Zack (Armed and Dangerous Book 1) (7 page)

Sky’s heart began to pound and she touched her throat. She raised her eyes to look at herself in the mirror.

“I can’t,” she told herself in a whisper. “I can’t do this.”

Oh yes, you can. Or are you going to let him see that he has you running scared?... He’ll only chase you, you know.

Sky felt light-headed. Zack on the hunt was even worse. Besides, she wasn’t a runner and she’d be damned if she let some man cause her to be one. Even if that man was Zack Hunter.

She took a deep breath as she stood up straight, turned, walked into her bedroom, and looked at herself in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors of her closet door.

Yesterday Sky’s capricious best friend, Rylie, had gone shopping with her in Tucson and they’d had a great time. It had been good not to think about real life—failed relationships, missing cattle, and the ranch’s dwindling resources.

And they’d found the perfect outfit for the dance tonight. The ivory halter dress was gorgeous and made Sky feel slightly dangerous and very naughty. Sheer netting rose from just above her breasts to the neckline that encircled her throat like a choker. The dress completely bared her shoulders and back, all the way down to the top of her ass. She enjoyed the feel of the material, silky, and luscious against her skin.

She usually kept her makeup light and natural so that it hardly looked like she was wearing any. But tonight she’d gone all out—her cheekbones appeared higher, her eyes wider, and her lips more full and sensual.

She’d pulled back her hair and swept it up with a pearl comb, copper ringlets spilling out the top in a controlled mess. She smiled at the fact it gave her that just-got-out-of-bed look that she knew would drive Zack crazy.

Whoa, slow down, girl.
This dress was not about Zack.

Sky turned and viewed herself from another angle, then shook her head. Who was she trying to fool? This dress was all about Zack Hunter and showing him just what he had walked away from.

She pulled on the matching bolero jacket, then slid her feet into a pair of ivory sandals with three-inch heels. Her toenails were painted with dynamite red polish to match her fingernails. The new garters and thong underwear felt positively delicious beneath the dress. Too bad Zack wasn’t actually going to see what she had on underneath.

No, it wasn’t too bad at all. She was just going to give him a taste of what he’d been missing all these years.

She took another deep breath and grabbed the purse she’d bought to go with the outfit.

After tossing her lipstick into her purse, out of habit she thought about slipping her S&W out of its hiding place. No. She’d be away from the ranch, and the very real threats weren’t likely to follow her there.

She said good-bye to Blue and strode out the door into the gathering darkness, taking care not to stumble down the stairs in her sandals. The pinching around her toes was a good indication she should’ve settled for something a little more sensible, but she’d loved the way the sandals looked with the dress.

And at this moment, she felt anything but sensible.

A crashing sound jerked Sky’s attention to the barn, causing her heart to jump.

Satan bawled and she heard more crashing like the bull was butting his stall.

Were those footsteps pounding the ground away from the barn?

Heart racing, Sky unfastened the purse and withdrew her cell phone, wishing she did have her Smith & Wesson with her after all. The purse slipped from her hands and dropped by her feet. Vaguely she was aware of the contents tumbling out, thumping and clattering across the porch.

With her gaze still fixed on the barn, she punched the speed dial number for her foreman and brought the cell phone to her ear.

The line rang once. “Rider.” He sounded slightly out of breath.

“Luke.” Her heart still thundered as she stared at the long rust red building. “I think someone’s breaking into the barn.”

“I’m close,” Luke said. “Where are you?”

“The front porch.”

“Get back in the house,” he said in such an authoritative tone it surprised her. “Lock the door.”

Sky wasn’t exactly dressed to head out to the barn, but she wasn’t going inside her house. She could handle herself just fine if someone came up on her.

The yearling’s loud bawl bellowed from the barn, followed by another crash. “Something’s spooked Satan,” she said.

“I’m already here.”

The line cut off and Sky startled for a second when she saw the shadow of a man with a gun, his back up against the side of the barn. Her shoulders sagged with relief when she realized it was Luke. How’d he get there so fast?

Even though it was night, she made out the forms of two more of her ranch hands hurrying toward the barn, each armed with a rifle.

With his handgun held in both hands, Luke motioned with his head for Sky to get into the house.

He didn’t wait for her to obey as he slipped into the barn.

Sky moved behind the countless potted vines and flowers on her porch and peered through the plants.

Darkness. Quiet.

Another crash. She jumped.

Her pulse rate spiked.

Lights flooded the barn and Sky blinked away the spots in front of her eyes.

She realized she was holding her breath and slowly let it out as she kept her gaze fixed on the now lit-up barn.

“Clear.” Luke’s voice cut through the night. “No one’s in the barn.”

“Nothing on the east side,” came Hector Ramirez’s voice.

“West clear, too.” That was Joe.

To Sky’s surprise, two of her other ranch hands shouted from the south and east pastures that they hadn’t found anything. She startled when a fifth man called out, “Yard clear,” from the back of the house.

Damn, Luke more than had it together. It was obvious he’d drilled the men for something like this.

A couple of moments later Luke jogged up to the porch and Sky stepped out from behind the plants.

“Someone was definitely in the barn.” Luke’s furious expression underscored his words. “Satan’s stall was wide open and you know there’s no way he could have bashed the damned door from where he’s tethered.”

Sky’s stomach dropped as Luke continued, a hard, angry edge to his voice. “I saw shoe prints that tell me it wasn’t anyone here. Our men wear boots and the prints are too big to be your shoes, Skylar, when you’re not wearing your boots. Sonofabitch was probably wearing sneakers to make a faster getaway once he had Satan.”

Her body prickled with heat. “So stealing the rest of my cattle isn’t good enough. They want my prize bull, too.”

“Shit, Skylar.” Luke’s jaw tightened as he gave her a long, hard look. “Why didn’t you get back into the house like I told you? This could have been dangerous.”

Sky narrowed her brows. “Who’s the boss here?”

A flash of anger on his features almost caused her to take a small step back. “Damnit,” he said, “I know you can handle yourself, but you’re not exactly dressed to kick ass right now.”

His expression shifted as his gaze trailed over her skimpy outfit and her cheeks warmed. “But you are dressed to kill,” he added in his deep drawl. “Hunter’s a dead man.”

Even as her face grew warm, she started to tell Luke where he could put that assumption, but she couldn’t think of a single retort. Luke crouched and grabbed her purse that she’d dropped by her feet and picked up the items that had fallen out, before he handed the purse back to her.

Sky stuffed her cell phone into the purse and fastened it as Luke stood from his crouch. “I’m going to the dance at the fairgrounds,” she said.

“I can see that.” He slipped his handgun beneath his overshirt in the holster at his side. “Save one for me. I’ll head there after the sheriff’s department takes a look around.”

It wasn’t until that moment that she noticed his spicy cologne, his clean-shaven jaw, his white western dress shirt that hugged his broad chest, and his snug blue jeans.

“Uh, yeah.” Sky let him help her down the steps in her too-high heels and to her Range Rover.

When she shut the door she buzzed down the window. From the intense look on Luke’s face, he apparently still had something to say.

He placed his hands on the window frame. “Skylar, this rustling situation could be heading into dangerous territory. You watch your ass, you understand me?”

There was something different to him—a hard edge like he’d been through this kind of thing before and he knew how to deal with it.

Or was he warning her in a different way altogether?

Sky mentally shook her head. Lord, now she was suspecting her foreman of being involved in the rustling.
Luke?
That was crazy.

“The hands and I will take another look at the barn scene and examine Satan.” Luke glanced at the barn, then returned his gaze to her. “Wanted to make sure you were still okay once we cleared everything. So watch it, understand? I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”

“I’m fine and I’m not going to hide around my own ranch.” Hell if she would give in.

He gave her an expression of frustration as he stepped away from the Rover.

She glanced into her rear- and side-view mirrors, backed out of the driveway, and headed toward the fairgrounds.

The entire way she drove down the dusty rural road to the highway, anger rolled through her. Goddamn those rustlers. It wasn’t enough that they were stealing her cattle, but now they were after the bull she’d sunk so much money into.

When she closed in on the county fairgrounds, Sky managed to calm herself down enough to focus on tonight.

And Zack.

Damn him.

He’d always been so dark and dangerous to her, and was too freaking hot for his own good. And that kiss—

Sky bit the inside of her cheek. Tonight was about letting Zack know what he’d been missing. Not letting him sample what he couldn’t have again. What he wouldn’t have again.

Sky arrived at the fairgrounds and parked the Rover in the dirt lot. When she climbed out, night air chilled her skin as her dress hiked up her legs. She pulled the material back down, locked the SUV, and headed toward the dance hall. Her ankles wobbled as she traveled over the uneven ground and she just hoped she wouldn’t sprawl in an ungraceful heap.

Multicolored lights of the carnival midway illuminated the night. Sounds of laughter and the blare of the country-western band filled the air as she approached the dance hall.

Smells of popcorn and corn dogs brought back memories of the last time she’d been to the county fair and dance ten years ago with Zack. For the first couple of years after he’d left, she hadn’t wanted any reminders of him, so she hadn’t gone to the annual event. And somehow she’d never felt inclined to go again.

Her steps slowed as she got closer and closer to the dance hall, and then she stopped walking and stared at the front entrance, clutching her purse in both hands.

Maybe she couldn’t do this after all. If she allowed herself to get too close to Zack, she might start to lose her heart again, and that was completely out of the question. Once was enough for this lifetime.

Chicken shit.

She whirled to head back to her Rover, and smacked into a solid wall of hard male flesh. Hands caught her upper arms to steady her, and Sky found herself looking up into Zack’s eyes.

Too late.

Too late to make her escape.

The most dangerous sensations coursed through Sky the moment she found herself nearly in his arms. The warmth of his too-close body radiated through her, sending whirlwinds of desire spinning in her belly.

Devastatingly handsome, all in black from his western dress shirt to his Wranglers, he emanated pure male power and danger—danger to her resolve... to her heart.

Zack’s broad shoulders blocked some of the light from the midway as he stood close. Way too close. His sinewy forearms flexed as he steadied her, his large hands firm around her upper arms.

The brim of his Stetson shadowed his gray eyes, but she could see a silvery glint in their gray depths as he took her in slowly from head to toe. The look in his eyes told her he was barely holding himself back from scooping her up, sweeping her away... and taking her.

No,
she thought, clenching her thighs together. She wouldn’t let that happen. Not tonight. Not ever.

“Sweetheart,” he murmured, the heat of his hands blazing through her jacket. “You look good enough to eat.”

“Zack.” Sky heard the huskiness in her own voice, and fought to regain her composure. She put her hands against his muscled chest and pushed away from his grasp, her palms now burning from the feel of him.

“Where were you going?” He let his fingers slide down her arms as she stepped back, and she shivered from the sensual feel of his touch through her jacket sleeves. “You didn’t change your mind, did you?”

“Of course not.” Sky lifted her chin and did her best to give him a flirty smile.

“You want to dance out here under the stars, or go in?” His deep voice was so vibrant, so sexual, that she all but wanted to melt into his arms.

There was no running away now.

“Inside.” Sky took a step away from Zack and he let his hands fall to his sides. She started toward the entrance feeling the heat of his gaze on her, and the heat of another kind flaming deep inside.

All she could think of was how hot he made her feel in every way.

As they entered the dance hall, he remained silent, only nodding to people Sky greeted as they passed by until they found the place to leave her purse where someone watched everyone’s belongings. When she slipped off her jacket and revealed the sleeveless, backless dress beneath, she heard his sharp intake of breath. She couldn’t help smiling to herself.

After she put the jacket with her purse, she turned to see Zack staring at her intensely. The look in his eyes—could she get any hotter? He set his Stetson next to her jacket but never took his gaze from hers.

“Are you ready for that dance?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded steady. Casual. Not like,
I want your hands all over my body right this minute.

“If it’s only one dance, I get to choose the song.” He smiled and moved close. “And I want it to be a nice slow one.”