by Dena Blake
“Let me take that,” DJ insisted, picking it up easily.
Kat led her to a flat, grassy area under the tree, where she spread out an old hand-sewn quilt.
“Did you make this?” DJ ran her hand across the material.
“You must be kidding.” Kat laughed. “If I didn’t have Virgil, we wouldn’t be eating right now.”
“Not very domestic, are you?” DJ smiled as she lay back on the blanket and stared up into the sky. “This is a nice spot. Come here a lot?”
Kat nodded. “It’s peaceful here.” She opened the cooler and rummaged through it. Second thoughts about bringing DJ here flew through her. She took a deep breath and pushed them out of her mind. “Turkey or roast beef?” She held up two sandwiches.
“Roast beef.” She propped herself up on one elbow.
Kat tossed DJ the sandwich, took out a couple of sodas, and sat down on the corner of the quilt across from her. Kat was so hungry, she inhaled the first half of her sandwich and slapped DJ’s hand when she reached for the second. Stretching fence in eighty-degree weather was taxing, and from the weather report she’d seen this morning, it was guaranteed to be even hotter today.
“You have anything else in there?” DJ asked.
Kat raised the top of the cooler. “Apples, bananas, and grapes.”
“Let me have an apple.” She held her hand up.
Kat tossed it to her, then took out a small bag of grapes for herself. As DJ bit into the apple and sucked the juice into her mouth, she caught herself wondering what it would be like to kiss those lips and feel them on her body. The thoughts produced a reaction she’d thought no longer possible.
DJ tossed the apple core into the grass, then crawled over to the cooler, lifted the top, and looked inside.
Kat shook herself out of the erotic thought. “There’s another sandwich in there.”
“Not anymore.” DJ peeked over the cooler at her. “And I have to say, your grapes are looking mighty good right now too.” She raised her eyebrows and grinned.
“I wouldn’t count on getting anywhere near my grapes.” Kat squared her shoulders and playfully tossed one at her.
DJ let the lid drop, picked up the grape, and popped it into her mouth. “Um…Sweet. I gotta have some of those.” She crawled across the quilt next to Kat and put her hands out. “Come on, just a couple,” she said, begging comically.
“I don’t think so. You’ve eaten just about everything else. Do you want me to starve?” Kat held the grapes above her head as DJ reached for them. She had Kat down and pinned in an instant.
Unprepared for the urgent passion rising within her, Kat suddenly wanted DJ to touch her. She felt DJ’s lips slowly drag across her cheek and then the smoldering heat of her mouth. Kat trembled and the grapes fell from her hand. She tugged softly at DJ’s lips with her teeth. What was this woman doing to her?
“I knew I could get them.” DJ sat up and straddled her before she swiped the grapes from the quilt and popped them into her mouth one by one.
Still pinned beneath DJ, Kat propped herself up on her elbows—shaken, annoyed, and embarrassed that she’d let her body control her actions. Her cheeks burned with unwelcome heat. “You can move now.”
“Oh, come on. I thought we were having fun here.” DJ dipped her chin and covered Kat’s mouth with hers.
Sweet-tasting nectar filled Kat’s mouth, and her mind spun. Heat spiraled through her, igniting her senses one by one, but she felt guilty for enjoying it. Her mind was telling her no, but her body was all in. When DJ’s tongue dipped into her mouth, Kat snaked her arms around her neck and held on for dear life. Their tongues danced, softly baiting each other until Kat heard a faint moan. When she realized it wasn’t coming from either one of them, she popped her eyes open. It took a minute, but she recognized the sound in the distance.
“Did you hear that?” Kat turned her head to focus on the faint wail.
“What?” DJ’s mouth trailed down the newly opened path of Kat’s neck.
Kat’s mind went hazy until she heard the moan again. It rapidly grew louder until it turned into a blood-curdling screech. “Damn!” Kat twisted to maneuver out from under DJ, jumped up, and raced to the truck. She took a rope from the cab, ran to the riverbank, and headed upstream. “Come help me,” she shouted.
Kat saw the calf’s head bobbing in and out of the water. She didn’t have time to think. Her instincts kicked in, and she waded knee-deep into the water. DJ scrambled to her feet and ran to the edge of the river, waded in next to her, and started out farther.
“Wait,” Kat ordered her, slapping her hand to DJ’s arm. “It’s stuck in the net. We have to get it loose or it’ll drown.” DJ’s eyes fixed on the flailing calf before she brushed Kat’s hand aside and continued into the rushing water.
Kat held on to DJ’s arm, and she whipped her head around. “What?”
“The river’s too rough. Anchor me. I’ll go in.” Her voice steady and firm, Kat handed one end of the rope to DJ, then tied the other around her waist. “Don’t let go.”
DJ held the rope tight as Kat waded deeper into the icy, rushing water and fought to free the flailing calf from the fishnet wrapped around it. She struggled uselessly to undo the tangled net before losing her footing on the slippery moss-covered rocks and sinking into the rushing water. Kat caught sight of the river bank and saw DJ wrestling with the line as she thrashed her arms and legs, fighting to keep her head above the surface. The rapid monster-current continued to force her downstream, threatening to consume her in one big gulp. DJ seemed to have dug her heels in as she struggled to hold the rope. Gradually gaining momentum over the water, she towed Kat in as she sputtered and gasped for air.
DJ’s breaths were short and labored. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Kat coughed and choked, then staggered to the river’s edge, intending to go back in after the calf.
“No, you don’t.” DJ pushed her to the ground. “Stay here.” She gave the orders this time, treading through the hip-deep water.
Kat watched as DJ held the top of the net and waded out to find a place to anchor her feet in the rocks just behind the calf. The force of the water held the animal hard against her. Kat noted the path of the river. They could both end up downstream, and eventually DJ would have to make it to shore, without the calf. Kat’s stomach clenched. She hated to lose a baby, but she didn’t want to consider losing DJ.
Kat could see her trying to work her hand into the pocket of her soaked denim jeans to find something. It was a knife. Relief washed through her. She could cut the net. Kat held one end as DJ hacked it and held the calf. She used the net as a tow rope, moving slowly to the riverbank one step at a time until she could dig her heels into the rocks for balance and guide the exhausted little one close enough to shore for Kat to help it out of the water. The tired animal quickly scrambled to its feet and ran up the riverbank to its mother.
“They have such strong family instincts,” Kat said, watching the mother tend to her baby. “Sometimes they seem more human than us.”
DJ collapsed onto the ground.
“Damn Victoria Maxwell,” Kat muttered, pacing back and forth, clothes and hair dripping. “This is the second calf I’ve almost lost because of her.” She wrapped her arms across her chest and shivered when the wind picked up.
DJ went to the truck, peeled off her T-shirt and jeans, and hung them over the side. Then she reached into the cab and took out her flannel shirt and a couple of old wool blankets from behind the seat.
“Take off your clothes,” DJ said as she walked to the quilt where they’d picnicked.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Come over here and take off your clothes.”
“You have to be kidding.” Kat let out a funny-sounding snort, planted her hands firmly on her hips, and let her eyes sweep DJ.
“If you don’t, you’re going to catch a chill.” DJ held the blanket up in front of her. “Here.” She handed Kat her flannel
shirt. “Put this on.”
Kat lifted an eyebrow. Even though she wanted to be naked with DJ, she felt oddly self-conscious all of a sudden.
“I’ll close my eyes.” DJ waited while Kat removed her wet clothes and dropped them to the ground. Kat glanced up and caught DJ as she opened her eyes and immediately snapped them shut again.
Kat put on DJ’s flannel shirt, then said, “Okay,” before she ripped the blanket from DJ’s hands and quickly wrapped it around her waist.
DJ gathered Kat’s clothes, took them to the truck, and hung them over the tailgate next to hers. She went to the quilt, spread it up onto her shoulders before she took Kat’s hand, and led her over to a small patch of sunlight shining between the thick, leafy branches of the trees. The chill of the river ran through Kat again. At least she thought it was the river. The way DJ was smiling at her could’ve triggered it too.
“It’ll be warmer over here in the sun.” DJ spread the quilt, then motioned for Kat to sit. She dropped down next to her and wrapped herself and one of the other blankets snugly around Kat.
“Relax,” DJ said. She must have felt Kat’s back stiffen against her. She took Kat’s ice-cold hands and warmed them with hers. Kat reluctantly molded into DJ. As she settled in, Kat’s bare thigh brushed against DJ’s, provoking unbidden thoughts and a simmering heat between her legs. Being this close to DJ felt good. No. It was more than that. It felt natural.
Chapter Eight
The sun had shifted to the west by the time Kat woke. As she lay with her face nestled against DJ’s chest, her arm had somehow found its way across her stomach. Oddly, she didn’t feel the slightest twinge of discomfort. Something about this woman made her feel very much at ease. Kat still didn’t know why she was here. DJ had given Kat the impression that she didn’t want to work, yet whenever she assigned her a task, DJ did it well and without complaint. She acted as if her stay at the ranch was more of an imposition than a chosen experience, yet she hadn’t hesitated to go into the river after the calf. Kat thought about what she’d seen after DJ came out of the river. Sports bra, nipples, boyshorts—dripping-wet, body-clinging boyshorts. It was absolutely unreal. First the rodeo, then the kiss, and now this. Was there anything about DJ she wouldn’t like? She was just too perfect. This had to be a test.
Before she’d fallen asleep, Kat had felt a sudden change in DJ’s embrace. It was gentle yet rigid. From the moment DJ had arrived, she’d been so laid-back and relaxed, Kat had been unable to provoke the slightest rise out of her. She’d turned her head to see her eyes clamped shut. Was it her that was making DJ so very tense?
DJ shifted, and Kat gazed slowly across the compressed rounded breasts down to her stomach. The sight of her boyshorts still clinging to her catapulted her mind into a wild spin of forbidden imaginings. Acutely aroused, Kat was suddenly aware that her sexual desire hadn’t died along with Arizona. Trying to ignore it, she snapped her eyes closed and took a deep breath, but the unbearably overpowering scent DJ emitted made the attraction zing even stronger, and the perpetual wetness between her legs she’d experienced over the past few days began again. Kat resisted the temptation to trail her fingertips across DJ’s stomach. She clenched her hand into a tight fist instead and withdrew her arm. Kat felt DJ stroke her arm lightly. The cool air fleeting across DJ’s bare stomach must have sent her an immediate wake-up call.
“That calf really wore you out,” DJ said.
“How long did I sleep?” Kat rolled and propped herself up on her elbow.
DJ squinted at her watch. “A little over two hours.” She swept a single finger across Kat’s forehead, moving a few strands of hair.
Kat rubbed her face to shake off the sleepy remnants still fogging her head. “I guess we’re not going to string much more of the fence today.”
“I think you’ve done enough for one day.” DJ smiled as she slowly dragged the back of her fingers across Kat’s cheek and down the side of her neck.
DJ caught her gaze with her drowsy green eyes, and without hesitation, Kat’s mouth was on hers, their tongues entwined again. Heated hands moved under the flannel shirt, searing like a red-hot brand against Kat’s cool skin. DJ’s thumbs slid under the silken material of Kat’s bra and captured the stiffening peaks, sending a shuddering jolt of pleasure through her. Kat crawled willingly onto DJ, the inferno raging inside her fueled even more when DJ’s thigh pushed up against Kat’s center. Whatever vows she’d made to protect her heart in the past year had now been shattered into a million tiny pieces. Kat would never be able to abide by them again. Not as long as DJ was around.
At the sound of galloping horses on the upper trail, Kat jerked away and slid to DJ’s side. She sucked in a ragged breath and searched the hillside before she darted her gaze to DJ. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”
DJ stroked the pad of her thumb across Kat’s lips. “Would it make it any easier if I told you I feel it too?”
“Nothing is easy for me.” She sat up, clasped her legs to her chest, and let out a heavy sigh.
“Baby steps,” DJ mumbled.
“What?” Kat asked softly.
“Oh, it’s just somethin’ my momma used to tell me.” Her lips tugged up into a soft smile. “Whenever I had a problem, she’d say, if you can’t do it all at once, darlin’, take baby steps.”
Kat’s heart unlocked a little. She’d just caught a completely new insight into the city girl that she wasn’t expecting. “Your momma sounds like a smart woman.”
“That she is.” DJ nodded, and a moment of silence drifted between them. “You wanna go back now?”
Kat gazed into DJ’s eyes and could see she’d rather stay, but going back was the best thing for Kat right now. “I need to,” she said and broke eye contact, afraid of being spellbound again by DJ’s perilous green eyes. Kat really wanted to dive full-force into that wonderful pool of pleasure she’d just begun to experience, but she couldn’t. Not now, not here in this place. That would be wrong.
“Okay. Let’s go.” DJ stood up and offered Kat her hand. “Only this time, if you don’t mind, I’ll drive.”
“No. I don’t mind.” Kat smiled softly, letting DJ open the passenger door for her. “I don’t mind at all.” Her voice was a quiet whisper as she slid in onto the seat.
Kat watched DJ in the side-view mirror as she folded up the quilt before taking her still-damp jeans off the side of the truck and tugging them on a little at a time. She circled around, loaded the cooler, and picked up Kat’s clothes before climbing into the truck.
“Your clothes are still pretty wet,” DJ said, putting them on the seat between them. “I’ll drop you at your back door.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Kat said with a slight smile.
DJ pulled up as close as she could to the steps of the house.
“Thanks for everything you did today,” Kat said as she gathered her clothes from the seat.
“Aw, shucks. I really didn’t do all that much,” DJ said with a wink. Her charmingly boyish manner helped lighten the mood, and Kat gave her a smile, barely managing to keep a tickled grin at bay. If DJ thought that passively flip attitude of hers was the slightest bit attractive, she was absolutely right.
Kat opened the door before she reached over and touched DJ’s hand. “I mean it. I wouldn’t have been able to save that calf on my own today.”
“You’re welcome.” DJ’s smile seemed sincere and unassuming this time.
Trying to suppress the overwhelming urge to kiss her, Kat turned quickly, hopped out of the truck, and hurried up the steps. She only stopped to peek over her shoulder at DJ as she threw her wet clothes across the porch railing. After a simmering look from DJ that sent a jolt straight to her midsection, Kat raced through the screen door and stood just inside. Her head pressed against the doorjamb, Kat watched DJ drive off. She touched the collar of DJ’s flannel shirt to her cheek as she stared into the dust trail left hovering just above the road. I’m in big trouble.
; “What happened to you?” Virgil asked.
Startled out of her thought, Kat whirled around nervously. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“I didn’t sneak. I just walked in the room.”
“I’m sorry, Virgil. I guess I’m just a little on edge. Another of the calves was caught in Victoria Maxwell’s fishnet.” She tightened the blanket around herself.
“You get it free?”
“I couldn’t, but DJ did.”
“DJ, huh.” Virgil smiled as he observed the flannel shirt she was wearing. Kat knew he recognized it as the same one he’d seen on DJ that morning. “Yer on a first-name basis, now, are ya?” He looked out onto the back porch, and his smile broadened. “Those your clothes out there?”
“I was in the river, Virgil. They got wet.” Kat didn’t know why she felt the need to explain. She was free and unattached. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
Virgil stood silently staring at her, his goofy grin growing bigger by the minute.
“Virgil, don’t give me a hard time. I’m way too tired for that right now.” She rushed down the hallway to her bedroom and slammed the door, making the old house rattle. She’d known DJ only a few days and was becoming much too familiar with her. How could she be so attracted to a woman she knew absolutely nothing about? That’s not entirely true. She flopped down onto the bed. Physically, she knew a lot about her, from her misty green eyes to the musky smell of her skin. Kat was fully aware that DJ hadn’t offered much about herself personally or professionally.
Kat floated into the shower, closed her eyes, and let the steaming hot water run down her face. She couldn’t get DJ out of her head. All she could see were pink cheeks surrounding that cocky grin. Even peering out from beneath her cowboy hat, her smile was magnetic. She didn’t know what it was about her, but for the past few days she’d had Kat dreaming of things she hadn’t thought were possible.