The shadows of the forest quickly swallowed her and Goldy up as they started down the thin, rocky trail that would eventually, in three hours, bring them back to the parking lot where her horse trailer was parked. In some ways, Dev didn’t want this day to end. She liked Sloan’s company. He was intelligent and he asked good questions and made insightful comments.
What were the chances she’d meet a second man so much like Bill? Dev had thought it was an utter impossibility, and now that she knew it wasn’t, it triggered real fear. Fear of losing Sloan like she’d lost Bill. Oh, being a ranger was dangerous sometimes, but nothing like combat in Afghanistan. The fear was eating at her gut, which was a ridiculous overreaction. They were safe in the United States, unlike that war-torn country in the Middle East.
She watched Mouse and Bella trot shoulder to shoulder down the trail, pink tongues hanging out, their eyes bright, ears up and noses in the air, sniffing the abundant scents. They made a good team and Dev smiled. The dogs got along like she and Sloan did. There was a quiet ease between them. Good. Beckoning. Terrifying.
Sloan rode his steel-gray gelding with that look that cowboys usually had. His hips moved in accord with his horse, his upper body straight and his shoulders thrown back with inherent pride. He was a powerfully built man and yet she didn’t cringe around him. Bart Gordon was built similarly, though far more muscle-bound because he worked out with heavy weights, and she’d instinctively feared him. Dev turned Sloan’s questions over in the back of her mind as she rode. Maybe she should find out if Gordon was still back East. But how? Once he was fired by the Forest Service, most of the rangers had probably lost track of him. And Dev had no idea how to find him otherwise.
As the horses turned down another switchback, Dev frowned. Sloan’s questions had upset her whether she wanted to admit it or not. What if Gordon was still stalking her? Out of sight, somewhere around here? Compressing her lips, Dev felt a niggle of fear shoot through her. No, he wouldn’t do that. Would he? He’d already been in jail for stalking and assaulting her once before. Would he come out here? To Jackson Hole? To find her? And then do what?
Her throat went dry with possible answers. Dev would never forget the insane look burning in Gordon’s eyes as he’d pinned her down on the floor of the mow. It was like an unchained monster staring down at her, lusting after her, and it had scared the hell out of her. Even now, her skin crawled, and a chill rippled down her spine.
CHAPTER TEN
BART GORDON SMILED. He had Saturday off and he was well hidden near the first apartment complex of The Pines, casually observing the second one. His eyes narrowed as he spotted Dev McGuire getting out of a truck. It wasn’t hers. Bart had purposely worn green clothing to blend in to his surroundings between the wall of the complex and the high shrubbery. Last week, he’d taken a ride around the towers early in the morning, at dawn, and spotted Dev’s blue-and-white Ford pickup truck parked at the second complex. He knew she was somewhere in that building. Bart had not been able to get into it as he had the first building. He had called over to the visitor’s center at Teton Park and asked for her, but she hadn’t been on duty. It was a good time on his days off, to hang around here and wait. And watch.
His lips curved triumphantly as he saw Dev emerge from the truck. His attention was instantly centered on the tall, lean man with her. He wondered who he was. On the side of the truck he saw print indicating he was a farrier. Bart made a mental note to check the phone book and trace him. Sooner or later, he’d find out more about this dude. Was Dev in a relationship with him? He knew Dev had been a loner at the other park, never having relationships with men. Someone had once said in passing that Dev had lost the man she loved in Afghanistan. He surmised that was why she was single and available. His erection thickened.
As the couple walked into the second complex, the door shutting behind them, Bart lifted his cell phone camera and took a picture of the door of the man’s pickup.
Feeling like it had been a successful day, Bart slipped out of the greenery and walked around the rear of building one. His silver Dodge truck was parked on the other side among many others. Mentally, he rubbed his hands in glee. Tomorrow, he had to drive to Idaho Falls with a load, but it left the rest of today to search the internet for this bastard who was with her. Jealousy ate at Bart as he stepped up on the sidewalk and casually strolled down to his truck. He was still learning about Jackson Hole, its nooks and crannies. And he still didn’t have enough money to make a deposit down on the apartment he wanted. Instead, he’d rented a dingy room on the other side of town.
Right now, he had no firm plan for kidnapping Dev. This time, he had to make sure of every step so law enforcement would not catch up to him. He’d been stupid to attack her in that barn. His footprints had shown he was there. Further, the bailing hook she’d struck him in the shoulder with had had his DNA on it. Another nail in the coffin that had earned him the prison time. And a lost job. Anger seethed through him. There was real pleasure in allowing his next kidnapping of her to unfold slowly. Because he wasn’t going to get caught this time.
*
DEV’S PHONE RANG just as she got herself and Bella into her apartment. Taking off her baseball cap, she dropped it on the top of her couch and picked up the landline phone on the small walnut desk next to it.
“Hello?”
“Dev? This is Gus Hunter. What are you doing tomorrow afternoon for Sunday dinner?”
Smiling, Dev sat on the edge of the overstuffed couch. “Nothing. Why?” She loved Miss Gus. Everyone did. She was a lot like Iris Mason, who was also a greatly loved and respected valley grandmother to everyone.
“Well, Val and Griff would love to invite you and Sloan over to our ranch for dinner. We always have a special midafternoon meal on Sunday and would like you and Sloan to show up. Are you game?”
Dev grinned. “Of course. It sounds like fun.”
“You need to see Sloan, though. See if he can make it, too?”
“Sure. What would you like us to bring? A casserole? Dessert?”
“Just yourselves. We eat at 4:00 p.m. Why not come around three and bring your dog? We’re gonna have the Holts here, as well, and Talon’s bringing Zeke, his dog, along. Plus Daisy, the golden retriever that Sandy owns. I think all three dogs will get along fine, and Talon’s wanting to socialize Zeke more.”
“Sure, I don’t have a problem bringing Bella, and I’ll let Sloan know. Okay?”
“Okay, see you then!”
Dev felt warmth invade her chest and she looked over at Bella who was intently staring at her. “Well? You heard we’re invited to dinner with Miss Gus and her family?” Dev grinned and leaned over, ruffling Bella’s thick yellow fur.
Bella panted and excitedly thumped her tail.
“You’ve already met Zeke and he likes you. But then, you’re a girl and he’s a boy. You’re a dog with two male admirers, Bella.” It was clear Bella liked Mouse, too. She stood up, wanting to get out of her clothes, take a shower and change. But first, she’d walk across the hall and knock on Sloan’s door.
Sloan opened the door and Dev gave him the message. He had a towel wrapped around his neck, his upper body naked. A rush of pleasure flowed through her as she tore her gaze from his powerful chest sprinkled with dark hair. She forced herself to look up into his eyes. He had obviously been on his way to take a shower when she’d knocked. Mouse was at his side, watching her with friendly curiosity, wagging his tail.
“Sure, we can make it, but I wouldn’t put Mouse and Zeke together when there’s two female dogs around,” Sloan told her, looking down at his dog. “Probably get into a fight. Combat dogs are highly competitive, a lot of testosterone, so I think we’ll leave Mouse here.”
“Will Bella be okay with Zeke, you think?” The man’s muscles flexed and she felt herself go hot in her lower body. Sloan’s shoulders were well defined, his upper arms attesting to his hard work as a farrier, tight and ropy. His hands were on either end of the towel around his neck. I
t struck Dev that he was utterly comfortable with his maleness, who he was. And it was beckoning to her.
“Sure. Zeke will probably think he died and went to heaven.” Sloan chuckled. “You okay with it?”
“Yes. Bella was spayed at a year old.”
“What? Wouldn’t you want some half Belgian Malinois, half yellow Lab puppies running around?” he teased.
“No. I’m not ready for six to twelve puppies,” Dev said with a laugh. “But I don’t have to worry about that.”
“Zeke will be a happy guy to see Bella.” He looked down at Mouse. “And he’s gonna be mighty unhappy his girl is with another male dog.”
“Bella is the belle of the ball. I’m looking forward to the dinner.” And then Dev added wistfully, “It’s like the home I always dreamed about, but never had.”
Nodding, Sloan gave her a tender look. “I think as people get to know you over time, you’ll have more Sunday dinner invites than you can fill,” Sloan promised.
“Does Miss Gus invite you out to their ranch all the time?” Dev asked, inhaling the scent of him and the perspiration and dust from their earlier ride. It did funny, delicious things to her as a woman, and that yearning ache began once more. It always did when she was around Sloan.
“I usually eat with Iris and her family two weeks out of the month and the other two, I’m over at the Bar H with Miss Gus and the Holt family.”
“That’s a lovely way to spend a Sunday,” Dev said, her voice soft.
“It’s a great Western tradition,” Sloan agreed. “Take pity on us poor, lonely single people.”
Dev didn’t want to leave, but she knew she had to. Sloan agreed to meet her Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and they’d take a leisurely truck ride out to the Bar H. She wanted to stay. Wanted to kiss this man. Dev saw something else in Sloan’s eyes, something that told her he wanted to kiss her, too. She wasn’t naive. She could interpret when a man wanted her. Her hands fluttered nervously.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Dev quickly turned around and left. Her whole body was quivering internally. How long had it been since she’d made love? Once in her apartment, Dev went to the kitchen sink and poured herself a glass of water. Being so sensitive, she could feel Sloan wanting her as much as she wanted him. After gulping down the water as if it would put the fire out in her body, she set the glass down. She gripped the granite counter, hung her head and closed her eyes. Did she dare get involved with Sloan? Every time she was with him, she was happy. Her anxiety disappeared. She felt at peace, and she hadn’t felt that way since before Gordon’s assault on her.
Opening her eyes, Dev pushed away from the sink and walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower. As the water sluiced down across her head, Dev felt so much regret about Bill and not consummating their relationship before he died. Just because they were in a combat area didn’t mean Bill didn’t know places where they could go to make love with one another. But Dev had resisted for a lot of reasons. Now those reasons seemed so lame. She grieved because they did steal kisses from one another. And his kisses had enflamed her and made her ache for so much more with him.
Stepping out of the shower, her hair smelling of nutmeg from the shampoo she’d used, Dev toweled off, caught in the misery and grief of her past. The look in Sloan’s blue eyes had been clear. He wanted her. Now there was no combat, no other concerns for her to worry about with him. She patted her face dry and walked to the steamy mirror, picking up a comb, moving it through her limp, damp hair.
While she chose a soft pink pair of jersey trousers and a white tunic with a cowl neck, her heart and her mind dwelled on Sloan. He’d never made a move to tell her that he wanted her. But dammit, she felt it around him! Being sensitive like this was miserable. Dev knew she would have to make the first move. She would have to let Sloan know that she wanted something more from him…if she was reading him accurately. Dev grimaced as she pulled the blow dryer from the bathroom drawer. She ran her comb through her drying hair, the bluish highlights glinting in the mirror. She knew her ability to read people was far from perfect. She’d not picked up on Gordon’s real intentions, had she? At best her “knowing” was spotty and not to be fully trusted.
Was Sloan any easier to read? Or was she fooling herself? Maybe she was reading him all wrong. And how embarrassing that would be! Dev would have to face him nearly every day because he was stationed with her at Teton Park. What a mess. Dev didn’t see any way out of it, either. If Sloan wasn’t interested, she would be mortified by her assumptions.
It had been Bill who had pursued her, not the other way around. They’d worked together, which gave them a lot of time with one another. Dev clearly remembered seeing that same look in Bill’s eyes when he looked at her—that look that had said he wanted her. And remembering back through those years, Dev knew she had felt his love for her, but it had been different than what she felt from Sloan. Bill had been a jokester and a teaser, and Sloan was not. He was a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy, quiet and attentive. She liked Sloan’s humor when he shared it with her, though. Since the assault, her sense of humor had fled. Or maybe it was buried? Like so much of the rest of her.
Pulling the brush lightly across her black hair to shape it, she stood there, observing herself in the mirror. The truth was that she was very bad at choosing men. Dev didn’t know why she couldn’t read them. After all, she was an empath. She picked up on people’s emotions and intent. But her gift, or curse, was not reliable. And maybe it was her. She hadn’t had a whole lot of relationships through the years. Bill had been her first serious one. She’d fallen in love with him. Making a face, Dev placed the brush on the counter.
Bella was lying sprawled out on her side, nearly blocking the entire hallway. Grinning, Dev stepped quietly over her, knowing her Lab was tuckered out from the six-hour trail ride. But she was a happy dog. Her snores echoed up and down the hall. Dev sometimes wished she was a dog instead of a human. They were much more alert and sensitive to humans and their surroundings. She hadn’t even heard Gordon sneaking up on her. God.
*
“WHY, DON’T YOU look pretty all gussied up, Dev.”
“Thanks, Miss Gus. Here, these are for you. From Sloan and me.”
Dev smiled shyly as she carried a bouquet of flowers that Sloan had stopped at the grocery store to buy, so she could give them to Miss Gus at the door. She was glad she’d dressed up in a pair of drapey cream-colored Tencel pants, with a soft belt around her waist. It suited the warmth of the season. She loved her short-sleeved sunrise-colored jersey top. The small pearl buttons from the boat neck downward made her feel very feminine.
Gus, dressed in a bright red dress with an embroidered white sash around her waist, nodded and peered intently up at Sloan, who stood in the foyer behind Dev. “Well now—” she cackled “—I don’t think they’re from this cowboy.” Her eyes danced with mirth. “I think it was your thoughtfulness, Dev. The only thing Sloan has ever brought to this ranch house is his considerable appetite!” She chortled, giving Sloan a merry look.
Dev laughed and looked over her shoulder at Sloan. He’d put on a clean, pressed white cowboy shirt, wore a pair of jeans and even wiped the dust off his well-worn cowboy boots. The red neckerchief around his strong neck just about matched the ruddiness that flooded his cheeks as Miss Gus teased the daylights out of him. “No, it’s from both of us. He helped me pick them out for you. Said you really liked white daisies.”
Gus raised her white eyebrows. “Well, that’s new. Isn’t it, Sloan? You helping Dev out like that? Hmm, sounds like a serious relationship forming here.”
Sloan smiled lamely and removed his freshly brushed Stetson. “It was Dev’s idea to get the flowers,” he admitted. “But when I saw the white daisies, I knew they were a favorite of yours.” He gestured out the open screen door where he stood. “In fact,” he murmured, “if I don’t miss my best guess, there’s a ton of Shasta daisies growing right inside the fence line out there.”
“Right you are,” Gus pra
ised. Eyes twinkling, she pulled Dev to her side. “You have to watch this hombre. He’s a mite slow about social graces, but he catches on fast.” And then, she gave Sloan a hard look. “So, next time you come? Might be nice to show up with flowers. And I do like chocolates, you know. So does Val. Good chocolate,” she noted, giving him a coyote smile.
“I’ll remember that,” Sloan promised, serious. “Otherwise, next time you invite us, you might not let me get a boot inside your ranch house door?”
Shaking her finger at him, Gus said, “I haven’t thrown you out yet, have I?”
Sloan gave her a warm look. “I will never show up here again without flowers or chocolate for you, Miss Gus. That’s a promise. I’ve learned a good lesson today.”
“Good chocolate, Sloan. You men just think you can grab a box of chocolates outta a grocery store and that’ll do.”
“It doesn’t,” Dev agreed, feeling for Sloan’s discomfort. It was the first time she’d ever seen him blush. He looked like a little boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Gus had a genteel way of chiding a person so they didn’t feel completely humiliated, she noticed. Still, Dev felt it was proper to bring something to a dinner she’d been invited to, and couldn’t believe Sloan hadn’t thought to bring his elder something before this time.
“See? She knows,” Gus said, indignant. “Ask this pretty little gal about good chocolate. She might know a whole lot more about it than you Wild West cowpokes who talk to your horses all day do.” She turned and laughed. Dev moved next to her. Gus had a slender oak cane that she leaned on. “Can I help you, Miss Gus?”
“Oh, Lordy, no! My hip is fussin’ at me today, so leanin’ a little on a cane takes the pain away. Val says I need to have a good, hot bath and that’s probably so, but I’m hungry! Everyone’s in the kitchen. Let’s go eat!”
Dev followed the elder as she hobbled down through the foyer. She inhaled the mouthwatering scent of yeast-risen rolls, a baked country ham and, she was pretty sure, sweet potatoes. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Sloan come in and hook his hat on a peg. He smiled at her. Heat went straight through Dev and she felt that intense yearning once again. Soaking it up, she gave Sloan a soft look and followed Gus into the massive kitchen.
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