Rawhide and Roses

by Maddie James

  She gave him a slow nod. Watching him sitting across from her, gave her a sinking, yet jittery feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t nausea. It was something else. The narrow grin he’d given her earlier was gone. As though he’d just realized where the two of them were—in her tent, alone.

  He turned toward the tent opening and snatched up her shirt. “You try and get some sleep,” he said softly.

  “I will.”

  He reached for the tent flap.

  “Thad...? Um. Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?”

  She could barely see his eyes in the tent’s darkness, but sensed his uncertainty at her question.

  “Kim... I—”

  “Never mind,” she interrupted. “Thanks anyway.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

  He gave her one last glance, then left her alone.

  ****

  When she finally emerged from her tent the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that it was extremely light outside.

  The second thing that struck her was that there wasn’t much commotion going on inside the camp. In fact, the place looked pretty darned deserted. The smell of fried bacon and strong coffee hit her as she neared the dining fly. For a moment, she thought someone had cooked breakfast. But when she saw no food waiting and glanced above her to notice that the sun was nearly overhead, indicating that noon was approaching, she deduced that they had indeed managed on their own.

  Well, what a concept!

  Picking up the skillet, she placed it back on the stove, stoked the dying fire and decided to add another piece of wood. Then she rummaged through the meat box to see if there happened to be any bacon left. Everyone else seemed to have disappeared, so she assumed they’d already eaten. Surely they wouldn’t begrudge herself a bite to eat, would they? Even if it was almost lunch time?

  Slowly, she glanced about. Where in the heck was everyone?

  She found half a pound of bacon. The pan was now sizzling on the stove with fat left from someone else’s breakfast, so she shrugged her shoulders and figured the heat would kill about anything and laid another two slices in the pan, watching the fat pop and crackle against the black iron skillet.

  “Enough there for two?”

  Kim jumped back and looked into Thad’s face. Hers grew hot. Quickly, she glanced back down at the package of bacon in her hands.

  “I think so.”

  “Good.” He took the package from her and laid it on a table beside the stove. Pulling slices of bacon from each other, he carefully laying them in the fat. Surprised, Kim stepped back and watched. After a moment, he glanced up. “I’ll take care of the bacon and eggs if you’ll get the coffee and biscuits.”

  Thad turned back to his work and Kim, a bit dumbfounded, stood and watched. After a second, he glanced up in question and Kim nodded and headed for the coffee pot.

  She made short work of the caffeine, setting the percolator on a free burner on the stove. Two days ago she wouldn’t have guessed Thad even knew what a skillet looked like.

  After rummaging around in the cold box of food again, Kim came up with a can of refrigerator biscuits. She popped the cardboard container and placed each biscuit in the bottom of a round pan, all the while stealing wondering glances at Thad as he turned the bacon and cracked eggs.

  She picked up the pan of biscuits.

  “If you’ll scoot over, I’ll slide these in the oven.”

  He looked at her then, stopping any motion he was making with his hands, and slowly slid to his right. His gaze never left her eyes.

  Keeping the connection, Kim stepped beside him. She could feel his hard body just centimeters from her back. Static electricity jumped between them. For a moment, he didn’t move. She didn’t either. With jerky movements and shaking hands, Kim opened the oven door, slid the biscuits inside, quickly closed it again, then awkwardly stepped back. Rubbing her hands along her thighs, she glanced his way, then averted her gaze and stepped away. “Those shouldn’t take long, the oven’s pretty hot,” she threw over her shoulder.

  Thad who hadn’t moved from his spot. The air between them seemed to crackled. “Bacon’s done,” he said. “Eggs will be ready in a minute.” Then he turned back to his task, whisked the eggs, and after draining all but a bit of fat from the pan, dumped the egg mixture into the skillet with a sizzle.

  Kim swallowed hard and sat at the camp table, her back to the table’s edge, facing Thad. This was awkward. Hours before, he had run his fingers through her hair and raked his lips across hers, fiercely as well as gently, sending her into a spiral of emotion. Then he’d walked away, disappeared into the night, and told her it could never happen again.

  And then deep into the night, he’d come to her. He’d cooled her feverish face and had taken care of her when she needed help. So many confusing thoughts and conflicting emotions bounced around inside her.

  All night she’d dreamed of laying in his arms.

  All night long she’d told herself it was impossible. Nothing good could ever come of a brief fling in this mountain paradise. In a few days, she was going home.

  To her potential house on the east side and her secure, stable future.

  To her future husband, whom she’d just not met yet.

  To her future children, whom she’d not yet conceived.

  To her Junior League meetings

  To her mom and dad.

  Her job.

  Suddenly, all that seemed so distant, so far removed from what she was experiencing at the moment. So everyday typical that what was happening to her now seemed exciting, atypical. She hadn’t realized how mundane her life back in Kentucky had become.

  But now, here he was, this gorgeous cowboy, doing the thing that she was supposed to be doing. Cooking breakfast. Looking sexy as hell. And melting her insides like a Popsicle on a hot August afternoon.

  Quickly, she glanced around her again.

  “Where is everyone?”

  Thad lifted the scrambled eggs out of the pan and scooped generous portions onto two plates. He set the skillet aside, and without a glance in her direction, opened the oven door. “Biscuits are done.” He ignored her question.

  Kim rose and went to the stove. With a potholder she removed the biscuits from the oven and set them on the stove top. With a fork, she placed two biscuits on each plate. As her hand reached to lift the plates, so did Thad’s. Fingers touched. Hips bumped. The tension between them sizzled like cracklings in hot fat.

  Kim gulped and jerked back her hands. Thad lifted the plates from the table.

  “I’ll get these, you get the coffee.”

  Kim did just that. After pouring two mugs full of the steaming, black liquid, she followed Thad to the table and sat across from him, placing one of the cups of coffee by his plate. Thad dug in.

  Suddenly, Kim was no longer hungry. She stared at the plate of eggs and bacon and biscuits. Her stomach did flip-flops.

  “What’s the matter. Still afraid of a few fat grams?”

  Kim looked into his face. “Oh, no.” She shook her head violently.

  “Need something else, then? Ketchup for your eggs? Jam for your biscuits?”

  Kim shook her head again. “No, this looks great.”

  “Cream for your coffee?” A broad smile spread across Thad’s face and Kim felt her insides mesh together.

  “No.” She rubbed a hand across her stomach.

  Thad stopped chewing and paused for a moment, staring at her. “Are you still sick?”

  She shook her head.

  Because you make me nervous, Thaddeus Winchester. Because when I look at you I get butterflies in my belly and tingles all up and down my spine. No, Kim told herself. She wasn’t going to make this worse than it was already.

  Grasping her fork, she forced a smile. “I was just...just reflecting on how peaceful the morning is before I settle down to eat breakfast.” She glanced outside the dining fly, realizing how hokey that sounded. She turned back to Thad, puzzled. “I have to as
k you a question.”

  Thad took a bite of biscuit and chewed slowly. “Yes...?”

  “Why the abrupt change of attitude. You realize you’re making me crazy here? One minute you’re gruff as an old bear, the next you’re fixing me breakfast. I don’t understand.”

  Thad studied her. “Crazy? Hmm, I can identify. Let’s just say...well, I’ve come to a decision.”

  “And what decision is that.”

  “That... That this old bear needed to extend a paw.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He nodded, pushed his plate back, and crossed his arms in front of him on the table. “Yeah. Me, either.”

  She studied him a moment longer, then glanced away. The camp was so damn still. Everything had changed. Thad. Everything. Eerie. She turned back.

  “Where is everyone?”

  Thad’s gaze met hers like a rock to the gut. “Everyone? Oh, they’re gone.”

  ****

  He had to be honest with her.

  If he hadn’t been anything else, at least she could go away from here saying he’d been that—honest. If she had half a brain, which he suspected she did, she had to know how he felt about her after last night.

  He had to hold on a few more days. He had to keep his feelings for her under wraps until then. But there was no reason to be unkind to her.

  Thad watched the panic flare in Kim’s widened eyes.

  “Gone? All of them? Where?” Her voice cracked.

  He tried to respond in as direct a manner as he could manage. “Most, anyway. Mack and Jillie went out on a little excursion this morning.”

  “I’ll just bet they did,” Kim muttered. Thad knew she was trying to keep her emotions in check. “And the others?”

  “Ben and Luke rode back with the lawyers and the other couple. Your friend Tim decided he’d played city slicker long enough. I told the wranglers to stay at the ranch. I figure Mack and I can handle you and Jillie quite fine by ourselves.”

  Again, a hint of alarm played around Kim’s eyes. Thad tried to read her expression, but it was hard. Panic coursed up inside himself. Just why in tarnation had he used that choice of words?

  Damn. The next several days were going to be long. It was all he could do to tear his gaze away from Kim’s beautiful face. And he was half afraid that if he ever got her in his arms again, nothing would stop him from taking his fill of her, either.

  That’s why it couldn’t happen. Not yet. She fueled a different kind of hunger deep within him each time those damnable blue eyes met his.

  “So, where are Jillie and Mack off to?” Her question broke his thoughts.

  “Looking for bones.”

  “Bones? Bones?” Her brow arched.

  “Some members of a pack trip we lost last year.” Thad knew he shouldn’t have said the words the second they were out of his mouth.

  “What?”

  Kim’s high-pitched voice pierced the quiet and Thad jerked up his head in amusement. She had the most frightened look about her, soft and innocent at the same time. Her short blonde haircut furled around her head in a rather unkempt fashion, which made her appear even more impish. Her eyes were round as biscuits. He wanted to laugh out loud but was afraid she’d deck him from across the table. His heart felt full and heavy. She was so damned beautiful, so gullible.

  “Just kidding. They’re looking for bones from an early Fremont expedition.”

  There was a twinkle in Thad’s eye that Kim had never seen before. If she hadn’t been so alarmed a moment earlier, she might have thought his little joke funny. But the simple fact remained that his joking was cause for warning. She would never have dreamed Thad could possess a sense of humor. And it was not only charming, but shocking, because if this little hint of humor could crack some of that gruff exterior, then, well....

  Then she was in a lot of trouble. She didn’t want him teasing her. Teasing led to flirting. And flirting led to other things. And those other things were what were going to get her into trouble if she let him get too close.

  Be civil to the man, Kim. Keep your distance. And don’t fall into the flirting game. Then you’ll be safe.

  “Oh,” she replied in a matter-of-fact voice. “John Fremont, I presume. Wasn’t that during the...let’s see, about the mid-1840s?”

  A few days earlier Kim would have been out to prove she was about a whole lot more than manicured nails and expensive haircuts. Even though those things were important to her. She’d wanted to prove to him that she could pull her weight just like the rest of the crew. But now, well, everything was getting all mixed up. One minute she didn’t want him to know diddly-squat about her, the other she was trying to impress him with her cooking and her brain; and then the next she’s telling herself to stop flirting so it won’t bring on any more of his wonderful kisses. Oh, God....

  What is happening here?

  Thad’s face grew serious and as he spoke about the expedition. “About 1840, I think. A little earlier than his expeditions through the upper Rockies and Oregon. You know that’s how Starvation Gulch got it’s name, don’t you? I can’t remember all the particulars. Talk to Mack if you’re interested, but I think quite a bit of his party was lost during that expedition. Starved to death, I imagine. Mack’s been itching to take some of the guests out on a side trip to play amateur archeologist. I guess that’s what he and Jillie are doing today.”

  “Yeah, I bet,” Kim mumbled and glanced past Thad’s head. If she knew Jillie, searching for old bones was the last thing on her mind. Jumping Mack’s bones was more like it.

  “Why do you say that?”

  She shook her head, her cheeks heating up. “Uh, never mind.” She shifted on the bench, picked up a biscuit and took a bite. “So,” she said a moment later, trying to act very nonchalant. “What are your plans for the afternoon?”

  An awkward silence fell between them. Both their gazes met. Kim picked up the biscuit again and took another bite. The consistency of the bread was crumbly, making it difficult to chew. Or was it that her mouth and lips had suddenly gone dry? Finally, she swallowed, coaxing the bread down with a sip of hot coffee. At least it was wet.

  “We have the afternoon to ourselves, I guess.”

  Kim looked to her plate, suddenly ravenous, and shoveled a bite of cold scrambled eggs into her mouth. What was he suggesting?

  “Anything you would like to do?”

  She knew if she looked up at him, he would know exactly what she would like to do. But, they weren’t going to do that.

  She swallowed the eggs and lifted her face. “You’re sure we’re alone?”

  With his gaze locked on hers, he dropped his head in slow nod. Maybe a little alarm crossed his eyes. For a split-second she lost sight of those fathomless orbs when his cowboy hat dipped lower. Then suddenly, there they were again.

  Piercing. Questioning. Playful.

  What was he doing? Playing her for a fool? Was he ready for her to spring on him only so he could knock her down again like he did last night? Well, she wasn’t going to fall for that old hat trick, was she?

  Not a muscle in Thad’s jaw jerked. His lips were taut and thin and straight as straw. He looked sexy as hell.

  Oh, hell, I’m a goner.

  She had no earthly idea what he intended, but she knew exactly what he wanted. And what he didn’t want. And that she didn’t want it either. Did she?

  God help them.

  Kim raked a hand through her unruly, dirty hair. “I… What I’d really like, Thad. I think I’d... I’d like to take a bath.”

  Thad straightened in his seat and eyed. “A bath.”

  “Yes.”

  If he said one word about being a prissy little socialite, she’d blast him, Kim decided right then and there. It had been days since she’d felt clean and if she didn’t immerse her entire body into water soon, she figured she’d rot about any second. And the more she thought about, the more she decided she wouldn’t be denied.

  Besides, a cold dip in the s
tream might keep her mind off warm sleeping bags and muscled arms wrapped around her. Involuntarily, she shivered.

  But as her gaze met his, she didn’t see anything in his eyes that was the least bit condescending. What she saw was raw, reined-in hunger.

  Oh. God.

  Standing, Thad stepped back from the table, as though to end any conversation taking turns down paths he’d rather not venture, and peered down at her. Glancing at his plate, Kim realized he’d finished his meal long ago. She’d barely touched her own.

  “Okay,” he said, moving away from her. “I’ve got some things to do around the camp, so you go for it. I’ll move the stock. Pack up some of the gear we won’t be using now. In fact, I’ll clean up the kitchen tent.”

  “I can do that. You cooked,” Kim amended, rising.

  Thad shook his head and put out his hands. Kim wondered if it was in an attempt to put up a physical barrier between them. “No. You’ve been cooking and cleaning all week. I’ll do it. Take your bath. It’s probably a pretty good time for you to do that. You remember the rules?”

  Kim threw a blank look his direction before recalling his pre-trip instructions about not altering the environment in any way. The proper way to latrine. To clean the dishes. Take care of the garbage. To bathe. “Yes. I remember.” She had no desire to spoil the pristine beauty of the land surrounding her.

  “Good. There’s an extra basin in the supply box over there. You know where the stream is. Take as long as you wish. No one will bother you.”

  There was an awkward, tentative crackle in the air about them as Kim met his eyes, nodded, and retreated from under the dining fly. No one will bother you. His words rang loud and true in her ear.

  The thing was, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be left alone.

  Chapter Ten

  Thad worked around the kitchen tent for a while, avoiding looking in the direction of Kim’s tent. He didn’t want to imagine her there, preparing for her bath. And when he heard her walk past, heading toward the stream, he purposely pointed his gaze toward the basin full of suds and dirty dishes so he could keep his mind on his task. But when he’d figured she’d just about reached the area where a stand of trees bordering the stream would cut off his view of her, he tipped his head up to stare across the horizon after her.