Hearts Are Wild (14 page)

She hugged him tighter. “I love you, Josh Kelly. I thought I’d never have the chance to tell you that.”

When she spoke, Josh quickly looked at her then cupped her face in his hands, wincing as he did so.

She grabbed his wrists and gasped at the reddened flesh on the tips of his fingers. “Oh, no, your fingers.”

“I’ve had worse. They’ll heal.” He shrugged the pain away as his serious teal gaze searched her face. “We’ve got what matters the most. The rest we’ll figure out, okay?” When he finished speaking, he gave her a reassuring smile.

She knew he referred to his firefighting. She smiled back, nodding in agreement, then rubbed her nose against his chest, thankful to be in his arms once more.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Josh drove up in his truck as Sabrina walked out of the Tanners’ ranch house waving goodbye to Elise. After the police had taken her statement and arrested Jackson, Josh and Colt had gone on to the police station to talk to Renee while Elise brought her back to the Lonestar.

“I have a rental car I’ve yet to use, you know. I can drive myself back to the Double K,” she said with a smile as she stood on the passenger side of his truck, looking through the open window.

He grinned as he leaned over and opened the truck door for her from the inside. “I know, but I like having you with me. Get in, good lookin’.”

“How’d the talk with Renee go? Any news?” she asked as she climbed into his truck.

“As I mentioned earlier, the woman from the insurance agency was arrested, but the police have yet to locate May Winston.”

“Who
is
this May woman anyway? As whacked as he was, I understood Jackson’s motivation, but why did she get involved in this?” she asked.

“She’s a disgruntled ex-employee from the Lonestar rodeo who apparently had some major issues with Colt for firing her.”

“Ah, now I see,” she said as she smiled at him and flipped her shoulder-length hair. “Well, what do you think? Elise cried as she cut off the burned ends for me. Tomorrow she said she’ll take me to get it shaped up at a salon.”

His teal gaze turned serious as he reached over and threaded his fingers through the shorter strands, then he frowned. “Every time I think about how close I came to losing you…” He paused, his jaw ticcing before he continued in a controlled voice, “It’s a good thing Jackson’s in jail and out of my reach.”

Charmed by his protective tone and gentle touch, she reached up and grabbed his wrist. Lacing her fingers with his, careful to avoid his burns, she lowered their hands and kissed the back of his hand with a happy smile. “I’m fine. My very own hero was there to save me.”

“About that…” Josh put his other hand on the steering wheel and let his gaze scan the open prairie for a second.

When his gaze met hers once more, the heat and love behind it made her heart melt.

“I’ve decided to go to part-time firefighting status, Brina.”

Surprised by his announcement, she squeezed his hand but couldn’t help the guilt that washed over her at the feeling of elation that rushed through her. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do, Josh?”

He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. “There’s one thing I learned today is that when it comes to you, I’m not willing to take too many risks. Every time I fight a fire, I’ll still be fighting for Nick, but now I’m fighting for my own happiness. I’ve put it off for too long. Those empty stables you saw at my house? They will soon be full. My father’s jumping up and down with glee that I’ll be joining the family business of raising horses.”

Tears shone in her eyes. “What you’ve always wanted to do?” she repeated, needing to know his decision was his and his alone.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

Lowering their hands to the seat between them, he slid a huge sapphire flanked by two trillion cut diamonds on her finger. His teal gaze rose to meet hers. “I guessed at your size… Will you marry me, Brina? You don’t have to say yes right away,” he interrupted before she could speak, then finished, “Just say you’ll wear my ring and think about it.”

Sabrina’s heart thudded in her chest as he settled the ring at the base of her finger. She threw her arms around his neck, then kissed him saying, “There’s nothing to think about. I love you, Josh. It doesn’t matter to me if I’d known you for years or just met you two days ago, my answer would still be ‘yes, I’ll marry you’.”

Josh wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, his kiss full of passion and love as his lips covered hers. Trailing his lips down her neck, he said, “I’ll order any additional office equipment you need for your office. I promise you’ll have the space you need to get your work done from home.”

She sighed at his arousing touch. “I think my boss would go for a proposal for me to work out of my house if I promised to come back to Arizona a few times a year. Plus, it’d be a central place to meet up with Nic and Lily, too. It would probably take me a week or so to relocate my office.”

He pulled her tighter, growling against her neck, “Hell, for that matter, you don’t have to work at all.”

She laughed and rubbed the tension in his shoulders. “It’s only a week, Josh. I think we can handle being apart for a week or so.”

“Speak for yourself,” he grumbled as his lips made their way down the vee opening in her shirt.

Sabrina gasped as he cupped one of her breasts through her clothes. Regretfully, she pushed away from him, saying as she cast a sheepish glance up to the Tanners’ ranch house, “I think we’d better take this home.”

Josh gave her a devilish grin as he started the engine. “I couldn’t agree more. Home sounds pretty good to me.”

About the author:

Born and raised in the southeast, Patrice has been a fan of romance novels since she was thirteen years old. While she reads many types of books, romance novels will always be her mainstay, saying, “I guess it’s the idea of a happy ever after that draws me in.”

Patrice welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing at 1337 Commerce Drive, #13, Stow, Ohio 44224.

Also by Patrice Michelle:

A Taste for Passion

A Taste for Revenge

Bad in Boots: Harm’s Hunger

Bad in Boots: Colt’s Choice

Cajun Nights anthology

Dragon’s Heart

Ellora’s Cavemen: Tales from the Temple II anthology

Wild Hearts

Cheyenne McCray

Chapter One

“Damn it.” Nicole Landford propped her hands on her full hips and scowled. “You have some nerve up and dying on me out here in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

With all her pent-up frustration, Nicole kicked the tire of her red ‘63 Corvette with the toe of her four-inch heel and winced. She had only managed to hurt her big toe, not to mention scuffing the bluish-green shoe that matched her mini-dress and the unusual shade of her eyes.

The ‘vette ignored her tirade as steam continued to hiss from beneath the hood. An acrid burnt rubber stench rose up in the air, along with the smell of radiator fluid. Heat rolled over Nicole in waves, adding to the perspiration already beading on her face. Why couldn’t the damn thing have died in Douglas, or even Bisbee? At least then she’d have been near a phone. And of course, actually bringing her cell phone would have been a stroke of genius.

With an irritated sigh, Nicole shoved her long blonde hair out of her face with one hand and looked around at the endless miles of ranch land. If she had been on a highway, she could have stuck out one bare leg, hitched up the miniskirt of her backless fuck-me dress, and flagged down some gorgeous man. Oh, hell, any man would do, so long as she could get to Dee MacLeod’s house.

But here she was on a dirt road and she’d taken one hell of a wrong turn. That’s what she got for not paying attention. Instead of ending up at least on the road to the Flying M, the MacLeod Ranch, she was stuck out here with nothing around her but dirt, grass, barbed wire fences, and cattle. It was a hot, muggy, and overcast late August afternoon, and more sweat dripped down the side of her face. Thunderclouds were building up to the south and she could smell the promise of a monsoon storm that could come out of nowhere in a hurry.

That would be the icing on her cake.

Off in the distance Nicole could see Kev Grand’s ranch, but she was in no mood to mess with that cowboy, no matter how sexy the man was. She and Kev had been butting heads since elementary school, and all she needed was another confrontation with him. They never had seen eye to eye on anything, and the man always seemed amused by their arguing. No, she didn’t have time for him.

Especially not when she was a woman on a mission.

A few days ago, Nicole and her cousins Lily and Sabrina had made a pact. The first man who “tripped her trigger”, as Sabrina had said, was the man Nicole had to go all-out for, no matter what or who. Wild and crazy sex, and as much of it as possible. For one month and one month only.

They had made a bet and damned if Nicole was going to be the one to lose out on it. Out of all three cousins, Nicole was the one who had no reservations about enjoying sex with the men she chose to date. She was a free spirit—no emotional ties. All she ever looked for was a good time. Her cousins were more reserved—especially Lily, who probably hadn’t been laid for years.

Nicole intended to make good on the bet. Only problem was, she had yet to find a single man who even interested her enough to cause her nipples to rise, much less make her panties wet. It had been a few days since they’d made the pact after Aunt Viv’s fifty-fifth birthday celebration, and Nicole had no prospects that interested her on the horizon.

To try and stir up some action, before her damn car had died on her, Nicole had been on her way to the MacLeod Ranch where her friend Trace was visiting from Texas. Trace was happily married now to a sexy cowboy named Jess Lawless, but she was going to buddy up with Nicole, along with the sheriff’s wife, Catie Savage. The three planned to head over to Sierra Vista to one of the local hot spots so that Nicole could find a man who turned her on enough to pursue a romp in the hay with. There were plenty of hot Border Patrol and Customs agents in the area, as well as sexy military men from Ft. Huachuca, not to mention some damn fine ranchers. All Nicole had to do was find one who made her hot and go for it.

But first she had to get there.

“Okay, you piece of—of…” Nicole went around to the front of the car, tried to pop the hood, and snatched back her hand. The damn thing was boiling hot.

She gave another frustrated sigh, but this time in deference to her pride and joy. “I’m sorry, baby. I love you and I shouldn’t get so mad.” Hell, she and her cherry red ‘vette had been through a lot together, so what was a little breakdown now and again?

The low of a cow from the other side of the barbed wire fence drew Nicole’s attention and wrath instead. “Beat it, you slobber-mouthed beast.”

The white-faced Hereford just chewed her cud as she studied Nicole with her big brown eyes, and then turned away. The muggy Arizona summer afternoon intensified the smell of the cow and the dust her hooves kicked up. More cattle plodded by at a slow and easy pace, eating snatches of grass, green from recent monsoon rains. Occasionally, they gave a loud “moo”. Two calves bawled and poked their faces through the fence, before their mothers nudged them along.

Nicole glanced to the south again. It would be her luck for the storm to rain on her parade. Not that it would matter now. Her blonde hair was wilting fast, her makeup running down her face, and her dress rumpling in the humidity.

So much for “dry heat”.

After a few moments, the steam lessened. Nicole used a cloth from the backseat of her car to pop the hood and then prop it up. She tossed the cloth on the fender, folded her arms beneath her generous cleavage and glared at the radiator, which probably needed to be replaced. It wasn’t easy finding parts for a car over forty years old.

She stomped away, as best she could in those four-inch heels she used to love—

And felt something warm and wet squish around her foot.

With a groan she looked down, knowing what she’d see. She had managed to step into a nice, big, smelly, fresh pile of cow shit.

Great. Just fucking great.

Nicole almost ripped both her heels off and threw them over the fence at the cattle and said to hell with it. Instead she took a deep breath and turned her gaze to the cloudy sky. “Are you out to get me?”

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Wind picked up and lifted her damp hair from her shoulders. Well, there was her answer.

She groaned and wiped off the cow shit on a clump of grass. So much for those heels.

When her shoe was mostly de-crapified, she leaned in the ‘vette’s open window and snatched the keys out of the ignition. She rounded the car, opened the trunk, and grabbed a new jug of radiator fluid. As she started to shut the lid, her keys slipped out of her hand and into the trunk.

“No!” she shouted, dropping the jug and leaping to stop the trunk lid.

Her keys clanked at the bottom of the trunk. The lid thunked shut.

Nicole groaned and flattened her palms against the sun-warmed car. “
Shit
. Shitshitshitshitshit!”

Before she realized what was happening, large male hands were on either side of hers, braced on the trunk lid, and a very big male body virtually surrounded her.

Nicole froze. Her heart started to pound like a cattle stampede.

“Now, hon—” came Kev Grand’s low drawl, “—you really ought to watch your language.”

For a moment her body sagged, she was so thankful it wasn’t some rapist that had snuck up on her. But in the next second she gritted her teeth, pissed it was Kev and that he had scared her like he had.

She tried to twist away but he had her blocked with his powerful arms. She clenched her hands into fists. “I’m in no mood for your bullshit, Kev Grand.”

Just as she was about to try to push back and shove him off, he leaned in close, his body pressed against hers. She could feel his heat, the rough denim of his shirt against her bare back, his jeans through the thin material covering her ass. She could smell his masculine scent of sweat, horse, and summer wind.

“Now what
are
you in the mood for, Nicole Landford?” he asked in a low rumble that vibrated throughout her body and made the hairs on her nape stand on end.

Nicole’s nipples tightened. A thrill zipped straight from her belly to her pussy and her thong was instantly damp.

Kev Grand had tripped her trigger.

“Not you.” She slumped forward, buried her face in her arms on the trunk lid, and her words came out muffled. “I don’t care. Not you. Not in a million years.
Oh, shit
.”