“I want you. That, Josey, is the truth.” He looked into her eyes, then he gently pushed her hand away and untied the robe sash. It fell open to expose bare flesh.
He slipped his hands around her slim, bare waist and felt desire spread through him, a fire rushing through his veins.
His gaze still locked with hers, he inched his hands up to cup her full breasts in each palm. She let out a sound and arched against him. He felt her nipples harden against his palms.
Slowly, his hands moved upward. He eased the robe off her slim shoulders. It dropped to the floor, and for a moment he was taken aback at how beautiful she was.
“I want to make love to you,” he whispered.
Josey let out a soft moan and he felt something give inside him. He’d never wanted anything the way he wanted this woman.
His palms skimmed over her small waist to her hips. Cupping her perfect derriere in both hands, he dragged her to him, no longer able to stand another moment without kissing her again.
Her lips parted as his mouth dropped to hers. He heard her moan again and felt her working at the snaps of his Western shirt, and then his chest was pressed against her warm, full breasts, her nipples hard as stones, and he was carrying her to the canopied bed.
JOSEY WRAPPED THE ROBE around her and stepped to the window, the white sheer curtains billowing in on the evening breeze. She breathed in the unfamiliar scents as if only just now aware of them. Everything felt new and fresh, the day brighter. She hugged herself, smiling as she closed her eyes and turned her face up to the warmth of the sunset, reveling in the memory of making love with Jack.
Jack still lay on the bed behind her. She could feel his gaze on her. It heated her skin more than even the evening warmth. She would never forget the feel of his hands, his mouth, his body. His gentleness. His passion. He’d consumed her, filled her, fulfilled her.
“Come back to bed,” he said softly. “We don’t have much time. If we don’t make an appearance at supper, I’m afraid there will be hell to pay.”
She smiled to herself and was about to turn back when a flash of light caught her eye. The sun glinted off the bumper of a vehicle coming down the road toward them.
Josey froze, her pulse thundering in her ears.
“What is it?” Jack asked, sensing the sudden change in her. He pulled on his jeans and joined her on the balcony.
Her heart began to pound louder as she saw that there was something on top of the SUV roaring up the road. A light bar. And on the side of the vehicle a Sheriff’s Department logo.
“It must be my cousin McCall Winchester,” he said, as a woman with long, dark hair climbed out of the patrol car. Even from this distance Josey could tell she was wearing a sheriff’s uniform.
“What do you think she wants?” Josey asked, fighting to keep the terror out of her voice. She’d thought she was safe here. That Jack was safe. She should never have involved him.
“My grandmother must have invited her for dinner,” he said, as he drew Josey inside the bedroom and shut the French doors. “What’s wrong?”
“Jack, I’m really not up to meeting her.” She felt the heat of his gaze. He’d known she was in trouble. Now he knew it was with the law. “I should have told you—”
He touched a finger to her lips. “I’ll take care of it.” Jack’s gaze locked with hers. “You’re trembling. You should get back in bed.”
“Jack—”
“It’s going to be all right.” He pulled her to him and kissed her. “You can meet my cousin some other time. Don’t worry, I’ll make apologies for you. I shouldn’t have taken you on such a long horseback ride yesterday. I’d hate to think you’re coming down with something.”
She closed her eyes and wished they could just stay in this room forever. Become recluses just as his grandmother had done for twenty-seven years. No one had known for sure whether she was alive or dead. Nor had they cared.
She opened her eyes and grabbed for him as he started for the door. “I can’t let you get in any deeper.”
He took her in his arms, planted a kiss in her hair, then pulled back and smiled. “I’ll be back as quick as I can. Lock the door behind me.”
JACK LEFT JOSEY and went downstairs. He had known Josey was in trouble, but he’d just assumed it involved a man—not the law. As he descended the stairs, he had flashes of their lovemaking. He knew it had probably been a mistake, but even given what he now knew about his “wife,” he couldn’t regret it.
Enid opened the front door and Jack slowed on the stairs. He’d heard about McCall when the news had come about Trace Winchester’s murder and the role Trace’s daughter, a sheriff’s deputy, had played in helping solve the crime—including almost getting herself killed.
So he’d been curious about his cousin the cop. He’d heard she’d been promoted to acting sheriff—their grandmother’s doing, he would bet. Pepper Winchester might have been a recluse for the past twenty-seven years but she was still a force to be reckoned with, especially considering all the land she owned and the Winchester fortune. Which was surprising, given all the stories he’d heard about where that fortune had come from and at what cost.
He thought of the stories his mother had told him, and now he wondered how many of them were true. He had to remind himself that his mother had believed everything Angus Winchester had told her, and look where that had gotten her.
Still, he’d believed at least one of those stories
