“Remember, this is a wilderness area. We pack it in, we pack it out. Any questions?” Gage asked.
“What about the two men who just checked in? How do we know they won’t follow us?” Abby asked.
“They may try. We won’t make it easy. I talked to Walt, made a slight last-minute adjustment. We’re going to trailer the stock and go in from the site of an old homestead a few miles farther down the road from our original point of departure. Walt and Kyle are the only ones who know where that is. I’m paying a bonus for their silence, half now, half when we safely return. All we can do is hope we can trust them.
“Anything else?” When no one spoke, Gage rose from the table. “All right, then. We’d all better get some sleep. We’ll be leaving before breakfast, so it’s coffee in your cabins and power bars on the trail until we stop for lunch.”
Gage pulled Abby aside as she stood up, and Mateo slipped quietly out the door.
“From now on, we need to stay focused,” Gage said. “You’ll have to be vigilant, constantly aware of your surroundings. I want you to stay close. No wandering off on your own. There are all sorts of hazards out there, everything from snakes and wild animals to crumbling soil, cliffs, and deep ravines. You understand?”
She nodded. “I’ll be careful.”
He damned well hoped so. He was responsible for her safety, whether she liked it or not. He walked her to her cabin, stood next to her on the porch. “Get some sleep.” He smiled. “Before I change my mind and take up where we left off last night.”
Abby flicked him a don’t-be-so-sure-of-yourself glance, and Gage pulled her into his arms.
“One last thing.” Tipping her chin up, he kissed her. Abby stiffened, but then her plump lips softened under his, her arms went around his neck, and she kissed him back. Firm full breasts pressed into his chest. Her nipples hardened into stiff little buds, and Gage groaned.
The kiss turned deeper, hotter, fiercer. His hand strayed down over the curve of her bottom, cupping and pulling her more firmly against him, letting her feel his erection. He was hard as a stone, aching to be inside her, and rapidly losing control. Forcing his brain to function, he clamped down on the hunger raging through him, kissed her softly one last time, and eased away.
He caught her chin, turning her face up to look at him. “That’s so you’ll remember what’s going to happen when this is over.”
Abby ran a finger over her kiss-dampened lips. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glazed with passion. He went harder just looking at her. Damn, he wanted this woman.
“Good night, Abby,” he said gruffly as she turned away from him and walked through her door. He didn’t leave till he heard the lock click into place and knew she was safe.
Back in his cabin, Gage rubbed a hand over the bristles along his jaw, turned off the lights, and went to bed. It took a while before his unspent desire faded and he was finally able to sleep. Just before dawn, he jerked awake, fighting the last remnants of a lingering dream.
Cassandra crying for help, telling him she loved him, him watching in horror as she plunged to her death. Then her beautiful face changing—no longer blond, blue-eyed Cassandra, but golden-eyed, fiery-haired Abby. His stomach knotted. He hadn’t been able to save Cassandra, but nothing, he vowed, was going to keep him from protecting Abigail Holland.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ASPECTACULAR SUNRISE BRIGHTENED THE DESERT SKY EARLY THEfollowing morning. Abby had never seen anything more beautiful than the pink, red, and gold painting the distant horizon, illuminating the mesquite and tall saguaro cactus strewn over the rugged landscape.
Dressed in jeans and boots, her hair plaited into a single braid, she applied sunscreen, then grabbed a wide-brimmed straw hat to protect her skin from the sun. Abby slung her camera over her shoulder, grabbed the black canvas backpack Gage had provided for the trip, and loaded her near-empty carry-on into the back of the SUV to await their return.
As she walked toward the barn, she noticed the white Chevy Suburban was gone. Maybe the men were watching the sunrise or hiking one of the desert trails. It was a credible explanation, but it bothered her to think they might be out there somewhere, watching.
Gage and Mateo were already in the barn when she arrived, Gage in faded jeans and a snug dark brown Henley, a big pair of worn cowboy boots on his feet. A trickle of awareness slid through her. How could the size of a man’s boots turn her on?
Gage settled a brown, soft felt, Aussie-style cattleman’s hat on his head and canted the brim low across his forehead. For an instant, her eyes met his beneath the brim of the hat, and desire clenched low in her belly. Dear God, the man could have stepped right out of a Hollywood movie.
One thing was certain, the guy in the expensively tailored suit behind the podium at the museum rocked in jeans and boots.
“Good morning.” Gage strode toward her, grabbed the canvas backpack out of her hand, giving her a moment to catch her breath. “Let me help you with that.”
He carried the pack over to where Kyle and the wrangler, Smiley Wilcox, a tough, stringy-looking cowboy in his sixties, with iron gray hair and a drooping mustache, were loading the mule panniers. Gage explained that the weight had to be evenly distributed on each side of the animals’ backs to keep the load from shifting.
Abby unslung her camera and began shooting video, documenting the beginning of what she was sure would be an epic journey, hopefully with a spectacular ending.
Just as they were ready to set out, Kyle noticed that Abby’s brown-and-white pinto had thrown a shoe.
“No worries,” Kyle said, flashing her a dimpled grin. “I’ve got it covered.” He quickly went into blacksmith mode and replaced the shoe, but the problem knocked them slightly off schedule.
As she watched the young cowboy work, she spotted Gage a few feet away. He was frowning, his jaw a hard line. Surely he wasn’t jealous of Kyle? Kyle was good-looking, but compared to Gage, he was still a boy.
Finally, they were ready to go, the mules and horses loaded into Walt’s big horse trailer for the drive down the road. Walt was behind the wheel of his dual-wheeled, extended-cab pickup, Kyle riding shotgun. Abby and Gage settled in the back seat, while Mateo rode with Smiley in the bed of the truck.
