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“I didn’t think so.” He rubbed the tight knot forming in the muscles between his shoulders. God, he was tired. He’d been awake most of the night, tossing and turning on that damned cot, his mind filled with images of Cassie and the ranch and a future that was far away. A future spent looking through the lens of a camera in some godforsaken land. Alone. Without Cassie.
She had dropped onto the arm of a worn couch and was staring at him with those wide, soul-searching eyes. The kindness and concern in her gaze bothered him. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Do I look okay?”
Cassie smiled faintly. “The truth?”
“Don’t hold back.”
“You look like hell,” she said.
“Thanks for the compliment.” He forced one corner of his mouth up. “That’s better than I feel.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Isn’t it? I lost the horse, didn’t I? It happened while I was in charge!”
“Wait a minute, Colt! Before you go on an extended guilt trip, let’s look at the facts, okay?” She pushed herself to her feet, and her cheeks flushed. “We’re not certain Black Magic caught this while he was ‘lost.’ And as far as you being responsible, I don’t think you should be beating yourself up over it. The same thing happened last year and you weren’t even here!”
“Last year Black Magic survived.”
“And he just might this year,” she said, crossing the room to stand only bare inches from him, “unless we all give up on him! Have some faith.”
“Do you?”
“I told you, usually the disease isn’t deadly.”
She was so close that Colton could see the ribbons of green in her hazel eyes, smell the scent of her. Her black hair gleamed in soft, tangled curls that rested against her cheeks and fell past her shoulders. “And what else do you have faith in Cass?” he asked, reaching forward, curling his fingers around her arms.
Cassie didn’t breathe. Her gaze flickered downward to where his long legs swung from the corner of the desk, brushing intimately against her skirt.
“That . . .” She swallowed hard. “That depends.”
“On?” Colton’s blood began to surge through his body. She was, without a doubt, the most bewitching woman he’d ever met.
“On you, Mr. McLean,” she said, her lips parting, the pulse at the hollow of her throat leaping out of control. “I’d like to have faith in you.”
His insides turned molten.
“Maybe you should.”
She tilted her chin. “Should I? Why?” she asked, her warm breath fanning his face.
“Colton? You in there?” Milly Samms’s voice drifted through the door. A loud rap echoed through the room.
Cassie froze in his arms for just a second. Blushing like a teenager, she quickly stepped back.
Colton, slightly amused, cleared his throat, but his voice was still raspy. “Come in.”
“It’s time for din—” Milly stopped in midsentence as she stepped into the room. “Oh, Cassie! I didn’t realize you were still here.”
Cassie stuffed her hands into the pockets of her skirt. “I thought I’d stay awhile, until we were sure none of the horses came down with the virus.”
“Virus?” Milly asked.
Colton explained about Black Magic and Tempest, and told the housekeeper about the possibility of an epidemic. “I tried to get hold of Denver, but he was out. If he calls back, I want to talk to him. Immediately.”
Milly’s round face had turned ashen. “What about the foals?”
