Rawhide and Roses (3 page)

“I’ll take them.” Mack stepped up beside her, another broad smile across his face. Kim rolled her eyes as Jillie smiled back.

I so need to get out of here. Please, Jillie, let him take the horse.

“All right,” Jillie said, her gaze on Mack.

She didn’t follow as Jillie and Mack walked the horses toward the barn.

At least Jillie found her cowboy
.

The two disappeared into the depths of the barn and Kim just stood watching, waiting and ready to get the hell out of Dodge. Thad Winchester strode out of the barn then, stopping abruptly when he saw her.

She nearly whirled in the opposite direction, but their gazes met and held. Something popped between them. Anger? Probably. She guessed he didn’t like to be crossed. Well, the feeling was mutual. But it was more than the precise, narrow-eyed look he’d thrown at her—it was almost like a sensation of crackling tension that filled the air between them. And suddenly, she wasn’t quite sure if it was dislike, or anger. It was as though the tension was...almost....

Sensual
.

Glancing away, Kim stepped backward several quick steps, then bumped into a gate. Turning, she kept her gaze straight ahead as she made her way to the parking lot, wondering why her stomach was trembling.

“No,” she whispered. “No. He’s a dirty old cowboy. He can’t make me feel like that.”

Shaking away the feeling, she headed for their rental car, trying to rid her head of how he’d looked a moment earlier. She had to forget it. Now. Think about something else. Forget about how his hands felt as they rubbed up and down her arms, her legs. Ignore it. Think about something else. Forget this disaster of an afternoon. It couldn’t be over soon enough.

She quickly made her way to the car and grumbled as she jerked open the car door. Trail-riding was the last thing she ever,
ever
, wanted to do again in this lifetime.

Never, ever again
.

Plopping down in the passenger seat, she kicked off her shoes, propped her feet up on the dash, leaned against the window, and closed her eyes.

“And now
she
gets a cowboy,” Kim muttered, thinking of Jillie. “Not that
I
want a cowboy, because I don’t.
No siree
. Cowboys are rude, obnoxious Neanderthals. Give me a man in a suit any day.”

She exhaled. Slowly.

She hated getting yelled at. Hated being embarrassed. Hated arrogance in a man. And more than any of those, she hated feeling inadequate. Why had she let Jillie talk her into this?

Well, thank God it was all over now.

She pinched the bridge of her nose with forefinger and thumb, trying to erase a small ache starting just behind her eyes. Tension. She needed to get out of here.

Where
is
Jillie?

She glanced out the window and saw Mack toss a good-bye wave to her best friend from across the corral. Jillie waved back then turned toward the car—smiling.
Smiling!
They were always smiling at each other. It was sickening. Kim clutched her stomach and closed her eyes again, pressing closer to the window.

Asleep. She’d pretend to be asleep. She and Jillie could hash this thing out when they got back to the hotel. She was in no mood for anyone else to take pot-shots at her. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax against the window.

The car shifted as Jillie settled in beside her. Kim didn’t acknowledge her presence. The engine roared to life and they started down the gravel drive. The only thing she could think about at this point was what she was going to do when they got back to the hotel.

A bath. A long, hot bubble bath. Then a touch-up to her manicure, she’d chipped a nail on her fall. And after that perhaps room service and a nice long nap. And she’d dream, of course, of men in suits who smelled of spicy cologne. Men who shaved and took baths regularly. Men who brought her champagne and roses.

Roses. Yes. She loved roses.

She smiled.

Not men who reeked of sweat and grime and rawhide.

She felt the car shake as they hit a bump in the road. As they rumbled further down the rutted dirt road, Kim indeed found herself getting drowsy. The action of the car’s engine coupled with her exhaustion from the afternoon’s events, lulled her into a quick state of unconsciousness. Her last thoughts before she actually did drift off were of how she never, ever, in her life wanted to see another horse, or cowboy, again—for as long as she lived.

Never.

And then Thad Winchester’s handsome face slipped into her mind.

****

They stopped with a jolt. Kim opened her eyes and jerked forward to a sitting position. She glanced groggily at Jillie.

“Thank God. I need a bath.” She yawned. Dusk was settling around them and she couldn’t wait to hit those cool, clean sheets of their hotel room.

Jillie smiled weakly.” Uh, yeah, well...”

Kim closed her eyes again, stretched her arms up over her head and leaned first left, then right, trying to ease some of the kinks out of her back. She sat back on the seat with a whoosh then opened her eyes to look at Jillie.

Who was still sitting, watching her.

She laid a hand on the door latch.” Well, let’s go. The further I get away from the memories of the past two hours the better. I’ve got plans for tonight.” Kim could tell that Jillie heard her, but her gaze tilted somewhat past her out the window. A worried little grin flew over her lips and she finally looked straight at her.

“There’s been a change in plans.”

“Right,” she snorted.” You don’t even know my plans.”

Jillie shook her head.” Doesn’t matter.” Her gaze slid out the window again.

Fully awake now and realizing that something was off-kilter, Kim turned toward the view outside her window. She sucked in a huge amount of air, then coughed, her eyes watering.” Oh, my God,” she whispered, then swiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and looked again.

There was no hotel. There was no
Durango
.

There was only a large old ranch house that seemed to spread for acres, several barns, and a corral full of horses.

Horses!

Twisting back, she demanded, “What is this?”

Jillie pulled in her lower lip and bit. As her eyes grew wider, Kim turned back to the window. She felt her own eyes widen and her anger shoot darn near the surface.

Cowboys!

Mack sauntered toward the car.

And behind him was the cowboy of her nightmares. Thad Winchester.

“No.” Kim shook her head wildly. “No. Tell me it isn’t true.”

Jillie lifted the latch on her door handle. “Trust me, Kim. It was all on a whim. Well, well, that’s Mack over there, isn’t it? And isn’t that Thad Winchester behind him? I can’t believe it,” she bantered nervously. “You hush now, okay? Get out of the car, be quiet, and let me do the talking.”

Hush now? Oh, as soon as I can wrap my fingers around your neck….

Jillie left Kim sitting alone in the car and slammed the driver’s side door.

“What in the...?” She yanked on her own door latch and fell out of the car toward Jillie. “What in the heck are you talking about?”

“Shush.” Jillie threw her a look.

Mack and Thad walked toward them, their faces pointed toward the ground, their voices blending in hushed conversation.
Oh, geez! I don’t want another encounter with this man
. She slipped behind Jillie’s taller frame with her face aimed downward, hoping the falling dusk would help shield her from view. Maybe she could make herself inconspicuous.

And there was another couple to their left. With backpacks and duffle bags and was that guy carrying a saddle?

They were lost, that was it. Jillie could get directions, or perhaps Mack could direct them back to the hotel. Hopefully she’d never be noticed by that big hunk of a man over there. Of course, Jillie would take care of her. She knew how much she’d been through today. Surely this was all some kind of a terrible, awful mistake.

Kim risked a quick glance up. The only thing she saw was Mack’s wide grin shining back at Jillie. He chuckled and seemed proud as a peacock. Which made no sense at all. Her hopes plummeted.

She risked another quick glance to Thad. His nose was buried in a clipboard as he wrote something on a small piece of paper clipped to the top. Suddenly, his voice boomed out across the corral and back. He never looked up and still scribbled while he spoke in quick, loud thrusts of his rich voice.

The crowd around then seemed to lend an ear.

“Thad Winchester, here. This is my ranch,
The Flying W
. Mack Montgomery here, “he gestured to his left,” is my foreman. What you’ve signed on for is a two week pack trip into Starvation Gulch. We leave early in the morning and everyone is expected to pull their own weight. We’ll all have jobs. Now, let’s see who we’ve got.”

He called off a man’s name. The guy with the saddle answered. Kim looked about. What is this? Did he say pack trip? Starvation Gulch?

He called off another. No response. And another. Couldn’t he just look up? Then he called out a woman’s name. The saddle guy’s partner said, “Here!” Next came the name of Thelma Hopkins. Silence. Then Dottie James. That’s when Jillie stepped forward. Kim, leaning into Jillie’s back, tripped a little closer to the men.

To say she was confused was an understatement.

Jillie’s words tumbled out. “Mr. Winchester. Thelma is my grandmother. Dottie is hers. They couldn’t make it on the trip, and since they’d already paid, they sent us instead. You should have an email to that effect sometime last week. You did, didn’t you? Well, at any rate, we’re here, and Dottie and Thelma won’t be. So I hope that will be okay, all right?”

Kim’s mouth dropped open. Surely, she’s joking. She pinched Jillie’s back, refusing to let the word panic enter her mind.

Peeking around Jillie’s head, she watched as for the first time, Thad Winchester’s gaze rose off his clipboard. He looked at Jillie, narrowed his gaze, then breathed deeply. Slowly, he turned to look at Mack. “What do you know about this.” It was not a question.

Mack shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at the ground. He nodded. “Thelma Hopkins called and canceled. Guess the email got lost in junk mail or something.” He met Thad’s gaze head on.

Kim was shaking, but she couldn’t approach Jillie with this absurd notion of them going on some pack trip thing unless she gave herself away. If only Thad would leave, then she could talk her out of this ridiculous idea and get Mack to take her back to the hotel. Jillie could do what she wanted.

“Where’s your gear?”

Jillie took another half-step toward the men. Kim stumbled again. “Um, gear? Well, you see...ah,
Portland
, I think. Our luggage got lost on the flight. All we have is what’s on our backs. Do you think you could help us out there? We didn’t have time to buy...”

Kim was so engrossed in Jillie’s fabrication that she didn’t notice when Thad Winchester took two steps toward them. And she didn’t feel the slight pressure of his fingers on her upper arm until it was too late.

“Ah, hell, Mack,” he huffed in disgust, eyeing her. “What in blazes is going on here!”

Startled, Kim flung back and faced him head on. For a moment, Thad’s dark eyes crinkled at the corners into tiny slits, boring into Kim’s. It was then she decided to break the silence.

“Don’t worry,” she said sarcastically.” I’m not up for this any more than you are. Just find someone to take me back to
Durango
and we’ll let the lovebirds ride off into the sunset. I have no desire to make it a foursome.”

Thad cocked an eyebrow.

Chapter Three

As Thad glared at the blonde standing in front of him, only one word came to mind: trouble—Trouble with a capital T. And probably in more ways than one. He’d thought it early this afternoon, he knew it for sure now.

Staring at her dead on, her glare matching his tit-for-tat, he also saw something else. Her blue eyes were cool and steady and although her breathing was labored, she was trying hard not to show any signs of weakness. Trying hard not to back down.

But the more he stared, he noticed the little things: the tiny beads of perspiration that had popped up in her pretty blond hairline and the nervous quiver of her lower lip. He had a feeling this was a strong woman, one who usually got her way. A woman who was definitely high-maintenance and probably had a good deal of money.

This was a woman of breeding. A woman who sported manicured fingernails, brand name tennis shoes and blue jeans, an expensive haircut, and jewelry.

Like he said. T-r-o-u-b-l-e.

But at this moment, she was a woman out of her element—and she knew it. She was uncomfortable and she wanted out. She was not the type of woman who belonged on a ranch. Well, he’d see she got her wish. He had a ranch and business to run. He took pride in the fact that his trail and pack business was not for the faint of heart. He offered some meat on his trips: rugged territory, primitive camping, and hard work. He had no time to coddle a city-slicker. No matter how attractive that city-slicker might be.