frowned, pulling one foot up onto the opposite knee and leaning over to examine it. “I can do it myself.”
Logan ran his hands through his hair. This woman was going to be a whole lot of trouble. “Is there a reason you can’t accept my help?”
Maybe he was imagining things, but he could swear a pink tinge crept into those pale cheeks.
“You don’t have to keep rescuing me.” She stared at her foot. “I can pull my own weight.”
“Ah.” He waited until she looked up again. “You’re afraid I’ll think less of you.”
She didn’t say anything, but her cheeks turned a shade darker and she averted her eyes. She seemed so down-to-earth, so natural, sitting there with no makeup and her hair loosely pulled back. Unaware of how pretty she was.
“Ashley, I don’t know why you’re here, or how qualified or experienced you are, but I do know this—accepting help in a place like this is not a sign of weakness. The rangers here work as a team and we support each other. You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together, so you’d better get used to the idea.”
She picked at her foot in silence for another minute before giving him a hesitant smile. “All right. I guess a pair of tweezers would help.”
By the time she had retreated to her bedroom and Logan lay on the couch staring up at the dark ceiling, he could scarcely believe two hours had flown past. No more signs of the intruder, but he wasn’t about to leave her alone.
Some mystery surrounded Ashley, lurking beneath the surface. Her file hadn’t revealed anything insightful. But why would they assign her to Big Bend with no apparent experience in a similar environment? No ranger experience at all, in fact. Something wasn’t adding up.
She had agreed to go with him to Santa Elena Canyon the next day, both to pick up her car and to see if anything jogged her memory. Until then, he had to find some way to fall asleep without thinking about the way Ashley had felt in his arms as he’d carried her back to the house. Even Erin, for all her inexperience as a new ranger, hadn’t stirred such a strong protective instinct.
Maybe it was because five years had passed since Erin had left and Logan had changed during that time. He’d grown wiser. He’d seen more rangers come and go. He’d seen more loss and death.
Sam. That was who Ashley reminded him of. She didn’t have quite the same youthful optimism and enthusiasm, but he could imagine she used to be that way. She certainly had the same energy, the same air of competence. Even some of their facial expressions were similar.
He rolled over on the couch for the twentieth time, wishing the government could afford better furniture. It made sense that Ashley would bring back all his memories of Sam—she was the first new law-enforcement ranger since his death.
But the thought of Ashley ending up with the same fate... He shuddered. He wouldn’t let that happen, no matter how much she objected to his help.
It took another hour of prayer before he finally fell asleep.
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