Sweet and Wild (26 page)

“Is Robby the only reason why you’re so
glum? I’d think this ride would have cheered you up. Especially with Craig to
gaze at.”

Quinn bumped Thea with her shoulder.
“Shh. Please don’t announce it. No one knows.”

“You’ll have to do something about
that.”

“Not here, not now.”

“How serious are you two?”

She glanced behind her to make sure
Jacob was nowhere near. “Pretty serious. I know it’s not such a hot idea
sneaking around like this, but some people wouldn’t much like the idea.”

“Like who? Marisol? Your brother? Robby?
Listen, Jacob is a big boy, he’ll handle it. He might get all protective and
maybe a little weirded out by the age difference, but that won’t last. Not if
you’re really happy. Craig is a good man. As for Robby, well, he’ll get over
it. He may try to convince you he’s the one for you, but you know as well as I
that that boy is as fickle as they come. Marisol is the only one you have to
take care for. I don’t think she’d appreciate it to find out you two are
‘serious’ about each other after the fact.”

Such good advice. And true. “I’m going
to tell Craig after this ride we need to come clean with her. At least get her
used to the idea he and I want to date. Not that we’re already dating. I’m just
not used to this. Believe it or not I can count the number of serious boyfriends
I’ve had on one hand.”

“You’re young yet. If this is meant to
be, then it’ll happen. If not, well, there’s plenty of time to find the man of
your dreams.”

“My, you’re quite the romantic. I never
had much use for the emotion, but now I can see it’s not all that bad. Don’t
repeat that. I have a reputation to keep up.”

Thea held up her hand. “Promise. Your
secret is safe with me.”

“You’re a goddess amongst mere mortals.”

When night fell and the remnants of
dinner cleaned up, Robby and Lance started up the bonfire in the pit at the
center of the ring of tents. Quinn watched as Marisol and Bonnie went off to
sit as close to the one boy in the group as they could without being overly
conspicuous. Not that the boy was oblivious. Quinn couldn’t decide if the kid
enjoyed the girls’ attention or was extremely uncomfortable with it. Probably a
bit of both.

“So much for some father daughter
bonding,” Craig said with a sigh when Quinn passed by him on her way to give
the horses one last check for the night.

She paused and with the growing dark
masking them, she got closer than she had been all day. Her fingers trailed
against the back of his hand, and her arm brushed his. Slowly she inhaled and
savored his scent, a mix of dust from the trail, horse, and a trace of cologne
she couldn’t identify. Just what a man should smell like in her perfect world.

“Get used to it, Dad,” she told him. “It
only gets worse from here. Females are bolder in pairs. So I hear.”

“You didn’t stalk unsuspecting boys when
you were ten? In packs with other ten year olds?”

“No, I started my stalking when I was
five, until around the time I turned ten. And I did it alone.”

Craig looked down at her. It was too
dark to see the expression in his eyes. “Their loss.”

“No, probably not.”

“I need some time with you. Even if it’s
a few minutes. After Marisol and Bonnie go to bed.”

The mere sound of his whispered words
sent sparks through her body, kick starting her heart and sending it into a
flurry. Just the idea of a few stolen moments sent thrills spiraling through
her. “You sure it’s a good idea?”

“You think it’s a good idea spending two
days together pretending we’re only friends?”

“True. I can’t do it much longer. We’ve
got to tell people, Craig. I don’t want to hide this anymore. When we get back
tomorrow.”

Craig caressed her hand with the back of
his. “Okay. But meet me tonight. Just for a few minutes.”

Waiting for that moment proved painful
and even though unwarranted, she felt like every eye was on her. Craig sat with
Jacob, and the couple Craig spoke to earlier in the day. Robby hung out with
Lance, so she sat with Becky. She and Becky had been friends for years and
Quinn saw no reason to let Robby come between that. So, Becky had a thing for
him. Maybe Robby would grow up and pay attention to that fact.

With the reflection of flames dancing on
faces around the bonfire, she glanced at Craig. To his credit, he seemed
involved in the conversation with Jacob and the couple. She, on the other hand,
teetered on the edge of knife sharp anticipation.

In the distance, along the horizon,
lightning flickered like the flames from the bonfire. Heat lightning? Jacob had
made sure no inclement weather was headed their way before they embarked on
their ride. The last thing they needed was to be caught in a thunderstorm. In
the event a storm should head their way, Long Knife Creek Ranch trucks would
pick up the guests and bring them back to the ranch, and the horses would be
brought to Hightower’s ranch. Thus far, the night remained cool and comfortable
and, except for the lightning, there were no tell tale signs of rain. Still, it
wasn’t unheard of for a storm to sneak up over the prairie. Jacob, despite the
attention he gave his guests, would be paying attention to the conditions
around them as well.

About an hour later, Marisol and Bonnie
said goodnight and disappeared into their tent. Despite the fact she longed to
take a sleeping bag and spend the night outdoors under the vast blanket of
stars, Quinn had her stuff in the tent she shared with Becky and Thea, but she
did not intend to retire early. Quinn held a cup of coffee and counted down the
moment until she could sneak off and meet Craig.

That would happen when Robby disappeared
into the tent he and Lance shared. If only that would happen soon. With each
passing moment, she grew more and more antsy, more hyped. She stole glances at
Craig and admired the way the glow of flames danced over his face. His hands
gripped his own mug of coffee and she could’ve sworn his knuckles looked a bit
white. Was his anticipation building as much as hers?

Thea wished everyone goodnight and not
long after Becky disappeared into their tent. That left Robby, Lance, Jacob,
the couple, Craig, and her. Man, this sneaking off would be more difficult than
she realized.

When Robby finally gave up, she breathed
a sigh of relief. A partial one. Casually, she got up and wandered over to the
chuck wagon to see if there was any coffee left. Standing on the edge of the
firelight, she could easily slip into the darkness, walk to the paddock and
wait for Craig to be able to slip away.

Man, what a way to act. Like a couple of
kids sneaking around behind their parents’ backs. Only for another day or two.
Then Craig could officially start courting her and they wouldn’t have to meet
in dark places for a few stolen moments. They could fall in love in public.

More lightning flickered in the
distance, accompanied by the sound of thunder. She would have to be on her
guard, in case this turned into a storm and came their way. Right now, it
stayed far enough away.

When a pair of arms snaked around her
middle, she wasn’t taken by surprise. She sank into the embrace, recognizing
Craig’s broad chest, the shape of his jaw as he kissed her neck, and the way
his hands slid across her belly in a familiar touch. She smiled and inhaled his
familiar scent.

“Finally,” she whispered.

“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”

Quinn turned so she could wrap her arms
around his neck. All she wanted was to feel his lips on hers, taste him and
touch him. They didn’t have a lot of time, but she wasn’t about to rush.
Neither was he. The caress of his lips on her mouth and the delicate trace of
his fingers over her skin set her aflame.

Between the soft touch of his lips, she
murmured “I love you.”

“Craig,” she said and pushed against him
gently, even though she hated to break up the moment. “Craig.”

“Hmm.”

“When we get back tomorrow promise me
we’ll stop hiding,” she whispered and kissed his rough jaw, the subtle burn of
his five o’clock shadow against her lips.

“I promise. We have to. I don’t want to
pretend we’re just friends anymore.”

Quinn turned her mouth to his and
thrilled in the way his lips took over her senses. She drank it all in, his
taste, his touch, his smell, all mingling with the scents of prairie. If she
gave up her guard a bit further, she would’ve pulled him down to make love to
him on the earth, but she held onto her wits with a thread of will power.

“Oh, fucking hell.” The voice behind
them came out with knife sharp loathing.

She shoved Craig aside, but he’d already
turned to face Robby.

“What a surprise,” Robby continued
sarcastically and took several steps forward. His fists clenched, ready for
action.

“Robby—“ Craig began to speak but before
he could say anything further, Robby fired a punch at him. The blow caught Craig
squarely on the jaw and before he could recover, Robby rushed him, launching
himself through the air and bringing Craig to the ground.

In shock, Quinn stepped back, her mouth
wide open. This was exactly the last thing she wanted to happen.

“Couldn’t keep your hands off her, could
ya?” Robby continued, lifting his fist as he straddled Craig’s chest. Before he
landed another blow, Craig grabbed Robby’s arm and jerked it to the side,
finally regaining his senses lost during the surprise attack.

Quinn shook herself into action and
shoved at Robby to dislodge him from Craig.

“Knock it off,” she hissed, but Robby
ignored her and kept his attention and anger focused on Craig.

“You knew damned well I wanted her back,
yet who the hell cares, right?”

Even though Craig had removed himself
from Robby’s hold, Robby made another go at him and again the two men landed
back on the ground, scuffling around. A flash of lightning, closer this time,
flickered over the brothers who fought noiselessly, except for the sound of their
labored breath and strikes of fist against flesh.

This couldn’t be happening. Quinn put
her hands to her mouth. She couldn’t go for help, couldn’t bring Jacob into
this. He would probably hear anyway.

Blinding hot anger raged up inside her.
Who did Robby think he was, acting like this? He went too far this time and it
had to stop. This wasn’t the way she wanted everyone to find out.

She tried to put herself between the two
men again, but this time Craig stopped her.

“Let me take care of this,” he told her,
glancing at her only long enough to make sure she stood back.

“Oh isn’t that sweet?” Robby drawled
before going for Craig with another raised fist. Craig deflected and tossed
Robby to the ground.

“Nice to see you don’t need a girl to
fight for you.” Robby’s voice rose and Quinn was sure the people over at the
tents would hear.

“Robby, stop this now,” she ordered.

Robby turned his attention on her and
pushed himself to his feet, rubbing his jaw. “What the hell, Q? He’s not for
you. He’s too old. He just lost his wife and he’s got a kid. I don’t think
he’ll even stick around, and we all know you won’t budge from this place.
What’re you going to do when they decide they want to go back east to their old
life? You going to go with them? Hell no. Honey, you’re a small town girl and
he’s a big world traveler. As much as I feel for you, how in the world would
you ever live up to Elise’s memory? Look at what she was, the things she did.
You’d always come in second with him. With Marisol. You deserve to be first. He
can’t give you that. I can.”

His words were a blow harder than any
fist could’ve landed. They were a lie, she knew that, just talk meant to hurt
her and Craig, but the impact was complete, the damage done. Quinn glanced back
at Craig. He touched his fingers to his lip. Even in the dark, she could see
the smear of blood on his chin.

“Don’t listen to him.” Craig’s voice was
low and soothing amongst chaos. “It’s not true.”

Damn it.

Robby laughed with no humor. “Just wait
one winter. Craig may be able to make it through, but if Marisol can’t, he’ll
put her first and leave. Then what? What are you going to do about your broken
heart then?”

“Stop. It doesn’t matter. Whatever
happens, happens,” she told Robby. “You and I were never going to get back
together, even if Craig didn’t come back. Even if Craig decides to leave.”

“I don’t believe that. If it weren’t for
him we would’ve had a shot. I would’ve made sure of it.”

The anger grew again from glowing embers
to flickering flames. All these months of trying to make him understand they
were long over had led to this. She took a long step forward and planted her
hands on Robby’s chest in a hard knock that she felt right up to her shoulders.
The blow knocked him back several feet and obviously took him by surprise.

“No, I said we were done. But you
wouldn’t listen to me.”

She shoved him again and would’ve
continued her assault but a pair of strong arms pulled her away and off her
feet. Craig’s mouth moved by her ear, whispering something meant to soothe her,
but instead she kicked her legs against him in an effort to free herself.