Then somehow he had hold of his weapon again, and she was lightly running the cloth over the wound while crooning a little. Despite the desire to let her murmurs soak into him, he strode to the front window. It looked peaceful out there with potted plants on the porch and an apple-laden tree a few feet away. He could see two nearly new kennels and his Jeep. Doing what he did for a living kept him keyed into his physical body. After all, a man who needed strength to keep going didn’t dare take it for granted. That said, he couldn’t remember ever being more aware of himself. So that’s how he responded to possible danger. It was a good thing to know.
A low moan spun him around. Shari was leaning over her dog as if she could pass life from herself to her pet. In her right hand she held the now-bloody washcloth. She’d laid her cheek against the hairy neck and was stroking a muscled flank with those arresting tanned fingers of hers. No artificial nails. Different from the woman he’d been married to. Good.
Propelled by the emotion radiating out from her, he hurried over. Reholstering his weapon, he rested his hands on her shoulders. Warmth from the sun she’d recently been standing under seeped into him. She might weigh approximately half what he did, all of it physically fit. More to the point, she wasn’t trying to hide anything of what she was feeling. She hurt for her injured pet. And was pissed.
“We’ll get her to a vet,” he told her. “He’ll take care of her, fix her up.”
“What if he can’t?”
“Don’t think that. She needs you to be strong.”
Shari’s sigh lasted a long time. “Do we dare move her? What if we hurt her more than she already is?”
Wondering if she was aware that she’d included him in the decision making, he ran his hands down her arms until his fingers were around her elbows. His heart raced, sending blood to his cock. Ordering himself not to acknowledge that part of his anatomy, he pulled her to her feet. She tried to keep her attention on her dog, but he forced her around so she faced him. Her muscles were firm, yet she was undeniably feminine. Alive. Distracting from what might be out there.
“My carrying her in here probably did all the damage that’s going to be done.”
“I know. I just—it kills me not being able to protect her.”
“You can’t go back in time, just forward.”
“I know,” she whispered, making him wonder if she was thinking about more than today.
He wanted to protect her. To make her world right. To step into her world and from there to her bedroom.
At the same time that was the last thing he needed. Damn it, hadn’t he learned his lessons?
He’s keeping secrets,
Shari thought even as the look in Maco Durant’s wide-set hazel eyes both calmed and unnerved her. Maybe those secrets had to do with Ona’s shooting, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t believe he’d had a role in her dog being hurt. She might have asked for an explanation of what he was thinking if she could think of something other than her pet and the firm grip on her arms. Her increased heart rate. He was what, probably in his early thirties, tall and fit with a solid chest encased in a gray/black long-sleeve western shirt complete with pearl snaps and yokes in front and back. On someone else, the shirt might look like a cowboy costume, but he wore it as if he’d been born to it. Same with the weighted leather holster clinging to his lean waist. Thick dark brown hair, stubble, and muscled arms added to the power image. She wasn’t crazy enough to look lower than the holster, but remembered, clearly, that he was wearing jeans and worn leather cowboy boots.
What had he said he was, a contractor? Why then did everything about him shout rancher? Cowboy.
“Give me your phone,” he said. “I’m calling nine one one back.”
“I don’t know what difference it will make. The sheriff’s department is so understaffed that—”
“Believe me, I’m aware of that. I just want to make sure they’re taking this seriously.”
“My dog, she needs—”
“You
have
to keep it together.” He still hadn’t released her, not that she wanted to be free. “You’ve done a good job of cleaning her injury,” he continued. “Did you feel anything broken?”
Shuddering, she shook her head. “I just want her to wake up.” Clenching her teeth to keep from saying more, she took a deep breath. How had this man who smelled of leather and sun gotten into her house and why did he have her so off balance? Damn it, she took pride in being an independent woman. Where was this dependency coming from?
Whatever the answer, it needed to go away!
“What about your vet coming out? Do you think he’d do that?”
She was about to answer that she didn’t know when Ona whimpered. Spinning away from Maco forced him to release her. Ona’s mouth was open more than it had been, but her tongue no longer hung out. Instead, it curled upward as if trying to lick something.
“That’s my baby,” Shari crooned as she perched on the edge of the couch. Maco had told her she needed to be Ona’s rock. She would, damn it. Starting now. “Come on, lady. Come back to me.”
Ona’s eyes focused, closed, opened, and stayed that way. She looked drunk, but her awareness of her surroundings was increasing. Mindful of the wound, Shari stroked and patted. And when she placed her hand near that gaping mouth, she was rewarded with a long wet kiss.
She
was
going to stay calm, she was! No crying. No falling apart. Just gratitude and relief and—and one small tear.
Then a second followed the first, forcing her to close her eyes in an effort to contain them. She started to sway.
Take-charge arms went around her shoulders and drew her against the solid male chest she’d keyed into earlier. Relief and surprise flooding her, she turned and looked up at Maco Durant. Wrapping her arms around him, she clung to him. Had she ever held on to a man the way she was now? He stroked her hair much as she’d stroked her beloved dog and yet there was a difference that had everything to do with her being a woman and him a man. Sexual awareness sliced away the protective layers, even the need for answers and medical attention for Ona. She wanted to stay like this forever, taking in the scent of him, learning his contours, feeling protected—and more. Turned on. Simply being a woman.
Then Ona stopped whining, and her tail thumped against the couch.
“She’s going to live,” Shari managed with her mouth brushing Maco’s throat and her body weightless. “She was—I think she was knocked out.”
Still holding her tight, he said, “The question is, who did it?”
His comment brought the world back full force. “Maybe we’ll never know,” she reluctantly admitted.
“I hope you’re wrong. Wait. There were two shots, right.”
“Yes.”
“Which one hit her?”
“Does it matter?”
“Maybe a lot.”
“I guess.” She concentrated. “Oh my God, it was the first.”
3
“T
wo bullets were fired,” Maco told the sheriff’s deputy when the man arrived more than a half hour later. “Whoever’s responsible fired again after Ms. Afton let him know what he’d done. She also said she saw the sun glinting off something.”
“Like a rifle?” the deputy asked.
“I don’t know,” Shari admitted. Darn it, she had to concentrate. “Everything was so—I was upset, shocked.”
“That’s understandable,” the deputy said. “Anything else catch your attention?”
“I’m pretty sure I heard a motorcycle,” Maco answered before she could think of anything to say.
“Is that what it was?” she asked. “I wasn’t sure.”
The deputy, tall with long arms, stood over Ona, who was still on the couch but watching the activity. “There’s idiots out there, unfortunately,” he said, lightly stroking Ona’s neck. “Hunters whose families have lived in the area for generations and figure they have a right to bag a deer whenever they get a notion. Most get licenses but that doesn’t mean they don’t stretch the season to meet their arrogance or justification.”
“You really believe that’s who it was?”
Still petting Ona, the deputy aimed his attention at her at the same time Maco did. “You’re thinking it might be someone else?”
“No. I mean, I have no idea. I just can’t stop thinking about that second shot. Like Mr. Durant said, whoever it was had to have heard me yell.”
“Poachers aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. He probably panicked and his finger twitched. Boom. When he realized what he’d done, he took off, and that’s what you heard. I see a lot of that in this business. Act first, think later, if ever.”
“It sounds as if you know this area and the idiots in it,” Maco said. “Just the same, you’re going to check things out, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am. Chances are whoever’s responsible is long gone.”
“I realize that.” While in Maco’s arms, she’d felt feminine and in need of protection—and something else. Now sanity had returned. Her legs felt strong, her resolve enough to get her through whatever needed getting through. “Darn it, this is my property. It’s well posted as a no hunting area. Not only do I keep dogs I’m training here, I also board an average of twenty when their owners are on vacation, sick, or working out of town.”
“There’s no accounting for stupid,” the deputy said. “As for the motorcycle, if that’s what it was, the moron might have figured that would attract less attention than a truck because he could go cross country.”
“It’s also useless for hauling off a carcass,” Maco added.
The deputy headed for the door. “Which means he was after the thrill of the kill, not venison.”
“That’s disgusting!” she blurted. “Absolutely sick.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately there’s a handful of people around here who don’t feel the same way. You get that dog of yours to a vet. I’ll take a look around. You do need to know that unless I come across something, which I doubt, this’ll be the end of it.”
“I wish it was different.” Maco kept pace with the deputy.
“So do I. Sounds like you showing up when you did was being at the right place at the right time.”
“Yes, it does,” Maco said.
“Particularly if whoever it was saw that you were armed. That’s an original Rodeo revolver, isn’t it? Damn, I’d love to have one of those.”
“Wait,” Shari said from her position near Ona. “Does the sheriff’s department have tracking dogs? One might—”
“I wish, but it’s not in the budget.”
“Budget be damned,” she blurted. “Trained dogs have proven themselves to be invaluable to law enforcement.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” the deputy said as he stepped outside. “I’d love to work with one.”
The door closed, and Maco turned around. With the length of the living room between them, Shari shouldn’t feel as if he was touching her. Despite everything she’d gone through and said, however, her skin hummed, and her jeans felt too tight against her crotch.
The moment he took that first step toward her, she knew why. This man with his dark, caress-his-chest shirt, work-worn jeans, hand-tooled boots, and a weapon that made her think of John Wayne, exuded male. Dressed as if he spent his days herding cattle or fighting outlaws, he was self-confident.
And sexy. Don’t forget that.
Like I can.
“Let her up.” He indicated Ona, who had started whining. “We need to see how she handles herself.”
We?
Ona was
her
pet. Never again would her newest client see her cry. It was too unnerving. She was perfectly capable of making decisions, not just about how to care for Ona but about how to handle her whole life. Her most important promise to herself hadn’t changed. She would
not
run scared from life the way her mother had.
Neither would she ever let a man control her, as her mother had once done.
“Come on, baby,” she whispered. This effect Maco was having on her libido was manageable, damn it. Nothing to lose focus over. “Take it easy. One step at a time.”
After a moment, Ona stretched her front legs to the carpet. The dog started to support her weight, then suddenly her knees buckled. Before Shari could come to her rescue, however, Ona recovered. Standing with her legs spread, she lowered her head and slowly shook it. “I know it hurts,” Shari crooned. “At least the bleeding’s stopped.”
“My guess, she has a headache,” Maco observed. “Hopefully that’s the only thing bothering her.”
Not rushing her response, she took the better part of a minute to observe Ona, who seemed to be steadily gaining strength. No doubt about it, it was going to take a while to convince herself that Ona hadn’t died. “I’m still taking her to the vet.”
“I understand that, but not until we’re sure it’s safe to go outside.”
Although she agreed, she hated waiting. Besides, with Maco so close she could touch him, she was determined to match his self-confidence and not let him suspect she was responding to the male in him.
Unless he’d already figured it out.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done,” she said. “I could have never gotten Ona inside on my own.”
“It was a joint effort. I felt better knowing you had my back.”
A memory of what they’d gone through together surfaced, and she remembered the weight of his revolver in her hand, something she’d never thought she’d feel. “You’re armed. Do you always carry—?”
“These days, most of the time.” He touched the handle sticking up from the holster.
“Why?”
“My family runs thousands of cattle on our Wyoming ranch. I grew up being expected to do what I needed to protect them. I got out of the habit when my brother and I started our business because it wasn’t the kind of image we wanted to project. We started packing heat again shortly after getting our latest contract. Let’s call it insurance.”
“You mean you never before needed that kind of insurance?”
He studied her for so long she dropped her gaze from him to Ona, who was heading for the kitchen and, she suspected, the water bowl. Just like that, Maco became a gunslinger in her mind.
He’d storm into her world and order her to climb behind him on his great black stallion so they could gallop over the land with stars and a full moon lighting their way. Head up to catch the wind, she’d wrap her arms around his six-pack. Horsepower between her legs and manpower against her breasts would make her crazy, wild, wonderful crazy.
And once they’d reached their destination?
Knock it off! Just because you haven’t been laid in forever is no—
“I didn’t want to have to get into this yet,” he said. His tone pulled her gaze back to him and immediately made a lie of her vow to stop thinking of him as a male in a hot package. “Not until I had a better sense of what side of the fence you’re on.”
“Side? Of what?”
A sigh, coming from deep in that solid chest. The sound spiraling into her. “You’ve heard about the Graves River Dam, haven’t you?”
“The dam?”
Concentrate!
“That’s why you’re here, to work on it?”
He shook his head. “Not just work. Mustang Construction—that’s our business—has been awarded the contract to finish what was proposed more than ten years ago. Our bid trumped the competition, not that there was much.”
With everything that had happened today, she had to work at changing mental gears. The dam project had been in the news off and on for years. Even before she’d moved back here, Aunt Robynn and Uncle Dan had kept her informed about it. Most recently the articles and news reports had focused on how the legal objections to what a number of vocal people called a rape of the land had finally all been struck down. State and federal courts had ruled that the water needs of the vast farming and ranching lands to the south took precedence over keeping the remote canyon that the Graves River ran through about thirty miles away unspoiled. The dam would be completed. The canyon would fill, providing new recreational opportunities as a side benefit. Present and future agricultural and livestock water needs would be assured. Animals living in the canyon would have to find another place to live. Some trees and plants would be buried under tens of thousands of gallons of water.
“You thought I might be one of those who’ve been fighting the project?” she asked.
“I didn’t know.”
“I’m not, believe me. Truth is, I’ve been too busy to form an opinion. I figured the courts knew what they were doing.”
He shrugged, the movement emphasizing his shoulders’ width, not that she needed the reminder. “Not everyone agrees with you.”
“So I understand. There have been some pretty inflammatory letters to the editor.”
“That there have. I just needed you to know what you’re getting involved with. You came highly recommended. I—”
“Highly recommended?” She had to laugh. “I’m the only person in this part of the state training dogs for security and defense for the public.”
“Just the same, my inquiries led me to believe you could provide me with exactly what I need. In other words, without you supplying the
product,
I’d be SOL.”
“Nevertheless, you thought it might jeopardize our business relationship if I knew what you’re doing?”
He straightened. “I wish you hadn’t put it that way. I felt it was important to learn where you stand on the issue.”
She shrugged, glad that the conversation had returned her to the land of reality. “For the record, I don’t have much of an opinion about the dam one way or the other except that ranchers and farmers have to have water. The way I look at it, the courts are all about law. They’ll sort things out. Besides, the truth is, I’ve been so busy since I bought the property and started my business last year that I’ve hardly had time to come up for air. And before that, well, I haven’t been back in the county for long.”
The moment she admitted that, she wished she could make the words disappear. One thing she didn’t want to get into today, or ever, was where she’d been and why she’d decided to put down roots here after fleeing in the middle of the night with her mother all those years ago. The past was buried, thank goodness.
“In other words, you have no objections to seeing the dam completed?”
“None. My uncle works for the county planning department. He says it’ll be good for the immediate area because of the recreational opportunities. You have my approval.”
That elicited a smile from him she felt all the way to her toes but mostly settled in another part of her anatomy. So much for shrugging off his impact. Was it just her need for sex or was he the sexiest man she’d been near in, what, forever? Hell, maybe this was her new and improved way of dealing with stress. “And since you do, can I assume that we’ll be doing business together?” she came up with. “Of course, there’s the matter of what I owe you, given what you did for Ona.”
“You don’t owe me anything. Helping her, and you, are the highlights of my day.”
Silence stretched out. For the first time since his initial call there was nothing they absolutely had to talk about, no crises to deal with. The tension that had clung to her from the moment she’d heard that first shot eased out of her. With an inner sigh, she relegated the shooting to something she’d try to make sense of later. Suddenly she wanted to ask a million questions about Maco’s personal life, like what had growing up on a cattle ranch been like, why was he no longer there, where did he presently call home, and was a woman waiting for him. Like, what did he think of rainy nights and summer sunrises? Like, did he know about the itches she wished he’d scratch?
Ona padded back into the room, water dribbling from both sides of her mouth. “For the record, that isn’t a new development. She’s always been a drooler. Again, thank you. The thought of losing her ...”