Nothing But Trouble (10 page)

She may be dying for adventure. 

He was just dying.

He cleared his throat.  “If we’re going to head up into the high country, we can’t go after every little rabbit sound in the forest.  I want to set up camp before sundown, so we’d better get moving.”  He heard the harshness in his voice and silently chided himself for it.  It wasn’t Melanie’s fault he was in over his head with lust for the woman. 

He caught her soft smile fade to bewilderment before he twisted back around in his saddle and dug his heels into Thunder’s side.  The horse kicked into motion, with Chester following.  He could only imagine the daggers Melanie was throwing at his back with her eyes as they rode.  And he knew every one of them was deserved.

It was a lot easier in the saddle, riding ahead of her through the mountains.  Just the thought of her perched in her saddle, hips rocking back and forth with the sway of the mare carrying her, was enough to give him a heart attack.  If he’d been with Joshua or even alone, he would be able to relax a little more.

Stoney would have liked to push on for another hour or so before setting up camp.  But he knew that setting up camp would be tiring.  As the sun cast a golden gleam over the mountain tops, painting colors of copper and amber against the wide Wyoming sky, he braved a look back at Melanie.  One look and he saw how her first day was beginning to take toll. 

She hadn’t complained.  He knew she wouldn’t.  He’d already figured she was much too stubborn for something like that.  She’d push on if it killed her just to prove to him wrong.

He pulled hard on the Thunder’s reins until both horses came to a halt.  “This is a good spot to camp for the night.”  It was a nice flat spot by the river with plenty of grassy area to picket the horses and let them graze.

Melanie dismounted and stretched her legs, walking funny for the first few minutes.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to walk straight again,” she said, holding on to Dolly’s reins as she led her to the water’s edge.

Stoney kept his back turned to her and proceeded to untie the packs that were loaded on Chester. 

“I guess I should get use to this, huh?  We’ll be doing a lot of riding.”

He didn’t say anything, despite her attempt to converse with him for the first time in the last few hours.  They’d been silent for most of the ride and he found it was easier to concentrate on the clopping of horse hooves than the beating of his own heart.  He quickly set up the picket while the horses got their fill of water, and then secured them inside. 

He grabbed the hatchet.  “You might as well set up your tent and lay out your bedroll while you’re waiting.  It’s going to be a while until supper is ready.  Can you cook on a camp stove?”

She dipped her head and blushed.  “If you give me instructions I can probably make just about anything.”

Wonderful.  He picked up the side of one of the duffels and tossed it a few feet in her direction.  “That’s okay.  Just sift through this pack until you find something that sounds appetizing.  Those dry food rations are pretty easy to prepare.  You just added boiling water.  You know how to do that, right?”

She glared at him, jamming one fist on her hip.

He ignored her frown.  “Dinner will be sooner if you can find enough dry wood scattered on the ground to get the camp stove going before I get back.  It won’t need much wood to cook.  You’ll find a sturdy pot in one of the packs, too.”

She’d straightened herself, a questioning look filling her tired features.  She looked vulnerable, afraid as he turned to walk toward the tree line.  “Where are you going?”

“Just to gather some wood for a campfire.  Despite the time of year, it gets pretty cold up in the mountains at night.”

He stalked off, not sure why his gut felt as tight as it did.  All he knew was that he needed to get away from Melanie, if only to have a moment or two alone to collect himself. 

He was acting like the backside of his horse, but he couldn’t help it.  Why, oh why did he agree to spend the month alone with this woman?  Every time her soft brown eyes flashed bright with excitement, his breath caught in his throat.  She had a fire that flared with the slightest push, but beneath that, there was a vulnerability he found endearing.

He walked a few yards beyond the tree line and found some old dry branches.  Pulling out his hatchet, he positioned the branch over a low rotted stump and took out his frustration on the wood.  With every thrust of the ax against the wood he’d hoped his tension would ease.  But to his dismay it remained. 

When they’d first set out this afternoon, he’d actually been excited about going.  As they trailed deeper and deeper into the mountains, the old familiar feeling of tranquility washed over him.  Then Melanie would say something and he’d remember that he wasn’t with Joshua this time.  He was with a woman who was stubborn minded and clearly out of place in a world where she had no business being.  He should have felt guilty about ignoring her, but he couldn’t.  It was the only way he could forget how much he wanted to kiss her every time she smiled.

# # #

Chapter Five

Melanie brushed her hand up and down her arm in an effort to warm herself.  The increased chill in the air and the darkening indigo sky was a clear sign that night was quickly on its way.  Night predators would be out hunting their game and the meadowlarks that sang so sweetly during today’s ride would turn in for the evening.  Long Island seemed as far away as the moon, and that thought gave Melanie a subtle peace. 

Stoney, however, was just around the corner, splitting wood for the fire they’d use to prepare dinner.  Melanie was like a whirlwind, pulling gear from each pack and quickly deciding where it should go.  Her muscles screamed at her, compliments of the long, bumpy ride in the hard saddle, but she knew there would be no dinner if she didn’t try to set up the camp stove and get the gear unpacked.  Dinner was already going to be later than usual and she needed to at least try to keep on her eating schedule. 

She pulled a wool cardigan sweater from her knapsack and put it on before digging into her saddlebag for some dried banana chips.  After popping a few of them into her mouth, she found where the tents were packed easy enough.  Setting them up was another story.  But despite her lack of camping skills, Melanie was determined to get the tents erected and the bedrolls laid by the time Stoney came back with the firewood.  She looked at the stakes and bounced the empty bag up and down, hoping some instructions would fall out.  Nothing.

She groaned, tossing the stakes to the ground and propping her hands on her hips.  “This ought to be good,” she said, staring at the horses now grazing inside the picket Stoney had set up before he left for the firewood.  “I’ve never set up a tent in my life but it can’t be too hard, huh guys?”  And she’d rather choke on her dinner than ask Stoney to help her do it. 

The horses continued munching, seemingly unaware of her presence, and the fact that she was talking to them.  She heard the sound of a thwack against wood in the distance and guessed that must be Stoney chopping wood.

“Small talk is overrated, anyway.”  She puffed her cheeks and got back to work.  To her surprise, once she’d figure out the first tent, the second one went up in half the time.  She’d broken her second fingernail in the process and decided it was time to pull out a nail file and sand them all down.  Normal primping would have to take a back seat starting today.  She was just setting up the camp stove when Stoney appeared with an armload of wood.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said when he caught sight of the tents standing side by side.

Melanie smiled brightly.  “I wanted to.”

“Thank you for the effort but it was a waste of your time.  It’s just going to be taken down again.”

She glared at him, trying to suppress her shock.  Still, indignation spilled to the forefront.  “I don’t know what you expected out of me this trip, but your fee as a guide doesn’t include any sexual-”

He rolled his eyes and grinned.  “Keep your pants on, Sunshine.  I have no intentions of crawling into your tent to take advantage of you.  Despite what you may think, I’m not a man who takes what isn’t offered.  As long as you zip that tent tight, you’ll be safe.”

Slightly embarrassed by her jump to the conclusion that he was trying to seduce her, she asked, “Where will you sleep?”

He looked up at the sky.  Dark shadows cast colorful fingers across the land, but the sky was already a dark smoky blue.  “It’s going to be a clear night.  I can’t see wasting it by sleeping in a tent.  I’ll sleep under the stars by the campfire.”

She hesitated.  “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Of what?”

“You know, of...snakes?”  She made a face, the unbidden feeling of her skin crawling making her shudder.  “And things slithering into your sleeping bag?”

His lips tilted ever so slightly to show her he did something more than just scowl.  Her heart pounded against her ribcage, and she thought it would tumble out of her chest.  When he wasn’t angry or distant with her, she actually had a hard time thinking of Stoney as the man she hired for a purpose.  He was a man, pure and simple.  She just wished every time he shined his cowboy, happy go lucky smile, she didn’t have the urge to fall right into his strong arms.

She’d never thought of herself as the kind of woman who’d be attracted to a cowboy.  She liked her men clean, for one thing.  And though today was much an improvement over the last few days, she’d seen firsthand that nothing about a cowboy was clean for very long.  They worked hard, and she suspected they played hard.  Maybe that’s why so many of them up and joined the rodeo like it was a circus.

His dark eyes suddenly changed.  They were dark, primitive, telling her more than she suspected he’d like her to know.  She’d seen this expression in him before.  First on the day she’d arrived at the ranch and then again at the stable after the first time they’d taken the horses out for a ride.  She’d thought he was about to kiss her then.  And she was surprised at her own reaction now.  The thought of Stoney kissing her sent a blaze of fire spitting through her.  If he touched her, she didn’t know what she’d do.

His breathing was shallow.  They weren’t close enough to touch, but the hot current that flowed between them was incredible.  And then it change abruptly, and the lines on his face deepened.  His expression changed as if he’d lifted a mask.

“We’d better get supper ready.  We’ll start out early in the morning.”

It didn’t take long to prepare supper.  Except for the occasional instructions Stoney gave her, they talked little.  They talked even less when dinner was complete.

“Since you did most of the cooking, I’ll do the dishes,” she said, lifting herself from ground.  She bent over to retrieve his empty plate and their eyes met.  She felt as if she were a yo-yo.  One minute, he was talking to her as pleasant as can be, the next he was barking out simple orders as if he were angry.  And then he would look at her this way, like she was the earth and the sky and everything in between.  Her breath caught in her throat for a moment before she managed to compose herself.

He cleared his throat.  “It’s getting cold.  I’ll get the fire good and hot.”

Stoney had the small fire burning bright when she got back from the river.  She packed away the last of the dishes and utensils, and hesitated.  Her whole body ached from their long day, and good sense should have told her to just say goodnight and turn in.  But she joined him by the fire instead. 

“Do you mind?” she said, waiting for a reply before lowering herself to the ground.

He silently extended his hand toward a spot next to the flames.  But there was something in his expression that told her he’d prefer to be alone.