by D'Ann Lindun
She motioned toward the pine forest. “That way.”
As she led the way into the trees, a sudden gust of cold wind rattled the limbs. Johnny pulled his collar close.
Montana retrieved her wool cap from her pocket and pulled it onto her head. Was she cold?
He had ideas of how he could heat her up. Their kisses played through his mind. Damn, the woman could kiss like none other. Who had taught her? Tom-the-fucking-idiot? A flash of something akin to jealousy zipped through him.
He almost laughed out loud.
Who was he to be resentful of another man who’d once kissed Montana? He had no claim on her. And she had none on him. He’d kissed dozens, hell maybe hundreds. If someone had a problem with his past, tough. He’d been a free agent, rarely tied down to anyone for long. His career hadn’t been conducive to a long-term relationship. The road, with all its booze and groupies, didn’t enthrall any decent woman.
None he knew anyway.
~*~
No one but Montana’s closest friends knew about Tom’s wandering penis. When asked, she simply stated their engagement didn’t work out. She’d told Johnny more than most. From the time she met him, Tom had cheated. Rumors always circled him, but she ignored them as tall tales. The night she found him in the shower, all the stories made sense. Every single whisper had been true; they hadn’t been lies at all.
The shame of being the victim of Tom’s ongoing infidelities still rankled as much as the humiliation of finding her fiancé with those girls.
A wet branch slapped her cheek, drawing her attention back to the present. She swiped water off her face, noticing a cold wind swirling down from one of the peaks.
After breaking out of the trees, she reined in and looked around. Under cover she hadn’t noticed gray clouds shrouding the mountains. Another storm on the horizon.
She nudged Sunflower with her heels and he obediently moved forward.
At a Y in the trail she paused again. The right fork led to the creek bed where they’d spotted the elk earlier. The left turn would take them to a large park where she’d often found game.
A glance at her watch showed it was a little past noon. Plenty of time to hunt and make it to camp before dark.
The oncoming snow wouldn’t bother them.
No reason to turn back.
Reining left, she scanned the area for elk, but didn’t spot any. The small herd they’d seen earlier had vanished. Something moved among the gray boulders. Raising her binoculars, she quickly found the source—a brown-gray coyote hunting for rodents.
“What do you see?” Johnny asked.
“A coyote.” She pointed. “There. He’s scrounging around for a meal.”
He raised his own field glasses. “I see him.”
“We’ll leave him to his business,” Montana said. “Scavengers have a right to live, too. They actually do nature a service cleaning up remains of other animals.”
“Kind of reminds me of the paparazzi,” Johnny said. “Although I’d argue that they don’t have a right to live by picking my bones clean.”
Montana didn’t know how to respond to that. She couldn’t imagine being chased and hounded and photographed at all turns. The price of fame, she supposed.
With a click she asked Sunflower to move. Hoofbeats and an occasional snort were the only sounds as they rode across the mountain. She scouted for game and Johnny seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.
The shrill, scream-like sound of a bugling elk—a bull calling for a mate—rent the air.
Both horses’ heads went up and Gunsmoke did a little nervous dance.
“What’s that?” Johnny asked.
“A bull elk telling the other boys he’s found a girlfriend,” Montana said.
Johnny grinned. “I thought so, but I’ve never heard one before. Sounds kind of like me onstage.”
The bull called again, his love song echoing through the peaks.
“Beautiful music.” Johnny sat enthralled.
“It’s amazing.” Montana waited to see if the elk would bugle again, but he went silent. “He’s close. Let’s find him.”
“Almost seems a shame to shoot at a guy while he’s in love,” Johnny said.
Montana’s mouth curved up. “Probably better than when he’s not.”
Johnny threw his head back as laughter poured out of him. When he finally regained control, he said, “I know a little about that. Truer words have never been spoken.”
This guy was still in love with his ex. A little reminder for Montana to guard her heart. Not only was he free and easy with who he bedded, he was in rebound mode and that was a dangerous place.
“Let’s go,” she said.
At the top of the ridge, they stopped and dismounted. The peaks around them had been completely clouded in, fog creeping lower even as they watched.
Montana looked through binoculars at the valley below, where a herd of elk milled around. Several bulls with enormous antlers moved among the cows. She pointed at the biggest one in the middle of the group. “There’s your target. I think you can hit him from here.”
She took both sets of reins.
Johnny took his rifle from the scabbard and stared through the scope. When the enormous male moved to the edge of the herd, Johnny pulled the trigger. The sound boomed through the mountains, ricocheting across the peaks and valleys like an avalanche.
The elk stampeded.
Like a herd of racehorses, the terrified animals ran across the flat valley floor toward the safety of the trees. None lay in the meadow. Johnny had either missed or the bull was hit, but not critically.
Johnny lowered his gun. “Damn. I missed.”
Montana handed him Gunsmoke’s reins. “We need to check for blood. If you hit one we have to follow and make sure it’s not suffering.”
After Johnny re-sheathed his rifle and mounted, Montana stepped on her horse. The ride to the valley floor was made by zigzagging down the steep hillside.
Montana stepped off Sunflower and searched the ground for any sign of an injured animal. “I’m looking for blood.”
Johnny also dismounted and began walking in slow circles, staring at the churned up earth and flattened grass. “I don’t see anything.”
“Me neither,” she said.
He shook his head. “I thought for sure I had him in my sights.”
“It happens,” Montana said. “You’ll have other chances.”
“Not if I keep shooting like that,” Johnny groused.
“You have any idea how many times I’ve missed?” Montana asked. “Too many to count. Hitting a moving target isn’t easy, so don’t sweat it.”
“Missing the target seems to be my modus operandi lately,” Johnny grumbled.
Montana tugged his sleeve. “Forget it. Tomorrow’s another day.”
A soft mist swirled, cocooning the two of them. The sad look in Johnny’s eyes made her want to kiss him again. Instead, she backed away and glanced up. “We better head in before it snows. I think it’s safe to say nothing was hit.”
Johnny remounted his horse.
As they rode, snow began to fall. Big, soft, fat flakes that stuck to the ground. Some clung to Montana’s eyelashes and she blinked them away. This was shaping up to be a big storm. Returning to camp the same way they’d come in was not a good idea. Much better to cut down the creek bed. Although steep, rocky and narrow, the shorter way still seemed the better option.
With careful steps, the horses made their way down the narrow canyon. At times, the riders’ knees bumped the gray granite walls. Wet, thick snow stuck to everything, making the ride surreal, silent.
“I’m a long ways from home,” Johnny said suddenly.
Montana turned her head. “Homesick?”
“Not today.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?” She held her breath waiting for his answer. Making sure hunters had an enjoyable trip was paramount to her. They often returned and great word-of-mouth recommendations generally kept her busy.
This year had been the exception.
“Wonderful.”
The warmth in his voice gave her spine a tingle. “I’m glad.”
“I know a way it could be better for both of us.”
The tingle moved toward her stomach. “I’m sure you do, but I already told you—I’m not part of the package you paid for.” She twisted in her saddle to glare at him. “I’m not for sale.”
“Everyone has a price.” His voice went to that low raspy place she now recognized as his seductive tone.
She stiffened her shoulders. “Not me.”
“I’ve heard that before.” His sardonic smile infuriated her.
“I’m not your ex,” she spat.
His eyes darkened. “No, you’re nothing like Teal.”
“Thank you.” Montana wondered if his ex’s actions would make him forevermore classify all women as cheaters and gold diggers. Like her, he had major trust issues. She knew all too well how much betrayal could alter your life.
Recognizing it and doing something about it were two different things.
Rather than ever risk her heart again, she’d remain single and childless. Maybe Shannon was right to suggest Montana engage in a loveless affair with Johnny. God knew he was willing and able.
Could she give her body without her heart?
She’d never been able to do so before. After Tom, she’d dated a few times, but when the guys pressed for loveless sex she’d balked. None had come back for round two. Johnny certainly wouldn’t. Not only did he live states away, his lifestyle and hers were worlds apart. If she engaged in an affair with him, it would be temporary.
Not something she would ordinarily choose, or even consider.
Could she make memories with the rock star that would sustain her through the long, lonely years ahead?
The thought of making love to Johnny made Montana clench her thighs. Before her wayward thoughts went too far in that direction, she turned her focus to the task at hand—getting them safely off the mountain before dark.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As Johnny slid off Gunsmoke’s back, he couldn’t believe what he saw hanging in the trees. “Holy shit, will you look at that?”
Montana looked at what had grabbed his attention. “Somebody bagged a trophy.”
They walked closer for a better look. An elk, skinned and quartered, hung from a branch and the head hung nearby.
“Damn.” He stared at the enormous antlers. “Just damn.”
“Yeah,” Montana agreed. “I can’t wait to hear who got him.”
After they unsaddled the horses, Montana hobbled the two geldings and turned them loose for a well-deserved meal. Carrying their rifles, she and Johnny hurried toward the tent. Snow continued to fall, most of it melting upon contact with the ground.
The tantalizing scents of coffee, beef stew and apple pie wafted out when Montana opened the tent flap, making his stomach grumble. Lunch had been a quick stop for sandwiches at the bottom of the ravine.
“Smells good.” Montana stepped inside with Johnny on her heels.
Shannon looked up from the stove. “You hungry?”
“Starving.” Johnny accepted a cup of coffee with a grateful smile. Adrian sat bundled in a blanket near the fire. He took a closer look at her ice-colored skin and the purple circles around her eyes. “You look like shit.”
“Thanks. I feel it,” she said.
“That blows.” He knew how badly she wanted to hunt. Of all of them, she went the most often. “Feeling pretty shitty, huh, babe?”
“Been healthier,” she muttered. “I stayed in this chair all day. When I haven’t been in my cot, that is.”
Montana approached her. “Not feeling any better?”
“Uh-uh.” Adrian shook her head, then grimaced.
Shannon shot Adrian a sympathetic smile. “The altitude is kicking her butt.”
“Who got the big bull?” Johnny sank into one of the camp chairs near the stove. “And where’s the vodka?”
Ryan and Stoney sat with smug grins on their faces. Joel handed him a bottle. “Stoney did.”
“What?” Johnny’s hand, unscrewing the bottle, froze. “No fuckin’ way.”
Stoney nodded solemnly. “Way.”
Montana took the seat next to Johnny. When their knees brushed, she didn’t jump like he’d shocked her this time. “Details, please. Where? When? And how did you bag such a beauty?”
“Tell the truth,” Johnny said. “Ryan shot him.”
Ryan frowned. “Not hardly.”
Montana, Shannon and Ryan glared at him as if he’d accused them of having a threesome.
“A stunt like that could cost us our outfitter’s license,” Montana said.
“Hey, man. That’s some bullshit,” Stoney said. “I killed it, fair and square.”
“Kidding.” Johnny held up his hands. “So, how’d you do it?”
“My boy there—” Stoney pointed at Ryan “—snuck us right up on them. I took aim on the biggest one and pulled the trigger all nice and soft like he told me. Just like hitting a G-spot. I couldn’t believe my eyes when an elk actually keeled over in a big heap of fur and horns.”
Ryan nodded. “He did exactly what I told him to do.”
Johnny poured a liberal amount of vodka into his cup. “Amazing, man.”
“You’re telling me.” Stoney held out his empty cup. “Hit me.”
As Johnny poured, he shook his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“You must have been barely out of camp to have time to kill, skin and quarter it on top of getting back here,” Montana commented.
“We weren’t gone an hour when we spotted the herd,” Ryan said. “They were in that first meadow up by Coal Mountain. We got lucky and caught them before they knew we were close.”
Montana raised her cup toward Stoney. “Good job.”
“Thanks.” He toasted her, then turned to Johnny. “You kill anything today?”
“Had a chance, but missed.” He drained his cup and filled it again.
“It was a good shot,” Montana said. “We weren’t quite close enough.”
“When I saw that big elk out there, I thought either Ryan or Adrian had scored,” Johnny said truthfully. “I never figured you’d actually kill something.”
Stoney glared at him in mock anger. “Thanks, man. Did you think I’d weenie out?”
“No,” Johnny lied.
“It was all me,” Stoney said. “My first kill.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Montana asked.
Stoney stared at her. “What do you mean? I can’t exactly take it home and make a pet out of him.”
“You can’t waste the meat,” she told him. “And that’s a trophy head. It should be mounted and displayed.”
Johnny laughed. “Stoney’s never mounted an elk. A few heifers, maybe.”
Flipping him the bird, Stoney shrugged. “How do I do that?”
“We haul it to town. If you don’t want the meat, we donate it to one of the shelters. And we can take the head to a taxidermist,” Ryan explained. “There’s a good one in Montrose. What you do with it after that is up to you, but if it were mine I’d hang it on my living room wall.”
“It might look pretty cool in my den,” Stoney said slowly. “Yeah. I’d like that. Let’s get my elk stuffed and mounted.” He shot Johnny a warning look. “Shut up.”
He grinned. “I didn’t say a word.”
“You were about to,” Stoney said.
“You have to quit leaving yourself open like that, shithead.”
Adrian groaned and placed both hands on her head. “Will you two knock it off? You’re killing me.”
Johnny took another look at her. She looked like she’d had a threesome with the wildest fans out there. “You get any rest today?”
“That’s all I did. Sat around and bitched a lot.”
“I think we need to get her out of here,” Shannon said. “I tried earlier, but she wouldn’t leave without you guys.�
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“Hell no, I wasn’t going anywhere without my boys.” Adrian attempted a smile. “But now that you’re here…”
“You want to leave,” Johnny finished for her.
“I don’t want to, but I’m feeling pretty crummy,” she admitted.
“You need to get to lower elevation as soon as possible,” Shannon said. “Altitude sickness isn’t a joke. It can kill you if it goes into cerebral edema.”
Montana nodded. “She’s right. We need to get Adrian off the mountain.”
Joel stood and began to pace in the confines of the tent. “We should leave now.”
“Tonight?” Adrian shook her head, then pinched her nose. “I don’t think I could sit on a horse and I sure as hell don’t feel like walking.”
“First thing in the morning,” Montana said. “Unless you take a turn for the worse. If that happens we’ll call in a chopper.”
“A helicopter isn’t coming out in this weather,” Ryan said.
“I don’t need one,” Adrian protested. “I’ve been in the mountains before and I know what serious illness is. I just feel a little queasy. I’ve had worse hangovers.”
“She’s puked a half-dozen times today,” Shannon told them.
Montana knelt beside Adrian, her expression grave. “This is severe. If you start having shortness of breath, or feel as if you’re going to pass out, you need to let us know immediately.”
Adrian gave her a wan look. “I know. Shannon has already given me the rundown. She chewed my ass earlier.”
“Good. She should have.” Montana’s smile softened her words. “That’s why I pay her so well.”
Adrian shot a smile in Shannon’s direction. “She’s worth every penny.”
“I know it,” Montana said. “You need to stay hydrated. Have you kept down any water?”
“Not much,” Adrian admitted.
“How about some tea? We have plain or herbal. How about apple-cinnamon? It’s my favorite,” Montana said.
“That sounds good.” Adrian closed her eyes.
Patting the singer’s knee, Montana stood with an unreadable expression. “Hang in there.”
Johnny watched Montana with Adrian, and her compassion touched him more than he cared to admit. Adrian put on her tough-girl exterior so often, he and the other guys sometimes forgot she was a woman.