Her features tightened as she studied him. “So the rumors really are true. The great rodeo legend who rode off chasing his dreams is back and working as a firefighter, no less. Who would have thought? If you turn your head, you’ll see my sister—she’s right over there.” Her eyes narrowed. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? But if you approach her, you do it at your own peril.”
Sally turned back to her horse.
A kick in the gut from a wild mustang couldn’t have been more debilitating than her warning. But he shouldn’t really be surprised when he knew the girls had been each other’s best friend all their lives.
Without saying another word, he looked around and saw Tamsin talking to one of the stockmen while she patted her horse’s neck. He walked closer to her, holding the helmet under his arm.
The unremarkable jeans and T-shirt she must have put on when the alarm sounded only emphasized the gorgeous mold of her body and long legs.
First light had already crept across the sky. That pink tone added a tint to her skin and highlighted the shape of the delectable mouth he’d dreamed of kissing and tasting every night.
Her hair hung to her shoulders. He picked out the streaks of gold among the light chestnut sheen no artificial color could improve upon. Once again her natural beauty took his breath.
Maybe she heard his quickly indrawn breath because her eyes suddenly swerved to his. Though she made no motion of any kind, he could sense the stiffening of her body.
“I’m sorry about the fire, Tamsin, but I’m happy to see all your horses are safe. If you need a place to stall them for a while, I have space in my barn and will transport them for you. I’ve already informed the captain. All you have to do is say the word and I’ll be back to load them within the hour.”
“Thank you,” she said through wooden lips. “We’ve already had three offers and my brother-in-law is taking care of the arrangements as we speak.”
“Tamsin—” He said her name again, but by now another man with brown hair wearing chinos and a polo shirt had come running into the corral and threw possessive arms around her as if she belonged to him. Cole watched her melt against his body. She’d obviously done it before and buried her face against his shoulder.
If this was the kind of peril Sally had been talking about, then Cole got the point. It was more like he’d been run through by Tamsin’s twelve-foot lance on the field of battle. He turned away and walked back to the burned barn where Wyatt was waiting for him.
The ladder truck had already started back to town. Cole climbed in the tender truck and they took off. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
Wyatt flashed him a side glance. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. Ask me in the morning.”
“It already is morning.”
So it was.
“Do you want to stop for coffee and doughnuts at Hilda’s?”
No, but he knew Wyatt wanted to. “Sure. I could use both. Does this mean you don’t have a wife at home who will fix your breakfast when you get there?”
“What woman would that be?”
Cole actually chuckled. “Amen to that. You’ve just described my life, Wyatt. A half hour ago I was warned that if I approached the woman I was looking for, I had to do it at my own peril. That turned out to be true, unfortunately.”
“You’re talking about Tamsin. I remember back in high school when you two were so close during our senior year, I couldn’t imagine that changing.”
“At the time, I couldn’t, either. Now we live in separate universes.”
“So that’s why you came back to the truck looking like one of the walking dead.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey—have you taken a good look at me? We could be brothers. Welcome to the club. We’re great at wrangling steers, herding sheep or fighting fires. Give us any task, but get us around a woman and we just don’t know how to do it right.”
“You said a mouthful.”
“I don’t mean you, specifically, Cole. I’ve been a mess for a long time and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. There are more guys like us in the department. Take Porter Ewing, who’s a recent transfer with the forest service from New York. He swings in when needed. The dude’s convinced there’s no woman alive who would want him.”
Cole laughed out loud despite the pain of seeing Tamsin in that other guy’s arms. He’d always liked Wyatt. His sense of humor was a welcome balm to the horrific experience he’d just lived through. Only one thing saved him from oblivion. She wasn’t married yet.
Welcome home, Cole.
While some of the hands stayed with the horses in the paddock, Dean walked Tamsin back to the house with his arm around her shoulders. “Thank God none of you were hurt. When Lyle phoned me, I was terrified that the ranch house might have caught fire, too.”
“But it didn’t, and I’m fine.” She appreciated his trying to comfort her over the loss of the barn. Naturally she was thankful they’d gotten the horses out in time. But he had no clue what a traumatic night this had turned out to be when she saw all six foot two of Cole Hawkins walk toward her.
He was a firefighter? She was incredulous.
Was he out of his mind after the horrific fire in the Winds nine years ago?
Her best friend Mandy had lost her father in that fire. Tamsin had loved her dad. She and Cole had gone to his funeral. Everyone was grief-stricken over the loss. Eleven other firefighters from their county alone had been trapped and killed in the blaze that had brought other firefighters from around the country to fight it.
Maybe she’d been hallucinating.
But no... When she’d opened her eyes again, there he’d been. In cowboy hat and boots or firefighter gear, no man could touch his dark blond masculine beauty. He was an outstanding athlete with a rock-hard body that made him a breed apart. Over the years that he’d been gone and all the dates with other guys, his image had always gotten in the way. Damn, damn him.
For him to have stood there now with a quiet authority while he offered his barn for their horses—the first words she’d heard him speak in years, as if there’d been no separation or pain—she’d surprised herself that she could respond to him at all. When Dean came running up to her, she’d clung to him because she’d thought she was going to faint. Thank Heaven he’d attributed her state of mind to the fire while she watched Cole walk away on his powerful legs.
Of course it had been frightening to see flames shooting up from the barn, but they’d soon gotten the horses out and the firefighters had come. The shudders she was experiencing now had their roots in coming face-to-face with Cole, knowing he made his living by walking into danger.
The
