smiled at her and was caught again as an electrical current stirred every nerve in his body, a reaction he didn’t want in the first place and sure as hell didn’t want now that he knew who she was. “It’s hard to equate you with Boone’s kid sister,” he said in a husky voice.
“I grew up,” she said, her voice breathless, making his pulse skip. Their gazes were still locked and they had stopped walking and were simply standing, staring at each other.
“If you’d given me the rest of the year, I never would’ve guessed who you are.”
“I haven’t changed that much,” she answered, looking up at him with crystal-blue eyes that mesmerized and held him.
“Yes, you have.” He sighed. “I know I have, too. At least they fixed me up where I don’t scare little kids.”
“No, you’d never scare children.”
Silence ensued, a taut stretch in which his heart hammered and he felt himself come alive in ways he’d thought were impossible. “We were headed somewhere,” he reminded her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned, but not before he saw her cheeks flush. “The kitchen. It’s at the end of the hall here on the main floor.”
“Do you live with Boone instead of in Kansas?” he asked.
“The family home is gone. Mom died four years ago, and we’re all scattered now. I’ve lived in California, but Boone talked me into moving back here. I’m living in his guest house on his ranch while my house is built in Stallion Pass.”
“I heard the guys all inherited from that fella we rescued—Frates.”
“That’s right. You would have been in the inheritance, but they thought you were dead.”
“I was.”
When she looked at him sharply, he shrugged. “I might as well have been dead. For a long time I was near death. I had surgery after surgery, but they finally patched me up. It’s a long story.”
“Go ahead and tell me,” she said. “I’m interested and I know Boone will be.”
Colin couldn’t resist and caught her braid in his hand. “Isabella. I just can’t believe it’s you. Are you married?”
“No. There’s no man in my life. And you’re changing the subject.”
His gaze drifted over her features. “Must be your choice, then.”
“You were telling me about what happened to you. You said you had operations.”
“Yeah,” he said as they entered the kitchen. He paused, taking in the oak cabinets, earth-colored ceramic flooring, burnt-orange-tiled countertops and copper pans hanging from a pot rack above a tiled island.
“Sit down. I’ll get you something. What would you like to drink? Mike has everything—beer, milk, tea, coffee, soda.”
“I’ll get a beer and if you have sandwich fixings, that’ll do.”
“You can have a sandwich or what I had tonight—prime rib, baked potato—which will take no time in the microwave oven.”
“You twisted my arm,” he said, his mouth watering over the thought of prime rib. “I’ve been on the run and haven’t been visiting four-star restaurants. I haven’t eaten anything since about five this morning.” As he started toward the refrigerator, she walked toward the pantry and they brushed against each other.
Colin reached out to steady her and this time the tension that streaked between them sizzled. Inhaling, he turned away, clamping his jaw tightly closed as he yanked open the refrigerator door, took out a cold beer and uncapped it.
“You won’t join me?” he asked, pulling out a chair at the long, oak table. Watching Isabella bustle around the kitchen, he looked at her long, bare legs again, still surprised at the changes in her. Izzie.
“No, as I said, I ate earlier,” she said. “But I’ll have a glass of iced tea with you.”
She opened a cabinet and stood on tiptoe to try to reach a glass pitcher on a high shelf. When she did, her T-shirt pulled tightly across her full breasts and Colin inhaled, his temperature rising another notch. He stood and crossed the room, reaching up to get the pitcher and hand it to her, his fingers brushing hers when he did so.
Again something flickered in the depths of her eyes. He knew she felt that sparkling electricity, too.
He clenched his teeth and turned away. He didn’t want to feel sparks if she were a total stranger much less someone he had known for years. Years and another lifetime ago.
He sat and ran his fingers along the cold beer bottle, then raised it to hold against his hot temple. He tried to keep his gaze anywhere except on her.
Giving him a speculative look, she said, “I don’t suppose you’re checked into the Stallion Pass Grand.”
He shook his head. “I’ll get out of here. Stop worrying.”
“Where will you go?”
He thought about what he would do next. “I wanted to see your brother and Jonah while I’m here, but I want to see Mike first. I don’t have to, I just wanted to. We go back a long way.”
“You can stay here,” she said.
“After what I put you through, I figured you’d want me gone.”
“I know Mike and Jonah. You four guys were really close. They’d want you to stay,” she said, getting ice and pouring tea for herself. Having washed a potato and put it in the microwave oven for him, she put a thick piece of prime meat in the oven. “I don’t mind you being here.”
“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that offer. It’ll be paradise after where I’ve been.”
In minutes she had the prime rib, a steaming potato with butter and grated cheese ready for him, along with generous slices of French bread. She sat across from him.
“You said you were concerned about being followed. How likely is it that you were?”
“Not likely,” he answered. Then dug into his dinner with relish.
“I’ve got someone after me who wants me dead,” Colin explained, picking his words carefully. “If he had been following me that closely, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. He wouldn’t have waited until I got here. I’ve been damn careful—which you may not believe since you almost pulverized me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I said before, I know that you could have stopped me. You just didn’t want to hit a woman. It sounds like you’re involved in some serious stuff, right up to your chin. Are you bringing trouble to my brother and Mike and Jonah?” she asked bluntly.
“That’s the last thing I want to do, which is why I went to so much trouble to keep my tracks covered and to slip into this house and contact Mike at night when no one else would see me. I don’t want to increase the danger to any of them.”
“’Increase
