Читать книгу By Request Collection April-June 2016 - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 105

ANNIE HAD KNOWN THAT LETTING people into her solitary life was going to be trouble. She just hadn’t guessed the form it would take. She’d tried to make it clear that any generosity or kindness flowing her way should be directed solely at Safe Haven. People being nice to her made her want to scream.

It wasn’t their fault. They had no idea who she was, what she’d done to her parents, to the people her stupidity had harmed. Even with what Shea knew, she probably still didn’t get it. They all saw this person saving animals and figured she must be a wonderful soul, selfless to the core.

The only reason she hadn’t chased them away was because of Tucker. Annie should have been prepared with some food and drinks. Despite all appearances, she hadn’t been raised in a barn.

But at least she could trust Shea with Tucker. Unlike Kathy and Levi, Shea was more concerned with getting financing from Tucker’s foundation than talking up Annie. As if she hadn’t figured out their little ploy.

Glory was really sweating. She was on her feet and moving around, and as Annie watched, the mare’s placenta ruptured. Annie wouldn’t leave again until the foal dropped. Glory went down again in the middle of her nest.

Annie held her breath as the first signs appeared. Thank God it was two front hooves and muzzle. Still, a lot could go wrong.

“She looks good.”

Annie exhaled, starting at Tucker’s voice so close to her. She had to stop doing that. She hadn’t heard him or sensed him enter the stable, let alone come right up to stand by her shoulder.

She didn’t reply, her focus entirely on the mare. The contractions made her wince, but the baby was coming on fast. Before it seemed possible, the foal was mostly expelled, but Mom needed a few minutes to gather more strength before the next push. When it came, there was a beautiful soaking mess of a foal, and everything from that moment on went like clockwork.

Tucker never interfered at all, but he was right there when Annie took care of the umbilical stump and handed her towels to rub the foal.

She had no idea what time it was when Glory set about bonding with her baby, except that humans were no longer welcome in the stable.

After a quick look at the other two mares and getting cleaned up at the deep, old-fashioned sink, Annie led the way out. She expected that everyone had eaten, or at least to find the picnic basket and cooler waiting for them, sans company. But that was clearly too much to hope for.

Matt opened the cooler and pulled out two beers. “Cause to celebrate?”

Tucker took them both and handed one to Annie. “Textbook,” he said.

“Great. Let’s eat.” Shea headed to the parking lot, where Annie saw they’d set up the food tailgate-style, complete with folding chairs.

Annie had to admit she was hungry. It had been an utterly nerve-racking day, and while her adrenaline was flowing now, she knew a crash was inevitable. Thankfully, it wasn’t that late. Tucker could go home right after a quick bite, and she could at least try to get some sleep.

She had the feeling that no matter her degree of exhaustion, turning off thoughts of Tucker wouldn’t be easy. So many things to process, not the least of which was the fact that every time he came within spitting distance, the flutters started up with a vengeance.

There were enough chairs for everyone, and whoever had set them up did her a favor by putting them in a large circle. The cooler was brought to the open tailgate of the pickup, alongside the basket.

“We’ve got sandwiches,” Rachel said. “Roast beef, tuna and veggie on sub roles. There’s chips and carrot sticks—”

“And cupcakes,” Jessie added. Annie doubted he meant to sound quite so excited.

“Cupcakes and beer?” Tucker shook his head. “You Montana folks are culinary daredevils.”

Rachel snorted, but somehow made it ladylike. “We had a whole ten minutes to pull everything together because someone who should have reached out earlier didn’t,” she said, pinning Annie with a mock glare. “Oh, and there are cold sodas and bottles of water in the cooler.”

Annie really liked Kathy, but she was going to strangle her. “Just how many meals were you planning on serving?” she asked. “It’s late. You guys all have to go home so I can get some sleep.”

“We didn’t know that the horse was going to foal so early,” Matt said. “And I heard there was more than one ready to go.”

“We only have one other mare in the stalls, but there’s no reason to think she’s going into labor tonight.”

Shea looked at her. “Would you prefer that we left?”

Annie knew Shea wasn’t being sarcastic or touchy. “No, really. I just hate keeping you all out like this. Tucker flew in from Dallas this afternoon, remember?”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’ll be fine. I confess, I could eat.”

Annie touched his arm with her hand before walking over to the basket. “Thank you for your help today. It was unexpected.”

He stared at where her hand had been, then met and held her gaze in the weird light cast by two lanterns. “It’s been my pleasure. A very memorable day.”

She had no idea what to say to that, and honestly couldn’t tell if he was simply being polite or flirting. The flirting part was probably wishful thinking, which was nuts because what in the world was that going to get her? The two of them would never happen. No way in hell.

She swallowed hard. What she hated the most? The need was back, the desire to touch and be touched. And if anyone could satisfy that itch, it was a man like Tucker Brennan. She stepped back, away from temptation, and did everything in her power to not turn and run.

TUCKER GRABBED A RANDOM sandwich and bag of chips, way too aware of the woman beside him. He’d flirted with her. Hadn’t meant to, especially in front of her friends. The blame went to the long day at least for now, but when he was alone again, he’d have to have a serious talk with himself about appropriate behavior.

As no one else was sitting, he went for the farthest chair, hoping Annie would sit opposite him. He wanted to watch her from a distance. He would’ve preferred to observe from outside the circle so he could concentrate on what was important instead of chasing his personal fascination with the enigmatic Annie. Instead, food was grabbed quickly and everyone sat, leaving Annie the chair to his left.

“How did you find out about Safe Haven?” Shea asked.

Halfway to a bite, Tucker paused, the question catching him off guard. He thought about asking her the same question. A woman with her security clearance and computer skills didn’t fit in this cowboy world.

“My foundation manager,” he said. “I’m not sure precisely where he ran across this particular sanctuary, but he does a very good job of finding worthy causes.”

She nodded slowly. “Perhaps I can speak to him. I’d like to know how effective our online marketing is. It’s difficult to choose where to spend money and energy when there’s so little to spread around.”

“I’ll make sure to get you that information.”

It turned out the sandwich was tuna, and it was good. He’d been so distracted he hadn’t realized how long ago he’d eaten, and for a few minutes he did nothing else.

Annie was chowing down, too, and it should have been far less compelling to watch her hunched over her sandwich as if she were afraid someone would steal it. But she managed to make it look sexy in a way that was slowing him down as his pulse sped up.

Damn, but she was a beautiful woman. That was another conundrum. Beautiful women often seemed to use their looks to get what they wanted. It was difficult not to, when the world around them made it so easy. Beauty was a passkey to so much. Even as children, teachers treated cute kids differently, everyone did. He’d been a recipient of that kind of bias himself. And he knew for a fact Annie had successfully used her looks to deceive Christian.

Yet, here she was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by livestock when she could have hidden in a hundred easier ways. He couldn’t imagine the number of men who would have been happy to hide her, to keep her safe.

When he looked down, he realized he’d not only finished his sandwich, but actually used his fingers to capture the last crumbs of his potato chips. After a swig of beer, he went back to the basket. “Anyone else want seconds?”

“I’ll take another beer as long as you’re up there.” That was…Matt. The rodeo champ.

“You still riding the circuit?” Tucker asked, handing Matt his beer before heading back to his own folding chair.

Matt didn’t answer straightaway. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got things here in Blackfoot Falls that are taking precedence at the moment, but I’m still riding.”

“You’d better be,” Annie said. “We’ve been talking about having a charity rodeo for Safe Haven. Trouble is housing out-of-towners. There’s an old boardinghouse that’s going to be fixed up, but we’ll probably have to hold the rodeo closer to Kalispell if we do it in the next year.”

“It’s not a bad drive.” Tucker sat, consciously slowed himself down while unwrapping his next course. His hunger was easing, not gone.

“Too much beer drinking at rodeos to have people driving afterward,” Annie said.

Having a conversation made observing her easy. Although the way he was getting caught up in the view was a problem. “True,” he said. “But a rodeo is a good idea.”

“From what I saw on your website, your ranch is riding out the drought well,” Jesse said.

All Tucker’s plans to keep Annie engaged, to keep himself separate from the group, vanished in a discussion about cattle and the weather, which then segued into ranching innovations. By the time the eating and drinking had come to its natural conclusion, he felt every hour he’d been awake, and every ache he’d earned from his goat wrestling.

None of them would let him help pack up the impromptu picnic, but he was allowed back into the stable to check out the newborn. Already standing on wobbly legs, the stilldamp foal was a sight to see.

Next to him, Annie sighed softly as they stood in the neighboring stall, keeping as quiet as possible. She had to lean into him so he could hear, and the contact against his arm wasn’t helping things. “We should go,” she whispered. Her warm breath skimming the side of his neck sent a jolt of awareness straight to his groin.

He nodded, made his tread as light as possible on his way out, Annie walking alongside him. For some reason the others were still there, all standing near the pickup. His knee-jerk reaction was disappointment. Dammit. Wanting to be alone with her was fine, even wise if he wanted to get information, but not when it was personal.

“What’s wrong?” Annie asked, as soon as they’d reached the others.

“That,” Rachel said, nodding at Tucker.

Caught in the middle of a yawn, he snapped his mouth closed. “I’m fine.”

“You might be right, but we don’t want to take any chances. Safe Haven needs your money.” Rachel grinned, but she wasn’t lying. “Our place is close by. We have a spare room you can bunk in for the night. Then you can go back to the hotel first thing to change and whatever.”

“I assure you, I’ve lived in isolated places my entire life, and I purposely had only one beer. I can drive.”

Jesse shook his head. “You’ll pass more deer, cattle and coyotes than cars on the way, but that’s not the problem. You’re tired from flying and driving. Why take the chance when we’ve got room?”

“Besides,” Rachel said, “you should get a look at the Sundance before you leave. You’ll be surprised.”

“At?”

“All the beautiful women who are staying with us,” Jesse said, and grunted when Shea elbowed him.

“Excuse me?” Tucker looked to Annie, who smiled, at least for a few seconds.

“They’ve turned it into a dude ranch,” Annie said, and then he recalled the website where he’d seen her photo. She’d been at the Sundance ranch when it was taken.

“Wait a minute.” Jesse was obviously annoyed. “That’s not true. Our main concern is raising cattle.”

Shea and Rachel exchanged glances, then stared at their feet to hide smiles. Clearly the dude ranch operation was a touchy issue, and as a cattleman himself, he understood. But that didn’t concern him. What did interest him was the opportunity to find out more about Annie from these people. And Shea…perhaps he should know more about her.

“Sorry,” Annie said. “It’s a working spread, but the dude ranch part is helping to transform the area. More guests, more tourists, more cash flow. And more opportunities to spread the word about Safe Haven. It’s all good.”

Rachel laughed. “Trust Annie to squeeze in Safe Haven.”

He didn’t think about it for too long. He would have preferred having his things with him, but the chance to gather information, and frankly, to get to bed sooner, was too strong an incentive to say no. “All right. Thank you, I’ll take you up on that.”

“Thank God,” Annie said, sincerity softening her voice. Her lips lifted in a tired but sweet smile. “I’d never have gotten to sleep if I was worrying about you driving all that way.”

That he instantly thought of staying right where he was, bunking down on the blanket in the empty stall, made him shake his head. He needed a good night’s rest. Desperately.

IT WAS ONLY WITH TREMENDOUS will that Annie brushed her teeth before heading upstairs to bed. She’d watched as Tucker had followed Jesse’s truck down the road to the Sundance, then she’d done a final check on the horses.

The short walk to the cabin had felt more like a mile, and she’d made herself prepare the morning’s coffee before she hit the bathroom. Now she had to climb stairs, but then she’d be horizontal and nothing would come between her and sleep.

An hour later, she was seriously contemplating bashing her head against the wall because her brain would not stop.

At first, it had been okay thinking about Tucker and wondering yet again if he’d flirted with her. She’d debated taking care of her suddenly awakened body, which was something she hadn’t done in so long, she wondered if she remembered how.

It was only after those thoughts that she was reminded why she’d stopped. Being in exile, being a fugitive, eliminated all possibility of having any kind of anything with any man. For an indeterminate period of time, up to and including forever.

It had taken her a solid six months of denial to get to the stage where she didn’t think about sex anymore. No, okay, longer than that, but she hadn’t caved since. Though she’d had close enough calls that she’d become very judicious with her reading material, and careful with her time around other people.

Some thought she was shy. No problem, shy worked, because most everyone kept their distance. At first, she’d thought the McAllister men were going to be a problem, but her fear was so great, it overwhelmed her sex drive by quite a bit.

She’d become celibate in every sense of the word, and then Tucker Brennan.

It wasn’t fair. He was only going to be in town a couple of days. She’d never see him again, but if she kept thinking about him, remembering the touch on her bare back, the quickening of her pulse every time she saw him staring…

Bodies weren’t meant to be turned off like empty refrigerators. She was only twenty-nine, but she knew without a doubt that somewhere inside her there was a clock ticking away. Exhaustion had always been her best defense, but here she was after a brutally tiring day, and he’d broken through over a year’s worth of defenses with a few touches and a good smile.

Her life, her entire life, was dedicated elsewhere. She’d done her best to never think about what she’d left behind, what she was missing. She worked until her body couldn’t take it anymore. Then she did it again.

Tonight was an object lesson. Letting herself get caught up in the real world would do her no good. Tucker Brennan was a potential check. Financing. That’s all. She’d better drum that into her foolish mind, because there’d be hell to pay if she didn’t.

The sad thing was that she’d have to pull back from Shea, as well. It had been an experiment, a test to see if she could open her life up a little.

The answer was a resounding no.