Debra Webb - In His Touch Box Set (Here To Stay, Up Close, Tempting Trace, Basic Instincts) (3 page)

Robert shifted the conversation to a brief overview of the honeymoon thus far as she made her way down the upstairs hall. Just when she thought her dear, sweet uncle would finally say goodbye, he set in about the redecorating again.

“Everything is fine here. Yes, I read your note and reviewed the paint chips, wallpaper, and carpet swatches you left.” She sighed. “Yes, I’ll keep you up to date. I’m—”

She came to an abrupt stop at the top of the stairs and did a double-take. A man wearing white overalls walked across the downstairs hall and out the front door. She shook her head, blinked and looked again. She had to be seeing things. As if to prove her wrong, the front door opened, the man came back inside and disappeared into the parlor.

“I have to go, Robert. You and Ginny have a good time.” Paige pressed the off button and bounded down the stairs.

When she reached the parlor her mouth dropped open. Three men in white overalls were painting. All the furniture had been moved to the center of the room and covered with large white drop cloths. The windows were bare of curtains. Clear plastic had been spread around the perimeter of the room to protect the floor.

How did these guys get in? How long had they been here? A good while from the looks of things, she decided in answer to her own question.

“Excuse me,” Paige announced. All three men stopped painting and turned to look at her. “How did you get in this house?”

“We’re the painters,” the shortest of the three told her.

Duh
. “How did you get in?” she repeated.

“We have a key,” the man she had instantly dubbed Shortie replied and patted his pocket. “We were scheduled to start at seven sharp this morning,” he added, as if she should know this information without asking.

Paige just nodded. Who else had Robert given a key to? Another small town custom, she presumed. She suppressed a yawn and considered that, discounting the houseful of strangers, waking up without legal work hanging over her head was very nice. She had even slept a little late this morning for the first time in a long time. It felt good to pamper herself for a change.

Coffee flitted through her mind, but she banished the temptation. No stress and no caffeine. “I’ll be at the barn if you need me for anything,” she called as she headed for the front door.

She bounded off the porch into the bright morning. She lifted her face to the sun’s kiss and reveled in the sensation of warmth. An unexpected shiver that rattled her inside and out shook Paige as her thoughts wandered to her midnight visitor. Dawn had been creeping through the windows before she had managed to fall back to sleep. She’d had good reason for sleeping so late this morning. Nathan Blackrope had ruined what should have been a restful night. Of course, worries about the talk with him that she could no longer put off had wreaked havoc well before he had made his personal appearance.

Heat flowed through her, warming her against the morning’s cool breeze, when she recalled Nathan’s ruthless kiss. There would not be a repeat performance of last night’s fiasco. Getting involved with him again wasn’t on her agenda. In fact, it held the number one spot on her list of things she never wanted to do again. No matter how her involuntary reflexes tried to prove otherwise, she wanted no part of his body touching hers. Even if just looking at him did make her burn, she wouldn’t allow it. No way, no how.

The bond she and Nathan had shared still held a little too firmly to suit her. But she had learned her lesson with him the hard way. He didn’t care about her, probably never had. Not really anyway. And when all her cards were on the table, any lingering feelings he might harbor for her would vanish. He wouldn’t take it well. Of that she felt certain. That was the very reason she had no intention of telling him anything until she was sure. Sure of what, she didn’t exactly know. Paige trusted her instincts. Instinct would tell her when the time was right. With that reiteration, she set out in the direction of the barn.

The sweet pungent scent of hay and horses greeted her as she entered the huge barn. She’d loved this barn as a child. She glided her hand across the worn-smooth top of one stall. They had used the stall railings for balance beams. The loft had been their hideout or playhouse, depending on Nathan’s mood.
Nathan
. Paige kicked a clod across the floor. Didn’t she have one single memory on this ranch that didn’t include him? Probably not.

“Hello, Windborne.” Paige stroked the neck of her uncle’s favorite mare. “Whoa, girl. You’re about ready to pop.” She rubbed her hand over the horse’s distended belly. So this was the reason for Nathan’s visit last night. Windborne wasn’t just any old hunk of horse flesh. Robert talked about her like they were related by blood.

Funny, Paige thought, that he hadn’t mentioned Windborne’s pregnancy to her. Robert’s omission made her feel just a bit left out, especially since Nathan knew. Robert usually shared everything with her. She’d be sure to ask him about it the next time he called. And call he would. Though his heart was in Vegas, at least part of his thoughts were still on the ranch. It occurred to Paige then that Robert probably hadn’t wanted to bring up the subject of bearing offspring. Everyone was so careful not to talk about it.

“Okay, girls.” Paige glanced at the yearlings in the long box stall opposite the mares. “And boys,” she amended quickly. “How about some oats? Or whatever James is feeding you these days.”

Paige checked the chart hanging next to the feed room door and verified the kind and amount to feed the different animals.

The only thing she had to do for the yearlings was turn them out. Easy enough, she decided as she opened the side gate.

“Out you go.” The horses trotted through the gate, happy to be free of their confinement. Paige gave the last colt a pat on the hindquarter and watched the horses gallop across the large paddock. She’d almost forgotten how beautiful the animals were. Memories of long rides and Nathan’s capable arms around her flooded Paige’s mind. She banished the images, closed the gate and walked back through the large stall.

“Yuck,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the numerous piles of horse manure that lay among the shavings. A very vivid memory of mucking out horse stalls came back to her. “Oh, no. I’d forgotten about that little chore,” she muttered out loud.

Though she’d never actually done it herself, Paige had watched it done dozens of times. How tough could it be? She headed for the tool room and came out pushing a wheelbarrow. A second trip armed her with a tined manure fork.

Paige performed a couple of practice runs with the oversized pooper-scooper. She shrugged. “Scoop. Dump. No big deal.” Anybody could muck out stalls.

~*~

Three hours later Paige rinsed the scoop and wheelbarrow in the wash rack. Her arms felt like overcooked spaghetti. She hadn’t worked this hard since—hell, she hadn’t ever worked this hard. Weak as a kitten, she put the scoop and wheelbarrow away. It would do her good. She needed to work off some of the stress that had been building the past couple of weeks. Ready for a break, she quickly measured oats into two buckets and hurried from the feed room.

“Okay, ladies, soup’s on.” Paige smiled at the four-legged mothers-to-be as she sprinkled the oats into the troughs. Weak from scooping, she dropped the second bucket into Windborne’s stall. “Sorry, girl,” she said, then opened the gate and stepped inside. She murmured soothingly to the animal as she crouched down to retrieve the bucket from between the horse’s legs.

Paige stood more quickly than she had intended. The corner of the hay rack snagged her back, wrenching a yelp from her. Wincing, she let herself out of the stall and returned the two buckets to the feed room. Flexing her shoulders against the sting, she decided to go back to the house to get a look at the damage in a mirror.

The sun was high in the sky now and beating down a little more fiercely than one would expect for an April day. Her head spun for an instant, but she shook it off and chastised herself for skipping breakfast. She should have remembered that hard work and an empty stomach didn’t go well together. The sweat she had worked up had glued her T-shirt to her chest. Paige groaned as she pulled the sticky material from her skin. A shower would be the next order of business.

“I’ll bet you’re wishing you had taken me up on my kind offer about now.”

Paige jerked to a stop. The sound of Nathan’s voice startled her in spite of the fact that she had fully expected him to show up this morning. He’d always taken responsibility very seriously. Another reason she knew she had to work this out with him. She had to tell him everything. But not today. She stared up at his smirk. Not tomorrow. Her eyes skimmed his black-clad body. Maybe not even this week. She took in the sight of him sitting astride his shiny black stallion, and wished he weren’t so good-looking.

“Actually, you and your offer were the furthest things from my mind,” she lied.

“Is that right?” He pushed his black Stetson up from his line of vision to rake her with that dark gaze.

Paige squared her shoulders and ignored the butterflies that took flight in her stomach. “That’s right.” Determined to avoid further discussion, she walked around man and horse and headed toward the house. She was still exhausted, and her unsteady gait no doubt broadcast that fact loud and clear. When she was ready to talk to Nathan Blackrope it would be on her terms.

Before she had taken three steps, the squeak of leather warned Paige that he was dismounting.

“Are you hurt?” Nathan’s strong hand clutched her right arm from behind, effectively halting her forward movement.

“I’m fine,” she hissed as she attempted to free herself. The heat from his palm singed her skin.

“How did you do this?” he asked sharply.

Paige winced when he pulled the fabric away from her skin and examined more closely the scratch between her shoulder blades. “On the hay rack in Windborne’s stall. It’s just a scratch.”

“Scratch?” Nathan swore.

“I’m fine.” She shrugged off his touch and started across the yard once more. She wasn’t about to let him see her collapse. She would have to admit her other weaknesses soon enough. Her head swam again, but she ignored it, forcing one foot in front of the other.

Without warning, Nathan swept her into his arms and strode toward the house.

“Put me down! What do you think you’re doing, Nathan?”

“When did you eat last, Paige?”

“What I do is none of your business!”

He paused to stare down at her. “I’m making it my business. I’ll bet you still forget to eat.”

Wilted and defeated, she admitted, “I ate yesterday.”

Another hot curse sprang from his lips. Only this time in that other language he reverted to whenever he got really angry or emotional. Paige didn’t know the words, but she recognized them as his native tongue. She’d heard them before. Too long ago to remember, she reminded the part of her that longed to recall.

Nathan burst through the front door and bounded up the stairs as if he were carrying a feather.

“Put me down!” She squirmed in his arms when she realized he intended to take her to the bedroom. Anger spurred her into action. She pummeled his hard chest with her fists.

“Stop it,” he ordered in a low rumble. “I’ll put you down when I’m good and ready.”

She huffed like an indignant child, but surrendered to his strength. She closed her eyes and slumped against him. A bombardment of sensations surged through her, then sapped the last of her waning energy. A sense of home she refused to acknowledge settled over her. The clean scent of leather and sweat assaulted her nostrils.
Stop it!
Stop it!
She screamed at herself.
These feelings are off limits
.

When he reached her bedroom, the one he knew she always used, Nathan settled her on her feet once more. She swayed from the loss of his arms around her. He steadied her.

“I’m going downstairs to make you a sandwich or something.” His concerned gaze moved restlessly over her face. “Take yourself a long, hot bath to relax your muscles. You’re going to be as sore as hell come tomorrow morning from all that backbreaking work. I’ll patch you up after.”

“I can patch myself up,” she challenged, lifting her chin defiantly.

“You can’t even reach the spot,” he told her impatiently. “Now do like I tell you before I do it for you.”

She slammed the door behind him when he left. She repeated a few of those choice words
he
liked to use so well and stared at the closed door for a long moment. Nathan was just as bullheaded as ever.

The telephone rang as she turned toward the bathroom. Paige crossed the room and snatched up the receiver. No doubt it would be Robert calling to check on things again. She hoped Ginny would appreciate his worrisome nature. “Hello,” she groused.

“Paige, how are you, my dear?”

Paige smiled. “Silas, it’s good to hear from you!” Silas Dutton was Robert’s oldest and dearest friend, not to mention Trinity’s one and only attorney. He was also one of her favorite people.

“I couldn’t be better, but how are you?”

“I’m fine,” she told him. That had become her standard response. “God,” she breathed. “It’s been forever.”

A rusty chuckle rumbled in her ear. “I can’t believe Robert finally persuaded you to come visit for a while. I know your law practice keeps you very busy.”

Paige pulled the ponytail holder from her hair and let it fall free. “Robert needed me. It’s not every day a sixty-three-year-old confirmed bachelor gets married, you know.”

“I plan to stay confirmed myself,” Silas resolved. “It did take Ginny ten years to convince Robert, after all.”

“I’m not so sure that it wasn’t the other way around, Silas,” Paige argued affectionately.

“Valid point, counselor. I thought perhaps I could take you out to dinner tonight and do some catching up.”

She padded to the bureau and scrutinized her sweaty, grimy, and frazzled-looking reflection. She frowned. If her colleagues could see her now, she’d never live it down. She stretched her right shoulder and winced. But she hadn’t seen Silas in years. “That sounds lovely.”