Rawhide and Roses by Maddie James Read Free Book Online Page A

Mack was gone, leaving her to finish the packing.
    As he worked his way to the last of the mules and horses, he found himself at the edge of the manty Kim was packing. He watched; she feigned ignorance to his presence, until at last, when she reached for a box of baked goods to set on top of the load, he snaked his hand out and grabbed her wrist.
    ****
    Kim snickered to herself as she felt Thad’s presence grow closer. She’d felt the shivers crawling up her back as she sensed his gaze on her from afar, but she’d be damned if she’d let him know that.
    When his hand reached out to encircle her wrist, it was expected, but startling at the same time. Her thoughts were full of him, but she’d had no idea he was so close, until his skin touched hers and her senses jumped at his closeness.
    Her gaze bolted upward as she crouched over the packed items and his fingers tightened around her wrist. Their eyes met. Thad slowly crouched across from her, keeping the connection as he lowered his body to the ground. When she looked at him, she saw a dark and brooding man, a handsome man, but one who would be so much more attractive, if he’d only let the granite exterior melt away once in a while. His cool eyes still held hers. Several long seconds passed before he spoke.
    He released her hand, pulling back as if he’d been stung.
    “Find everything you need?” he queried gruffly.
    With her gaze matching his, Kim lifted her chin a bit and cocked her head to one side. “Yes.”
    “Good.” Placing his hands on his knees, he rose, towering above her. Kim simply kept her position and let her gaze lift upward to play over his face. “I want to be on the trail in ten minutes. Make sure you’re ready.”
    “I’ll be ready.” She broke the connection between them and rose, glancing off toward the pack string. Nearby, Jillie worked with her horse, and Mack and the wranglers checked over the packs.
    “I want to apologize for my...for yelling at you earlier.”
    His words brought her gaze back to his face. She shook her head, surprised at his apology. “No. I was out of line. I should be the one to apologize.” She was sorry. It wasn’t her style to make scenes, usually.
    He stared into her face. To say Kim was uncomfortable with the intensity of his gaze would be have been an understatement. It was difficult to read his expression. A shiver crept over her. “Perhaps we both were out of line,” she added.
    “Perhaps.”
    A horse nickered not far away and Kim rotated toward the sound. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thad turn and walk toward the others.
    She turned back to her work, absent-mindedly finishing placing the objects to be mantied, waiting for Mack to come back to tie them for her and get them on Jethro; not thinking about what she was doing. She was really thinking about the heat that still radiated from her wrist, where Thad’s fingers had left their brand seconds earlier. Finally, when she couldn’t stand it any longer, she let her gaze slide back to the thin-hipped cowboy who had wrecked havoc over the last eighteen hours of her life. She watched as he swung his body up, over, and into the saddle of the buckskin at the front of the pack. All at once she realized she’d been holding her breath for quite some time. When a last she let it out in one quick whoosh, all the other sensations she’d been holding in were let loose with it.
    Her body gave in to one quick tremor.
    “Damn.”
    She stepped away from the manties toward the kitchen, fighting off the urge to pace back and forth nervously. “Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered. “I will not let my body respond to that man. I will not!” Her near silent pleadings were heard by no one save herself. “I won’t. I won’t. I won’t. I will not be suckered in by the smell of old leather and saddle soap. I won’t!”
    But she knew as she looked up to catch one more glimpse of Thad astride his horse that it was going to be one of the hardest things