Heartstealer (Women of Character3 (6 page)

"Your friend Bonnie left
already?" he asked conversationally.

"Yes." Was he interested
in Bonnie? Somehow, that didn’t set right with her. Dropping back to the
rock, she dipped her head to comb her fingers through her hair.

"I'll be darned," he
said, as if making a discovery.

She squinted up at him and then put
up a hand to shade her eyes. The sun behind him made a curious halo around his
head and shoulders. As if realizing this he moved slightly until his shoulders
blocked the sun.

"All that hair, I wondered if
it was real."

She saw his smile; cynical, gently
taunting. Caught off guard, her toes curled. The feeling lasted but a moment.
Genuine amusement came to the forefront. She threw him a mocking grin as she
fluffed her fingers through the already drying strands.

"What were you expecting, hair
pieces?" Quickly, she plaited her hair. "It's as real as can
be."

She heard the creak of leather and
half turned toward him. He fastened his denim shirt to his saddle with a latigo
strip and turned back to her. A frisson of awareness licked at her nerve
endings as he stepped closer.

"It's an unusual color."
His voice was low and deliberate, bringing goose bumps to her skin. Several
strands of her hair were dark against his fingers as he reached out to touch
it. Seeing her hair twined around his fingers increased that shivery sensation
at the back of her head, as if that curl were an electrical conductor.

"The color's pretty common in
my family." Slowly, she allowed her glance to move up to his face. He had
bedroom eyes. Did they still use that description, she wondered breathlessly?

"I'd venture a guess there's
nothing common about you, Jacie."

He was so close she could barely
breathe. She didn’t want to breathe. She found she wanted him closer.
Sloan bent his head toward her. His mouth touched hers and it was everything
Jacie wanted and thought it would be, a swirl of heat centering right inside
her stomach. She traced his mouth with her tongue, closing her eyes as the
erotic sensation of fully alive nerve endings responded quickly to his touch,
even while their bodies remained apart.

Sloan pulled back slowly. He
frowned. "We’d better get you back."

Breathing evenly, telling herself
his dark presence didn't alarm the hell out of her, Jacie moved back. She
squatted to lace her boots. Carefully, she said, "Despite what you might
think, I don’t usually kiss strangers."

"We’re not strangers
anymore." He gave her a half smile. "You’re right though. I
don’t either."

She didn’t mention how good
he was at it.

"So are you rounding up cattle
or horses today?" she said, pulling her laces tight.

He turned his head and scanned the
immediate vicinity. "Yeah, we’ve lost a few calves. The cattle are
pretty jumpy. I figure a big cat or bear must have passed through last night
and the calves got separated from the rest of the herd."

"Do you think they're in
danger?"

"There’s always the
danger they could get up in the ledges and fall. Then again, if the cows catch
a bear or cat's scent they might stampede. James spotted a good size sow
yesterday foraging around."

She raised a brow. Fascinated, she
watched that dimple appear in his cheek.

"A female bear," he
clarified.

Her lips curved. "Of course.
How do you know where to look for a little calf?"

"There are tell-tale signs.
Around here, you can track just about anything, if you set your mind to
it."

"Does that include
humans?"

A dark brow lifted in amusement.
"In most cases, yes. I figure he went toward the south pasture." He
pointed toward the ridge where the other riders had gone, then reached his hand
out. She let him tug her upright.

She heard the sound of approaching
horses and turned to see riders were making their way down the hillside.

Tossing her hair over her shoulder,
she moved toward her horse, pulling herself into the saddle from the right
side.

"Wrong side." He kept his
voice low. Coming up behind her he guided her boot into the stirrup.

"Easier on the leg," she
said airily.

"You're pretty sure of
yourself, aren't you?" He stared up at her.

"Does that bother you?"
She found herself very interested in the answer.

He pushed his hat back on his head.
"It doesn’t hurt to be self-confident."

"But?"

He stared at her hard. "As
long as it doesn’t cross the line into foolishness."

"Hi, Boss," Michelle
called as they reached the bottom of the hill. A wide grin split her face.
"We were just coming back for Jacie."

"Jacie was smart, she cooled
off," he drawled with a glint in his eye.

"Looks like you did,
too," Michelle said meaningfully, running an eye over him. "Never
known you to go swimming in your clothes, Boss."

Abruptly, he moved away from her
and grabbed his horse’s reins. "Sometimes circumstances warrant it.
Jacie had a bit of trouble. A piece of ledge worked its way loose and hit
her."

"It's nothing," Jacie
said hurriedly as the others began to express concern. "It's just a
scratch."

"We'd better get you back to
First Aid and put something on that arm," Michelle said.

"I’m ready." She
looked back at Sloan. "Thanks for the help. I’ll be fine."

"See to your arm," he
reminded her curtly, climbing back on his horse. As she watched him ride over
the hill in the opposite direction Jacie wondered if he thought she was a
nuisance. That thought bothered her.

About an hour later Sloan walked
into the ranch office in search of his brother.

James leaned back in the desk chair
and ran an amused eye over him. "What the hell happened to you? As far as
I know it hasn't rained today."

Carefully, Sloan removed his hat
and pushed both hands through his still slightly damp hair. "It
hasn’t," he said sourly.

"Is something bothering
you?"

"No―yeah. It's
Jacie."

James smiled. "You've got to
admit this is a great publicity slogan, 'People will try anything to get to
Timber Falls.'"

"The jury's still out on that
one," he muttered.

"So what about Jacie?"

Sloan carefully moved a crystal
paperweight around on the desktop. Abandoning that, he stood and shoved his
hands into damp pockets.

Mildly, James said, "She seems
like a nice girl. Look how accommodating she's been, doing that jump and the
lessons in exchange for time here."

"I’m still waiting to
see how the lessons will go over."

"Look at the list." James
pushed a paper across the desktop toward him. "We've filled all the slots
for the skydiving lessons. I even had to give my spot to someone. I've already
gotten positive feedback from the first ground lesson she gave this
morning."

"If this company is in such
demand, why is she out here in the middle of what's probably their busiest
season? She didn’t even know it was Honeymooner’s month."

"That was probably just an
oversight. She’s here to do a job so why should it matter to her? Maybe
she needs a vacation. Why don't you ask her?"

"Maybe I will."

James narrowed his eyes. "Is
there something more personal going on? You look like you’re pretty
worked up."

In his mind's eye Sloan saw Jacie
when he'd pulled her from the pool. He had thought she was hurt or worse. He
didn't want to think about what could have happened if she’d been hit on
the head.

"I'm not getting worked
up," he said impatiently.

James laughed. "Okay,
whatever. I'll look the other way if you want to date a guest." James gave
him a grin. "Sorry, I couldn’t help throwing that in there.
You’ve got to admit Jacie's a far cry from the women you usually see.
She’s probably a shock to your system."

"What does that mean?"

"Come on, you stick to the
stay-home types, not that there's anything wrong with that, but Jacie seems
like a woman who can put excitement in a man's life. She’s out there.
She's like a fresh breeze."

Sloan released an exasperated
breath. "Tornado―more likely. I wonder how Dotty would feel hearing
you say that."

James smiled, unperturbed. "My
wife knows me . . . and you're trying to change the subject."

"Jacie was swimming at the big
waterfall."

"This is a ranch resort,
people swim."

"A piece of ledge came loose
and hit her. She’s lucky it glanced off her arm. It could have been
really bad if it hit her head," he said bluntly.

James looked alarmed. "Is she
all right?"

Sloan sat down and rocked the front
legs of his chair off the floor. "Yes. I was out looking for those strays.
When I rode by the waterfall she was in the water and had gone under. I pulled
her out. She's got a scratch and some swelling on her arm. Michelle took her
over to First Aid to have it looked at. As I said, she was lucky."

"So that's why you're wet. We
better have Donny check the top of the falls to make sure there’s no more
loose stone."

"Maybe we shouldn't let people
swim there."

"Come on, Sloan, it's a freak
thing. We swam there as kids. I don’t ever remember anything like that
happening. It's a beautiful falls, you won't be able to keep people away from
there."

"Well, we may have a real
problem on our hands. I checked the top of the falls after Jacie left. I might
be crazy but it looked like stone had been pried loose."

"Are you saying someone
deliberately tried to hurt her?"

"I don’t know if it was
against Jacie or just general mischief."

"Come on Sloan, for what
purpose?"

"If I knew that I’d give
you an answer. All I’m telling you is it looked like someone dug a stone
out."

"Maybe I should talk to
her," James said with concern. "Is she upset?"

Sloan snorted. "Hell, no. I
don't think much rattles her." The kiss they’d shared hadn’t
rattled her. He recalled last night at her cabin and what he had inadvertently
seen. Long, slim legs, a smooth line of buttock, tantalizing curves. She must
know he had seen her though not on purpose. He wasn’t a damned peeping
tom. Determinedly, he shook the images from his head. "I've got a load of
work to do, I can't be worrying about the guests." He didn't want to be
sidetracked.

"If it makes you feel better,
I'll keep an eye on her," James offered.

Sloan stood, his chair legs
dropping sharply to the floor. He slapped his sodden hat against his leg.
"You've got enough with your own family and running this place," he
said abruptly. "I’ll keep an eye on her to make sure she stays out
of mischief." He’d find the time. They couldn’t afford to have
anyone get hurt. "I just hope she’s not an accident waiting to
happen."

"Come on, Sloan. It’s
got to be a freak thing. I’ll talk to her about being careful when
she’s off on her own. I don’t want to scare her away."

"She’s going to be bored
here."

"You're not giving her a
chance."

With a self-deprecating grimace,
Sloan shrugged. "You're right. I have no clue what motivates her."
And he wasn't going to find out. "It doesn't matter anyway. She'll be gone
in a month."

He had a feeling it was going to be
a long month.

After her ground lessons the
following morning, Jacie walked toward the stables, thinking of the phone call
she had received earlier from Bonnie. It had filled her with concern and then
annoyance. Bonnie called her each day. After the accident, they had spent a lot
of time together, but she wished Bonnie would stop talking about the accident
and Brad. Both were in the past but Bonnie seemed convinced that since
she’d first introduced her to Brad, she was in some way responsible for
Jacie getting hurt.

She had taken the job with
Brad’s company on her own initiative. It had been bad luck.

Walking around the white pole barn
with its blue trimmed windows, she saw Sloan’s truck with a horse trailer
behind it in the driveway.

Renee, one of the ranch hands, a
gangly blond teenager, was backing an incredibly tall horse down the trailer
ramp. The horse was a gorgeous sable color, but for every two steps he’d
cautiously take back, he’d take a small hop forward.

Jacie stopped in the middle of the
narrow track, not wanting to startle the already nervous animal.

Renee had him almost backed down
the ramp when the horse suddenly swung his hindquarters to the right and his
back feet dropped off the ramp. The horse jerked his head with fright, pulling
the lead line from Renee’s hand. The animal wheeled around and ran toward
a fence where other horses were and then he spun and ran down the narrow track
toward Jacie.

Instinctively, she spread her arms
wide. When he reached her he came to a sliding halt and reared. Jacie looked up
at him in awe. When he came down she was close enough to grab the lead line.
She held onto the line and spoke to him as she gently ran her hand along his
shoulder.

"I’ll take him,"
Sloan said, coming up behind her.

Jacie turned toward him and saw the
grimness of his face. "He’s okay," she said reassuringly.

"You could have been
hurt!" he snapped, taking the lead line from her.

"I wasn’t."

"Don’t ever stand in the
path of a frightened horse again." He turned and led the horse back toward
the barn, but his fierce eyes and angry expression stayed with her.

Renee hurried over to her.
"Thanks, Jacie. The boss is going to have my head on this one."

"It’s not your fault the
horse was frightened."

"I was supposed to wait for
Sloan, but I decided to get the horse out on my own. The boss doesn’t
like anyone taking chances."

"Well, no one got hurt,"
she said reassuringly. "Surely that counts for something."