Into the Arms of a Cowboy (7 page)

Jess started to argue, then grimaced in pain and apparently thought better of it. He scowled as he settled back onto the bed. “Gus, there’s no way I’m going to let you lose out on your big sale.”

Cassie, half concealed by the curtain, opened her mouth, then snapped it shut again. As much as she wanted to help, she simply couldn’t. Logic dictated that she get as far away from Jess as she possibly could. An offer to drive him home wouldn’t help her toward that goal.

Dr. Liu, however, didn’t hesitate. She gestured Cassie’s way. “What abo
ut your wife? Can’t she do it?”

Jess’s eyes widened. “My what?”

Heat rose in Cassie’s cheeks, but she stepped forward and forced a smile. “Why, honey,” she said, with feigned innocence, “how hard did you hit your head in that arena?”

In the silence that followed her words, Gus cleared his throat. “I take it they wouldn’t let anybody but family go along in the ambulance.”

Understanding and amusement dawned. Jess’s mouth twitched at the corners as he struggled to hide his smile. “My wife. Right. So,
darlin
’, how about it? Want to drive me home?”

“Because of his concussion, he’ll also need someone to check on him during the night,” Dr. Liu added. Happily, she’d chosen to overlook Cassie’s little deception. “Plus you’ll want to make him ice that ankle.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at Cassie. “I--” She stopped, hesitated, and chewed on her lower lip. She was trapped. Cornered. Oddly, she didn’t mind too much. She was torn between her instinct for self-protection and her feelings of gratitude toward
Jess
. She did owe him something for taking her under his wing. Besides, a sheriff on crutches would hardly be in a rush to check his most-wanted list.

They were still staring at her. “Okay,” Cassie said, with a barely stifled sigh. “Let’s go.”

His head throbbed. His ankle ached. He could feel every sore muscle in his poor, abused body. The next week or so stretched empty before him. No work. No rodeo. Just Jess, alone in his isolated cabin. Unless Cassie stayed, of course, and he could hardly count on that. No, he’d be alone and totally helpless. Hell, with his injured ankle he couldn’t even drive his own truck.

As they sped along, Jess glanced over at Cassie. He had to admit she handled his Chevy just fine. She also seemed to sense the dark cloud hanging over his head, to judge by her sympathetic silence. Actually, Jess sort of missed her usual bright chatter.

She caught him staring and gave him a concerned smile. “How’s the head?”

“Lousy,” Jess grumbled. “Good thing my skull’s so thick, or I’d be in real trouble.”

Cassie’s laughter filled the cab like sweet music. “Hey, at least the cowboy has a sense of humor!” She paused, thoughtful.  “So, are you really that upset about missing out on rodeo for a while?”

“Not really,” Jess admitted. “I don’t have a lot left to prove, and I don’t need the money. I guess rodeo’s just something I do for the rush. A way to keep busy.”

Once, he’d all but lived for that shot of adrenaline, and the thrill of the ride. He’d thrived on the freedom, the adventure, even the solitude. Something had changed, though. Rodeo wasn’t enough anymore. It didn’t thrill him the way it used to.

He didn’t say that to Cassie, though. Instead, he frowned and glanced back at Harry. The dog had his ugly mug pressed against the window glass, a supremely mournful look in his brown eyes. The dog had earned his exile to the camper when he growled at Cassie again and tried to bite her.

Cassie followed Jess’s eyes. “Poor puppy. Why do you think he hates me?”

“It’s not just you. He has trouble trusting human beings in general.”

“Except for you,” Cassie pointed out.

“Yeah, well, when I first found him, he tried to bite me, too. Somebody had tied him to a fence, with the rope so tight he had to struggle for every breath.” Jess’s stomach clenched at the memory. “Every rib showed, he had patches of fur missing, open sores all over his body--”

An expression of horror crossed Cassie’s face. “God, how terrible. Did yo
u catch the person who did it?”

“Nope. Probably for the best, since I don’t know how I’d have kept from wringing his neck.”

“Poor Harry. No wonder he doesn’t take to strangers. Do you have any other pets?”

“Not at the moment.” Jess gestured to the road ahead. “Here’s Bitter Creek, coming right up.”

The town sat in a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Tall pine trees surrounded homes and businesses with high, peaked roofs built to withstand winter blizzards. The streets were narrow, the shops old-fashioned, but Jess loved it.

Cassie craned her neck as she drove slowly down Main Street. “This is the whole town? It’s awfully small.”

“We’ve got everything we need here,” Jess said, unable to keep a hard, defensive edge out of his voice. He indicated the downtown area. “Gas station, grocery store, bank, antique shop, Lorna’s Cafe, even a hotel. Maybe it’s not a major metropolis, but we get by just fine.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to criticize. It’s really cute.”

City folks. They drove Jess nuts, acting like a place wasn’t worth living in unless it boasted an air-conditioned mall, a multiplex movie theater, and a McDonald’s.

Danielle, in fact, had thrown a major hissy fit when she first saw Bitter Creek. She’d practically amputated his arm with those long red nails. “You don’t actually expect me to live out here in this hick town, do you?” she’d hissed into his ear. When she found out that his 10 acres were actually a good half hour drive up into the mountains, she’d really lost it.

No use explaining to Cassie how much he cared about this place and the people who lived here. She was a city girl, too. She wouldn’t understand, any more than Danielle had, what the town meant to him.

“My house is a ways up Bear Mountain Road,” Jess said gruffly. “Make a right at the stop sign.”

As the pickup began the climb toward Jess’s property, he cursed himself for thinking Cassie might be different. She wouldn’t want to stay in a “hick town” either. Or else he’d say the wrong thing--maybe ask one too many questions--and she’d run off for that reason. One way or another, he couldn’t afford to get attached to Cassie.

Jess shook his head, a movement that joggled his bruised brain and sent stabbing pains through his eyeballs, but he couldn’t dislodge his uneasy thoughts.

He knew next to nothing about Cassie. He couldn’t let himself care about her any more than he already did. It wasn’t purely sexual, either. Oh, he still wanted her, despite his aches and pains. He wanted her with a bone-deep intensity beyond anything he’d ever felt before. He still hoped to find out whether her lips could possibly be as soft and warm as they looked.

But it went deeper than that. He liked her. He enjoyed having her around. And that could prove dangerous. He’d been hurt before. He wasn’t sure he could survive any more heartbreak.

The road narrowed to one lane as the truck continued to climb. A canopy of evergreen branches shut out all but occasional dazzling flashes of the fading evening sun. Rocky hillsides, ferns and wildflowers, a shallow creek tumbling over a pebbly bed--familiar scenery, but to Jess it spoke of home. He’d bought his property after his first big rodeo win, and stayed there ever since. He couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

They rode together in silence, until Jess asked Cassie to pull off onto the mile-long winding dirt road that finally ended at his front door.

When they arrived, Cassie parked the truck and sat for a long moment without moving or speaking. Jess frowned and squinted at the small structure in the clearing. Okay, so it wasn’t the
Taj
Mahal
, but he kept it up. He’d put new cedar shingles on the roof just last September. Actually, in the deepening twilight, with spring’s last daffodils blooming around the front porch, it was downright charming.

Cassie still hadn’t spoken.

“I know it’s not much,” Jess said, with growing anger, “but it’s bigger inside than it looks. There’s electricity and running water and everything. Even a flush toilet.”

Cassie burst into tears.

She couldn’t have surprised Jess more if she’d sprouted wings and flown off into the sunset. He squirmed in his seat, torn between annoyance and the urge to take her in his arms and comfort her.

“Sorry,” Cassie said, after about a second and a half. She sniffed and mopped at her eyes with her sleeve. “Sorry, but it’s just so. . .so perfect.”

“What? I don’t--”

“When I was a kid, I had this book. ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. I used to stare at this one picture of the cottage and pretend it was my house, just mine, a home nobody could ever take away from me. And, well--this is it. This is the cottage from the storybook. It just kind of got to me for a minute.” She grinned, her cheeks still wet and shiny. “If you hang around me long enough, you’ll figure out that I cry at the drop of a hat. You know those Hallmark commercials, the ones they show around Christmas time? I bawl like a baby. I guess you think I’m a total idiot, huh? ”

“No,” Jess said, smiling down at her. “No, I don’t think that. Come on, Goldilocks, let’s go inside.”

Jess’s cabin was just as cute inside as out. It consisted of only one room and a loft, but Cassie decided Jess was right--it looked bigger than it actually was. Everything fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, from the kitchenette and pine bookshelves to the storage nooks an stacked plastic organizers in the tiny bathroom. The entire cabin was a model of efficiency and order, especially by Cassie’s admittedly lax housekeeping standards.

No TV, she noted with relief
, and no sign of a computer
. At least Jess wouldn’t see her picture on the nightly news
or stumble across it online
. By now, the police must know she’d been the last person to see Andrew alive. There would be an APB out for her arrest. Photos in all the papers. A nationwide search, maybe. But as long as she and Jess remained up here at the cabin, chances were she’d be safe.

Cassie forced her thoughts back to the present. She glanced at the plaques and shiny belt buckles covering half of one wall, a testament to Jess’s rodeo prowess. “You won all these?” she asked, dazzled.

“Yeah, I guess. No big deal.”

“How about this one? ‘PRCA World Champion All-Around Cowboy’. Sounds like a pretty big deal to me.”

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging modestly, but he grinned like a man savoring a memory of long-ago glory.

By the time he wrapped up the 30-second tour, though, Jess’s grin had faded. His skin was pale and he balanced precariously on his crutches. “You will at least stay the night, won’t you?” he asked.

Cassie shrugged, pretending a nonchalance she didn’t feel. In fact, she wanted very much to stay. “I can hardly take off before you’re out of danger from the concussion. Speaking of which, you should probably lie down now and elevate the ankle.”

The image of Jess’s long, muscular body stretched out on a bed brought an instant flush of sexual heat along with it. Even injured, Jess radiated virility and confidence and a sheer, masculine sexiness that made Cassie feel a little crazy. If, for example, she stared at that firm, chiseled mouth too long, she just might stand on her tiptoes and kiss him.
Strictly as an experiment, of course. How would he react? With shock? Pleasure? Would he kiss her back?

“About the sleeping arrangements,” Jess said.

Cassie gave a guilty start. “Oh, right. Sleeping arrangements. Um, what about them?”

“Well, obviously I can’t get up the ladder to the loft, so you can take my bed up there.”

The prospect of sleeping in Jess’s bed sent an electric thrill up her spine. “What about you?”

“The couch folds out into another bed, if you’ll give me a hand.”

“Of course.” Jess’s request snapped Cassie back to attention. She’d come along to take care of Jess, and so far she hadn’t done much tending to him. “You just have a seat and I’ll take care of everything.”

“For God’s sake, I’m not an invalid,” he snapped, as he maneuvered his way to the couch and began pulling off the plaid cushions. “After I help you with this, I’ve got to feed Harry. He’s probably out in his dog house right now thinking I’ve abandoned him. Then I have to call into work and let them know I won’t be in for a few days. Maybe, when that’s done, I’ll sit down.”

“Oh, is that right?” Annoyed, she rounded the couch and grabbed one of the cushion away from him. “You just fell off a bull, mister. You look like hell. I told the doctor I’d take care of you, and I’m a woman of my word.” She gestured toward a comfy-looking recliner. “So you’d better sit yourself down right this minute while I fix up the bed. You can make your phone call, but that’s it. You’ll have something to eat, ice your ankle, then sleep until it’s time for me to check on you. I’ll take care of Harry and whatever else needs doing around here. Is that understood?”

Jess stared at her in silence for several seconds, his eyes wide with surprise. Slowly, he nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, with an exaggerated drawl, but he dropped his long, muscular body into the chair without further argument.
“I’ll make a quick call to work, though.”