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Rowdy’s grip loosened. Jenna jerked to one side, face flaming. She rubbed at her arm. Dax’s fury turned white-hot. If she was hurt…
“Hey, boss.” Rowdy turned slowly and raised both hands like a criminal. “Everything’s cool here. No harm done.”
“Doesn’t look that way to me.” Dax opened his fist, clenched it again. He was half an inch from punching out his best cowboy. He flicked a glance at Jenna. “You okay?”
Still rubbing her arm, face the color of paste, she nodded. The anxiety radiating off her made him even angrier. Rowdy Davis might be a good hand, but he had no business coming into the house to harass Jenna.
Rowdy shifted backward one step, his eyes never leaving Dax’s face. “I’ll just be heading back to the barn then.”
Dax wagged his head. “I don’t think so. You’re done here. For good.”
Rowdy’s mouth dropped. “You’re not letting me go because of her, are you?”
“Yeah, I am. Get out, Rowdy, before I lose my temper.”
The cowboy’s mouth curled in a sneer. “Don’t be stupid, Coleman. I’m the best manager around.”
Dax was afraid his jaw was going to snap. “We don’t need your kind here.”
“What about her kind? What’s the deal, boss? Why are you so jumpy about an unwed housekeeper with a brat in tow?”
Jenna’s gasp drew Dax’s gaze. If possible, she’d grown whiter. She pressed a shocked hand to her lips.
“She’s a widow.”
Rowdy laughed, an ugly sound. “Yeah, and I’m Santa Claus. Ho-ho-ho.” The last syllable was aimed maliciously at Jenna.
Dax’s restraint snapped. He drew back a fist. Before he could throw the punch, a soft hand caught his.
“Please, Dax. No.”
Dax turned, incredulous. “You’re defending him?”
“No. I just want him to leave me alone.” Her voice quivered. “Gavin will be here soon. I don’t want him to witness fisticuffs.”
Jenna’s concern was for Gavin, not for herself. The anger toward Rowdy increased until Dax trembled with the need for a physical release.
“Get your gear and get off my property, Davis, before I satisfy a powerful hankering to break your nose.”
Rowdy postured for a few seconds, weighing his options. Apparently, he was smart enough to know when he’d lost. With a curse that Dax hadn’t allowed past his own lips in years, the fired cowboy slammed out of the house.
He’d no more than cleared the room when Dax turned to Jenna. “How are you really? And don’t say okay.”
As she opened her mouth to reply, her lips trembled. That was his undoing. He folded her into his arms. She nestled against him, her soft breath puffing warm against his neck. Her body quivered.
So did his.
He stroked her back and murmured as he’d done the day she’d given birth. The reminder of that shared intimacy swirled inside him, provocative in a way that shook him to his boot heels. He recalled her strength and grit, her frantic concern for her infant. He recalled the way she’d looked at him as though he was the greatest hero ever.
With an inner groan, Dax squeezed his eyes shut.
A hero. He wanted to be a hero. Her hero.
He was a fool. A woman his own age had dumped him. What made him think Jenna, a woman years younger and with far more inner beauty and refinement, would think of him as anything but a worn-out old cowboy?
Yet, he went on holding her against his chest, feeling the thud of her heart so close to his that the rhythms seemed to be one.
A tangle of thoughts coursed through his head.
He wasn’t falling for her. No way. It was inappropriate. She was his employee, a young mother, a very young mother. She thought of him as a protector, a friend, maybe even an uncle.
Yeah, that was it. An uncle.
“Dax?” Jenna murmured.
He smoothed a hand down the back of her head, over the soft hair, and filled his nostrils with her orange blossom fragrance.
He cleared his throat, thick with some troubling emotion. “Yeah?”
Jenna lifted her head from his chest and tilted her face up to look at him. “Thank you.”
Her lips curved, drawing his attention.
He couldn’t keep his eyes from a glance at her mouth. He’d thought about it, maybe even dreamed about it.
“Ah, Jenna.”
She placed a hand against his cheek, the curved smile deepening. “My hero,” she whispered. “Again.”
With warning bells clanging like fire engines, Dax groaned, aware he should walk away now while he still could. He started to loosen his hold but Jenna held tight.
“Kiss me this time, Dax. Please.” She tiptoed up, waiting.
The request was his undoing.
