Kelsey screeched at the top of her lungs, "Get up, Miss Rogers! You can do it. I know you can." She crossed her fingers, her arms, and her legs for good luck.
Miss Rogers finally managed to stand upright. She hopped with all her might and returned triumphant. Tyler grabbed the sack, climbed in and took off.
Gillian watched. She clapped and yelled with the rest of the group, but dread filled her stomach. She never had been good at this sort of thing. Little Kelsey even looked like a pro when it was her turn.
"Dallas?" She tapped his shoulder.
"What is it?" He turned slightly, his attention concentrated on Kelsey's progress. "Come on, hotshot! Doing good."
Wringing her hands, she looked up at him. "I don't think I can do this."
His blue eyes lasered in on her, and she smiled weakly. Dallas took her hands in his and tried to reassure her. "Of course, you can do this. It's only a game. All we want to do is have fun. You're worrying too much."
Kelsey made her last jump, hopped out of the sack and handed it to her uncle. Dallas rumpled her hair. "Way to go, hotshot. Gillian needs a pep talk. Make it quick, because I don't expect this to take too long." He was off, winking again in Gillian's direction.
Dallas hopped across the field like it was an everyday occurrence. Gillian couldn't believe it. Was this the same forbidding man who had confronted her at every turn for the past several weeks? He was actually enjoying these races, throwing himself into them whole-heartedly, supporting his team members, and doing his best to win.
On his way back, Dallas kept his eyes on her. Gillian's heart flip-flopped. Not only did she have it bad for the belligerent cowboy, she had the sinking suspicion she was halfway in love with him. But that was impossible. Hadn't she vowed never to love again?
Dallas stopped in front of her and helped her climb into the burlap sack. When she bent to get a grip on the top edge, he stooped down beside her. "Keep your eyes on the red line at the end of the course," he whispered in her ear. "Turn with a hop and come back to me. I'll be waiting."
Gillian nearly fell over backwards from his nearness. No man had ever affected her like Dallas did. "Go on, now." His voice was warm, full of encouragement. She felt an excitement that had nothing to do with the race.
With a silent prayer for luck, Gillian started down the course. The first few hops proved awkward, but soon she found her rhythm. Even though Dallas had assured her it was all in fun, she knew these races were important to the McCade family and wanted to do her best for them.
At the red line, Gillian turned carefully and started on the return trip keeping her eyes on the ground. The yelling and commotion on the sidelines increased; someone must have won the race.
Gillian hated letting the McCade's down, but she'd warned them. As she neared the finish line, she finally looked up. Kelsey jumped up and down and waved her arms. Tyler motioned for her to hurry up. Mustering her last reserves, she jumped with all her might. As she crossed the finish line, she fell into Dallas's arms. "I'm sorry. I told you I wasn't very good at this."
Dallas hugged her close. "What are you talking about? You were wonderful. We won."
"What?
But how
? That man beat me by a mile. How could we have won?"
"We were already one man ahead, sweetheart. Tyler's strategy is almost foolproof. Works every time, or it has so far."
"Strategy? Oh, thank goodness. I thought I had lost the race for all of you."
Tyler and everyone gathered around to congratulate Gillian.
"Lost? No way," Kelsey said, helping her out of the sack. "Uncle Tyler knows what he's doing. And you were great. We're having fun
and
winning. Okay, let's get ready for the next event." She led the way, as usual.
Gillian groaned when she saw an obstacle course laid out on the other side of the field. Dallas looked down at her with a grin. "What's wrong? Seems like this would be right up your alley. After climbing that ravine to take pictures of those skunks, this should be a piece of cake."
"Nothing was at stake then." She walked fast to keep up. "I was doing that for pleasure. This is serious. I don't care what you say, you guys are in this to win."
Dallas stopped and caught her arm. "Where's that spunk, that grit, you've been hurling my way ever since I laid eyes on you? Come on. I know you can do this. Relax."
Tyler put them in position and Sarah Sue blew the whistle.
Gillian didn't have time to worry; she was second in line. She watched Dallas easily climb a rope and jump over a low wall, then expertly jog through a row of tires. She couldn't see the details of the course after that. The least they could have done was review the course beforehand.
A touch on her shoulder made her turn around. "Don't look so glum," Tyler said with a smile. "If you think you can't do something, just go through the motions. Don't skip anything. You can do this."
Dallas ran up and tagged her hand. Gillian tried to smile as she raced toward the rope. These McCades were something else. She just hadn't figured out what exactly.
The low wall wasn't as difficult as she thought. When she came to the tires, she stepped carefully to avoid tripping over the rims. Next was a neon orange tube made of nylon that snaked across the grass. Okay, no problem. She could crawl with the best of them. At the end of the long tube, Gillian climbed out and rubbed her knees. Her body wasn't used to this kind of abuse.
Running toward the next obstacle, she groaned inwardly. It was a high rope bridge that didn't look very stable. She started across and it lurched with every step. She made it to the end after only two near tumbles.
With a sigh of relief, she raced to the last obstacle. Her heart nearly cratered as she stared at the monkey bars. What were her chances of crossing the muddy pit without falling? She took a deep breath and climbed the ladder, placed her hand on the first rung and swung out over the mud. With each grip on the steel bars, her hands burned and her body swayed.
By the time she reached the middle, her palms were sweaty and she felt herself slip. Thank goodness, it wasn't far to the ground. Miraculously, she landed on her feet and not her bottom. Her tennis shoes stuck in the mud.
Oh yuck.
Looking up at the bar, she jumped twice and tried to catch hold, but it was out of reach. The clock was ticking. Gillian remembered Tyler's words:
Go through the motions
.
Pretend
. With arms extended above her head and feeling extremely foolish, she walked in the mud to the end of the monkey bars, her shoes squishing with every step. Slip-sliding over the ladder, she ran back to the group and tagged Tyler. He took off like a rocket
Out of breath, Gillian plopped to the ground beside Dallas. Her tennis shoes were stained from the mud, but most of the caked dirt had fallen off.
"It wasn't so bad, was it?" he said with a smile.
"Not if you like army boot camp." She rubbed her hands together. They burned like the devil.
"Here, let me see." He turned her palms upward, holding them in a gentle clasp. They were red with blisters forming on the pads below her fingers.
The barriers Dallas hid behind, the brusque manners he showed the world fell away. He raised one hand, then the other to his lips. Gillian felt a tingling warmth travel from her palms, through her arms, straight to her heart.
Without a word, he pulled her to her feet and gave her a quick hug. Gillian stared at him as he yelled at Austin to get a move on, then cheered with the rest of the team.
He was completely at ease with these silly games. Such a stark contrast with the other times she had been with him. He always acted angry with her, or else looked at her with such passion she felt scorched by his gaze. She remembered the dance they had shared--a heady mixture of yearning and anger that had left her confused as well as aroused.
Gillian shook away the disturbing thoughts as Austin ran the last length of the obstacle course. The McCades were way ahead of the other teams. Their pleasure and enthusiasm was contagious.
"Okay team, we're doing good," Tyler said, rallying his troops. "Lead the way, Kelsey. We're on a roll."
Dallas took Gillian's arm in a firm grasp and followed his brother. "This is going to be my favorite event," he whispered in her ear. "It's the three-legged race. We'll be joined thigh to thigh."
Gillian gulped. Again, she wondered what she'd gotten herself into. Not only the races, but with Dallas. His abrupt turn around was disarming. He was fun to be with and gentle with her, too. They hadn't made love yet, but they would. She knew they would.
Sarah Sue called everyone to the next course. Volunteers stood ready to help bind the participant's legs together with short bungee-looking cords.
Dallas held Gillian close as a woman strapped their legs together. She quickly buckled the cords together, then checked for a good fit. "There you go. Snug as a bug in a rug. Good luck."
"Thanks, Peggy," Dallas said. She gave a thumbs-up and moved on to help another couple.
With Dallas's arm around her and their bodies joined, Gillian fought the threatening feelings of panic. For so long, she had avoided men. Especially big men. Yet she hadn't been able to avoid Dallas. She had tried unsuccessfully to ignore the attraction between them. With a sigh, Gillian gave in to the delicious warmth of his touch--his hard muscled thigh against her own, his biceps pressed across her shoulders. Her body melded against his.
It felt good
.
"I'm glad we called a truce," he said, his breath hot against the shell of her ear. Chill-bumps coursed down her spine. He brushed his lips to her hair. "I like the way our bodies fit together, don't you?"
Speech was beyond her, so she nodded.
"Look over there," Dallas said, pointing across the way.
It took a moment, before Gillian emerged from the deep well of pleasurable sensations. She tried to assure herself her capitulation was partly due to the change in Dallas's attitude. Not only the powerful sexual pull he had on her. For weeks, the man had frowned and grumbled at her. He was positively charming today. She was in shock, she told herself.
Gillian looked at Kelsey and Tyler. The little girl was laughing as Tyler held her halfway off the ground so their legs would join evenly. Once the bindings were secured, he grasped his niece under her arms and walked over.
"Here's the lineup," he said, still holding a giggling Kelsey. "We'll go first, followed by Austin and Miss Rogers, then you and Gillian can bring up the lead." He looked over his shoulder. "Austin, you hear that?"
Austin and Miss Rogers hobbled toward them. "Yeah, I heard," he said with a growl. Gillian wished she knew what was going on between those two. Miss Rogers was biting her lip. To keep from grinning or crying, Gillian couldn't tell.
The whistle blew for everyone to take their places. The McCade group lined up according to Tyler's instructions.
When Sarah Sue signaled for the race to begin, Tyler picked up his niece and trotted across the field with Kelsey laughing all the way.
Gillian looked at Dallas. "Isn't that sort of . . . cheating?"
Dallas shook his head. "No, technically they're bound together and going down the course."
Gillian grinned. "You have all the angles figured out."
"Tyler has them all figured out," he said, watching his brother's progress.
"You're not going to pick me up and carry me away, are you?" Gillian felt a rush of heat as the image flickered in her brain.
Dallas turned his head and gazed down at her. "Is that an invitation?"
"Maybe." She felt Dallas's hard muscles tighten. She had her arm stretched across his back, holding on to a belt loop for support. Her heart hammered in her chest and a titillating warmth fluttered in her tummy. She had it bad for the cowboy all right.
"I'm ready to take you up on that invitation--any time, any place," he growled in her ear.
"Any time? Any place? We'll just have to wait and see about that, won't we?" She lifted her chin and holding her breath. Had she actually thrown out a challenge to Dallas?
His eyes darkened with passion and his nostrils flared with sensual alertness. "We're not going to wait long," he said, his voice low and seductive.
A liquid core of shimmering desire pooled in Gillian's lower body. She forced herself to look away before he kissed her in front of God and everybody.
Tyler, with Kelsey in tow, returned triumphant. He was only a little out of breath. It couldn't be easy carrying a seventy-five pound girl fifty yards and back, Gillian thought with a smile.
Austin, with Miss Rogers bound to his side, set off down the course. To Gillian, Austin McCade looked positively savage. He was one McCade who was definitely
not
having fun.
He and his partner were struggling to keep upright. They staggered and stumbled across the field. Gillian held her breath when they fell down completely. It took several minutes before they got to their feet and resumed the race.