Babes In Arms. Sara Orwig

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up the chili and a sack of groceries and followed Colin inside a kitchen that was much newer than his parents’ kitchen. Buster ran past them and stood near an empty dog dish. Lobo came inside to sit and watch Colin. The cozy kitchen held a huge fireplace built with large slabs of sandstone. Knotty-pine cabinets lined the walls. The kitchen formed an L-shaped room with the living area, which had bookcases, a pair of navy wing chairs, a maroon-and-navy sofa and another huge stone fireplace. The living area was paneled in pine, with louvered shutters at the windows. Beneath beamed ceilings, the room held the same cozy, rustic, masculine look as the kitchen.

      “Make yourself at home,” Colin said, setting groceries on a long oak table. “There’s only one bedroom,” he added with a shrug, “but that sofa makes into a bed.”

      Colin hung his coat on a peg by the door, motioning to her to do the same. “As soon as I light a fire in here and put away the groceries, I’ll give you a tour so you’ll know where everything is,” he said.

      When she removed her coat, Katherine felt stiff and cold and wary. She watched while Colin Whitefeather put away his groceries, seeming to ignore her as if he had forgotten her presence, and she found his lack of attention to her reassuring, yet she was afraid to let down her guard.

      He picked up a phone and after a few moments she gathered he must be talking to his ranch foreman. She hadn’t given much thought to other men on the place.

      “Bud,” Colin said, “tell the others that I locked the gate and I’ll turn on the alarm tonight. I brought a guest home with me, and some guys are after her. They look dangerous,” he said, finally turning to give her a level look.

      It sounded worse to hear him talk about the men after her.

      “If any of you see strangers, be careful and get word to me at once. They’re armed, so the men better be prepared. Any shooting starts, call 911 as quickly as you can.”

      She rubbed her arms, wondering how many men she had placed in danger by coming home with him.

      “Sure, I will. No one can get through in this. I let the dogs out. Good. Thanks. See you in the morning.” He replaced the receiver.

      “I’ve brought danger to you and to others,” she said quietly.

      “I want them to be aware of the danger, but they can take good care of themselves and those goons aren’t after any cowboys. Don’t worry about it.”

      As if he had dismissed the whole thing from his mind, he squatted in front of the fireplace to stack logs for a fire. She watched him work and knew she should relax. The man was ignoring her most of the time, but she couldn’t let down her guard.

      “C’mon.” he said when a fire blazed. “Tour time.” He left the kitchen and she followed, keeping her purse at her side, feeling wary of him even though he sounded pleasant.

      He led her down a wide hall and he motioned at an open door. “Here’s the one bathroom,” he said. “Towels are in the cabinet.”

      She glanced inside, aware she had to move within inches of him. She peeked into a room done in maroon-and-navy decor with an old-fashioned footed tub and an open door to her left that probably led to his bedroom.

      She was aware of standing too close to Colin Whitefeather. He was a tall man, tall enough to make her look up when she gazed into his eyes, something that she rarely. had to do with any man. Even Sloan was only inches taller than she.

      Colin’s size added to her nervousness because she felt vulnerable. He was broad shouldered, long armed and powerful. She glanced at the bathroom and moved away quickly.

      Colin led the way through the open door at the end of the hall. “Here’s my room, and I wasn’t expecting company.”

      When she stepped inside, her attention was caught by the panoramic view through large windows and glass doors that opened onto a deck. Snow fell in big, tumbling flakes and the countryside looked like a Christmas-card scene. She glanced around the room at the king-sized bed with rumpled covers, jeans tossed on a chair, a shirt draped on a television set. Fishing poles were in a corner and boots kicked off on the floor in the middle of the room.

      The bedroom had the same pine paneling and the same navy-and-maroon decor as the rest of the house. A potted plant in the corner had one of his ties draped over it.

      “I’m not compulsively neat,” he said, flashing a grin. Katherine’s heart missed a beat because the smile gave him a come-hither appeal. Creases lined his tanned cheeks and his teeth were white against his dark skin, the grin softening the harshness of his features. And she was surprised at herself and her reaction to his smile. Until this moment, she would have bet all the money in her purse that she would not find any male appealing for a long time.

      “I’m glad to be in out of the storm. I don’t mind the clutter,” she replied, turning away from him.

      “This is it, my small castle. Let’s get Mom’s chili on the stove. Do you eat chili?” Colin asked, aware she was still clutching her purse tightly, pressing it against her side beneath her arm. He remembered a skittish colt that he had purchased. The animal was terrified of anyone coming within yards of him and Colin suspected the former owner had beaten the animal badly. It had taken a long time to calm the colt and to finally turn him into a riding horse.

      “Yes. It smelled wonderful at your mother’s.”

      In minutes they had both washed up and Katherine moved around the kitchen, tearing greens into a bowl for salad while Colin reheated Nadine’s chili. Katherine worked silently, and Colin noticed she was never too far from her purse. Once when her back was turned, he picked it up, feeling the heft of it and deciding she was packing a pistol.

      Colin’s gaze shifted back to Katherine, and he wondered about the hair pulled up and pinned close to her head, wisps escaping the pins to wave slightly over her ears and her slender neck. Diamond stud earrings were in her ears, but she wore no other jewelry. Since they arrived at his house she seemed tense, and he suspected if he made a sudden noise, she would jump a foot into the air.

      They sat down to eat over steaming bowls of chili, hot corn tortillas and bowls of green salad. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

      He wondered again if she was a showgirl, yet she was a long way from Vegas or Reno. Someone with money was involved, for three men to be after her.

      Colin glanced at the darkened windows, feeling safe with the storm raging outside. Where were the men now who were after her today? In a Stillwater motel? In this storm they couldn’t scour the countryside, so they had to be holed up somewhere.

      Colin stretched out his arm and picked up the television remote control. “We might as well have the television on in the background.”

      “Do you mind if we don’t?” she asked hastily, her eyes wide and fear plain in their green depths. His gaze locked with hers while the air seemed to crackle with tension between them. A log fell in the fire, yet all of Colin’s attention focused on the woman facing him. Her lashes fluttered and she turned away abruptly.

      Studying her, he placed the remote control on the table with deliberation. “You don’t want to go to the cops. You don’t want the television on. Maybe it’s time you tell me a little about the trouble you’re in.”

      Three

      Katherine’s

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