“Fine,” he lied. “How about you?”
“Fine.”
He could see that she was as confused as he was. “We’re going to get through this,” he said, hoping what he was saying was true.
“I hope so,” she said as if she knew he didn’t just mean tonight.
He was so close, he could see the pain in her face even in the darkness. He knew what it felt like to have a failed relationship. His hadn’t even involved getting to the altar. His relationship hadn’t lasted that long. But he recalled the pain quite easily. He knew that Jinx wasn’t ready for another man any more than he was ready for another woman.
He breathed in the cold mountain air, feeling tired from a long day in the saddle and working hard to get the traps set. It wouldn’t be long now. He should get back to his spot.
Yet, he didn’t want to leave her. A premonition? He was worried about her and would be until she was free of T.D. In the meantime, he knew she would stay in his thoughts. What was it about her? Those few seconds when she let down her guard and let him see how vulnerable she was? At those moments it took all his strength and good sense not to step to her and take her in his arms, everyone be damned if they didn’t like it.
“I should go,” he said. Her ex was going to show up at any time. Crazy bitter and probably drunk, nothing good was going to come out of it when T.D. did strike again.
Every time a lock of her coppery hair came loose from her braid and fell over those big brown eyes, he wanted to push it aside. But he knew if he touched her, he’d kiss that mouth again with its bow-shaped full lips.
He realized the trail his thoughts had taken and reined them in with a groan. His brother was right. Something about this woman had him twisted into a knot. His gaze followed her whenever she was around. He couldn’t quit thinking about her.
Worse, if he was being honest with himself, he’d been smitten with Jinx from the moment he’d laid eyes on her when they were nothing but kids. It had only gotten worse when he’d seen her again. He recalled the way she’d come out of her house that night at the ranch, shotgun in hand, facing down her ex with courage and determination. She’d shown a strength that had chipped away a corner of his ice-encased heart.
Since being on the cattle drive, he’d felt his heart melting at just the sight of her. She refused to show weakness even when he knew she had to be as exhausted as he was at the end of the day. More and more he felt drawn to her in a way that made him both scared and exhilarated.
He felt like one of the bears that had come out of a long hibernation. He was hungry again in a way he’d never experienced before. Bad timing be damned. He wanted this woman.
JINX SHIVERED IN the darkness. She was so close to Angus that she could look into his blue eyes. This was it, she thought. They could all die tonight. She yearned for Angus to take her in his arms.
He brushed a lock of her hair back from her face. She felt her eyes widen, but she didn’t move. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m counting your freckles. I’ve wanted to since I first laid eyes on you,” he whispered, so close now that she could hardly breathe.
She smiled to hide how nervous it made her. “I take it you have a lot of time to kill?”
He met her gaze and smiled. “Not as much as I’d like right now,” he whispered. “You don’t have any idea how beautiful you are.”
She chuckled self-consciously and dropped her gaze. “Angus—”
With his warm fingers, he lifted her chin until their eyes locked. “You’re beautiful, Jinx, and I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you this whole time.”
Her pulse jumped as he bent to brush his lips over hers. The heat of her desire rushed through her veins, hot as liquid lava. She’d never felt this kind of need before, knowing only one man could satisfy it.
Angus pulled back to look into her eyes for a moment before he dropped his mouth to hers again. She surrendered to his kiss as he parted her lips and delved deeper. His arms came around her, pulling her against him until she could feel the beat of his heart in sync with her own.
She opened to him, no longer fighting her feelings. Desire flared, his kisses fanning the flames. She lost herself in his kisses, in the strength of his arms drawing her to him, in the low moan she heard escape his lips as she pulled back.
“Jinx,” he whispered her name on a ragged breath. “Jinx.” Angus said it low, soft, a caress that sent a pleasurable shiver across her skin. Then his fingers touched her face, drawing her closer until she was looking into his eyes, losing herself in them.
His mouth was dropping to hers again. Her lips parted, as if there had been no doubts between them. One arm looped around her waist, pulling her into his solid body. She felt his need as much as her own. Like her, she knew that he feared tonight might be their last.
She surrendered to him, needing this man’s strength as well as his gentleness. What surprised her was the fire he set ablaze inside her. T.D. had never ignited such passion. He’d been rough and demanding, believing that was what every woman wanted.
Angus seemed to know what she needed, what she desperately desired, as if he knew instinctively that she hadn’t been truly satisfied. Because of that, she felt vulnerable and exposed. Had it been any
