by T. J. Kline
“Fine.”
Her clipped answer as she slid from the cart made it clear that while she might act cool, she didn’t want or appreciate his presence. She headed toward the padlocked gate that led to the cats’ cages and the wild smell of them hit him full force. Holding his breath, trying his best to ignore it, he hurried to catch up to her, unable to let her comment go.
Her accidental admission had surprised him and he wondered who had said something to give her the impression that she wasn’t wanted here. Hidden Falls was a small town and, while people liked to speak their mind, often under the guise of concern for town well-being, he’d never known anyone to be openly malicious. “What makes you think people expect you to fail?”
She stopped abruptly and turned, causing him to run into her, knocking her off-balance. Ben reached out for her arms, to catch her. Instead, one hand splayed over her breast. Her gaze crashed into his and he jerked his hand back as if he’d reached into a fire. Heat traveled up his spine and burned over his shoulders. He would bet his face was as red as his shirt, but it didn’t stop the rest of his body from responding instantly to her soft curves.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to . . .” he stammered. “I mean, it wasn’t . . .” Ben jerked his offending hand through his hair. “Shit.”
So much for looking cool and collected.
Emma eased away from him and tugged the bottom of her polo shirt down, pursing her lips prudishly, but choosing to ignore the fact that he’d just managed to get to second base without knowing he was even up to bat.
“Because that isn’t the first article about this place and none of them have been glowing recommendations. This past month has been trying, to say the least. I’m fully expecting to see a ‘get lost’ sign on the front gate any day now.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“Who knows?” She shrugged her slim shoulders, suddenly looking tired and defeated, as if she bore the weight of the world on them. “All I know is that I’m doing the best I can. I never expected to be running this place alone but I’m damn sure not going to let someone scare me away from my father’s legacy.”
Scare her away?
From what he’d already seen of Emma, she didn’t seem like the kind of woman to scare easily so something pretty significant must have already happened to make her this certain someone wanted her gone. Her father had run the rescue facility for the last twenty years and, while there were several ranchers who weren’t thrilled to have it nearby, they tolerated it because of the tourists stopping en route to Lake Tahoe and the money it brought in during the summer months. They’d managed to somehow coexist in Hidden Falls without trouble. People had even started to come around when Conrad started his summer camp program for kids to experience some of the animals up close.
But something changed and he shut it down. Ben had assumed it was lack of funding, but maybe there was more to it than that.
If Emma’s assessment was correct, and the article in the paper seemed to indicate that she was, she needed to regain the confidence of the town, both in her abilities to manage the sanctuary as well as in the benefit of the place. The real question was whether or not she could do it before she lost all support from the community.
“Maybe you should do something so people could get to know you, see your qualifications in action,” he offered. “Once people realize—”
She rolled her eyes, cutting him off. “They’d act the same way Jake does. Like I’m nothing more than a glorified dog trainer. No one cares that I’m a vet because I just got my license. And they don’t care that I was a trainer because I’d only worked at the park for two months when Dad . . .”
So, she hadn’t lied about her qualifications. It was actually pretty impressive.
Emma sucked in a breath and he could see her trying to tamp down her frustration. “Look, I know you think you’re helping but what I really need is some time to get my sea legs under me and figure out the best direction for this place. Whether that’s getting more donors, opening it back up to the public or something else. But I will not be forced to shut it down because of some unfounded rumors.”
He wasn’t sure what else to suggest. As long as she was unwilling to open herself up to getting to know people in town, of letting them know her intentions, she and her abilities were going to continue being questioned. Like her father, she’d chosen a solitary path and, as of right now, made it clear she didn’t want help. Ben fell silent as he followed her toward the pens that housed the big cats.
She pointed at two bobcats sprawled out in a patch of sunlight. The smaller of the two gave him a bored glance before opening its mouth wide in a yawn, baring sharp incisors, and turning away. He found it hard to believe that the kitten he’d rescued yesterday would end up like this pair, nearly double the size of a house cat and far more dangerous.
“This is Millie and that guy over there is Bob.”
“You named a bobcat Bob? Isn’t that a little too cliché?” She gave him a slight smile and a shrug before moving closer to the cage.
“My father named them. Bob came in after a hunter shot him. A rancher found him bleeding and barely breathing. Dad called me and I was able to talk him through patching him up but eventually he had to have the leg removed due to infection. He’ll never be released back into the wild. Millie, on the other hand, was some rich lady’s exotic house pet until she got a little too rough with those claws. They were about to dump her in the woods when Animal Control got the call and Dad took her in. She’d have never survived in the wild since she’s too used to people.”
“So, what do you do with them now?” She remained so intently focused on the animals, if she hadn’t shrugged, he’d have wondered if she even heard his question.
“They’ve been rehabilitated, so they stay here. These two were a big part of the educational program Dad had going. Millie even went to some of the local schools with him for a while.” Her voice took on a wistful note and he studied her.
“You want to start that up again?”
She sighed heavily. “I’d like to, but I can’t right now. I don’t even have enough staff to do even half of what needs to get done on a daily basis.” She turned her gaze on him, piercing him with the deep longing he could read there. She was passionate about this place; there was no mistaking it.
His heart thudded heavily in his chest, heat slowly ebbing through his veins, circling his lungs and making it hard to breathe for a moment. He felt the desire to help her again, to offer whatever he could, even if it was just someone to lean on.
“I’m hoping I can send Kit back into the wild since he’s not injured or domesticated,” she said, breaking the tension that had suddenly enveloped them. “But if not, he’ll probably move in with them. I hate to do that though because neither of these two would make good surrogates. They know nothing about survival.”
She turned toward him and pointed across the compound area to a much larger enclosure filled with trees, ledges and rocky terrain, looking more like the mountainous hills surrounding Hidden Falls. “But Davis over there could, if he’ll tolerate a kitten. I’ll have to evaluate him, but I’m optimistic. He came in with a broken leg, but I was able to set it and he should be ready for release in a couple of months.”
A low rumble of sound came from behind Ben, to his left. The hair on the back of his neck raised, although he couldn’t quite place the sound. Emma must have noticed his sudden discomfort because she chuckled quietly and moved past him to where the sound continued. As they walked closer, he could make out a loud exhale and what sounded almost like a purr. Emma edged closer to the cage where a massive mountain lion rose and began pacing.
“This is Buster.”
What should have been fear in her voice sounded more like a proud mother showing off her child’s accomplishment. But this was no baby. This was an enormous beast that could tear her to shreds if she got too close.
“He was sent here from Nevada. Some guy thought he’d be a fun house
pet so he had poor Buster declawed.”
As if showing Ben that Emma spoke the truth, the big cat stood on his hind legs and pressed his massive paws against the chain link of his cage.
“Some moron wanted that for a pet?”
The idea seemed ludicrous to him, but there were a lot of things people did that made him scratch his head in awe of the human capability for stupidity. He took a step closer to the cage and the cat immediately crouched, curling his lip up and letting out a hiss that froze him in his tracks. He might not have claws but there were plenty of sharp teeth that could inflict some savage damage, and the only thing separating the cat from Emma was a flimsy chain fence.
“Don’t worry, Buster,” she cooed at the tawny beast like he was a house cat, “he has no idea what a good boy you are. Take it easy.”
The cat stood up and rubbed his head against the fence where Emma stood, the low rumbling exhale sounding again. She seemed to have absolutely no fear of him and laughed at his antics as she moved away from the cage.
“Looks like Buster doesn’t like you much,” she pointed out.
“Yeah? I don’t think I’m too fond of him either.”
She pursed her lips. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m the one taking care of him and you’re not around often.”
“We’ll see.”
He wasn’t sure why he said it. It had just slipped out. Maybe it had something to do with the way Emma seemed to make his brain stop functioning. She narrowed her eyes at him and he realized that he liked seeing the spark that lit in them when he pushed her buttons, like when he’d caught her staring at his ass yesterday.
Conrad Jordan had never been one to mince words and Ben wouldn’t have expected anything less from his daughter, but she even surpassed her old man. This woman gave new meaning to the term “independent.”
She arched a disdainful brow, her gaze skimming over him. “Why, Mr. McQuaid, are you offering to sign up as a volunteer here?”
Her eyes shimmered with humor, as if she expected him to turn down her offer. She was testing him, pushing back to see if he would continue to tease her. He could read the dare in her eyes and knew he needed to back off. He wasn’t even sure why he’d given in to the urge to come at all. He should have just ignored the part of his brain that had seen a woman getting a bad rap and just headed in to the station. Clearly, she was no damsel in need of his rescue.
Ben squared his shoulders, looking her full in the face. Emma tipped her chin up toward him, making the sunlight dance over the freckles littered along the bridge of her nose as a confident smile spread. Desire settled deep in his gut, curling up as if preparing to reside there for some time.
But Ben didn’t have any inclination for romance, and certainly not with someone like her. He had a knack for picking the wrong women and, after the last fiasco, he’d decided to make some changes. From now on his women, and his life, would be predictable. There was nothing about Emma that he could rely on. At the same time, he felt his common sense—or maybe it was his sanity—take a back seat as his mouth opened and he heard the words that tumbled out.
Ah, hell!
Chapter Five
“Sure, why not?”
Emma saw the slow grin that accompanied Ben’s acquiescence and felt her stomach drop to her toes. She’d seen him wrinkle his nose in disgust as they’d driven into the compound. Granted, it was a smell that took some getting used to but Ben couldn’t even hide his distaste. Why would he agree to this?
Asking him to volunteer had been a joke. She was sick of him pushing her buttons, having the authoritative upper hand, so she’d decided to push back. However, she’d never, in a million years, thought he’d say yes.
Emma took a step backward. “You don’t know the first thing about these animals.” She really wasn’t sure what he might know, but it seemed like as good an excuse as any.
“So? You said you needed more people to get the daily chores done. Teach me.” He took a step closer, between her and the cage. She saw Buster drop back onto his haunches, his shoulders twitching as he opened his mouth, rolling his lip back, sucking in the newcomer’s scent. Before Ben even realized what was happening, she reached for the front of his shirt and jerked him forward, away from the pen. The lion reared against the side of the cage, roaring in frustration when he couldn’t reach his prize. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she realized how close he’d just come to getting hurt. Even without claws, in spite of the chain link fencing between them, Buster could do some serious damage.
Ben’s arms had instinctively wound around her waist when she reached for him and he lifted her off the ground, moving them both farther away from the cage. Her fingers were pinned between their bodies, curled in the soft cotton t-shirt.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking down into her face, his dark eyes filled with urgency.
“Put me down,” she ordered. Landing gently on her toes, she shoved against his chest, trying to gain some breathing room between their bodies. “Me? I’m fine. You were the one with a death wish. What would make you think you could get that close to him? Don’t you realize what he could have done?”
“I wasn’t much closer than you were to that thing,” he argued.
“He knows me! I wasn’t the one he was hissing at five minutes ago.”
His lips split in a wide grin and he laughed. The damn pain in the ass was laughing?
“What in the hell do you think is funny about this? Don’t you realize what could have happened?”
“You’re kinda cute when you’re mad.”
She shoved against his chest. “And you’re an idiot who could have gotten me shut down with your stupidity.”
Ben frowned, as if the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Emma threw her hands into the air before pinching her thumb and first finger together. “I’m this close from being declared a danger to this town’s welfare and you nearly hand them my head on a plate.”
She turned on her heel, stalked back to the golf cart and snatched the newspaper from the seat where he’d discarded it. “You see this?” She snapped the paper so he could see the headline. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been blamed for something I had nothing to do with. It’s been happening at least once a week since I got back here. My animals and I are getting blamed every time livestock goes missing, something turns up amiss or some kid scrapes his knee. Hidden Falls is on a witch hunt and they’ve decided I’m riding the broom.”
“People supported your dad, even if they didn’t particularly love what he was doing here. I’m sure if they just saw your side, they’d rally around you.” A frown furrowed his brow.
“Thanks, because a reminder of how much the people around here trusted my dad more than me is exactly what I need to hear right now.” Emma shook her head slightly. “Look, I don’t know why you’re here, but I seriously doubt that I’m due for another inspection just because someone found a bobcat in their tree. We live in the foothills. There are bobcats, and cougars and coyotes. I can’t be held responsible for every wild animal that turns up around Hidden Falls.”
“Another inspection?” He arched a brow and his lips pinched into a thin line.
“You’re the second inspector in less than two months.”
“A cop, right?”
“Yes, why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yeah . . . um, that was my brother.”
Emma opened her mouth, prepared to say more, but closed it quickly. She should have realized that Muscles was related to the officer who’d come by after she’d first arrived. Now that he’d said something, she realized they both had the same dark eyes, the same squared jaw, the same down-home, aw-shucks good-ole-boy attitude. But the police officer had been far sterner and had inspected the place by-the-books. Not to mention that he hadn’t had Ben’s lopsided, charming smile, nor did it feel like her entire body was catching fire when he looked at her, like his mere presence was about to spark dry tinder into a raging inferno.
Ben shoved his
hands into his pockets and didn’t meet her gaze, suddenly uncomfortable and looking guilty.
“Wait? Did he send you out here?” She looked around, almost expecting the cop to pop out from between the cages. “Is this some sort of set-up? You deliberately get hurt so he can swoop in and shut me down? Then you two can be the town heroes and get rid of the sanctuary?”
“Whoa, lady. You’ve got this all wrong. I just came by—”
She threw her hands into the air and spun on her heel, turning her back on him while she yelled. “You nearly get killed, then blame me for it.”
Ben held his hands up and laughed as she spun back toward him. “Take a breath.”
If he didn’t stop laughing at her, she was going to lose what little rein she had left over her temper. When she didn’t even crack a smile, his humor seemed to dissipate and he fell quiet.
“Look, I’m sorry. This wasn’t some sort of set-up, just real-life stupidity on my part. Why don’t we start over?” He held out his hand. “I’m Ben McQuaid, local firefighter, rescuer of kittens, and I guess I just came by today because I get the feeling this article if full of crap and I wanted to see it for myself.”
“So, you’re not really here professionally?” she asked, using his words against him.
He shook his head. “No, and I’m sorry I let you believe I was but I’d like to help you out if I can.”
She folded her arms over her chest and stared at the hand he still held out to her. “Why?”
Ben shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Hell if I know. It’s not like you’re overly friendly,” he teased, moving his hand a bit closer toward her, urging her to take it.
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth and she fought to maintain her stern expression. As much as she might want to stay angry, to release the frustration that had been building in her over the past month, Ben wasn’t her enemy and treating him like he was wouldn’t help anyone.
The corners of his eyes crinkled as he cocked his head to one side and shot her a lopsided smile that was far too charming to be in any woman’s best interest. Her lips twitched in response and she pinched them together, trying to keep from falling prey to his panty-dropping smile and that sexy dimple creasing his cheek.