in the morning. And I’m not going to get the sheriff involved over something as trivial as Greeley jerking me around.”
“What about this guy getting the crap kicked out of him?”
Maggie dropped her hands to her sides, the cowboy’s Stetson banging against her leg. “He was adamant. He doesn’t want help from the sheriff or anyone else.”
Willie grunted. “You check the trailer. I’ll move him to the far side of the truck.”
Maggie protested, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand. “I ain’t gonna let you drive him to the ranch alone. And it’s no good if he wakes up and finds a stranger behind the wheel. So it’s the three of us.”
“Fine,” Maggie handed over the cowboy’s keys. “My truck can sit here overnight. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”
She checked the trailer then climbed into the cab. The cowboy leaned against the door, his face toward the glass. Willie joined them, forcing her to scoot into the middle, pressing her body into the unconscious man from shoulder to knee. His heat radiated through her dress to dance along her skin. The warm night air jumped up another degree as she watched his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.
“Margaret Anne, I hope you know what you’re doing,” she muttered, dropping his hat into his lap.
Willie pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home as fireworks lit the night sky. A half hour later, they turned off to the ranch. Despite his breathing, the cowboy hadn’t uttered a sound. If he didn’t wake soon, she’d place a call to Doc Cody.
The headlights gleamed over the bunkhouse and barn as they pulled into the drive, and Willie jolted the truck to a stop. “Sorry ’bout that, the brakes on this thing seem to be as old as me.” He opened the driver’s door and stepped out. “You stay here with sleeping beauty. I’ll get the barn doors.”
A gentle rocking caused Landon’s head to loll back and forth. He became aware of soft, feminine curves pressed against him and realized for the first time, in a long time, he wasn’t alone.
This was a dream. It had to be.
Unlike the nightmares of the past, he welcomed the heat against his body. Desire to nestle closer stirred deep. He was desperate for her scent, her touch. Desperate to believe this was real. He wanted her next to him, on top of him.
Then the warmth and curves moved away and a hard bounce caused his head to snap backwards. A ricochet of piercing light sparked inside his brain near one eye, and then spread to fill his entire body. He tried to move away from the pain, but his legs protested.
Was he sitting up?
He shifted again and pain exploded in his chest. A groan threatened to erupt, consuming every inch of air in his lungs as he forced himself to focus.
Did he hear voices? The sound of a truck door closing? His truck?
The familiar stale odors from the trailer filled his nose and he tried to slow the merry-go-round spinning inside his head.
Think, dammit! What’s the last thing you remember?
The sweet scent of fresh linen. No, that didn’t make sense. He hadn’t slept in a real bed in over a week. But the fragrance managed to make its way through the smells of his truck.
He curled one hand into a fist, crushing cool cotton against his palm. The same whiff of clean sheets, fresh from drying in the hot sun and a cool breeze, washed over his face as the gentle touch of a woman’s hand covered his.
Her curves were back, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel her against him. This time his body obeyed his silent command, and his hand found a delicate shoulder.
He pulled her toward him, need rushing through him as he breathed in her cry of surprise. He drew her closer, swiping his tongue over his dry lips before he covered her mouth. Breath rushed inward between supple lips, and his tongue followed.
He didn’t care if he was hallucinating. It was too perfect to stop—and he concentrated on his first kiss in four long years.
A minty flavor greeted him as he explored her mouth. He traced the edge of her teeth with his tongue then slipped out past her lips to dart at the corners of her mouth, sweet like a summertime rain. His hand stole across her upper back, sliding across cool, soft fabric until silky hair tangled with his fingers. He angled her across his chest. Her lips moved against his, and a small stab of pain made him groan. She retreated and this time he let her go.
Consciousness pulled at him, and Landon forced his eyes to open.
One obeyed, the other managed only a slit. His hair fell forward, partially blocking his view of feminine fingers lying over his fist. Clutched inside was a lacy handkerchief. Looking up, he focused on the outline of a woman. For a long moment, a pair of wet lips held his attention. Those lips trembled then the tip of her tongue stole out across her bottom lip.
“Oh…are you okay?”
Despite the shakiness of her words, Landon recognized the voice. Soft, sexy and sweet. The same voice that had sucker-punched him the first time she’d offered a breathless token of gratitude. The lady at the fairgrounds. The same lady who’d interrupted him getting his ass kicked and then refused to go away.
Was it a dream? Had he really kissed her?
Landon ignored her question and the pain shooting through his body. “What are—where am I?” He straightened, tunneling his fingers through his hair.
They sat in his parked, idling truck. He peered into the darkness. Thanks to the glow of a porch light, he could make out the outline of a house.
“My place.”
He swung around to face her, and the throbbing intensified. Landon cradled his forehead in his hand. “What the hell am I doing here?”
“You needed a place to sleep.”
“Lady, are you crazy? You don’t know me.”
She withdrew to the steering wheel, her face now hidden in the shadows. “Was I supposed to leave you in the parking lot for the sheriff? I guarantee I can provide a more comfortable bed than the local jail.”
The image of a barren room with bars flashed before his eyes. It was quickly pushed aside by another image, springing fully formed in his head before he could stop it.
The two of them, in a bed this time, tangled in crisp, clean sheets. Him flat on his back, her hands spread across his shoulders as he cradled her hips. She leaned forward and her curtain of blond hair hid them from the outside—
Landon squeezed his eyes closed to erase the fantasy. Another sharp ache pounded in his head—as demanding as the one pressed against his fly.
“I know I keep asking, but are you—”
“I’m fine.” It was a lie, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her what was in his mind.
The truck started to move. Landon opened his eyes, and watched her back toward a large barn that loomed out of the darkness.
She slowed
