Renegade Hearts (The Kinnison Legacy Book 3) (11 page)

“Angel?” Dalton’s soothing voice penetrated the haze in her brain, alleviating some of her restlessness. She realized she was shivering.

“It was only a dream, darlin’, and dreams can’t hurt you.” He wrapped his arms around her, her clothes still wadded in her arms. “A nice hot shower would do you a world of good, what do you say?”

The suggestion sounded heavenly--that, and a hot cup of chamomile tea. “You have hot running water?”

“Okay, it might be more on the tepid side. Rein rigged it up. Solar generated heat. Great little contraption when it works right.” He turned her ahead of him and picked up a battery-operated lantern. “Rein didn’t care to do much hunting after the bear attacked him, so he’d tinker around the cabin and came up with this.”

The bathroom, lined with warm pine planking, was no bigger than a good-sized apartment pantry, but it had the necessities. The shower was an old-fashioned, built-for-one variety with a cloth curtain that offered privacy.

Dalton turned on the water, and handed her a towel and washcloth. “As much as I’d love to wash your back, it ain’t gonna happen in there. Besides, I think you might need a cup of strong--”

“Chamomile tea?” she asked, laying her clothes on the vanity, then stepping into the shower.

He made a face. “Uh, yeah, I’ll see what I’ve got. You relax and enjoy—shampoos, soap—should all be there.”

“Dalton?” She peeked around the curtain.

“Yeah?” He paused at the door and looked over his shoulder.

The water sluicing over her had eased one set of tensions, but letting her gaze drift over his bare, broad shoulders and finely honed backside created yet another.

“Careful, sweetheart. You keep looking at me that way and I may be tempted to test the structural soundness of a one-person shower.”

“I wanted to say thank you.”

He studied her for a moment, then walked over, a man entirely comfortable in his own skin. He kissed her. “You’re welcome,” he said, searching her eyes, and then kissed her again. “Tell me to leave,” he said quietly.

“Leave?” she asked, amazed at how his simple kiss could addle her brain. “You should…leave, yes.” She shut the curtain on him and held her breath until she heard the door shut. Only then did she allow her tears to flow.

Chapter Seven

“So, I don’t suppose you want to share what’s going on between you and Angelique?” Rein continued to brush the horse he’d been grooming over the past hour.

Lost in his thoughts, Dalton had stayed busy with his chores, glad to have the silence, glad Michael Greyfeather hadn’t shown up yet. Rein’s question was one he’d been chewing on. Twice more before they left on Sunday they’d made love, once on a blanket with the morning mist rolling off the river. It made him hard just remembering her eyes holding his, rocking with him in perfect rhythm. Later, they’d eaten toast and had coffee on the porch and he’d hoped she’d open up and talk more about her dream, about her life in Chicago. But the simplest touch seemed to spark an insatiable fire between them. The only thing they’d agreed on was that she wasn’t ready yet to invest in a full-blown relationship. He hadn’t given the notion much thought either, until this past weekend. Ironic that now when he was ready to consider giving up his bachelorhood, the one woman he wanted wasn’t ready.

He blinked and realized he’d been leaning on the shovel, staring off into space. He glanced over and met Rein’s questioning look. “Nope.” He shrugged. “Nothing really to talk about.” He went back to work, refusing to tell his brother that he and Angelique had shared off-the-charts hot sex and he still burned for her.

“Nope, there’s nothing you
want
to discuss, or nope, nothing happened?” Rein sat down and proceeded to clean the brushes he’d used.

“Nope as in it’s none of your business, or anyone else’s for that matter.” Dalton hung the shovel up on the wall next to Rein. He felt his brother’s curious gaze.

“Interesting,” Rein commented.

“Shit,” he muttered, and faced Rein. “What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Sounds like maybe things are going good between the two of you and you don’t want to talk about it. That’s all.”

Dalton shot his nosy brother a look. “Hey, I seem to remember being told to butt out along about the time you and Liberty were slinking around here.”

“Hey, that’s your sister.” Rein pointed a finger at him.

“Half-sister and you’re changing the subject.”

Rein held up his hand. “Okay, okay. Truce. I won’t ask again.” He shook his head and went back to work.

A punch of guilt caused Dalton to sigh. He caught Rein’s steady gaze. “Look, I honestly don’t know myself. We didn’t exactly talk out our ten-year plan.”

Reins brows slipped beneath his hat. “That must have been some weekend.”

Dalton plopped down on a bale of hay. He tore off his ball cap and scratched his head. “The woman is making me crazy.” He shook his head and chanced a look at his brother. Rein offered him a sly grin.

“That’s just in their DNA, bro, when you find the one woman who has the ability to do so. Hell, Liberty had me tied up most days—“

Dalton held up his hand. “
That
I don’t need or want to hear.”

“It’s a metaphor, idiot. Even now, she can drive me nuts sometimes. Thing is, I know better now how to get even when she starts driving me crazy.”

“Yeah, and I
really
don’t need to hear any of that, thanks just the same.” Dalton tossed a frown at Rein.

“Okay, what I’m saying--”

“Poorly,” Dalton interjected.

“What I’m saying is if the woman didn’t mean something to you, she wouldn’t have the power to drive you crazy.”

Oh hell yeah, he’d figured that much out. “I haven’t heard a peep from her in over a week. I thought, you know, give her some time.” He pushed to his feet and paced in front of Rein.

“The woman does work in a vet clinic and is raising a little girl,” Rein reminded him.

“Do
we
drive women crazy like that?” Dalton scowled.

The question seemed to puzzle Rein. “I can’t see how that’s possible, except maybe in bed.”

“You are living the dream, you know that?” Dalton nodded.

“And he’s lying through his teeth.” Liberty sauntered in and handed Rein his wallet. “You left that on the kitchen table, Casanova, thought you might need it.” She glanced at Dalton. “And the answer to your questions is, yes. Men can drive women bat-shit crazy.” She tipped her gaze to Rein. “And not just in bed, darlin’. Guys can be just as hard to figure out as women.”

“Really?” Rein pushed up the brim of his hat and looked at her. “Like what am I thinking, right now?”

“That you wish we were back home in bed.”

“Hey,” Dalton said with a wave. “Did you all forget I was here?” This little foreplay between the two of them was not making things any easier.

He’d spent the week taking an inordinate number of cold showers and purposely pushing himself around the ranch, even rebuilding an old John Deere tractor that’d been sitting in the shed for decades. Just to keep his mind off her. Nothing had helped.

“I assume the woman in question Angelique?”

Dalton’s head snapped up. “Who told you?”

She snorted. “Really? Like no one at the barbecue noticed that only you two were missing?”

Actually, he’d thought with so many people around that maybe no one would’ve have noticed. Dalton blew out a sigh.

“Listen, are you feeling restless, big brother?” Liberty asked.

He held up his hand to stop her. “Yeah, and I don’t think I want to get into this.”

His sister planted her fists on her hips. “Advice from him but not from me?”

“I wasn’t asking for anyone’s advice.” Dalton stood and planted his hat back on. “I’m going to take a ride. Is the bike gassed up?”

Rein nodded.

“Hey, wait a sec. Can I just add something here?” Liberty interjected.

Dalton’s shoulders slumped. “Sure, fire away. Just don’t tell me what I
should
be doing to get her attention.”

“Oh,” Liberty said with a shrug, “okay, then, never mind, darlin’.” She turned on her heel and faced Rein. “Sally’s bringing out a couple of kids this afternoon. Will the new horse be ready?”

Dalton shifted from one foot to the other, debating whether or not he needed or wanted Liberty’s opinion. Maybe he was the crazy one. Okay, maybe it wouldn’t kill him to hear what she had to say, being a woman and all. “Okay, say I wanted to, you know, get her attention. Angelique’s been through a lot and I don’t want to--”

“Scare her off? Let her know how you really feel?” She faced him with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I guess.” This was new territory for him. Women as a whole, not so much, but developing a relationship with one? He was stumbling around in the dark. All he knew was that without her there was a void, and when he was with her, like this weekend, he didn’t feel confused or out of place.

“Let me ask you this, are you sleeping?” Liberty asked.

“Barely.” Dalton sighed and looked away. There was no use in fighting it. Seemed like half the town knew about the two of them, even though they’d decided they wanted to keep things simple, low-key for now.

“Restless, I think we’ve established. Are you eating?”

Dalton threw her an exasperated look. “Is there a point to this?”

Liberty folded her arms over her chest. He had to admit living the country life had transformed her from a guarded Vegas nightclub dancer with an attitude to a woman at ease in her husband’s flannel shirts and a pair of torn-up jeans. Her hair she now wore long in cinnamon-colored braids. The only evidence of her former life was her tongue piercing and he’d never questioned why she still had it. The only thing that hadn’t changed was her bossy attitude. And he kind of liked that about her.

“You’re in love with her,” she stated primly.

Love? Come on. True, she was kin and so he’d give her that. And she’d married his brother, okay, but how the hell could she make such a determination after only, what? A couple of random questions? He waved off the notion. “I think maybe you’re getting ahead of things.”

Liberty cocked her dark eyebrow--the universal unspoken language women have of stating they are right and you are an idiot.

Dalton’s gaze swung to Rein, who stood, walked over, and draped his arm over her shoulder in alliance. He closed his eyes. “I’m thinking you’re both full of shit, that it’s way too damn early for that…but let’s say, for the sake of my sanity, that
is
the case. If someone doesn’t feel the same, then isn’t it better to wait until, you know, everyone’s on the same page?”

“And if everyone followed that rule, waiting for the other person to speak up first, where would we be?”

He hated like hell that what she said made sense. Given the assumption that the reason for how crappy he’d been feeling had something to do with…he couldn’t bring himself to think that he could be in love.

“You think I should—assuming you might be right—tell her?” Accepting the possibility made him oddly less concerned about his mental state, at least. Course, if she didn’t feel the same, he’d maybe go with that idea he once had of moving to Oregon, becoming a smokejumper. Far cry from shoeing horses, but he and Hank had batted the idea around a few times.

“I don’t think you’re going to know until someone speaks up and tells the other person how they feel.”

Dalton needed to chew on this. “Yeah, maybe. I need to clear my head. You guys okay if I take off for a couple of hours?”

Rein waved him off. “Liberty will help me.”

Hell, yeah, like the two of them would get anything done. Liberty had given Rein the green light to start a family and, well, suffice it to say no place was sacred if the mood was right.

Dalton raised a hand, leaving the two behind, needing to ride—to not think about Angelique or love or how amazing her skin smells. He shaded his eyes to the morning sun. A good day to get lost on the mountain curves, maybe take a dip in a cold mountain lake…which mystified him when, twenty minutes later, he found himself pulling into the Greyfeather’s gravel drive.

***

Angelique heard the rumble of the Harley cycle and knew immediately who it was. She’d tried all week to let what happened at the cabin stay at the cabin, putting all her energies into work at the clinic, helping her aunt bake and freeze pies ahead for the fall festival in town. She’d taken evening rides with Emilee, soaked in long, luxurious bubble baths, but nothing had worked to keep him from causing her sleepless nights thinking of how it’d been between them. He’d been as open with her as Dalton could be, but neither had spoken of or promised anything beyond the idyllic weekend they’d spent in total privacy.

A knock rattled the old screen door and she moved from the living room into the foyer. Her heart stopped as she spotted him standing there in faded jeans and scuffed boots, his black t-shirt molding to his muscled body. She noticed from his profile that he’d not bothered to shave yet. He turned then and looked at her, his gaze unreadable in his dark sunglasses. The man should have a warning label stamped on his forehead.

“Good morning.” He tore off his glasses and those dark amber eyes held hers. He hooked his thumb in his jeans pocket. “Is Emilee around?”

Her heart, already on a slippery slope, skittered to a stop. She took a steadying breath and licked her lips before answering. His gaze dropped to her mouth. She rested her hand on the door to steady herself. “She went to Billings this afternoon with her grandparents.”

His head snapped up, his eyes flashing with an awareness that caused her fingers to ball into a fist. “Beautiful morning for a ride. May I ask what you wanted to see Emilee about?”

He looked away and she held her breath. A million explanations paraded through her head—how she hadn’t known for sure the baby was his, how she’d been afraid that she’d ruin his life, that he’d had enough on his plate back then. None of them sounded worthy of forgiveness.

He sighed. “To be honest, I came to see you.”

“Oh?” she managed to squeak out.

“I wondered if maybe you’d like to go for a ride?”

She twisted the old hook dangling from the doorframe. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

He looked down at his boots and nodded. “Because you’re not interested?” He glanced at her, narrowing one eye with a quizzical look.

She drew her teeth over her bottom lip, forcing herself to stop when she noticed the corner of his mouth lift in a knowing grin. “If you must know, it’s that I am interested, not that I’m not…interested.”

He scratched his brow and walked to the edge of the porch. He stood searching the horizon before turning on his heel and, in two strides, putting his face up to hers with nothing but the screen between them. “Maybe we should try something normal.”

“Normal?” She wanted nothing more than to pull him through that screen and have her wicked way with him—or vice-versa.
Stop
, she mentally chided herself. Her resolve grew weaker each moment she stared into his handsome face.

“Normal, meaning go for a ride. Stop someplace, maybe get a bite to eat. Talk about this”--he gestured from him to her-- “about us.”

“There is no
us
, Dalton.”