“Oh, I can imagine what my mother said.”
“Actually, both mothers had trouble hiding smiles, once they realized that no one was hurt badly. Your mother told you that you couldn’t go around pushing boys just because of something they said or you’d spend the rest of your life fighting them.”
“You’d think I’d have learned that lesson.”
He grinned. “When your mother said that, you replied, ‘Well, if the boys are smart, they won’t give me a hard time—especially standing in front of an open window two floors up.’”
She laughed with him. “Oh, that sounds so much like me. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said as he seemed to fondly touch the scar. “It was a good learning experience for me.” His blue eyes hardened. “And I never forgot that girl.”
“I suppose not.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Still, you came down to help me get my herd up to summer range.”
“Like I said, it’s what neighbors do,” he said and grinned again. “Also, I was curious to see the woman that girl had grown into.”
She couldn’t help the heat that rushed to her cheeks wanting to blame it on the sun beating down on them. “Now you know.”
He smiled. “Yes. I wasn’t disappointed.” He leaned toward her and she knew even before his lips brushed hers, that he was going to kiss her—and she was going to let him.
The kiss started out soft, sweet, delicate, but as her lips parted for him, he looped his hand behind her neck and pulled her down for a proper kiss. She felt the warmth of his bare chest against her still-damp Western shirt. A shiver moved through her as he deepened the kiss. She touched the hair curling at the nape of his neck, wanting to bury her fingers in his dark hair, wanting the kiss to never stop.
At the sound of Max ringing the chow bell, he let her go. She drew back, shaken by the kiss. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’m not going to apologize for kissing you. I’ve wanted to since the first time I laid eyes on you. Only back then, I was just a boy who thought the way to get a girl’s attention was to give her a hard time.”
“I’m still a married woman,” she said, hating that she sounded breathless. Had she ever been kissed like that? “And I’m your boss.”
He nodded. “If you’re saying that I have bad timing, I couldn’t agree more.” He grinned. “But I’m still not sorry.” With that, he touched her cheek, a light caress before he rose, retrieved his shirt from the tree, pulled on his boots and left, saying, “I’ll see you back in camp, boss.”
JINX WATCHED HIM GO. Her face still felt hot, her cheeks flushed, and her heart was still doing loop-de-loops in her chest. She touched her lips with her fingertips, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers, and couldn’t help but smile. Of course the kiss had been wrong. But she was glad that Angus hadn’t apologized for it.
As he disappeared into the pines, she couldn’t remember ever feeling this good. This free. And if she was being truthful, it hadn’t been the first time she’d thought about kissing Angus. He was handsome as the devil. Just the image of his broad chest as he’d come out of the stream, the water rippling over taut, tanned muscles... She shivered, realizing that she wanted more than just a kiss.
That, too, surprised her because for months she hadn’t given men, let alone sex, a thought. But that Angus had released this in her, didn’t surprise her. She liked him, trusted him, felt close to him. Now that she knew about their earlier connection, she thought with a laugh. But Angus was also the kind of man her father would have approved of. Too bad he hadn’t come along before T.D.
Shaking her head, she reminded herself of the mess her life was in right now. She was a woman who’d foolishly married a handsome, smooth-talking man. Now she was living a bad country song, she thought as she rose and pulled on her boots.
The best thing she could do, she told herself, was to keep her distance from Angus. The cattle would be settled into summer range by tomorrow. Once they reached the ranch, he would no longer be in her employ.
But didn’t that mean he would be headed home to Montana? He’d told her he was going back to help run Cardwell Ranch. It was just as well, she knew. She certainly wasn’t ready for even a man like Angus.
But she felt a shiver as she thought of the way he’d cupped the back of her neck, drawing her down as he deepened the kiss. She found herself smiling again.
She pulled her long hair up into a ponytail and tried not to think about Angus or the kiss or her uncertain future. He would return to Cardwell Ranch. She would sort out the mess she’d made of her life.
Her cheeks still felt hot, though, and she could still taste him on her lips. One look at her and would everyone know when she returned to camp? She realized that she didn’t care.
T.D. had failed in his attempt to get the mountain on fire and scatter her herd. She felt ready for whatever else he had up his sleeve, determined to get through this or die trying. Soon she would be free of him. Her step felt lighter as she followed the smell of freshly baked biscuits.
ANGUS HAD WALKED away from Jinx, telling himself to be careful. He thought about the last woman he’d let get this close and how that had turned out. Jinx...well, she was a whole different rodeo in so many ways, including, he reminded himself, that she was married with a crazy not-yet-ex-husband.
He finished buttoning up his
