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“I’m sorry, but you would’ve insisted on calling Aaron first.”
Anger rolled around for a second pass. “Damn straight I would have. I’m going to call him right now, and don’t even think of trying to talk me out of it. There could be fingerprints on here.”
“The envelope it was in is in my bag.”
“Great.” He did nothing to hide his sarcasm. “Thank you.”
He slipped the note into his back pocket and turned for the office to make the call because he’d left his phone in the truck. When she didn’t offer any defense, guilt spun him back around. She watched him silently, as if ready to take whatever recrimination he dished out. She didn’t back down when he strode forward, but one brief flicker of her lashes revealed her tenuous composure.
So damn vulnerable and not willing to admit it.
Joel pulled her into his arms and held her tight against his chest, never wanting to let go. “I’m sorry. I’m mad at him, not you. I want to catch this bastard.”
“I know.”
“Paelo will be fine,” he promised. “I won’t let anything happen to either one of you.”
“I know.”
Instead of reassuring him, the trust in her voice increased the fear in his heart.
When she tilted her face and met his gaze without hesitation, his breath caught in his chest. Raising one hand to the back of her head, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed closer. Her warm lips parted, inviting him in to drown in the intoxicating feel and taste of her.
He fought back a groan of frustration. What was he thinking? He had to call Aaron about the threat—and Mark to arrange for barn security. She was not a temptation he could succumb to right now, yet finding the willpower to break the kiss with her soft curves molded to his body proved to be difficult.
Distantly, he became aware of an increased noise level in the barn. The horses were getting restless in their stalls, mirroring his own frustration.
“I’ve got to make that call,” he finally whispered against her mouth.
In the same moment she began to draw back, the alarming combination of gas and smoke hit his nostrils. Joel’s eyes popped open. A yellow flicker at the back of the barn chilled his blood and had him frantically reaching to drag her arms from around his neck.
“The barn is on fire!”
She whirled around, her eyes widening at the hungry flames licking up the wall. Fingers of smoke snaked along the roof of the hayloft above their heads. A terrified ear-splitting whinny sent the other animals in the barn into all-out panic.
“Oh my God—the horses!”
Joel jerked Brittany around and pushed her toward the office. “Call 911 while I start getting them out.”
Trusting her to do as he ordered, he ran for the stall closest to the flames. The horse was already full of sweat, and the whites of its eyes showed as Joel opened the stall door. The animal backed up, but the moment it came up against the wall, it bolted forward. He flung himself out of the way and still got clipped by the horse’s shoulder.
The force bounced him against the door, nearly knocking the wind out of him. He regained his balance and scrambled after the animal, then skirted past with his back to the wall when it reached the closed doors and whirled around in mindless panic. Seconds later, he unlatched the doors and flung them open. The horse streaked past as Joel turned back for the next one.
Fire licked along the sides of the barn now, spreading faster than he imagined possible. The smoke grew thicker as the flames devoured the dry wood. Joel ran in a crouch on the way to the back to avoid the worst of it, but it still burned his throat and lungs. After waving the next horse out, he stripped off his shirt, and dunked it in the water bucket hanging in the stall.
Brittany was in the aisle, coughing into her arm as she reached to unlatch the next stall. Joel called her name as the horse dashed for freedom. Fisting each hand in his soaked shirt, he tore it in two before thrusting half into her hands to tie around her nose and mouth. Watery green eyes met his for a brief, thankful moment.
They each took a side of the aisle, freeing the horses and letting them loose into the stable yard outside. Some ran, others had to be led, eating up precious time. They’d reached the last three stalls in the front when Joel noticed people gathering outside. A few worked to catch the milling horses, others just watched.
The pop and crackle of the fire had risen to a loud roar, and as he led his next horse out, a portion of the barn collapsed in the back with a deafening boom. The bay reared up, hauling him off his feet. When he stumbled on the landing, a strong pair of arms helped him upright. His split second glimpse of a face revealed one of Highlands’ wranglers.
“How many more?” Jon yelled.
“Three. Take this one. I’m going back in.”
Joel shoved the lead rope into his hands and passed Brittany at the doors on his way back inside. Two more. As he reached for Gypsy’s stall door, Brittany came up from behind and grabbed his arm. Her grip slipped on his sweat-slick skin and she shouted over the noise engulfing them. “You’ll never get near her. Get Paelo!”
No time to argue—he went for her stallion. With the flames ever closer, it was a struggle to get the animal out. The heat made it hard to breathe even with his shirt tied around his face. Smoke stung his eyes, and tears blurred his vision, but he couldn’t let Brittany down.
