Ranger's Wild Woman (10 page)

Ranger switched off the cell phone and looked at a very desirable Hannah. She was examining him like a hissing cat about to be loosed on his head.

“So, are they sending help?” she asked. “Maybe a guide to lead us out of here? A helicopter? My boat leaves tonight, you know.”

“No, no help,” he replied, trying to sound cheerful. “I vote we sleep on it.”

She blew a raspberry.

“Everything will look better in the morning,” he said, patting the bench seat. “And sleep is beneficial.”

“Sleep together, no doubt.”

“Of course, together. You said you wanted eight minutes.” He gave her his best he-man grin, the one that melted all the women without fail. “I’m offering eight hours.”

“It’s not going to happen. You loused up your chance big-time. You know, it’s no wonder you Jefferson boys have to break something to win women.
By the time you get through messing the whole thing up, you have to do something drastic.”

Her very tone told him she was not fooling around. Maybe he’d come on too strong with the caveman approach.

“You knew how much it meant to me to get on that boat, and you set fire to the map,” she accused. “And you didn’t ask Archer for directions out of here. I don’t think you’re trying.”

“I don’t know where we are, exactly. So I couldn’t ask for help out of here. Plus, I didn’t want to mention this before, but…we’ve got a flat.”

“A flat!”

“And we may be a trifle low on gas. But those are minor issues,” he assured her. “The big issue is simply that…we’re lost.” He hated admitting that, since he’d only planned to detour, an idea that had supremely backfired on him. “It will all work out, I promise. I’ll get you to that boat and to your ex. Or almost-ex. Whatever he is,” he said on a deep sigh.

“You’re just saying that so I’ll succumb, and it’s not going to work. I mean, you nearly had me. But then you set the map on fire and folded papers burning brightly do not romance make.” She crossed her arms and stared at him.

“No, I promise. I’m very good at recovery missions.”

She snorted. “You rolled down a hill nude after impaling yourself on a poisonous plant. The only reason you recovered from that was because of Hawk.”

He felt a tiny spark of jealousy, then forced it away. “Are we having our first fight?”

“Try multiplying that by ten. Because you and I both know I won’t make it to the riverboat before it leaves. That’s my employment, Ranger.”

His lips compressed. What could he say? He’d had a pigheaded idea. “Sure are a lot of stars out to waste on bickering.”

“You mean, gee, it’s a great night, and we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat, no spare, no compass and not enough gas to waste by driving aimlessly around on our rim, so we might as well play hide-the-salami.” She gave him a stern eyeing. “Do I translate your machismo correctly?”

Whew-oo! This was a hot one! “Remind me of your saucy side if I ever ask you to marry me again. I may have missed that before.”

“I don’t want to get married. And I sure don’t want to be with you, cowboy. Right at this moment, I’m so mad that I’m thinking perhaps I should have stuck with Jellyfish.”

“What do they have to do with anything?” he demanded, annoyed at her illogical conversational turn—and the fact that she was right about everything she was saying.

“My ex. My friend, Jellyfish.”

He stared at her, to see if she was telling the truth. Her eyes were clear and focused. He started laughing. He laughed until he felt better. Wiping his eyes, he said, “Wait till I tell my brothers that I’ve been jeal
ous of a man named Jellyfish!” And he threw back his head, roaring with more laughter.

Hannah flounced down in the seat and gazed out the window until he’d finished. “I hope you didn’t rupture anything.”

“Actually, I feel better.” But now he didn’t, because Hannah looked so dismayed. Damn, but he hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. It’s just that he had been jealous, and clearly, there was no need. Jellyfish! No cowboy would ever have a name like that! He imagined an undersized, whitish, forty-year-old who was too sickly to do much more than steer a riverboat all day. Pursing his lips, he realized he had all the odds stacked in his favor, and he’d be the better man if he was big about his non-rival.

“I’m sorry, Hannah,” he said. “I shouldn’t have laughed at your friend. And I shouldn’t have picked on you. I’m feeling frustrated and embarrassed.”

Her lips separated as she turned to look at him. “Well, cowboy, color me shocked. An apology?”

“Yes. And I also shouldn’t have set the map on fire. I got carried away trying to…to get you carried away.”

She looked at him speculatively. “You’re kind of cute when you’re not acting like an ass.”

“Is that the rude word with a French pronunciation you wanted to call me?”

“Sort of. Ah-shay,” she enunciated, so he could get her inflection. “Ah-shay.”

“Huh?” He looked at her quizzically.

“The business orifice of the ass,” she said with a comforting nod and a smile.

“Oh. I get it.” He really didn’t, but he wasn’t going to let on. “Wouldn’t that be ah-shole?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She rolled her eyes for his benefit, and then brightened. “So. You were jealous?” she asked, her eyes big and curious.

He started to fib, and then realized he’d already admitted it and was going to have to derail his ah-shay tendencies. “Still am.”

“And your idea of romance was to start a little fire?”

“I lack resources in the middle of nowhere. And I heard women are seduced by fires.”

“In a fireplace, you dip. I’m realizing that you may not be very good at this, for all your big talk,” she told him. “If Hawk hadn’t had all the necessary romantic supplies on hand, you probably wouldn’t have known what to do.”

“I found a brochure in the kitchen drawer that had tips for romance,” he admitted. “That hideaway of Hawk’s is a honeymooner’s retreat he rents out.”

“No way!”

“It’s true.”

She shook her head in amazement. “I can’t believe you came clean with that admission.”

“I’m trying to start this relationship out with honesty. I’m sort of a believer in that.”

“Okay. You’re not the smoothest man I’ve ever known. How’s that for honesty?”

“Pretty good,” he admitted grudgingly. “I’m used to women who do all the work for me. Lord only knows you don’t help me out much.”

“Pitiful.”

He slipped her a sideways look. “Is it working?”

“Absolutely not. Now, if you had thought of roasting some vegetables on the map fire, I might have been impressed. I’m starving.”

“That I can solve,” he said, instantly cheered. Hopping out of the truck, he pulled some things out of a chest in the back. Getting back in, he handed her beef jerky and Twizzlers, then put cans of Big Red in the cup holders. “I travel prepared.”

She gazed at his offering. “Well, it’s not four-star restaurant fare, but I will not complain.”

She tore into the beef jerky wrapper without any hint of a snit, he noticed with admiration. “I do like the fact that you travel well. You’re not prissy.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Some girls would be really perturbed at the accommodations and sustenance—”

“My parents were hippies. We lived in a commune. I can adapt.” She looked at him. “But I really, really want to know something.”

He loved the way she was staring at him, her eyes round and big in the waning light. Green smells from the meadows blew through the truck on a playful breeze, and as he stared at Hannah, he thought he could stay with her like this for a long time. Maybe forever. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman on the
planet, she wasn’t a cowgirl, and she wasn’t settled, that was for certain. But something about her felt right to him.

It had to be the stuff Hawk had given him to drink. Maybe that foul medicine hadn’t completely worked its way out of his system. “Ask. Whatever you want.”

“You said you wanted us to have honesty between us.”

“Yeah.” He drank some soda and made a face. “Maybe I’ll switch to beer.”

“Pay attention,” she told him. “This is an important question.”

“I’m right with you, lady. Fire away.”

“It was pretty hard for me to tell you I couldn’t have kids,” she said softly.

He stared at her. “Um, oh yeah. I forgot about that. I’m sorry you can’t.”

Her eyes grew wide. “You are?”

“Well, yeah. Isn’t that what I should say?”

“I guess so.”

But she put her jerky back in the package as if she’d lost her appetite. “What is it?” he asked. “I
am
sorry that you went through that.”

Her gaze turned hopeful. “Nothing else?”

He scratched his head. “Hannah, you’re going to have to ask me directly what it is you want to know. You’ve already determined my scale of logic and romance.”

She swallowed and brushed her hands together be
fore looking at him. “Does not being able to have a baby—”

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “No. That would not change my mind, if we were of a mind to be discussing a real marriage. No. I don’t want kids. I haven’t wanted marriage for just that reason. The family history and all that.” He shook his head decisively. “No. Last’s were the final diapers I ever hope to change, thank you.”

She smiled at him. “And you don’t mind a scar here or there?”

“A scar?” He realized where the conversation might be heading. His heart lit up. “Hannah, my scars outnumber yours any day, first of all. Secondly, I think I can say this for all men, we’re much more interested in the destination than the um—” He broke off and rubbed his chin. “You know what? I’m going to insert my boot in my mouth when I should be saying something romantic.”

She smiled and took his hand away from his chin. “Relax. I’m not looking for the perfect man. I’m not even looking for anything long-term, as you know.” Moving his hand to her lips, she kissed his fingers. He was so startled that he picked up her other hand and did the same, only he kissed her fingers one at a time. Slowly. And then he kissed her lips softly, with pressure that communicated warmth, not heat. He wanted Hannah to know that there was more to him than raucous cowboy. He might not be skilled at ver
bal communication, but with his mouth he could tell her what he wanted her to know.

“I’ll take that eight hours,” she said. “There are too many stars out to waste on being angry.”

His whole body exploded with desire. “I’ll get you to that boat, even if I have to swim to it. I won’t get you there by the time it leaves, but I will find it.”

She nodded. “I know you will.”

She trusted him, after all. That excited him more than anything. Leaning into her, he went for her lips, but she quickly stopped him with one finger. “We both agree that this is no-strings sex,” she said.

“Agreed. This is casual coitus,” he stated recklessly. Most women wanted to hear that a man loved them, but of course, Hannah would be different.

“Are you fibbing?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said as he cupped her breasts in his hands. “Nothing about you is casual to me.” He slid his fingers down her stomach, feeling the soft skin underneath her top. “Is that a problem?”

“Of course,” she murmured. “Nothing about my upbringing is conducive to long-term stability. You’re going to be disappointed by that eventually, and I don’t want to be responsible for hurting you. Remember what your father said.” She gazed up at him from under her lashes. “Maybe I’m not to your betterment.”

He nodded slowly. “Maybe not.” And then he unbuttoned her jeans. A slender thong encircled her hips with two small strings. His heart pounded. “Hannah,
a certain part of my body wants you to know that you definitely are to my betterment,” he said hoarsely.

He watched, mesmerized, as her hands went to her shirt, unbuttoning it to reveal a small bra. Polka dots brightened the material, shimmering in the moonlight. “Happy bra,” he said.

“Happy cowboy,” she said, sliding the bra down her shoulders so that her nipples were bared.

“Oh, honey,” he groaned. “I’ve got to get in you.
Now.
”

She gasped as he pulled her bra off. “Don’t be too gentle with me.”

“Absolutely not.” He removed the itty-bitty thong and made a slingshot out of it.

“I may never find that,” she said, watching it fly.

He took her breasts in his mouth, and she tried not to sound like a delirious cheerleader when he sucked her nipples. “Then again, all I care about is finding you.”

Her hands found the buttons on his jeans, and she frantically undid them. He took one second to help her pull off his jeans and everything else, and when she put her small hands on him, stroking and pulling, he wanted to holler yee-haw! But he used that energy instead to open the truck door, dragging her across the bench seat to him.

“Lie still,” he told her, “I’ve wanted to do this to you since I first met you.” And he pulled her hips to his mouth, stroking inside her with his tongue until
she cried out with a pleasure she’d never known before.

He sat her up and pulled her out of the truck onto him, and she locked her legs around his waist, and he thrust into her, and then she did scream to release the wild joy building inside her. He yelled, too, and she loved the sound of his pleasure, and the best part of this moment was that they were so far out in the middle of nowhere that nobody heard them.

B
Y THE TIME
the sun broke night’s hold on the darkness, Hannah was exhausted. She’d also had the best time she’d ever had, she acknowledged, pulling herself out of Ranger’s arms. He was snoring in her ear, thoroughly satisfied, she thought smugly. They were lying on a blanket in the truckbed, and heaven only knew if she could jump down. His grip tightened on her when she tried to move away.

“Where’re you going?” he asked without opening his eyes.

“To find my clothes, if that can be achieved.” She removed his arms and crawled away from him, recognizing that she was probably going to be sore for a few days. Ranger had been good for his promise of eight hours.

He grabbed her ankle and gently dragged her back to him, which made her giggle in spite of herself.

“Not without my good-morning kiss,” he told her bossily, flipping her onto her back so that he could kiss her thoroughly. “Now, that’s how I like to greet
the day,” he said, when he was through ravishing her lips and most of her face and neck.