Josh (15 page)

“Now I don’t think you’re talking about hornets.”

“You got that right.” He paused outside the door to her room to draw her close. “I’m not thinking clearly about a lot of things right now.” With his lips on hers he whispered, “All I’ve been thinking about for the past hour or more is this.”

He fought to keep the kiss soft as he felt Sierra sink into it with a sigh, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into him. But the taste of her, as fresh and clean as a mountain stream, had him wanting more. So much more.

He thought about driving her back against the wall and devouring her. Instead, with great care, he held her as carefully as though she were made of spun glass, as his
mouth moved over hers with a hunger that caught him by surprise.

On a moan of pleasure he took the kiss deeper, and his hands began moving up her sides until his thumbs encountered the soft swell of her breasts.

He heard her little gasp of shock as her body reacted in a purely sensual way, pressing against him until he could feel the imprint of every line and curve inside his own body.

Dear heaven, she felt so good here in his arms. And just beyond this doorway was a private space that was calling to him, offering him a taste of heaven.

He indulged himself as long as he dared before coming up for air.

His tone was low and nearly as stern as his grandfather’s. “I’m heading off to bed now. When you go inside, lock your door.”

She looked startled. “You think Sebastian will come here tonight?”

“It’s not Sebastian you need to fear.” He dragged her close and kissed her again until the need for her was so tangled up inside him, his head was spinning. “Right now, I’d like very much to stay here with you. Except then you wouldn’t be safe… from me.”

She looked up to see his dark eyes burning into hers.

When she hesitated, he put his hands on her shoulders and urged her inside, before turning and walking quickly away.

As he made his way to his own room, Josh’s hands were fisted at his side, another sign that he was fighting for control.

One kiss and he was a smoldering fire about to explode into flame.

How had this happened? What was it about this woman that had him losing all his cool control?

He knew he was playing with fire if they continued along this path. She’d made it very plain that this was just a brief stop on the way to her real love—her career. And yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself. There was just something about this independent little female that tugged at him.

He’d have to see that they kept things cool and impersonal. Otherwise, he was apt to get burned.

Sebastian Delray checked the caller identification on his cell phone, noting idly that it was his family’s solicitor. Though it wasn’t yet dawn, he’d been awake for hours. His body and mind, it seemed, were still on French time.

“Yes, Jacques. How are things in Paris?”

He listened quietly, noting the harsh edge to the lawyer’s voice. Though he kept his tone level, his eyes narrowed to slits. “She did what?”

He fell silent until the lawyer had finished his tirade. Forcing a bored tone into his voice, he said, “She’s a woman. That’s reason enough for the hysterics. They’re all the same. I’ve broken no laws.”

There was a burst of staccato French words peppered with expletives. In the silence that followed he said very deliberately, “Yes, I can imagine that my family would not welcome such publicity. Nor would I. As I said, I’ve broken no laws. Of course I’ll present myself to this local gendarme so that he can give me a copy of whatever documents the little gold digger has filed. And I shall be suitably respectful, as you suggest. Now, what else would you like to say?”

He listened, before adding, “I’ll be home soon enough. Though I may ask you to prepare the secluded villa at Cannes. I’ll phone you from my plane with more details. After all this snow and cold, I have a sudden yearning for sun-drenched beaches.”

He rang off and stood staring into space.

That smug little witch had actually filled out papers with some small-town lawman. Papers that stated that he was forbidden to come near her, or to contact her, or to even have an intermediary contact her on his behalf.

Sierra Moore had gone too far. Dragging his name—his eyes narrowed fractionally as he thought—
his family’s name
, into the glare of public scrutiny.

Did she know who he was? Really know? Did she have any idea just how much power he wielded?

A slow smile touched the corners of his lips, though it never reached his eyes.

She was about to find out.

And when he was finished with her, the high-and-mighty Sierra Moore, the ice princess who teased and tormented but failed to deliver, would be begging his forgiveness. Even while she pleaded for her very life.

S
ierra awoke to the sound of voices in the hallway outside her room, and the steady tattoo of boots on the stairs.

She’d lain awake for hours, going over in her mind all the secrets she’d revealed to the Conway family. It had been really awkward telling them about her parents, her childhood, and her major error in judgment with Sebastian. And yet there had also been a sense of relief that it was all out in the open. When she’d finally given in to sleep, she’d felt a childlike peace that had been absent from her life for too long. Despite the police chief’s words of warning, she felt safe here on their ranch. Safe and protected.

She touched a finger to her lips and thought of Josh, and that kiss. He’d warned her to be afraid of him.

A dreamy smile softened all her features. It wasn’t fear she felt whenever she was alone with Josh. Oh no.
It was something far different. In his arms she felt alive. With him she felt free to be herself. And now, with all her secrets no longer a burden, that sense of freedom was heightened.

She crossed the room to peer out the window.

When these ranchers said dawn, they meant it. There was only the faintest pale pink light on the horizon, and yet it sounded as though the entire household was up and moving.

She hurriedly dressed, unwilling to miss even a minute of the coming day.

In the kitchen doorway she paused. Phoebe and Ela were bustling about stirring, mixing, preparing a hearty meal guaranteed to sustain hard-working cowboys. From the looks of them, they’d been up for hours.

While they carried steaming platters of steak and eggs and potatoes to the table, the entire household was bursting with energy. The family was loudly arguing over who would ride up to the hills to meet the herd, and who would remain below to guide the cattle into the holding pens when they arrived.

“Quiet!” Big Jim’s voice instantly quieted the others.

He turned to Quinn. “Between our two ranches, you and Cheyenne have been doing double duty since you got here a couple of days ago. You two will stay here and wait for the herd.” He turned to Josh and Cole. “The three of us will head to the high meadow.”

“Do you mind if I ride along?”

At the sound of Sierra’s voice, the entire family turned to where she stood. She wore faded denims and a plaid shirt, her long hair tied back in a ponytail. Around her neck was her camera.

Big Jim didn’t mince words. “Suit yourself, sweetheart. But be warned. We’ve got no time to look out for you. I don’t care if your horse gets spooked and tosses you, or you take a wrong trail and get yourself lost up in the woods, we can’t spare anyone to lend a hand.”

“I promise I won’t be any trouble.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” He turned when Phoebe announced that breakfast was ready.

Few words were spoken as they all sat and began passing the platters, filling their plates, and eating quickly. It was clear that their minds were on the job they were about to do.

Their excitement was contagious. Sierra looked around the table and wished she could capture their faces on film. The anticipation. The determination. The thrill of what they were about to do was etched in the set of their jaws, the light in their eyes.

As she lifted her coffee cup her hand was trembling, and she knew it was nerves. The very best kind of nerves. She would actually witness a cattle drive. A roundup. Something so typically alien to her lifestyle, something she’d seen only in movies.

A short time later the family shoved away from the table and trooped out to the mudroom to don parkas, scarred leather chaps, and wide-brimmed hats. In the barn they spoke softly to their horses as they saddled them and led them outside, breath pluming in the frosty air.

Josh led two horses out of the barn, a big bay gelding and a roan mare. “I saddled Lady for you.”

“Thanks.” Sierra pulled herself into the saddle of the roan and took the reins from him.

He mounted and moved his big bay beside her. “I’ll try
to keep an eye out for you, but once we reach the herd, it won’t be easy.”

“Josh.” She lay a hand over his and wondered at the rush of heat that she felt all the way to her toes. From the look in his eyes, he felt it, too. “You have a job to do. I don’t want to be a distraction.”

He shot her a wicked grin. “Now that’s going to be a problem. You see, you’ve already become a very big distraction.”

He turned his mount and caught up with his father and grandfather, leaving her to follow at a slower pace while she mulled his words.

She’d really meant it when she’d said that she didn’t want to distract him from his job. She wouldn’t be able to bear knowing that her presence caused him to do something careless. Still, his words had caused the strangest little hitch around her heart. She couldn’t deny that she was flattered. He had a way of saying something in that short, staccato way that was so unexpected and sweet it caught her by complete surprise.

Feeling on top of the world, she passed the corral and waved to Quinn and Cheyenne, who were standing quietly, their arms around each other, their matching smiles revealing a sweet contentment.

What must it be like, she wondered as she clicked off a series of photos, to know in your heart of hearts that you’d found the one with whom you wanted to spend the rest of your life?

And why, she wondered, did some people search a lifetime and never find that pot of gold at the end of their rainbow?

So many questions. And no time to search for answers
as she followed Josh and his father and grandfather up a steep, high path.

The low, rumbling sound of the herd alerted all of them to the approaching cattle long before they actually came into sight.

There was a deep, rolling roar like thunder. A pounding rhythm so loud, so fevered, it reverberated inside their chests like the beat of a huge drum.

“They’re coming.” Big Jim stood in his stirrups and peered in the distance.

Suddenly he lifted his hat and waved it. “Get ready.”

The first of the cattle appeared over a ridge, moving in an undulating wave, their hooves sending up sprays of snow and grass in their wake.

At the spectacular sight, Sierra felt an unexpected lump in her throat. It actually looked like something out of a movie. But this was real. For Josh and his family, this was their life, their livelihood.

The horsemen began to fan out, ready to join the wranglers that rode in a loose formation on the fringes of the thundering herd.

Sierra reined in her mount at the top of a rise, which gave her a panoramic view of the scene below. She focused her camera on the great black sea of cattle, snapping off shot after shot.

Gradually her attention was caught by the individual wranglers. From a distance they were merely men astride horses, occasionally waving a rope or hat to keep a stray cow in line. But as she zoomed in on their faces, she could see the shaggy hair beneath the wide-brimmed hat; the rough growth of beard on a man who had been
living in the high country for endless nights; the body, lean and muscled from years spent in hard, manual labor; and even the eyes, alert to the job at hand, catching sight of an errant cow almost from the moment it began to stray.

As the herd thundered past, she saw Josh take up a position near the rear. Even as she focused her camera on him, his rope snaked out, neatly dropping over the neck of a cow that had veered away from the others. While the cow thrashed about, Josh’s horse drew back until the rope was taut. Horse and rider worked as a perfect team until the cow settled down, then, with the rope still around its neck, meekly followed along behind until they rejoined the rest of the herd. Josh slid from the saddle and his horse moved just enough to loosen the taut rope. When the noose was removed, the cow was swallowed up in a sea of cattle. Josh climbed back into the saddle, and horse and rider moved to the far side of the herd to do it all again and again.

Through it all, Sierra snapped off photo after photo, recording every moment.

She heard a yell and watched as Big Jim spotted a line of cattle breaking away from the herd and heading for a narrow canyon. Because of the tremendous noise, none of the other wranglers heard his warning or took notice. Big Jim’s horse broke into a furious gallop as it raced to get ahead of the runaways.