Hell, he needed Journey.
You pushed her away. Again.
Yea, sometimes he wasn’t too smart. He had good intentions. He couldn’t stand the thought of her falling for him and then being left alone. But…as Miss Emily Dickinson wrote in a poem Fancy read to them not long ago – the heart wants what the heart wants. He probably wasn’t quoting it perfectly, but he understood the meaning. Wanting Journey might not be the wisest thing in the world but that didn’t matter. His heart wanted her. Body and soul. The way she loved him was amazing. And he’d resisted her for as long as he could.
Behind him, the roar of an engine froze him in his tracks. Relieved, he whipped around to see her driving in. She was all right. Thank God. He took off at a trot to meet her. He’d only gone a few yards before he caught sight of another vehicle pulling in. Who was this? While he closed the distance between himself and Journey, he saw another man climb from his truck. This man hurried over to open Journey’s door. As he watched, Journey hugged this newcomer. A flood of jealousy hit Reno so hard he almost went to his knees. “Well, that’s what you get for dilly-dallying around.” He’d pushed her away and right into somebody else’s arms. “Over my dead body.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Reno covered the ground between the barn and Journey in as few strides as possible. “Journey!”
Hearing her name called, she smiled and touched Sam’s arm. “Hold up, Sam. There’s someone I want you to meet. Reno Black.”
Just about the time that Sam put out his hand in greeting, Reno swung and punched him in the jaw, knocking the big man flat on his ass.
“Reno! Stop!” Journey slapped out at him as she went to her knees. “Sam! Are you okay?”
Sam winced and rubbed his jaw. “Yea, I’ll live.”
Journey jumped up to get right in Reno’s face. “What are you doing, Reno? Are you crazy?”
“Yea, I guess I am.” Reno wheeled around and stalked toward the barn. He could hear Journey speaking as he stormed away.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over him.”
Sam chuckled as he got to his feet. “I think I do.”
“Well, I am just appalled.” Journey was so embarrassed. “Do you need to go to the doctor?”
“No. No. I’m fine. This was nothing.” Sam tried to reassure Journey. “I’ve been clocked before.” He pointed toward the barn. “You’d better go check on Reno. Talk to him. Tell him I’m just a friend.”
“I’ll talk to him all right.” She folded her arms over her chest and stood fuming as Sam backed out of the drive and left.
Once he was gone, she set a course for the barn, ready to give Reno a piece of her mind.
…Inside Traveler’s stall, Reno slammed his fist against the wall. He felt like shit. If Journey had a reason to be disappointed in him before, he’d just given her another one. Yea, he knew he’d just made matters worse. He’d made a fool of himself. Probably owed the damn man an apology. And Journey, he owed her one too. Lord, she’d been angry. He’d never thought to see her so mad. She’d probably never speak to him again.
“Reno! Where are you?”
Well, maybe he was wrong about the speaking part.
“I’m in here.” With the rest of the horse manure, he thought.
Journey stalked down the aisle between the stalls looking for him. “I can’t believe you hit him! What were you thinking? My car wouldn’t start, the battery was dead. He was good enough to help me, then follow me home to make sure I made it okay. Then – when he gets here, you go and attack him! What do you have to say for yourself?”
By the time she got through speaking, they were standing nose to nose. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes were bright, and that amazing chest of hers was rising and falling with every breath. She was all riled up and Reno thought she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. “I guess I lost my head.”
“That’s no excuse. You may be from the old wild west, but we’re civilized now!”
“I don’t feel civilized,” he growled. “You touched him!”
Journey was still too mad to think straight. “I gave him a simple thank you hug.”
“Well, I didn’t like it!”
Seeing his lip turn up in a snarl just set her off again. “Well, that’s too dang bad! I just hugged him, no big freaking deal.”
“It was a big freaking deal to me!” Whatever that meant.
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do about it!”
“This!” He put his hands on her upper arms to crowd close. “I’m going to do this.” The delicate sweet scent of her stole his good sense. He could feel the tips of her breasts burning his chest with every heaving breath she took.
As Journey stared into his black as sin eyes, her heart thudded madly. “I don’t see you doing anything.”
Reno licked his lips. All the anger flowed from him, leaving behind an incredible longing. He wanted her so badly he ached. “Give me time. I’m getting around to it.” She wore some type of a blouse with a square, lowcut neck. From this angle,
