could keep this chemistry going for at least a month.” She grinned wickedly. “And after that, who cares?”
“Who cares?” His eyes narrowed. “That’s your attitude toward relationships?”
She shrugged, cooling off rapidly under his searing scrutiny. “Why fight chemistry? The best way to burn it out is to let it happen.”
He was looking at her like she’d just suggested he go jerk off in the shower. “Burn it out? That’s what you want?”
“Well…”
“I’m thirty years old, Merry. I’m looking for someone to settle down and spend my life with, not a quick romp in the sack.”
Okay, now she felt cheap, and she was pissed. “Seriously? One kiss, and you’re talking about marriage?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head. “You know what? I think it’s time to say goodnight.”
Oh, it was so far past time to say goodnight. Merry considered herself lucky she didn’t feel his boot on her ass on the way out the door.
* * *
T.J. stroked Twilight’s forelock. The mare nuzzled his pockets for carrots, plying him with wide, brown eyes and butter-soft lips until he complied.
The kids had just gone home after the first day of camp, and it had gone well. Really well, all things considered. T.J. was pumped from seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces while they had their first riding lesson. His Camp Blue Sky was going to make a difference.
Patrick O’Day, a longtime friend of the family, was overseeing the equine therapy. Pat ran Triple T Stables, just a few miles up the road from the Jamesons’ Blue Sky Farm. At Triple T, he had been practicing equine therapy with disabled children for over twenty years.
Pat’s daughters Madison and Savannah would be helping him here at Camp Blue Sky, providing extra assistance to the kids who needed help staying in the saddle. Today, they’d taken each child out one at a time on Twilight. Their riding lesson incorporated balance exercises and other activities that challenged their focus and coordination.
After lessons, grooming, and some fun and games in the barn, they’d had a picnic lunch before the kids were picked up.
Now only Noah remained. He sat on a stool in the corner, his unruly shock of brown hair tumbling over his glasses as he played a Lego video game on T.J.’s cell phone.
He hadn’t spoken a word during camp this morning.
“You want to help me with Amber up at the house?” T.J. asked.
“Okay.” He never looked up from the game.
“All right. I’m going to put Twilight in the pasture, then maybe we can take Amber for a walk.”
Noah nodded. He had always struggled socially. T.J. hoped camp would help him develop more self-confidence around his peers, maybe even make a few new friends.
“Be right back,” he told the boy, then walked Twilight out of the barn.
He led her to the pasture in back to join her buddies for the rest of the day. His horses had a good life here: green pasture to roam, plenty of shade trees, and a shelter to keep them dry when it rained. Often, during these balmy summer months, he left them out overnight as well. Let them be social and eat grass. Live like horses should.
He’d never understood keeping a horse in its stall unless weather or injury prevented them from going out. It wasn’t natural for an animal that large to stand around in a square box all day, prevented from interacting with their own kind.
His horses had all been born and raised at Blue Sky Farm under his parents’ loving hand. T.J. had helped deliver Tango, broke him to the saddle, trained him. The gelding had been his pride and joy for fourteen years now. He’d never known a horse with more spirit. Tango was perfection in every way.
Twilight had been intended as a broodmare, but ovarian cysts kept her from being bred. His parents had planned to sell her, but T.J. brought her here instead. He’d needed a companion for Tango, thought by now he’d have a wife to ride her. Twilight was healthy now, but someday she might require surgery, and T.J. wanted to make sure she received the best care when and if that time came.
Peaches had a similar story. Stricken with navicular disease, Peaches suffered chronic lameness in her front legs due to a degeneration of the navicular bone in her hooves. She would have been difficult to sell, hard to ensure a good home.
T.J. didn’t hesitate to take her. Peaches had so much heart, and she enjoyed light riding. Noah rode her when he visited, and the mare loved every minute of it. Peaches was rock solid with kids, steady and even-tempered. As long as her legs didn’t give her trouble, she’d be an invaluable asset to the camp.
In a few years, she might not be able to be ridden at all, but she’d have a home here with T.J. forever. He’d made that promise when he brought her here.
He slid the halter off over Twilight’s ears. She gave him a playful shove, then, with a whinny, she trotted over to join Tango and Peaches under the big oak tree along the fence.
Today had gone well. Tomorrow would be much busier once Merry and her dogs arrived. Just bringing her to mind filled him with a dizzying combination of lust and anger. On the one hand, he admired the hell out of what she did for her dogs and the kids she cared for at work.
But last night, she’d crossed a line. Hell, they both had. He couldn’t even think about that kiss without getting turned on. Their chemistry was dangerous. Combustible. And off-limits.
He needed a wife, a
life partner, someone to share this farm with.
He did not need a hot-headed, bed-hopping, free-spirited nurse who promised a few hot, sweaty nights during summer camp.
Not that he was opposed to a few nights of sweaty sex. Sweet Jesus he was getting hot just remembering the feel of her in his arms. But the truth of the matter was, Merry Atwater was not the type of girl he’d bring to church and brunch at his parents’ house on Sundays, and there was no point dating someone he had no long-term potential with just because he wanted her in his bed.
Still, it was going to be a long damn month with her here on the farm every morning.
He blew out a breath and headed back to the barn, finding Noah exactly where he’d left him on the stool in the corner lost in his video game.
“Ready to go get Amber?” he asked.
Noah handed the phone over with a nod and fell into step beside him as they walked toward the house.
“You thirsty? Want a glass of lemonade?”
Another nod.
“It’s just the powdered stuff, not homemade like your grandma makes.”
Noah stepped through the front door and ran into the living room to fetch Amber from her crate. T.J. followed, unwilling to leave his nephew unattended with the stray, no matter how harmless she seemed.
Dogs could be unpredictable, just like people, especially the ones with troubled backgrounds.
Merry flitted through his mind again. Was there trouble in her past, something that made her shy away from serious relationships? Or was she just a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants type of girl?
Possibly a little bit of both.
“How ’bout that lemonade?” T.J. asked, herding dog and boy toward the kitchen.
Amber’s tail wagged happily as she walked at Noah’s side. She was young in years, according to Merry, but there was a world-weariness in her demeanor that made her appear almost elderly.
She never ran or jumped for joy. He’d never even seen her pick up a toy. Though, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t remembered to buy her any.
“Maybe later we could go into town and buy Amber some toys. Would you like that?”
