BROKEN (6 page)

Another faux pas, Mitch thought, though he made no move to disengage his hold on Jessie.
 
“Demonstrative?
 
That’s a mighty big word for an old coot like you.
 
I’m impressed
.  Y
ou’ve managed to build your vocabulary past the grunts and three letter words that usually come flying out of that trap of yours.”

A slow grin spread across Hank’s face.
 
“Charming as ever, I see.
 
I hate to it admit it, but I miss that questionable wit of yours.
 
How long are you planning on sticking around this time?”

Jessie tensed, her soft body instantly growing rigid against his.
 
He hadn’t been prepared for the old man’s bluntness and even less prepared to put a limitation on his time with Jessie.
 
Looking down and seeing the sudden change in demeanor, the almost desperate attempt to keep her face expressionless, Mitch knew she expected him to say two or three weeks, maybe a month.
 
The longest Adam had ever stayed was six weeks, but that wasn’t nearly enough time as far as Mitch was concerned.
 
Maybe it was a mistake to keep up the masquerade, but if it meant being with Jessie
,
then he
would
be whoever she wanted him to be.

“Well
,
Hank,” he said slowly, “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought
.  A
t the risk of being publically
demonstrative
of my affections…”
 
Mitch whipped Jessie around, pulling her up hard against his chest.
 
“I’ll stay for as long as
Jess will
have me.”

Blue eyes met brown and it was like watching the sun rise the way Jessie’s face lit up.

In a shaky voice she asked, “Y
ou…y
ou’re serious?”

“Baby, you have no idea how serious I am.
 
I’m tired of trying to save the world, Jess, and I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life saving me.
 
I want this time to be different.
 
This time, I want to take care of you.”

Jessie’s heart hammered against her ribs.
 
Was he really going to stay for good?
 
“Are you listening to this,” s
he spoke to Hank,
though
her eyes never left
Kincaid
’s
, “
because I may need a witness when I sue Mr. Kincaid for breach of promise.”

Hank chuckled.
 
“I’m listening
.  J
udging by that sappy look on his face, I’d say he intends to hang on to you, Jess.”

Somewhere between
Kincaid’
s murmured vow to never let her go again and the passionate kiss that followed, Hank discreetly slipped away.
 
In truth, he could have tied tin cans to his legs and danced out of the barn singing The Star Spangled Banner and
Jessie
wouldn’t have noticed.
 
Nothing existed but this man and this moment.
 
Swept away by emotions that were much too turbulent to describe, Jessie could do little more than stare into
his
handsome face in a daze.
 
She’d always had strong feelings for him, but what stirred in her heart right now went far beyond that.

“Say something,”
Kincaid
pleaded.
 
“I know I kind of sprang this on you
,
so if you need some time to think about it I’ll understand.”

“No, it’s not that
. 
I want you to stay.”

“But…?”

Jessie ran her fingertips over the crease in his forehead.
 
“Don’t look so worried.
 
I want you here,
Kincaid. 
I’m just afraid that you didn’t really think this out.
 
You always love being here for the first three or four weeks
,
but after that…well, you get restless.
 
I know how important being a Special Ops agent is to you and I’ve accepted that I have to share you.”

“But it makes you unhappy.”

“Yes,” she admitted, “but I can deal with that.
 
What I can’t deal with is having you making promises you can’t possibly keep.”

Kincaid
cupped her face in his hands.
 
“Look at me, Jess.
 
I don’t want that other life anymore.
 
What I want, what I
need
,
is so be with you.”

“You say that now, but…”

“And I’ll be saying it a month from now, a year from now, ten years from now.”

Jessie drew in a shuddering breath.
 
“You don’t know how much I want to believe that.”

“Believe it,” he whispered, slanting his mouth across hers.

Mitch poured his heart out in a slow, tender kiss, willing
Jessie
to feel the depth of his emotions for her.
 
The knowledge that she didn’t trust him not to leave cut deep, but he reminded himself it was Adam who
had
planted those doubts in her head, not him.
 
She had no reason to believe he wouldn’t do exactly as his brother had, but Mitch was determined to prove it to her.
 
One day at a time.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                      
***

Jessie leaned forward, coaxing Serina into a dead run.
 
Behind her,
Kincaid
was doing his best to get Diablo to catch up
,
but for some reason his horse seemed to be a little out of sorts today.
 
Maybe she should have Hank take a look at the stallion and make sure there weren’t any health issues.
 
Diablo had always been a handful, so much so that Jessie had debated on whether to keep him or not.
 
Then
Kincaid
had come into her life and the horse had been as taken with the man as she was.
 
No one but
Kincaid
had been able to ride the spirited horse since.

She reined Serina into a gallop then slowed her pace to a trot, concerned that Diablo hadn’t overtaken them.
 
Jessie’s mare was fast, but she was no match for
Kincaid
’s horse.
 
She glanced back, certain she
would
find the pair of them not far behind, and was a little alarmed to discover they hadn’t even crested the last hill.
 
Jessie turned Serina around, her eyes scanning the vast expanse of pasture land.
 
Her brows drew together when she spotted them atop a hill that was a good thousand yards back where man and horse c
o
me to a stop.

What in the world was
he
up to?
 
She watched curiously as he leaned over Diablo’s neck for several minutes, patting him now and then.
 
Then
Kincaid
straightened up, dug his heels in, and they were off.
 
Chu
n
ks of sod flew out behind Diablo as he thundered across the pasture.
 
The wind whipped
Kincaid
’s hair back as he hunkered down over the stallion’s neck, both of them glorious in their flight.
 
Strong, muscular, handsome, wholly male; they were quite a pair.
 
Jessie’s breath locked in her chest.

“My God,” she gasped, “I’m in love with him!”

For three years she’d given herself to Adam
Kincaid
.
 
Three years of her life had been spent watching him leave and waiting for his return, and never in all that time had she felt anything but a strong affection for him and a longing for something more.
 
No, that wasn’t true, she admitted to herself.
 
She'd loved
Kincaid
in her own way, but never like this; never with such fire and passion, never with this consuming need to share every part of her life with him.
 
But how did he feel?

                                                               ***

Mitch was apprehensive as hell.
 
Diablo had been giving him trouble the entire ride.
 
Unfortunately for him, the horse was smart; he hadn’t been fooled for one minute.
 
He knew Mitch wasn’t Adam
,
and his acceptance of this new rider was given grudgingly.
 
It didn’t take Mitch long to realize how important it was for him to gain the horse’s trust.
 

Jessie might be able to overlook all the other bumbles he’d made, but surely she
would
suspect something wasn’t quite right if Diablo continued to balk every time they went for a ride.
 
So he waited until she was far enough ahead of him to rein his horse in.
 
Leaning down, he stroked the stallion’s neck, crooning softly until Diablo stopped pawing at the ground.
 

“We need to come to an understanding, pal, because you have the power to destroy things between Jessie and me.
 
She’s everything I’ve ever dreamed a woman could be, and I intend to hold onto that dream for all I’m worth.
 
Now you and I both know I’m not Adam, but if you help keep my little secret
,
I swear you’ll live out the rest of your life right here on this ranch with nothing but the softest straw to sleep on and the finest grain to fill your belly, maybe even a few pretty fillies in your stall
.  W
hat do you say?”

Diablo threw his head
up
and let out
 
a low nicker.
 
Mitch didn’t know much about horses, but he knew enough to recognize the horse’s response was a good sign.
 
He’d seen how Diablo reacted to Del and some of the other men.
 
Sometimes he’d snort or let out a long, high pitched neigh and pin his ears back, other times he
would
blow air out of his nostrils and paw at the ground.
 
He wasn’t doing any of those things now.
 
He stood perfectly still, his head held up proudly, and Mitch couldn’t help the reverence he felt for this majestic animal.

His gaze shifted across the pasture where Jessie waited.
 
How had she gotten to him so fast and so completely?
 
He’d only intended to stay a few weeks, give Jessie the good memories she deserved, then move on.
 
Now he couldn’t even envision a life without her.
 
And how was he going to explain to his parents, his sister, his friends, why she thought he was Adam?
 
Mitch pressed his heels into Diablo’s side, giving him full rein.
 
He couldn’t think about it right now, not with Jessie waiting for him.

Exhilaration.
 
That was the only word Mitch could use to describe the feeling that charged through him as they sailed across the pasture.
 
He didn’t have much experience riding horses but he didn’t have any trouble staying in the saddle.
 
Diablo’s movements were so graceful, so smooth, Mitch had the sensation of flying and couldn’t
say with any degree of certainty that the horse’s hooves were even touching the ground at all.
 
Within a matter of minutes
,
they were practically on top of Jessie and her horse.
 
Pulling back on the reins, he came along side of them, grinning from ear to ear.

“I guess Diablo decided he was happy to see me after all.”