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“Of course it is,” she said in a voice that sounded a little too bright. “We were talking about Tasha, weren’t we? So…I think…”
She fumbled for words. Even though his mother never fumbled. She always had the right thing to say at the right time. All the guys knew that. She was their relationship guru.
“Mom, if this is a bad time, we can talk later.”
“Sure,” she said quickly. “Let’s do that. I should go. Keep me updated. Love you, hon. Bye.”
Okay, that was strange. Really strange.
Daniel stared at the ripples sparkling on the lake, his brow scrunched. If something was bugging him, he invariably felt boosted after talking with his mom.
Except today. Maybe she was just having a bad day.
Only, she never had bad days.
It was almost like she’d been talking about bumps in her relationship. But that couldn’t be. His parents never had bumps. It wasn’t possible.
This was how much his feelings for Tasha had thrown him—he’d even started to doubt his parents’ relationship. Clearly, he needed to figure out a way to get his head on straight.
Only, with Tasha so near, he had a feeling that wasn’t going to be easy.
Chapter Six
“Daniel.” His name trilled through the trees like birdsong. “I need you.”
He’d been dreaming of Tasha all night, sexy visions of threading his fingers into her silky black hair while she whispered her secrets to him in the dark of the night. Everything he wanted to know about her, every part of her he wanted to touch.
He pulled the covers higher, trying to sink deeper into his fantasies.
“Daniel.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, one that couldn’t possibly be part of a dream.
Opening his eyes, he found Tasha standing beside his bed wearing her overalls and another baseball cap, this one proclaiming her to be a T-Rex Whisperer.
Still half asleep, he nearly reached out to tumble her into bed with him, just like his dream, and rescue her from any big, bad T-rex chasing her—or let her rescue him. Oh yeah, he liked that idea. He might have done exactly that if he hadn’t finally processed the worried expression on her face.
“I’m so sorry to barge into your house like this,” she said. “But I yelled and yelled. Then I noticed your door was unlocked. Honestly, I would never do anything like this except…” She bit her lip, looking so damn kissable. “I really need your help.”
The fear in her voice brought him fully awake. He shoved back the covers to bound out of bed, when he remembered at the last second that he not only had nothing on, but also his fantasies about Tasha meant she’d be getting a serious eyeful.
“Sorry,” she said again, her eyes huge as she took in his bare chest and hips and the happy trail that continued beneath the corner of the sheet he’d managed to keep over himself. “I wasn’t thinking. I just needed your help. But I should have thought you’d be…undressed.” She flushed a deep rose, then spun on her heel, putting her back to him. “I’ll wait downstairs.”
Sixty seconds later, he was jogging down the stairs, jeans and boots on, buttoning his flannel shirt. “What’s wrong?”
“I was hiking when I found puppies.” Of everything he’d thought she’d say, puppies was nowhere on the list. “I heard something crying, and once I figured out where it was coming from, I shone the small flashlight I always carry with me into the little cave, but there was no way I could get to them. I counted three, their little eyes blinking and open mouths wailing at me. I didn’t see the mother anywhere. If we don’t get them out…” She swallowed hard, and he could see her fears bubbling up. “We have to get them out, Daniel.”
“We will.” Without seeing the cave, he had no idea how difficult it would be, but he’d move heaven and earth to erase that scared look from Tasha’s eyes. “We’ll need a strong flashlight and a shovel,” he said, thinking out loud.
“And towels, so we can wrap them up to keep them warm. There’s still snow on the ground up there.”
After quickly grabbing everything, they headed out, with Tasha running up the mountain to the ridge behind her cabin. She didn’t pant at the pace she’d set, pushing through brambles without a thought for the scratches they left on her arms, dodging tree trunks that got in her way, leaping over fallen logs. She didn’t falter even as five minutes turned to ten of full-out, uphill sprinting.
Suddenly, she dropped to her knees before a jumble of fallen logs. “Here they are.” She tossed aside the towel and handed him the flashlight.
He heard the cries, a series of pitiful mewls emanating from a hole dug out beneath the branches. Lying on his side, he shone the light. Three sets of eyes glittered in the beam.
The creatures were quiet a moment, blinking at him, until they all opened their mouths at once in a cacophony of pathetic puppy howls. He could make out black muzzles and tan bodies.
“I’ll see if I can reach them.” Unfortunately, the moment he reached in, the poor things shrieked in terror and huddled deeper into the small cavern. He glanced back over his shoulder. “We can probably move the logs to get them out.”
