before his buddy decides to make a U-turn.” She pulled herself upright using his arm, then smiled at him. “Yeah, walking’s okay as long as you steady me. That’ll work.”
Her smile flipped a switch that he thought someone had cut the electricity to a while back. Since their night under the stars, he was always crazy with desire for her. It didn’t matter that they hadn’t seen each other for a couple of weeks. He couldn’t let her see him smile, though. He was still angry. He put his arm around her waist and started down the path to his horse.
“I realize we don’t know each other that well, but are you mad at me for getting shot?”
“Hell no. Our only lead is dead.” He honestly tried not to sound mad, but he didn’t succeed. “Hard not to be disappointed. It’s my own dang fault for letting you talk me into bringing you out here.”
“Should I have let him kill you?” She pulled away and continued walking.
He admired her strength and independence, but she didn’t belong here. Not in the raw mountains of West Texas. She didn’t even have a pair of jeans with her. She spun to face him, continuing to walk backward in her black slacks.
“Beth, get serious. It’s dangerous up here. Look where you’re going.”
“Well, you let me tell you something, Mr. Nick ungrateful Burke,” she slurred like she was drunk, waving a finger at him. She stopped a second before he would have lunged to keep her from tumbling to the uneven ground. She swayed and he was there to catch her. “Get away. I don’t need your help.”
“Sure, you don’t.” He bent, knowing that scooping her into his arms and carrying her to his horse was going to kill his recovering back. “Why do you think I’m ungrateful?”
“For one, you didn’t say thank you when I saved your life.”
“And the second?” he asked trying not to act too concerned at her swaying.
She took a deep breath and raised her finger just as her eyes rolled back in their sockets. She passed out on a long sigh and he was there, catching her before she crashed to the rocky path.
He smiled into her peaceful and gorgeous face. She couldn’t hear him and it might have been the only reason he said it, but he whispered the word, “Thanks,” and brushed his lips against hers.
After her inexperience almost got them killed twice, she was certain to be sent back to Chicago and out of his life. He didn’t have time for distractions. He had to find the men responsible for ordering his execution.
Nick Burke snapped awake and heard the echo of his labored panting in his ears. The faceless man shooting him in his nightmare faded, allowing him to suck some air into his lungs. A bright beam of sun snaked through his curtains and caught him in the eye.
“What the—?” His alarm was gone. But he’d set it the night before. Mom. He shoved back the hair stuck to his sweaty face and scratched his damp scalp. The sheets were drenched again. “Damn nightmares.”
He rubbed the numb skin covering the scars on his chest. No feeling in the daylight. Unlike at night when the dreams prodded and twisted a knife in the wound.
The more he tried to forget the shooting last year, the more he was surrounded by triggers. Literally. Stupid to believe he could face that demon and survive without some type of consequence. Cord had volunteered him to guide a drug task force through the mountains on his land and he’d met Beth. Then the shootout two weeks ago had almost gotten him shot a second time. He could still hear the bullet buzzing by his ear like a jet-propelled mosquito.
As a result, the nightmares had intensified.
He wouldn’t be that stupid again. Let the task force get some other dumb rancher to help. He needed to work his cattle and prepare for winter. He’d done his part and wasted enough time chasing an enemy that would never be gone. It was a fact of life he had to get past.
Living this close to the Mexican border, it didn’t matter if it was the nineteenth or twenty-first century. Cattle rustlers or gunrunners. There would always be some sort of threat out of the control of the ranch owners.
Doing everything possible to make the Rocking B successful should be his number one priority. He didn’t have the time to be distracted by the task force or nightmares...or a beautiful pair of legs.
Almost a year since he’d been shot and there were only two instances when his dreams hadn’t attacked him. A night of sedated dreams in the hospital while recovering, and one night in the arms of a raven-haired seductress.
The first thought of Beth started his blood pumping faster. The second thought cooled his heels in a blink. Having law enforcement constantly searching his property was bad enough. Undercover DEA was worse. Getting involved with her was out of the question. Her skill set would never be adequate for the Davis Mountains.
Sure, she could handle a gun. She’d proved that by dropping the drug dealer jamming a .45 to his head. But she was afraid of horses, for crying out loud. He was a rancher. He rode horses. Needed horses. Couldn’t live without horses.
But he could definitely live without Beth setting foot on his ranch again.
A timid knock on the door had him jumping into the mud-caked jeans he’d dropped on the floor next to the bed.
“Nick? You awake?” His mother’s voice was so soft it wouldn’t have been heard if he hadn’t been awake.
He found his digital clock across the room. Nine in the morning? “Mom, did you move the alarm again?”
“Oh, good, dear, you’re awake. Are you dressed?”
He hauled a T-shirt over his head just before she pushed the door open a crack. “Go ahead and come in and confirm my total lack of privacy as a thirty-year-old man. I’ve told you before that you’ve got to stop turning off the alarm.”
His mom stood with one fist on a hip and one finger pointed in the air to halt his speech. Easier just to let her have her say. “Dear, there’s someone here to see you, and I didn’t want you riding off to rope a cow or check a fence.”
Almost twenty-five years on the ranch and his mother still had no desire to learn what really went on here. He’d laugh, but he’d learned the hard truth of ranch work only after his foreman had shot him in the back.
“You know I’m not seeing people.”
“Yes, sweetheart. I’ve tried a couple of times to warn you about this appointment. I even left a message on your phone.”
“Appointment?”
“That’s right. I tried to ask you, but since you ignored me, I’ve taken matters into my own hands. You’ll either march into the living room or pack your bags.” She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“No way. You probably have a shrink in there.”
“So, you’re leaving, then. Such a shame. Your father and I will miss you every day, but we’ll deal with it.” Her hands
