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Smiling, she hoped he wouldn’t notice her sudden nervousness as she shook his hand. “I would repeat Jordan’s thanks for having me, but since I don’t see the need for this trip away from home, I won’t bother lying.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “She’s not happy with us, but I promise she’ll be no trouble. Isn’t that right, Kelsey?”
Jordan only used her full name when he wanted to make a point. Feeling like a chastised teen again, she shuffled her feet and twirled her thumbs, wishing she didn’t always feel so guilty when either McAllister showed even a hint of displeasure with her. “Of course not. You won’t even know I’m around, Mr. Young.”
Cocking his head, Greg thumbed his hat back, giving her a crooked smile that brought about a quick spasm between her legs. Crap. Her instant attraction meant it would either be a very long, frustrating few weeks or a very enjoyable short vacation. His response tipped the scales toward the latter.
“Call me Greg and let’s hope that’s the case, Kelsey. I had enough trouble getting my partner to sign off on this favor.” He switched his gaze to Jordan. “Inside is a pretty decent snack bar. Why don’t we wait with you while your plane is refueling?”
Kelsey breathed a sigh of relief she wouldn’t have to be alone with this man just yet. Every time those piercing eyes swept her way, the warm rush spreading through her body grew hotter and she didn’t know which urge tempted her the most – to sidle closer or inch further away. When he turned his full attention to Jordan and Theresa as they sat down to eat hamburgers inside the terminal, she found herself growing irritated because he wasn’t paying attention to her. Yep, it was going to be a long few weeks.
Less than fifteen minutes later the ground crew signaled they were done refueling the jet. “It looks like our plane is ready and I imagine you need to get back, Greg.” Jordan rose and held his hand out to Theresa. “Ready?”
A wave of uncertainty assailed Kelsey, a sense of abandonment she knew was ridiculous. She wasn’t a scared five-year-old found walking alone in a strange neighborhood again. The landscape now surrounding her might look foreign, but the McAllisters would never leave her someplace unsafe or with someone they didn’t trust. But it wasn’t home and she wanted to be here no more than this man’s partner wanted her to be.
Theresa stood with Kelsey and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Try to have some fun, okay? Look at this as a vacation and we’ll have you back in no time.”
She sighed. How could she let them leave thinking she was unhappy after all they’d done for her? “I’m sure it’ll be quite the experience.”
“A good one.” Jordan hugged her and then turned back toward the plane with a hand on his wife’s lower back.
Greg reached to clasp Kelsey’s elbow while taking her suitcase from Jordan with his other hand. “Relax, little bit. I don’t bite and I won’t let Devin try. She’ll be in touch.” He nodded to the couple and waited with her while they re-boarded the plane. Puzzling as it was, she found comfort in the nearness of his big body and the snug grip of his calloused palm against hers as he slid down her arm to grip her hand. He might be a stranger, and she might be feeling an irrational qualm of abandonment, but she couldn’t deny the escalating urge to press against that ripped body and lose herself in mindless, sweaty sex.
A shiver racked her body as he turned and tugged her toward the truck. “Why Wild Horses?” she asked as he opened the passenger door, tossed her bag in the back and hoisted her up onto the seat as if she weighed nothing.
“We named our place after the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range, which lies south of us about sixty miles.” Kelsey held her breath as Greg reached in front of her and drew the seatbelt across her lap and chest, his rugged face close to hers, his arm pressing against her abdomen. “They’re a sight to see, if we get the chance to take you down there. Sit tight.”
He slammed the door and she exhaled on a whoosh and a delicate shiver. They just didn’t make them like him in the northeast, at least none she’d ever met. She shifted on the seat, the glide of her silk panties over her bare flesh causing those distracting, warm tingles again. If her wayward thoughts and heated reaction to Greg’s nearness, slight touch and/or look continued, she might fare better letting her pubic hair grow back to help lessen the effects of her stirred-up libido.
“Do you ride?” Greg asked, sliding behind the wheel and starting the massive truck.
A rueful smile curled her mouth. “I ride the subway, does that count?”
He chuckled, the amused, deep rumble curling her toes again. If this kept up, she would need to see a podiatrist when she returned home. “No, that doesn’t count. We have a horse clinic next week and if I have time, I’ll take you up. You can learn a lot in those few days.” Changing gears, he turned onto a long, barren stretch of highway and veered from the subject as easily as he shifted the truck’s gears. “Tell me about the attack on you. Are you sure he didn’t say anything that would give you a clue to what he wanted? Where were you at?”
Surprised Jordan didn’t tell him, Kelsey slid her gaze out the window to hide her expression. “Other than calling me a name, he didn’t say anything. I was at a client’s office, working on the books,” was all she said about that.
“That’s what Jordan said, but sometimes, after the adrenaline has settled, small things pop up in your recollection. If you think of anything else, let me or Devin know right away.”
“I thought your friend didn’t want me here.” She didn’t know why that bothered her; she didn’t even know the man.
Greg shrugged, the move drawing her eyes to his broad shoulders. “Doesn’t mean he won’t keep you safe, if need be.”
Kelsey shook her head, returning her gaze out the window and on the blur of wide-open prairie whizzing by. “There won’t be a need. I’m no one of importance, just someone who seems to draw the
crazies.” She didn’t see his sharp look, or the frown tightening his eyes.
Chapter 3
Greg couldn’t wait to see Devin’s face when he got his first look at Kelsey Hammond. While he was a connoisseur of all body types, his partner possessed a special fondness for the petite ones, and Kelsey was about as small as they came. Her head barely reached his chest as they were walking to the truck, putting her around five foot two, and if she weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet he would eat his hat.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her changing expressions as they neared the ranch, those he could see with her face pressed to the window. She appeared even unhappier about being here than Devin was, but after catching the look in her face-dominating blue eyes as the McAllisters hugged her goodbye, Greg felt a tug of sympathy for the girl. There were issues there, maybe more than just getting over an assault and dealing with a possible threat against her. Devin might be a sucker for the long blonde, almost white hair and diminutive body type, and Greg already felt compelled to help her cope with her current circumstances, but that would be as far as their association with their temporary houseguest would go. They’d made the mistake of getting physically involved with a woman they were assigned to protect once, and her death still haunted them.
Kelsey sat up straight with a gasp, pointing out the window. “Those aren’t cows.”
Greg smiled at the surprised accusation in her voice. “No, that’s a herd of bison. Never seen buffalo before?”
She turned and looked at him with wide eyes that could deliver a sucker punch if he let his guard down. “Not out my window. Shouldn’t they be… contained or something?”
