Easing the cross-trainer from her foot, he carefully peeled the sock off and examined her ankle. He was relieved that there was very little swelling. He’d seen enough injuries in his many years on the rodeo circuit to tell that it was most likely a mild sprain and not broken.
“Can you wiggle your toes without pain?” he asked, running his hands over the delicate bones on the top of her foot.
She moved them without hesitation. “I’m fine. Now, go away, Adams.”
He chuckled. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” she demanded, lifting her arm to look at him.
“I haven’t finished taking care of your ankle.”
Faith gritted her teeth and tried to concentrate on something—anything—besides the feel of Cooper’s strong hands stroking her arch, massaging the sole of her foot. “There’s nothing to do,” she said through gritted teeth.
“We need to put ice on it to keep the swelling down,” he insisted, reaching into the white metal box.
Relieved that he’d stopped his sensual assault on her foot, she laughed. “And just where do you expect to find ice without a freezer or electricity to operate it?”
He grinned triumphantly and held up a small plastic bag. “Modern medicine is a wonderful thing.”
Faith watched him grasp the bag in both hands and apply pressure in the middle with his thumbs. A slight pop followed, then he shifted it back and forth several times as if he was mixing the contents. When he placed the bag on her ankle, it was extremely cold.
“Chemical cold-packs are a staple of any well-stocked first-aid kit,” he said, his smile so smug that she felt like punching him.
His hand still rested on her shin and she wasn’t sure whether the shiver that ran up her spine was from the intense cold of the ice-pack, or the feel of his hand heating her skin just above it. Either way, she was beginning to understand the sensual combination of fire and ice.
Concentrating on the cold bag against her skin, she grimaced. “How long do I need to keep this on here?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“My ankle will be frozen solid.”
“No it won’t.” His low, sexy chuckle sent her temperature up another notch. To her relief he gave her shin a gentle squeeze, then closed the box and set it on the floor. Rising to his feet, he reached for the pillow beside her, folded it in half and propped her foot on top of it. “If you need me—”
“I’ll let you know.”
She wished he’d take his disturbing presence into the other room and let her regain at least a scrap of her common sense. With the exception of her injured ankle, she was extremely warm and getting warmer with each passing second.
Nodding, he started for the door, but turned back. “How do you like your coffee?”
“With cream,” she said automatically.
He grinned. “Will powdered creamer do?”
“That will be fine. But you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do,” he said, his expression turning serious. His gaze drifted to the floor and he ran his hand across the back of his neck. When he raised his head to look at her, the remorse in his eyes startled her. “I’m really sorry you got hurt, Faith. It’s my fault and I intend to make it up to you.”
She opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, but he didn’t give her the chance. He simply turned and left the room, ending any further discussion of the matter.
How could she tell Cooper, without making the situation even more embarrassing, that she hadn’t been running from him, but from herself? How could she explain that she’d wanted to be held by a man again, to once again feel as if she were desirable? Even if it was just for a few moments.
She shook her head. She couldn’t. There were some things that were better left alone. And explanations about her recent past and the reasons for her panic when he’d kissed her were among them.
When he returned holding a package of breakfast muffins in one hand and two coffee mugs in the other, he grinned. “I know it’s not the healthiest of breakfasts, but it’s about all we have.”
“It’s fine.” Sitting up, she leaned back against the headboard and took one of the mugs from him. “Thank you.” Faith took a sip of coffee and made a face. “You…weren’t kidding when you said you make your coffee strong.”
Cooper grinned. “Instant daylight.” His expression turned hopeful. “I tried to tone it down a little by putting in an extra scoop of creamer. I hope it helped.”
“Thank you. I can only imagine what it would taste like without it,” she said dryly. She took another sip from the cup, then added, “But if you don’t mind, I’ll make the coffee tomorrow morning.”
He opened the package of muffins, then held it out to her. “We’ll see how you’re getting around first.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said firmly. She selected one of the delicious-looking blueberry muffins. “I’d be even better if you’d remove that ice-pack. My ankle is freezing. How much longer before we take it off?”
He laughed. “You’re as impatient as Ryan and Danny.”
“And they are?”
“My nephews.” He checked his watch. “I’ll wrap your ankle with an elastic bandage after you finish eating.”
“How old are your nephews?” she asked, noticing a deep fondness reflected in his voice.
“Ryan’s eight, he’s Flint’s son from his first marriage, and Danny’s three. But don’t tell them that.” Chuckling, he shook his head and reached for the first-aid kit. “They think they’re grown and ready to conquer the world.”
Faith’s chest tightened. She’d always wanted to have a son one day. But like so many of her other dreams, it just wasn’t meant to be.
She finished the last of the muffin. Delicious before, it suddenly tasted like sawdust. “They sound like typical little boys,” she said, her chest tightening at what she would miss.
“Oh yeah.” He grinned as he removed a beige roll from the metal box. “My sister is never sure what she’ll find in their jeans pockets when she puts them to bed at night. One time she found a small frog in one of Danny’s pockets and another time she reached into Ryan’s pocket and pulled out a garter snake.”
“Oh dear heavens!” Faith shuddered at the thought of what that must have felt like. “I’ll bet that was a shock.”
“It just about sent Jenna into orbit. And believe me, she’s not the type to scare easy.” The rich sound of his laughter sent a shiver up Faith’s spine. He had the sexiest laugh. “Jenna screamed so loud that her husband, Flint, damned near broke his neck trying to get upstairs and the guys down at the bunkhouse grabbed their shotguns and came running to see what was wrong.”
Faith nodded. “I’d have done the same thing.”
Cooper grinned. “For a long time after that Jenna made Flint go through the boys’ pockets before they came in from playing outside.” He laughed and shook his head. “But that doesn’t stop us—them—from sneaking in a critter or two from time to time.”
“Us?” She smiled. She could tell he was very close to his family and instinctively knew that he loved children. “It sounds to me like their uncle might have helped them get some of those forbidden pets into the house.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” she said, laughing.
“Well, I might have helped run interference when they found Peewee.”
“And what is Peewee?”
“A box turtle.” He removed the cold plastic bag from her ankle, then lifted her leg from the pillow to rest it on his knee. “They kept him hidden in a shoe box in the closet until I could get to town to buy an aquarium.” He turned his head to look at her and grinning, admitted, “By the time Jenna discovered that they had Peewee, we already had everything set up.”
He placed the rolled bandage to her foot and began wrapping her ankle. The warmth from his hand as he touched her chilled skin raised goose bumps along her arms.
“You sound like you’re just as much of a boy as they are,” she
said. She cursed the breathless tone of her voice. She had to keep her mind off his disturbing touch. It was the only way she would manage to keep her sanity for the next several days.
“Yeah, in a lot of ways, I guess I am a big kid.” His mouth turned up in a smile so sexy, Faith barely resisted the urge to fan herself. All she could think about was how wonderful those firm male lips had felt on her own.
Searching for something to keep her mind off the heat streaking through her body, she asked, “Do you get to see them often?”
“I’m with the boys every chance I get.” He finished wrapping the elastic bandage around her ankle, then attached the metal clamps to hold it in place. “Now that I’m going to be living around here, I’ll get to see them even more, which is fine with me. I love little kids.”
“It shows.”
Cooper placed her foot back on the pillow and closed the first-aid kit. He’d liked touching her, feeling her smooth skin beneath his callused palms. He wondered if the rest of her felt the same.
Damn! Thinking along those lines could spell disaster. If he intended to keep even a scrap of what little sense he had left, he’d better keep his distance.
He tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t send his imagination into overdrive. “How about you? Do you have any nieces or nephews?” he asked, deciding that should be a nice safe topic.
She took a sip of her coffee. “I used to, but I lost my aunt status when the divorce was final.”
Cooper barely managed to keep his mouth from dropping open. He couldn’t believe any man in his right mind would let a woman like Faith get away. “How long were you married?”
She glanced down at her hands, then back at him. “We were together for four years.”
He noticed the sadness in her eyes and wondered what had happened. Did she still love the man?
Cooper couldn’t tell. But he’d bet every dime he had that the break-up of the marriage hadn’t been her idea. The thought of someone hurting Faith in any way caused a burning in Cooper’s gut that had him wishing for five minutes alone with the jerk. By the time Cooper was finished with him, the guy would wish he’d never been born.
“What happened?” he asked when curiosity got the better of him.
“I guess we just grew apart,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. Her expression turned guarded. “He ended up going his way and I went mine.”
Cooper could tell there was a lot more to the story than Faith was telling. But, he reminded himself, it was her story to tell and none of his business. If she wanted him to know more, she’d have explained further.
“What about a brother or sister?” he asked, trying to find a more pleasant subject—one that would erase the shadows in her pretty brown eyes. “Maybe one day they’ll make you an aunt again.”
“I was an only child,” she said, smiling sadly. “I would have liked having a brother or sister, but shortly after I was born, my parents decided that family life wasn’t for either one of them.” She shrugged. “They divorced and went their separate ways. I was raised by my maternal grandmother.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” he said, rising to his feet. If he didn’t get out of there, and damned quick, he’d end up reaching for her, offering her comfort and…more. “I’ll be in the kitchen. If I can coax a little water out of Old Faithful I’m going to peel some potatoes and use some canned beef to make a pot of stew. If you need anything—”
“I’ll let you know,” she said, handing him her coffee mug.
Her fingers brushed his and a jolt of electricity ran straight up his arm, then made a beeline to the region below his belt buckle. He swallowed around the cotton coating his throat. He had to get out of there before he did something really stupid like lying down beside her, taking her into his arms and kissing her until…
Without a word, he turned and walked straight to the kitchen. Setting the package of muffins, coffee mugs and first-aid kit on the counter, he opened the back door and walked out into the chilling rain. It was the closest thing he could find to a cold shower.
Armed with a broom, dustpan and garbage bag, Faith limped into the bedroom where the ceiling had fallen the night before. Cooper had brought her lunch, then saying something about checking out the barn, disappeared outside. And that was just fine with her. The more she was around him, the more she was reminded of how it felt to be wrapped in his strong arms, how his firm lips pressed to her own made her yearn for more.
She took a deep breath and shook her head to dislodge that train of thought. The reason she was up moving around in the first place was so she could get her mind off Cooper Adams. The more she found out about him, the more she liked him. And that was dangerous. She’d learned the hard way that where men were concerned, her judgment was extremely faulty.
But what woman wouldn’t like a man like Cooper? He was kind and considerate. He loved children, placed a great deal of importance on family and didn’t take himself too seriously. And he was, without a doubt, the sexiest man she’d ever encountered.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She jumped at the harsh sound of Cooper’s voice. She’d been so lost in thought that she’d failed to hear him enter the house.
Turning, Faith found him standing in the doorway. Pushing the brim of his cowboy hat back, he planted his fists on his lean hips. Her heart pounded and her breath caught. The man was absolutely gorgeous and she wasn’t certain if her accelerated pulse was due to being startled or because of his presence.
“I was hired to clean,” she finally managed to say. She plucked the largest pieces of plaster from the bed to drop into the garbage bag. “And that’s what I’m doing.”
“I’ll take care of this mess,” he insisted, stepping forward to take the bag from her. “You need to stay off that foot.”
“We both know that it’s only a mild sprain and nothing that requires bed rest.” She gathered the four corners of the sheet and prepared to lift it off the bed.
“That’s too heavy for you,” he said quickly dropping the garbage bag to take the bundle of dust and plaster from her. “While I dump this outside, why don’t you finish stripping the bed?”
“Deal.” She started to stick her hand out for him to shake, but thought better of it. All things considered, touching him in any way probably wouldn’t be wise. Instead she asked, “Do you think you could get some water out of Old Faithful? I’d like to wash these sheets this afternoon.”
“Sure thing. I found some rope in the barn that I’ll string up in the living room,” he said helpfully. “You’ll be able to drape them over it so they’ll dry.”
“Thank you. That should work perfectly.”
She waited until he carried the sheet out of the room, then forced her mind back to the chore of removing the rest of the linens from the bed. That done, she took the broom, and began to sweep up some of the dust covering the floor. She leaned down to pick up a piece of plaster by the foot of the bed and froze. Just inches from her hand sat a small brown mouse, his beady eyes staring hungrily at her fingers. Her panicked cry was instantaneous and completely involuntary. If there was any creature she feared more than a spider, it was a mouse.
Cooper had just finished shaking the last of the dust from the sheet and opened the back door to enter the house when Faith’s scream sent a chill up his spine and caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand straight up. His heart pounding against his ribs like a jackhammer gone berserk, he ran toward the bedroom where he’d left her.
Had more of the ceiling fallen? Possibly on her? Or could he have misjudged the seriousness of her injury and she was in extreme pain?
He skidded to a halt just inside the bedroom, his eyes widening at the sight before him. There stood Faith in the middle of the bed, the broom held more like a weapon than a household tool.
“What happened?”
She pointed a shaky finger at the floor. “Please get rid of it.”
“What?” he asked, looking around.
He didn’t see anything. Had she seen another horny toad, or maybe a field spider?
“Mouse,” she said, shuddering visibly.
If he’d been certain she wouldn’t reach out and whack him with the broom she held, he’d have laughed out loud. But he was pretty sure Faith wouldn’t see the humor in the situation. At least not at the moment.
“It’s probably long gone,” he said, continuing to scan the floor for the furry little critter. “You know, he’s more afraid of you than you are of him.”
“Not likely,” she said with an unladylike snort.
Moving around the room, Cooper glanced up from his search. “He was just trying to find a nice cozy home for the winter. He didn’t mean any—”
“Don’t you dare say it,” she warned.
“Why?”
“Because if you do I’ll be sorely tempted to smack you with this broom.”
Deciding it would be in his best interest to refrain from telling her that the little critter was harmless, Cooper continued to look for the mouse. Just when he was ready to give up, the tiny animal scampered out from under the bed and headed straight for his boot.
“Don’t kill it,” she said quickly.
“Okay.” He threw the sheet he still held over it, then quickly squatted down to trap the mouse in the folds. “Any idea of what you want me to do with it now that I’ve caught the little guy?”
“Take it outside and turn it loose,” she said, her voice sounding quite firm about the matter.
“What good will that do?” he asked, scooping up the mouse inside the sheet.
“He’ll still be alive and I won’t have to share the house with him,” she said, sounding a bit more calm now that the mouse had been restrained.
Cooper couldn’t help it. This time he threw back his head and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she asked indignantly. “There’s nothing wrong with the catch-and-release method of dealing with mice.”
“The damned thing will probably beat me back inside the house,” he said as he rose to his feet and prepared to take it outside.
Best of Cowboys Bundle Page 160