Slater eased him back down. “Whoa, there, buddy. You just lie still.”
Annie took the water and towel handed her, then gently washed Jared’s face.
He winced when he lifted his arm and touched his forehead. “What the...?”
“The compressor decided to play slam ball with your head,” Slater said. “Fortunately for you, you’ve got a hard one.”
Slater was smiling, but Annie saw the fear in the big man’s eyes. This had been close. Way too close. She looked up at Glenn, who was standing next to her, his face white. “Glenn, bring my car. We’ve got to get him to the doctor in town.”
“I’m fine.” Jared tried to raise himself up on one elbow again, but fell back. “I don’t need—”
“Not one word, Jared Stone,” Annie threatened. “You’re going if I have to hog-tie you. And in your condition, I’d like to see you stop me.”
“And me,” Slater added.
Jared frowned at the pair of them, then sucked in a sharp breath as he struggled to sit. “I go on one condition,” he said haltingly. “Slater stays here...gets the backup compressor hooked up while the crew finishes repairing the twisted pipe.”
“Jared, for God’s sake...” Annie started to argue.
He reached out and took hold of her arm. Even in his weakened condition the fingers that curled around her arm were strong.
“I mean it, Annie,” he said hoarsely. “You can take me, but everyone else keeps working.”
Determination glinted through the pain in his eyes. Frustrated, Annie looked at Slater. He nodded reluctantly.
“I’ll go get a blanket,” the foreman said grimly. “We can lower the back seat of your Cherokee and lay him out.”
When Slater left, Jared drew Annie close to him. “You’re bleeding.” He reached up to touch her forehead.
“It’s nothing.” She brushed his hand away and touched the damp cloth to his neck. “I just bumped my head. I don’t want you to think about me.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then his eyelids grew heavy and he leaned against her. “I always think about you, Annie,” he said weakly. “Always.”
He slumped against her then and his eyes drifted closed while he was still murmuring her name.
* * *
It was dark when he opened his eyes. His head hurt like hell, and his shoulder felt as if he’d been kicked by a mule. He thought for a moment he must have really tied one on, but then the events of the previous afternoon—the explosion followed by the trip to the doctor—came crashing back, and all he could do was groan.
He was in his bed, dressed in a pair of sweatpants. He sat up slowly, then waited until the throbbing in his head eased. The ticking of the clock on the bedside table was like the drumming of a rock band. He squinted, trying to focus on the lighted dial, but the numbers blurred together.
Damn. He knew he’d gotten off easy, especially considering how close he’d been standing to the compressor when it had let loose. If the piece of metal that had sliced into his back had been ten inches higher, he probably wouldn’t be sitting here at all. The doctor had told him that he should consider himself lucky that all he had was a few stitches in his shoulder and a mild concussion.
Lucky. Yeah. Right.
Dragging a hand through his hair, he blinked several times and stared at the clock again. It was two-thirty in the morning and he was wide awake. He thought seriously about going to the rig, but Annie, he knew, was asleep on the couch, and she’d already threatened to shut the rig down if he stepped one foot out of bed. She not only could do it, he knew she would. He recognized that determined set to her shoulders and chin only too well.
He was stuck here for the next two days, as per doctor’s orders. Like a prisoner. And between Annie and Slater, there was no hope for a reprieve. All he could do was wait.
The damn ticking of the clock pounded away at his patience like a hammer. He felt like murdering something, so it might as well be a clock, he decided irritably. He reached for the offending timepiece, then hurled it across the room.
The reward for his foolishness was a sharp stab of pain in his shoulder. He held his breath, then slowly let it out.
The clock kept ticking.
What the hell was he supposed to do at this hour of the night? He was going to go crazy if he had to just sit here.
He thought of Annie, asleep in the other room, and he couldn’t help but smile. She’d driven like a bat out of hell to get him to the doctor’s office yesterday afternoon, then acted like a mother tiger with a wounded cub when she checked him in, harassing the nurse when she didn’t move fast enough and pestering the doctor with a hundred questions. If Jared hadn’t been in so much pain at the time, he might have been amused.
Annie Bailey was a determined woman, he thought now with a sigh. A determined beautiful sexy woman. Not a minute had gone by since they’d made love that he hadn’t wanted her again, in his arms, in his bed. The only thing that had eased the tension was work.
And now he didn’t even have that.
He gripped the sheet in his fist, and despite the feeling that a truck had run over him, he felt desire rise in him. He needed to touch her, have her body against his, her—
“Jared?”
Her whisper startled him. He hadn’t heard her come into the room. It was nearly pitch-black, so he couldn’t even see her.
He didn’t answer her, just twisted the sheet in his hand and ground his teeth, hoping she wouldn’t see he was awake.
She moved into the room. “Jared, are you all right?”
He still didn’t answer her. When the mattress dipped beside him, he stifled a groan. He felt as if the door on his cell had just closed. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. She was too close. Too damn close.
“I just knocked the clock over. Go back to bed.”
“Are you in pain?”
Pain? He almost laughed at the thought. If he was in ten times the physical pain, it would be nothing compared to the pain of wanting this woman and knowing he could never have her.
She reached across him to turn on the light, but he stopped her. If she saw him, she’d know how much he wanted her. He couldn’t bear that. “I’m fine, Annie.”
“I’m supposed to check on you,” she said softly. “Because of the concussion.”
“I’m still breathing.”
“Do you want a pain pill? It’s been a few hours and—”
“No. I don’t want anything. Just go.”
She was quiet for a moment; the only sound was that damn clock. He hadn’t wanted to be so terse, but he was in a corner. Annie, go...please...just go...
He felt the mattress shift and thought she was leaving. He groaned when she moved closer to him.
“I can’t,” she said, and he heard the misery in her voice.
“Oh, God, Annie...”
He closed his eyes and turned away from her, but he could still smell the scent of his soap drifting from her skin. She’d showered earlier and he’d never wanted to be a bar of soap so badly in his life. But it was her scent that closed around him and drew him back like silken fingers. Her own soft feminine scent that made him want to wrap his body around hers and never let go.
“When I saw you earlier lying on the ground, I thought that you were...that you...”
Her voice broke. With a murmured curse, he turned back around and gathered her close. “Annie, I’m fine,” he said gently. “I really am. It would take a hell of a lot more than a little flying metal to do me in.”
She’d been an idiot to come in here like this, Annie told herself. He was going to be all right, the doctor had assured her repeatedly. But she couldn’t erase from her mind that horrible image of him lying on the ground, and the terror she’d felt when she thought he might have been dead. She turned her cheek to his chest, wanting to hear the beating of his heart.
“How’s your head?” he asked, combing the hair away from her face.
The tender stroking of his fingers on her
face relaxed her, and the heat of his bare chest warmed her through her thin cotton robe. “I told you, it’s just a scratch.”
“So you did.”
Her heart skipped when his lips brushed the top of her head. His hand slid caressingly over her arm, and the sensation sent ripples of liquid heat coursing through her. “Jared, I didn’t come in here to... I mean, I didn’t expect or want you to...”
“To what?” He touched his lips to her temple.
She lifted her head. It was too dark to see his face, but she smelled the musky scent of his skin and the faint aroma of antiseptic.
“I wanted to be next to you, to know that you’re all right.” Her fingers tightened on his arm. “Jared,” she said raggedly, “you...you could have died.”
Jared felt Annie tremble in his arms, and he cursed himself for wanting her as he did right now. He’d been so wrapped up in feeling sorry for himself that he couldn’t be at the rig he’d nearly forgotten what she must have gone through. All the old feelings for Jonathan that must have resurfaced.
An ache spread through him that had nothing to do with his injuries. It might be the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, but he could do this for her. For Jonathan.
He laid back on the bed and pulled her with him. “I didn’t die, Annie. I’m here and I’m fine. Just lie here with me.”
“No.” She started to pull away. “You’re hurt, and I can’t—”
“No, I don’t mean that.” He tugged her gently back. “We both need to sleep, and I don’t feel right knowing you’re on the couch.”
“I don’t mind,” she protested, and tried to rise again.
“I mind.” He wrapped an arm around her and brought her flush against him, her back to his chest. She drew in a sharp breath at the feel of his arousal against her buttocks.
He sighed heavily. “Look, Annie, I’m not going to lie and tell you I don’t want to make love to you. It’s pretty damn obvious I do. But I’m not going to do anything about it. I want you here. With me. Just for tonight.”
Annie desperately wanted to turn in Jared’s arms and touch him, reassure herself that he was fine, that he was alive. But if she did, it would be like lighting a match to dry kindling. They were both aroused, not only from the closeness, but from the tension they’d been holding in. Her body screamed for release.
But she couldn’t. She couldn’t make love with Jared knowing that he thought of it as “just for tonight.” She’d been through that once already.
She let herself relax against him, almost smiling at the thought that they were actually going to sleep together. He seemed to relax, too, and lightly pressed his lips to the back of her head.
“Get some sleep, Annie.”
His arm tightened around her, pulling her closer still, fitting their bodies like two pieces of a puzzle. She let her eyes drift closed, refusing to think about how close she’d come to losing him. He was still here, she thought. His strong muscular body pressed against hers was proof of that.
And her last thought, before exhaustion finally won over, was how much she loved the man who was holding her.
* * *
“Dammit, Jared, why the hell didn’t you call me yesterday when this happened?”
Annie watched as Jake, his hands on his hips, stood glaring down at his brother stretched out on the couch.
“It wasn’t—”
“I told him to.” Annie interjected. She was standing beside Jake, her arms crossed. “He said there was no reason to bother you.”
“Bother me! Bother your own brother? I have to hear this from Tom at the feed store while I’m picking up a load of grain this morning?” Jake threw his arms out in disgust. “And just wait until Jessica gets the message I left on her machine. She’ll give you a shiner to match the one you’ve already got.”
Jared frowned. “Look, it’s no big—”
“And why are you dressed in work boots and jeans?” Jake asked, narrowing his eyes. He looked at Annie. “He didn’t try to go to the rig, did he?”
She nodded. “Tried to sneak out while I was in the bathroom. Couldn’t get far without these, though.” She pulled Jared’s truck keys out of her pocket.
Jared’s lips thinned. “I was only going outside for some fresh air.”
“Yeah. That’s why I found you in the truck, swearing loud enough to rattle the windows.”
Annie moved into the kitchen to pour Jake a cup of coffee. She was glad he’d shown up when he had. Jared was a terrible patient; she was weary of arguing with the stubborn fool and was glad to let someone else take over.
He’d pretended to be asleep when she’d woken up that morning. She’d slipped quietly out of bed, not wanting to disturb him, and gone into the bathroom. That was when he’d dressed and tried to make his escape.
He was furious that she’d second-guessed him.
She was furious that he’d tried something so stupid.
They’d been arguing ever since.
With a sigh, she moved back into the living room and handed Jake his coffee. He thanked her, then turned back to Jared. “So, you want to tell me what happened?”
“I was standing a little too close to the compressor when it decided to attempt a moon launch.”
“The compressor blew?” Jake frowned. “Compressors don’t blow.”
“Not usually.”
There was a tense silence as the two brothers stared at each other. Annie glanced from Jared to Jake. “What are you saying? That someone tampered with the compressor?”
Jared winced as he sat up. “We aren’t saying anything just yet.”
“You’re implying something,” she said.
“It’s probably nothing.” Jake gazed thoughtfully at his coffee, then looked at Jared. “Have you had any other problems?”
“Permits lost, pipe twisting off, lights blowing. Nothing completely out of line, just more than normal.”
“Enough to throw you off schedule and out of budget, though, right?”
Jared nodded grimly.
Jake began to prowl the room. “It’s sounding a little too familiar to me.”
“What sounds familiar?” Annie asked, frustrated at the sudden quiet in the room. At least when they were arguing, she knew what was going on.
Jared reached for his own cup of coffee on the end table. “Jake had some problems a few months ago with an ex-employee cutting fence and messing with the watering pumps. It was subtle, but effective. He nearly lost the ranch.”
“I nearly lost Emma and Savannah.” Jake’s face went rigid. “They were in the barn when the bastard set it on fire.”
“Oh, my God,” Annie whispered. “What happened?”
“I got them out in time.” Jake stared hard at his coffee cup. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Just barely.”
Her knees felt weak and she sank down on the couch beside Jared. “Why would anyone do such a thing?”
“He was angry because I’d fired him, and the only job he could find was driving for Myrna.”
“You mean, like a chauffeur?”
“Yeah.” Jake took a sip of his coffee. “I suppose that’s enough to make anyone crazy.”
Annie certainly couldn’t argue with him there. “Jared, isn’t it suspicious that Jake had problems when Myrna wanted his land, and now you’re having problems when she wants yours?”
Jared shot Jake a look, and it was apparent that the thought had occurred to both of them.
“No.” Jared shook his head. “I didn’t believe it then, and I can’t believe it now. Myrna’s capable of a lot of things, but not this.”
“No one has better reason than me to dislike the woman,” Jake said. “She’s selfish, obnoxious and condescending. But I still can’t imagine her going this far.”
“What about that man, the ex-employee?” she asked.
“He’s in Midland Correctional for a long time,” Jake said coldly. “He knows better than to ever show his face around here again.”
Based on Jake�
��s murderous expression, Annie thought, the man was lucky to even be alive.
“So we’re at a dead end,” she said with a sigh and leaned back on the couch. It was still warm from Jared’s body.
“Look,” Jared said, “there’s really no reason for us to believe that these mishaps were anything other than just that. Let’s forget about it and—”
The door burst open and Jessica walked in, both arms full of overflowing grocery bags. Jake hurried over and relieved her of the bags, then set them in the kitchen. Her eyes were flashing as she stalked across the room to Jared.
“Jared Alexander Stone, how dare you not call me and tell me you were hurt.” She stood in front of him, her arms folded as she glared at him.
Jared rolled his head back and groaned. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, sure. You look fine. Black and blue are definitely your colors. Don’t you think so, Annie?”
Annie studied his face thoughtfully. “The purple is nice, too.”
And then Jessica was in Jared’s arms, hugging him even as she continued to scold him. “You scared the hell out of me, Jared,” she said more softly, pulling back so she could look at him. “Are you sure you’re all right? No broken bones? No internal bleeding?”
“I’m fine. Really,” he reassured her. “Just a couple of stitches in my shoulder.”
Jessica let out a breath and looked at Annie. “You okay?”
Annie nodded. “Except for the ten years’ life I lost and a small scratch.”
“Hey, Jessie,” Jake called from the kitchen, “what do you want me to do with this stuff?” He held up a small plastic bag labeled Cactus Flat Pharmacy.
Jessica gave Jared a kiss on his cheek, then stood. She glanced at Annie and rolled her eyes. “Men are so helpless.”
“Don’t forget stubborn and obstinate,” Annie added, which only earned her a frown from Jared.
“Goes without saying.” Jessica turned to Jake. “Throw it over here.”
The bag sailed across the room. Jessica caught it easily and tossed it to Jared.
He caught the bag. “What is all this stuff?”
She pushed up the sleeves of her white cotton shirt and headed for the kitchen. “I thought you might need a few things. You being incapacitated and all. Food, aspirin, bandages. A few other essentials.”
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