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He tossed the remote on the coffee table when she turned to leave. “Hold on a sec…are you sure you wouldn’t like to trade rooms? You’d be more comfortable if you were closer to Noah, don’t you think?”
“I’m fine where I am.”
He rose with a disgruntled sound. “Look at you. Now look at me. You’ve got the room with a king bed and mine is barely a double. Doesn’t really make sense, does it?”
She gave a soft laugh of triumph. “It makes perfect sense to me. Sweet dreams.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I was here first.”
Colton tried to be rational and behave like an adult, while at the same time trying not to think about the small bed in his room. “The house was mine before you showed up.”
“A technicality at best—possession is nine tenths of the law,” she stated.
What did she know about possession? It struck him as an odd thing for her to say, until he considered all he knew about her. Maybe she had experience?
She was right, though. He glanced down the hall. If he—
“Don’t even think about it.”
He pretended to consider it, then almost laughed when he pictured the two of them racing for her room. “It’s not like you could throw me out.” The moment the words left his mouth he regretted them. He winced at the flashback of being heaved over her small shoulder, but she didn’t notice.
“Oh, grow up,” she said.
“I did, that’s the problem.”
“Your problem, not mine.”
He watched her walk away before turning for his own room. He lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, his feet stretched to the very end of the mattress as he stared at the ceiling. He still had a hard time reconciling the fact that a woman half his size had pretty much laid him flat on his ass. One moment he’d been looking in on Noah and the next he’d been laying on his back.
It made no sense. The little bird co
uldn’t even lift a forty-pound hay bale, yet she’d tossed him like a rag doll. His mouth quirked. Maybe not quite that easily—and she’d had the advantage of surprise. Still, his ego smarted when he thought of lying there, trying to catch his breath while she stood over him with that damn knife.
Once he realized she had been protecting Noah, the tension in his shoulders eased enough for him to walk away. Until she’d chased after him and he’d seized up again, expecting the blade to plunge between his shoulder blades with his next breath. The entire encounter had been altogether too unsettling, especially when he considered the desperate air cloaking her defensive reactions.
Who had she thought he was? She’d called him a monster, and considered him dangerous enough to warrant the use of a knife. Thank God he had quick reflexes. Her explanation of the weapon only raised his suspicion. She’d caught herself just in time, but he knew she’d been about to reveal something she didn’t want him to know.
Something was definitely not right, and he decided he’d better sit down and have a talk with Joel tomorrow. His acceptance of his supposed sister and brother with open arms and no questions asked was great and all, but his friend needed to know there was far more to the situation than met the eye.
No more of this wait and see attitude. If something bad happened that he could’ve prevented, Colton would never forgive himself—and he had enough guilt on his shoulders already.
Chapter Seven
Sleep eluded her most of the night. A few minutes after four a.m., Kendra gave up and went to brew a pot of coffee, the Basics of Horse Care book she’d borrowed from Britt the day before tucked under her arm. Halfway through her first cup, she found herself staring at the page, but instead of words, she saw a vivid picture. Wavy, caramel-colored hair hung over a prominent forehead that’d been tanned by the sun. Granny Smith apple green eyes framed by thick eyelashes, and a mouth that she knew from experience tasted of mint.
Shaking her head to clear the image, she refocused on the text. By her third cup, she managed to read the first two chapters and was pleased with what she’d learned, even though the sleepless night made her eyelids feel like sandpaper.
Shuffling footsteps on the hall carpet made her twist around in her chair. Colton stood in the doorway, squinting his eyes against the overhead kitchen light. “Do you know what time it is?”
His voice was husky from sleep, low and mellow. He only wore cotton shorts; she had full view of his bare chest and toned abdominal muscles. Half-ton hay bales didn’t seem like such a stupid idea anymore.
She forced her gaze back to his face only to discover the stubble on his jaw lent him an unlawfully sexy air.
“Of course I do.” She turned away and waited for the sound of his footsteps to recede down the hall. When silence reigned, she heaved an annoyed sigh and demanded, “What?”
“Nothing. I got up to use the bathroom, smelled the coffee and saw the light.” He entered the kitchen, running his hand through his hair, leaving it more tousled than before. She watched him rub his eyes and wondered why he didn’t go back to bed. It was five a.m., he could get at least another hour in, and she wasn’t in the mood to talk to the reason she hadn’t been able to sleep.
