Stranger in Cold Creek

by Paula Graves

  Maybe he sensed she was there, because he opened an eye, and the seconds trickled by before it must have registered in his mind that he had a woman ogling him.

  He made a grunting sound mixed with some profanity and rolled over, no doubt because that was the fastest way he could reach the sheet to cover himself. However, the rolling over gave her a view of his front side.

  Definitely more dirty thoughts.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here,” Anna said, as if that explained the gawking. The drool. The long, heated look that she was giving him.

  But both the heated stuff and the drool came to a quick halt when Anna got a better look at his face. “Heath?”

  He blinked. “Anna?”

  Good gravy. It was Heath Moore, all right. Well, a grown-up Heath anyway. The last time she’d seen him had been nine and a half years ago when he was barely eighteen, but he had filled out a lot since then.

  Oh, the memories she had of him came flooding back.

  He’d been naked then, too—for part of those memories anyway, since she’d lost her virginity to him. Though she certainly hadn’t seen as much of him during that encounter in the hayloft as she’d just witnessed. He had filled out everywhere.

  He sat up, dragging the sheet over his filled-out parts, and still blinking, he yawned and scrubbed his hand over his face. More memories came. Of his memorable mouth. The equally memorable way he’d kissed her.

  She fanned herself like a menopausal woman with hot flashes.

  “Why are you here?” she asked at the same moment that Heath asked, “Why are you here?”

  Anna figured he was going to have a lot better explanation than she did. “I thought I might have left a book in here,” she told him.

  A total lie. She had been in search of a book that the housekeeper, Della, had said she’d left in her room on the nightstand. But when Anna had seen the guest room door slightly ajar, she’d opened it and had a look.

  She made a show of glancing around for a book that had zero chance of being there since it was all the way at the end of the hall.

  “This is your room now?” Heath asked.

  “No. But I come in here sometimes. For the view.” Anna motioned to the massive bay window. She wouldn’t mention that every bedroom on the second floor had similar windows, similar views. As did her own room on the first floor.

  Heath glanced in the direction of the bay window as if he might get up to sample that view, but his next glance was at his body. Considering he was naked under the sheet, he probably didn’t want to get up until she’d left, and that was her cue to leave. First though, she wanted an answer to her question.

  “Why are you here?” she repeated.

  “Riley. He saw me at the base in San Antonio and said I needed some...R & R before I left on assignment. He was headed back here to the ranch to finish out his leave, and he asked me to come.”

  All of that made sense because Riley, too, was an Air Force officer and had indeed been at the base the day before. Yes, it made sense except for Heath’s hesitation before R & R.

  “You weren’t here last night when I went to bed.” She would have noticed Heath, that’s for sure.

  “We stopped for a bite to eat, then to visit some mutual friends, and we didn’t get in until late. We didn’t want to wake anyone up so Riley just sent me here to the guest room.” Heath paused. “Riley’s my boss.”

  Uh-oh. That wouldn’t play well with Riley if he found out about her lustful thoughts over his subordinate. It wouldn’t play well with Heath, either, since he probably didn’t want to do or think anything—or have her do or think anything—that would cause his boss to hit him upside the head with a shovel.

  A threat that Riley had first rattled off nine and a half years ago when he thought a romance was brewing between Heath and her.

  If Riley had known what had gone on in the hayloft, he might not have actually carried through on the shovel threat, but Anna would have never heard the end of it.

  And there was that whole underage-sex thing.

  When Heath had first started working at the ranch, he’d been eighteen. But she’d been only seventeen. Riley and her other brothers had made a big deal about the attraction they’d sensed going on between Heath and her.

  The term jail bait had been thrown around.

  Since Heath had been making a big deal of his own about going into the military, it was an issue. Heath wanted to go into special ops, which would have required a lengthy background check for a top-secret clearance, and Riley had brought up her age for the sole purpose of scaring Heath into keeping his jeans zipped.

  It had worked. Until the day Anna turned eighteen, that is. After that, she’d made the trip to the hayloft with Heath, and she had the memories of the orgasm to prove it.

  Heath smiled at her, but it felt as if he’d had to rummage it up just to be polite. Again, the nudity was probably driving that. But the nudity didn’t stop him from looking at her with those sizzling blue eyes. Also bedroomy like his hair. He slid his gaze from her head to her toes, lingering in the middle. Lingering especially on her breasts. Perhaps because she was wearing a T-shirt and no bra.

  “Riley didn’t mention you’d be here at the ranch,” Heath said.

  “Oh? Well, usually I leave the day after Thanksgiving, but I decided to stay a little longer.” Since it was already two days after Thanksgiving, she probably hadn’t needed to add that last part. “I’m in law school at University of Texas, but I finished my courses early this semester. I’m also planning a transfer. I need a change of scenery...or something.”

  And a life.

  And perhaps sex, but she’d only gotten that idea when she’d seen Heath naked.

  “Yeah, a change of scenery,” he repeated, as if he were aware of what she meant by the or something.

  “So, how long will you be here?” Anna tried to keep her eyes directed just at his face, but her gaze kept drifting a bit to that incredibly toned chest. Either he’d gotten very good with contouring body paints or the man had a six-pack.

  “Until the cows come home,” he said.

  That’s when she realized both her eyes and her mind had seriously drifted off, and she didn’t have a clue what he’d been talking about before that.

  The corner of his mouth lifted. A dreamy smile, and he hadn’t had to rummage up this one. It was the real deal.

  “I’ll be here about two weeks,” he said. Probably repeated information. “How about you?”

  “Two weeks. More or less. I was going to stay until the final exams were over and the campus was less busy. Then, the plan was to talk to my advisor about the transfer.”

  “For that change of scenery or something?” Heath made it sound like a question.

  Anna pretended not to hear it. No need to get into all that. Instead, she glanced at his left hand, the one part of his body she’d failed to look at during her gawking. No ring.

  “I’m not married,” Heath volunteered. “Never have been.” He looked at her left hand, too, where she was still wearing the opal ring her Granny Ethel had left her.

  Anna shook her head. “No I-do’s for me, either.” Close, though, but best not to get into that after her change-of-scenery slip. “So, catch me up on what you’ve been doing.”

  “Maybe I can do that after I’ve put on some clothes? Or we can talk like this?” Another smile.

  He was flirting with her, a ploy she knew all too well since she’d been on the receiving end of his flirting that summer. Well, she could flirt, too.

  “I guess I can restrain myself for a quick catch-up,” she joked. “A quick catch-up,” she emphasized. “What are you doing these days? I mean, other than sleeping naked, that is. How’s the job going?”

  The smile faded, and she was sorry she’d taken the conver
sation in that direction. Of course, it was something a normal nondrooling woman would have asked the man who had been her first.

  Even though it was a dumb-as-dirt thing to do, she went closer. Much closer. And she sat down on the bed. Not right next to him, though, because she didn’t want to move into the dumber-than-dirt category, but it was still too near him. Six miles would have been too near.

  “Sorry,” she added. “Didn’t mean to hit a nerve. And I should have known better because Riley doesn’t like to talk about his assignments, either. I think he believes it’ll worry me, but whether he talks about it or not, I still worry.”

  “You shouldn’t. Riley’s been on plenty of deployments and hasn’t gotten a scratch. Some guys are just bulletproof, and Riley’s one of them.”

  Maybe. But Anna had a bad feeling about this deployment coming up. A bad feeling she definitely didn’t want to discuss with Heath. Or Riley. If she didn’t mention it aloud, maybe the feeling would go away. Maybe the danger would as well, and her brother would come back with his bulletproof label intact.

  “You okay?” Heath asked.

  That was a reminder to push aside her fears and get on with this catch-up conversation. “Riley always says if he tells me about his job, he’ll have to hit me with a shovel afterwards. Riley really likes that shovel threat.”

  “I remember.” Heath took a deep breath, causing the muscles in his chest and that six-pack to respond. “Well, shovels aside, I can tell you that I just finished up a deployment in a classified location where there was a lot of sand, followed by eight months in Germany where there was a lot of paperwork. That’s where Riley became my boss. Small world, huh?”

  Yes. Too small, maybe. “Riley and you are in the same career field?”

  “For now.” The short answer came out so fast. As did his hand. He brushed his fingers over the ends of her hair. Even though he didn’t actually touch skin or anything, it was enough of a distraction. “Your hair is longer,” he said.

  “Yours is shorter.” And yes, she achieved dumber-than-dirt status by touching his hair, as well. Since it was on the short side, she also touched some skin.

  She felt everything go still, and even though Anna was pulling back her hand, it seemed to be in slow motion. The only thing that was in the revving-up mode was this flamethrower attraction that had always been between Heath and her.

  “Yeah,” he drawled. No other words were necessary. They were on the same proverbial page along with being on the same actual bed. The flamethrower had had a go at him, too.

  “I, uh...” Anna stuttered around with a few more words and syllables before she managed to say something coherent. “This could be trouble.”

  “Already is.” He drawled that, too. Hitched up another smile.

  The past nine and a half years just vanished. Suddenly, Anna was eighteen again and was thinking about kissing him. Of course, she hadn’t needed vanishing years for that to happen, but it was as if they were back in that hayloft. On all that warm, soft hay. Heath had taken things so slow. Long kisses. His hand skimming over various parts of her body.

  Then, into her jeans.

  That had been the best part, and it’d all started with a heated look like the one he was giving her now.

  Even though they didn’t move, the foreplay was in full swing. His gaze lingered on her mouth. She picked up the rhythm of his breathing—which was too fast. Ditto for her heartbeat. Everything was moving in sync.

  “Anna, we’re playing with fire,” he whispered. It was a drawl, too.

  She was near enough to him now that his breath hit against her mouth like a kiss. “Yes,” she admitted, but she was in the “fire pretty” mindset right now, and she inched closer, her drifting gaze sliding from his mouth to his abs.

  “Is it real?” she asked, but was in the wrong mindset to wait for an answer. She touched that six-pack.

  Oh, yes. Definitely real.

  It probably would have been a good time to snatch back her hand and be outraged that she’d done something so bold, but she kept it there a moment and saw and heard Heath’s reaction. He cursed under his breath, and beneath the sheet his filled-out part reacted, as well.

  He cursed some more, but it was all aimed at himself. “I really do need you to leave now so I can get dressed. Once I can walk, that is. Maybe you can shut the door behind you, too.”

  That caused the last nine and a half years to unvanish. Heath was putting a stop to this. As he should.

  Anna was about to help with that stopping by getting to her feet and doing something that Heath clearly would have trouble doing right now—walking. But before she could budge an inch, she saw the movement in the doorway.

  And saw the source of that movement.

  Riley.

  His eyes were so narrowed that it looked as if his eyelashes were stuck together.

  “What the hell’s going on here?” Riley growled. He opened his eyes enough to look at her. Then at Heath. Then at the other thing that was going on. “And what are you doing with my sister?”

  No way was Heath going to be able to explain with the bulge of his filled-out part beneath the sheet. And neither could Anna.

  Chapter Two

  WELL, HELL IN a big-assed handbasket. This visit was off to a good start.

  Heath had known it wasn’t a smart idea to come to the McCord Ranch, and he was getting a full reminder of why it’d been bad, what with Riley glaring at him.

  “Get dressed,” Riley ordered, and yeah, it was an order all right. “And we’ll talk.” Then he turned that ordering glare on his sister.

  But Anna obviously wasn’t as affected by it as Heath was, even though Riley was in uniform and looked thirty steps past the intimidation stage. Still, Anna matched Riley’s glare with a scowl and waltzed out.

  Thankfully, Riley did some waltzing as well and left, shutting the door behind him. Though it was more of a slam than a shut. Still, he was gone, and that gave Heath some time to take a very uncomfortable walk to the adjoining bathroom for a shower. Cold. Just the way he hated his showers. And if he stayed on the ranch, there’d be more of them in his near future.

  It was time for a change of plans.

  Not that he actually had plans other than passing time and moping. Yeah, moping was a definite possibility. At least it had been until Anna had shown up in the doorway. Difficult to mope in his current state.

  Regardless, Anna was off-limits, of course.

  He repeated that while the cold shower cooled down his body. Repeated it some more while he dressed. Kept repeating it when he went down the stairs to apologize to Riley and tell him that he’d remembered some place he needed to be. Riley would see right through the lie, but after what he had witnessed in the guest room, he’d be glad to get Heath off the ranch.

  Heath made his way downstairs, meandering through the sprawling house. Since he was hoping for some coffee to go along with the butt-chewing he would get from Riley, he headed toward the kitchen.

  He heard women’s voices but not Anna’s. He was pretty sure they belonged to Della and Stella, sisters and the McCords’ longtime housekeeper and cook. Yep. And Heath got a glimpse of them and the coffeepot, too, before Riley stepped into the archway, blocking his path.

  “I know,” Heath volunteered. “You want to hit me on the head with a shovel.”

  “Hit who with a shovel?” Della asked, and when she spotted Heath, she flung the dish towel she was holding. Actually, she popped Riley on the butt with it and went to Heath to gather him into her arms for a hug. “It’s good to see you, boy.”

  Heath hadn’t even been sure the woman would remember him after all this time, but clearly she did. Or else she thought he was someone else.

  “Nobody’s gonna get hit with a shovel in this house,” Della warned Riley, and then she added to Hea
th, “Have you seen Anna yet?”

  “Earlier,” Heath settled for saying.

  “Well, I hope you’ll be seeing a lot more of her while you’re here. Never could understand why you two didn’t just sneak up to the hayloft or somewhere.”

  Heath choked on his own breath. Not a very manly reaction, but neither was the way Riley screwed up his face. Della didn’t seem to notice or she might have used the dish towel on him again.

  “Have a seat at the table, and I’ll fix you some breakfast,” Della offered.

  “Heath and I have to talk first,” Riley insisted.

  “Pshaw. A man’s gotta have at least some coffee before he carries on a conversation. Where are your manners, Riley?”

  “I think I left them upstairs.”

  Della laughed as if it were a joke and, God bless her, she poured Heath a cup of coffee. He had a couple of long sips, figuring he was going to need them.

  “Thanks. I’ll be right back,” Heath said to Della, and he followed Riley out of the kitchen and into the sunroom.

  No shovels in sight, but Riley had gone back to glaring again, and he got right in Heath’s face. “Keep your hands off Anna, or I’ll make your life a living hell.”

  Heath had no doubts about that. He didn’t mind the living hell for himself so much, but he didn’t want any more of Riley’s anger aimed at Anna. “I’ll get my things together and head out.”

  Riley’s glare turned to a snarl. “And then Anna, Della and Stella will think I’ve run you off.”

  Heath had some more coffee, cocked his head to the side in an “if the shoe fits” kind of way. Because in a manner of speaking, Riley was indeed running him off. Except that Heath had already decided it was a good idea, too. Still, he didn’t acknowledge that. He was getting some perverse pleasure out of watching Riley squirm a little.

  “I’m guessing Anna, Della and Stella will make your life a living hell if they think you’ve run me off?” Heath asked. And he said it with a straight face.

  Riley opened his mouth. Closed it. Then he did a wash, rinse, repeat of that a couple more times before he finally cursed. “Stay. For now. And we’ll discuss it later. I’ve got to do some more paperwork at the base. Just keep your hands off Anna while I’m gone. Afterwards, too.”