Cleo kept shooting as Dynamite grew increasingly more animated, snorting and shaking her head. But when the mare let out a piercing scream and reared, Cleo decided something was wrong.
“Hey, leave that stuff to Trigger, okay, girl?” Taking the camera from around her neck and laying it on the ground, Cleo edged toward Dynamite, who reared again, coming down stiff-legged. The mare’s eyes rolled as she reared once more, and Cleo’s throat tightened with fear. She wondered if the camera had spooked Dynamite. Yet that didn’t make much sense. Whatever had happened, Cleo had to get the horse calmed down.
She spoke in a low, soothing voice. “Look, if that little black box upsets you, we don’t have to take any more pictures. I didn’t mean to get you so worked up. Talk about camera-shy. You and your owner are two of a kind.”
Dynamite seemed to pay no attention as she continued to rear, trampling the grass in front of her.
“Easy, girl.” Cleo decided if she could get close enough to grab the reins, she could keep the horse from rearing, at least, and maybe work her out of the fit she’d thrown herself into. She reached cautiously toward the dangling reins.
And saw the snake.
Or what was left of it. The mangled carcass had once been a snake, but the torn-up mess that Dynamite had made of it caused Cleo to turn away and clutch her stomach.
Finally she took a deep breath and gathered the courage to survey the situation. Dynamite had stopped pounding the earth and backed up several steps. She stood quivering, her flanks heaving from the effort. Cleo made herself look closer at the carnage on the ground. She’d never seen a rattler before, but the tail of this snake was still intact, and it resembled the pictures she’d seen on television and in books.
Cleo began to shiver as she gazed at Dynamite. “I think you might have just saved my life, sweetheart. I probably walked right past that thing, greenhorn that I am.” She glanced back to where she’d left her camera. “I hope they don’t travel in pairs. Maybe we’ll just ride over and get my camera. You’ve got a lot more sense about what’s around here than I do.”
Skirting the mangled snake, she gathered the reins and started to mount. That’s when she noticed the barbed wire tangled around Dynamite’s left hind leg. A strand had worked loose from the fence. In her frenzy to kill the snake, Dynamite had put her foot right through a loop that had been lying on the ground. Backing up to get away from the snake carcass had only made things worse.
Cleo felt horrible as she crouched to view the damage. Dynamite’s leg was bleeding from several places where the barbs had been driven into the skin.
“I didn’t see this loose wire, either, girl,” she murmured. “I should have been watching the ground, but all I could do was stare at the mountains. You’ll probably never want to ride out here with me again, and I wouldn’t blame you.” She sighed and laid her hat on the ground. “Guess we’d better see about getting you untangled. Let’s hope to hell another snake doesn’t show up while we’re doing that.”
With gloves, it would have been a tricky job, she thought. Without gloves, it would take a small miracle to accomplish, but she was out here by herself, with no one else to get her out of this fix. She’d just have to manage.
She got to her knees behind the horse. “Now don’t kick me, sweetie,” she cautioned, as she checked Dynamite to see if the horse had been bitten. “Ouch!” She pulled her bleeding finger back and stuck it in her mouth. “Damn, but that stuff hurts. I can just imagine what it feels like to have it wrapped around your leg. Easy, baby.” Cleo was relieved to find no evidence of snakebite on Dynamite’s leg. Now all she had to do was untangle the wire.
Gritting her teeth against the pain as the barbed wire continued to bite her, trying to pretend there were no more snakes within miles and hoping that Dynamite didn’t kick her clear into next week, Cleo worked with the tangle. Sweat ran into her eyes and she wiped it away, belatedly realizing that she’d smeared blood from her cut fingers over her face.
She talked to Dynamite the whole time she worked with the wire to let the horse know exactly where she was, what she was doing and why she’d appreciate it if the mare would stand perfectly still. Once she felt a pair of eyes on her and glanced sideways to find a cottontail sitting beside the fence post staring at her.
“What’dya say, Thumper?”
The little rabbit twitched its nose and hopped away.
“Guess where there are bunnies, there aren’t any snakes,” she said to Dynamite. “Or at least we can hope, huh? Damn, but this wire hurts. We’re getting somewhere, but it’s slow going, girl,” she said. “I think we’re liable to be really late getting home.”
ON HIS WAY BACK to the ranch for lunch, Tom stopped by to check Jose’s progress with the postholes. “Looks good, Jose,” he said, leaning on his saddle horn. “It’s about time to knock off for lunch.”
Jose took off his hat and wiped his forehead with a bandanna. “Yeah, I know. I thought I’d work until Cleo gets back and see if she wants any help putting away the tack.”
The mention of Cleo’s name started Tom’s heart racing. He was in worse shape than he thought. “Where’d she go?” he asked, trying to sound casual. He wondered if he’d ridden near her this morning and not even known it. Except that he thought he would have known it, somehow. There was an electricity between them that would have alerted him to her presence.
“She took Dynamite out. Headed up along the northwest fence line,” Jose said. “After the way she proved herself on the cattle drive, and knowing what a good horse Dynamite is, I figured it would be okay. I told her to follow the fence so she wouldn’t get lost.”
Tom nodded. “Sounds fine to me. When’s she due in?”
Jose tilted his hat back and gazed up at the sun. “I’m expecting her any minute. She probably started taking pictures and forgot the time. She’ll be along.”
“So she’s later than you thought she’d be?” He tried not to think in terms of disaster but couldn’t seem to help himself. She was a greenhorn. His greenhorn.
“I guess she’s a little late,” Jose admitted. “Not enough to be worried about, though.” He glanced at Tom. “We had a real strange conversation before she left. She asked if I wanted kids, and what I’d do if the woman I planned to marry didn’t want any.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. I think she wants to fix me up with somebody.”
“Could be.” And her name better not be Cleo, he thought grimly. He’d be damned if another man would end up with her. “I think I’ll ride up that way and see her home,” he said, acting as if he’d just thought of it. He’d known from the minute Jose said where she’d gone that he’d go up and meet her. He’d done a lot of thinking this morning, and he and Cleo needed to talk.
“Okay,” Jose said. “But I’m sure she’s fine. She’s a smart lady.”
“That’s for sure. Tell Juanita not to expect me for lunch.” He wheeled Red and started off toward the fence line. Once he was out of Jose’s sight, he kicked the horse into a gallop.
“THAT DOES IT, sweetheart.” Cleo eased the last curl of wire from around the horse’s leg and tossed the strand back toward the fence post. Her fingers ached and were covered with blood, both hers and Dynamite’s. Her shoulders and legs were cramped from hunching in one position for so long. When she tried to stand, the blood roared in her ears and she was afraid she might pass out.
“Just give me a minute, Dynamite,” she said, flopping back onto the grass and closing her eyes as the adrenaline surge that had carried her through the ordeal subsided. “Snakes, stay the hell away. I need a few seconds to rest here.”
“Dear God.”
At the soft, anguished cry, she opened her eyes and looked up to find Tom leaning over her, his face blanched white.
She’d expected to be embarrassed the first time she saw him again after the hot-tub encounter, but she was too grateful for his presence to waste time on embarrassment. “Hi, Tom,” she said. “How’s tricks?”
He dropped to his knees beside her, his expression grim. “Don’t try to talk. Don’t move. Something could be wrong with your back.”
She sat up.
“I said don’t move, woman!” he bellowed, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Would you pipe down? You’re scaring the horses, and Dynamite’s been through enough for one day.”
“To hell with Dynamite! She kicked you in the head!”
“No, she didn’t. I—”
“Then why are you lying here covered with blood? Or at least, you were lying here.” He gripped her more firmly. “Lie down, Cleo.”
“Why?” She loved the way he’d ridden to her rescue, and having him hold her made all the trauma worthwhile. “So you can have your way with me?”
“Dammit, how can you think about sex at a time like this?”
“Because I’m fine.”
“You look like the devil.”
She supposed so. “I cut my fingers on the barbed wire when I was untangling it from Dynamite’s leg. Then I wiped the sweat off my face and got blood on it”
He released her shoulders and picked up both her hands to examine them. “Aw, hell, Cleo. You’re all torn up.”
“I had to get the barbed wire off. Take a look at her leg, will you, Tom? I think it’s mostly surface wounds, but I’m not an expert on these things.”
“Don’t move.” He released her wrists and went to check on Dynamite. Then he came back and crouched in front of Cleo again. He looked into her eyes, his own dark with guilt. “She’s not hurt too bad, but we’ll ride double on Red, so we don’t put any extra strain on her. I should have checked this section of fence today instead of riding off like some idiot this morning.”
“Tom, this is not your fault.” She suspected his solitary ride this morning had a lot to do with her. “Besides, I’m fine, and Dynamite will heal. The rattlesnake, now, that’s a different story.”
“The rattlesnake?” His gaze sharpened. “Are you bit?”
“No, thanks to Dynamite. She trampled it while I was engrossed in taking her picture. Big old snake, too. I wondered why she became so alert. Then when she reared—”
“You’re sure it’s dead?”
“Go look. About a yard in front of Dynamite you’ll find what’s left of it.”
“Stay right there and don’t move while I check it out.”
“Okay.” She was through trying to convince him she wasn’t hurt. As soon as he stood up and walked away, she got to her feet and dusted herself off. After picking up her hat and tapping it against her thigh, she put it on and moved around to Dynamite’s head. Wrapping an arm around the mare’s neck, she scratched between the animal’s ears. “You did great, sweetheart. Thanks for killing the snake, and not kicking me, and being the best horse on the planet” She gave the mare a kiss on the nose.
“Is that your idea of staying put?”
She turned and saw him standing with her camera in his hand.
“I found this lying in the grass,” he said. “Knowing how much it means to you, I’m impressed that you left it to take care of your horse.”
Cleo stroked the mare’s neck. “The truth is, I love this little mare. I know she’s technically yours, but we bonded today, so I feel as if she’s a little bit my horse now.”
“I understand.” A faint smile touched his mouth and he shook his head. “But damned if you don’t look like a massacre victim, Cleo.” He handed her the camera and took her by the arm. “Come on, let me clean up your hands and face a little before we ride back, or you’ll give everybody a heart attack.”
“Was it a rattlesnake?”
He led her over to his horse. “It was. Timber rattler. Good-sized. Most of the time they go about their business and don’t bother anyone. You had the bad luck to stop in the wrong place.”
“And I didn’t look around, Tom. If I had, I might have seen the snake, and I certainly would have seen the barbed wire. I should have picked a different place to take Dynamite’s picture.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He opened his saddlebag. “I can stow the camera in here if you want”
“Sure. Thanks. I really do feel like an idiot, though, Tom. Jose sent me out with such confidence, and I made a mess of things.”
“Hey, you’re new to this country.” Pulling a red bandanna from his hip pocket, he wet it with water from his canteen. “You’re not expected to think of everything the first few times. Now let me see those hands.”
She held them out and pressed her lips together against the pain while he washed away the blood.
He shook his head. “You’re tough, lady. Most people wouldn’t have ripped up their hands like this to get that barbed wire off.”
“I didn’t see any alternative.”
He frowned as he worked carefully on her wounds. “You could have waited until someone came to get you.”
“I wasn’t sure when that would be.”
“I know,” he said gently, glancing up at her. “And I admire your take-charge attitude. You reacted like a real cowgirl”
“Why, thank you.” She smiled.
“God, but you look gruesome. Hold still, and let me get some of that dried blood off your face.”
She lifted her face and closed her eyes.
He nudged her hat back on her head, cradled her chin in one hand and started wiping the cool cloth over her cheeks. “I’m sorry this had to happen to you. You’re probably dying to get back to civilization about now.”
“Not...exactly.” Getting back to civilization was the last thing on her mind. All she could think of was the tenderness of his hand cupping her chin. And how much she wanted him to kiss her. After the trauma with the snake and the barbed wire, she needed to be held, and this was the man she wanted for the job.
Funny how battling for physical survival had rearranged her priorities in no time. Having Tom on the cover of her calendar didn’t hold a candle to having him in her arms. New York seemed a million miles away from this sun-drenched meadow and this intriguing man.
“Speaking of things we shouldn’t have done,” he said. “That business last night...”
“Mmm.” Her heart hammered as she replayed every detail. The memory moved through her body, arousing each portion it touched.
“That probably wasn’t too bright of me.” He’d stopped wiping her face, but he still cupped her face in his hand.
She opened her eyes and gazed up at him. “I don’t think intelligence had much to do with it”
He brought his other hand to her face. “You got that right. And it looks like I’m going to keep on being stupid.” His lips captured hers with an urgency that took her breath away.
She wrapped her arms around him and hung on to every taut inch of that glorious body. She’d been denied close contact with him the night before, denied the press of his erection and the rapid beat of his heart as he plunged his tongue into her mouth.
Beside them, Red snorted.
Tom lifted his mouth from hers. “We can’t stay here. Jose will be coming along any minute to see what happened to us.”
She groaned with frustration. “You’re right. And we have to get Dynamite home and doctor her cuts.”
He smiled. “You really are starting to think like a cowgirl.” He kissed her more gently. “We’ll settle this matter after we get back to the ranch.”
She rubbed against him. “We’re riding double all the way home, huh?”
“If I can survive it, we are. Damn, but you get me hot, woman.”
Cleo felt her husband-hunting project slipping away, as well. Spending the next few nights with Tom outweighed every other consideration. “Want to do something about that when we get home, cowboy?”
11
DID HE EVER WANT to do something about it, Tom thought as they rode double on Red, with Cleo in the saddle holding the reins and Tom behind her, one arm wrapped around her rib cage just under her breasts, the other grasping Dynamite’s lead rope. Her scent filled his nost
rils and riding wasn’t easy while a guy was aroused, he discovered. He looked longingly at shady glens they passed on the way to the ranch. Pine needles and a horse blanket would do just fine for what he was considering.
But they had to see to Dynamite. Besides, he wanted to discuss a few things with Cleo before he jumped into her bed. He’d managed to avoid giving her a straight answer to her proposition by kissing her hard and hoisting her up on Red. She probably thought that was a yes, when in fact it was a definite maybe.
He liked the way she’d reacted today, assuming responsibility for the accident with Dynamite and doing her best to rectify things. He winced every time he thought about her tender hands on that barbed wire, but he guessed a greenhorn had to earn her spurs somehow. He wondered if she realized how well she was adapting to this country. Then again, maybe she realized it all too well, which had prompted her questions to Jose. Maybe she was planning on roping herself a cowboy before she returned to New York, just like Deidre had done when she’d come to the ranch as a guest.
“Jose said you asked his opinion on a matrimonial issue this morning,” he said. He felt the slight tenseness in her body.
“It’s good to know my portrait subjects in depth,” she said. “The more I know about them, the better job I’ll do in choosing the shot that emphasizes their character.”
His grip tightened and he leaned forward to murmur into her ear. “The day I picked you up at the airport, you said you don’t take any B.S. from folks. Neither do I, and that last explanation was chock-full of it.”
She shivered. “Don’t breathe on my ear like that.”
He blew softly. “Why not?”
“It gets me...worked up.”
He rotated his forearm so he could cup her breast. “We might as well both be in that condition.”
“Tom.” It was more of a sigh than a command for him to stop.
So he didn’t. He just kept his hand there, lazily stroking her breast. “Are you going to tell me why you asked Jose whether he wants to have kids after he gets married?”
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