BROKEN (5 page)

“Actually, I slept better last night than I have for ages.
 
I only woke up about an hour ago but couldn’t seem to get back to sleep.”

“I need to get up and start breakfast for the boys soon
.  W
ould you like to join us?”

Mitch grimaced.
 
Jessie wanted him to call a truce with Del
,
but
he
couldn’t
seem to control
the animosity he felt for the man.
 
The other problem was that Adam had known all of the ranch hands and though he’d described the men and some of their peculiar habits, Mitch didn’t think he could recognize more than one or two of them based on the stories he’d heard.
 
What if one of them asked questions he couldn’t answer?
 
What if they referred to one of Adam’s previous visits and Mitch was unable to bluff his way through the conversation?
 

No, it was better not to tempt fate.
 
He didn’t want to raise any suspicions that he wasn’t Adam
,
and that’s exactly what would happen if he put himself in a room full of men he’d supposedly known for three years.
 
 
He looked at Jessie’s hopeful face, knowing he
was going to
upset her
,
but
what choice did he have?
 

“I’m not really up to it today, sweetheart.”

“I understand,” she said, not quite able to squelch her disappointment.
 
“
Look, Kincaid
, I know you’re not thrilled with the idea of dining at the same table as Del, but Hank and Kenny and some of the other boys have been asking about you.
 
They’re beginning to wonder why you seem to be going out of your way to avoid them.”

“I’m not avoiding them, Jess
. 
I’m just not ready for anyone’s company but yours.”

Jessie didn’t bother trying to persuade him any further
,
but it disturbing that he didn’t at least have breakfast with everyone.
 
He’d always refrained from joining them for meals during the first couple of days so she hadn’t given it much thought.
 
But when he continued to decline her pleas to come downstairs and
say
hello to everyone, she began to worry that maybe this time she wouldn’t be able to help him bounce back.
 

He’d always enjoyed the camaraderie at mealtimes in the past, but now he didn’t seem to want anything to do with them.
 
She had to figure out some way to keep
Kincaid
from secluding himself inside the house with only her for company.
 
She
would
have to put some serious thought into it, but it would have to wait.
 
Right now she had work to do.
 
 
With a sigh of resignation, Jessie threw the covers back and climbed out of bed.
 

“I’ll bring your plate up after I’ve taken care of the boys,” she told him as she pulled on a pair of jeans and light cotton shirt.
 

“You’re upset with me,”
he
said despondently.

She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.
 
“I’m not upset, but I am worried.
 
It’s not like you to keep everything bottled up for so long
,
or to avoid the boys’ company.”
 
She leaned over and gave him a swift kiss then stood up, coming to a decision.
 
If
Kincaid
wouldn’t leave the house on his own, she
would
just have to force his hand.
 
“I have some work to do on the ranch so I’ll be gone most of the day.”
 

Mitch eyed her for a moment, certain this was some sort of punishment for not coming down to breakfast.
 
“Let me know when you’re leaving, I’ll go with you.”

“No, you stay here and rest.
 
I’m just riding fence today and can take one of the boys with me.”

“Which one?”

Jessie shrugged and turned towards the door so he wouldn’t catch the sly smile.
 
“I don’t know.
 
Hank maybe, or Del.”

Mitch was off the bed in a heartbeat.
 
He gripped her arm and whirled her around, his eyes blazing.
 
“Like hell!
 
You think I’m going to let you go off alone all day with that man?
 
You’re mine, Jessie,
mine
, and I’m going to make damn sure he knows it.”
 

He followed up his claim with a long, hard kiss that left them both panting.
 
Jessie tipped her head back, a triumphant smile on her lips.
 
“So you’ll be joining us for breakfast this morning?”

A slow dawning of understanding wafted its way through
Mitch’s mind
.
 
T
he little minx had deliberately bated him!
 
He shook his head, chuckling.
 
“You’re something else, Jessie Buchanan, you know that?”

“Yes, I know, and you’d do well to remember that.”
 
She extracted herself from his arms.
 
“Now get dressed
. 
I’ll expect you downstairs in twenty minutes.”
 
With that, she turned and left the room.

Mitch stood there for a moment staring at the door.
 
What had he done?
 
If he didn’t join them for breakfast, he
would
worry her even more.
 
He couldn’t bear the thought of causing Jessie even a moment’s distress, but if he did go down and face all those men
,
there was a very good chance he’d botch something up and arouse suspicion.
 

Thinking fast, Mitch dashed to the closet and pulled out his duffle bag.
 
Most of his things had been unpacked
,
but the one item that could help him get through unscathed was carefully tucked beneath the plastic lining.
 
He dug out Adam’s journal and
thumbed through it, scanning the pages for any mention of the ranch hands
,
and let out a sigh of relief when he finally found what he was looking for.
 

“Hank is a crotchety old coot,” he read out loud, “but for some reason he and I bonded right away.
 
He’s a sharp old bird and I respect him a great deal, though you’d never guess it by the way we toss insults back and forth.
 
Kenny, his sidekick…”

“It’s about time you
showed your ugly mug,” Hank barked when Mitch walked into the dining room.

“It’s good to see you too, old man.”
 
He nodded to the red-haired man next to Hank.
 
“You still torturing Kenny with tall tales about your days as a Texas Ranger?”

Hank snorted.
 
“Tall tales, my ass!
 
I was the best damn Ranger they ever had.”

Mitch laughed with the others, grateful for the brief distraction so he could study the other four men sitting around the table and figure out who was who.
 
Thank God
,
Adam had a penchant for describing people and places in great detail
,
otherwise Mitch didn’t think he would have had a chance in hell of pulling this off.
 
Even more gratifying was the radiant smile Jessie graced him with when she brought him a cup of coffee.
 

Del was sitting at the far end of the table doing his damnedest to avoid making eye contact
,
but the other men greeted him like an old friend.
 
He was still making small talk when Jessie ordered him to sit
,
and it was with a sense of childish glee that Mitch noted she’d saved the seat at the head of the table for him.
 
After serving his breakfast she settled into the seat next to him, flashing another heart stopping smile his way.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out why Adam had taken to Hank.
 
He was obnoxiously loud, his comments often bordering on crude, and most endearing of all, the old man picked at Del mercilessly.
 
To his credit, Del took it with a grain of salt and didn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings towards him for doing it.
 

I
t was through Hank’s badgering of Del and the other men that Mitch was able to distinguish one from the other,
al
though he’d half guessed anyway based on the descriptions in Adam’s journal.
 
By the time breakfast was done, he’d lost most of his trepidation and was feeling much more confident about being able to pull this whole thing off without a hitch.
 

“Now that wasn’t so painful, was it?”
 
Jessie asked after the men had gone.

Mitch picked up a couple of plates from the table and brought them to the sink.
 
“No, it wasn’t.”
 
He pulled her into his arms.
 
“But I’d much rather have you all to myself.”

Jessie’s heart fluttered when he lowered his head, teasing her with light, feathery kisses.
 
He toyed with her for awhile, pulling back any time her lips pressed a little too close
, which
she found both frustrating and exciting at the same time.
 
Kincaid
had never been playful like this before
,
but she liked it.
 
She liked it a lot.
 

“So you want to play keep away, huh?”
 
Jessie laughed as she twisted out of his grasp, scampering around the table just as he made a lunge for her.
 

Mitch grinned, slowly circling the table.
 
“You think you’re fast enough to get away from me?”

“Have you forgotten I still hold the track record at my old high school for the hundred yard dash?”

He hadn’t known that, but it didn’t make any difference, not when he was so determined to get her back in his arms so he could cart her back upstairs to bed.
 
Just looking at her made his blood boil
,
and the way she was shifting her weight from side to side only drew his attention to her slender hips and the blissful pleasure that awaited him between those silky thighs.
 

Which is exactly what Jessie must have been counting on because she chose that precise moment to make a run for it.
 
She was fast, he had to give her that, but longer legs and years as a Special Ops agent provided him enough of an advantage to overtake her.
 
He caught her around the waist just as she reached the front door and hauled her back towards the stairs.

“Wait, Kincaid,” she squealed, “we have work to do…”

“This won’t take long,” Mitch promised as he swept her up into his arms.
 

Blue eyes looked up at him longingly
.  D
esire shot straight through him, giving rise to a hunger stronger than any he’d ever known.
 
Adam had been a fool to leave this woman behind while he traipsed off to save the world.
 
And Mitch was an even bigger fool
.  B
ecause in the end, when the charade was over, that’s exactly what he
would
be doing too.
 
Except he wouldn’t be coming back.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                        
***

Jessie watched him fumble with the cinch as if he’d never saddled a horse before.
 
Just what happened on that last mission anyway?
 
What nightmares had such a grip on him that he
would
forget how to do something so simple, something he’d done a million times before?
 
He’d even struggled with the bridle for a few minutes before the horse obligingly opened his mouth and allowed
Kincaid
to slip it between his teeth.
 
She patted Serina’s neck, crooning to her horse and offering a small lump of sugar before deciding
Kincaid
needed her assistance if they planned on leaving any time soon.

“Your mind must be a million miles away,” she said, squeezing herself between him and his horse.

Mitch smiled apologetically.
 
“I guess it is.”
 

Trying not to appear too obvious, he peered over her shoulder, watching carefully so he wouldn’t be so inept the next time they went riding.
 
But Jessie didn’t seem to mind taking over
,
and it occurred to him that she did it quite often, which was turning out to be
his saving grace.
 
Like this morning when he told her he wished he’d thought to bring his cowboy boots.
 
She’d given him a curious look then disappeared for a few minutes, returning with what was obviously Adam’s old boots.
 
Then when they’d gone to the tack room inside the barn and he just stood there staring at the small collection of saddles, she had to point out which one was his.
 
No doubt, Jessie thought he was losing his mind, but for now it worked in his favor so he didn’t try to convince her otherwise.

“There,” she turned to him with a warm smile, “all saddled up and ready to ride.”

It should have made him happy to know she wanted to take care of him, even happier still at how easily she accepted that he needed her to.
 
Instead
,
it tore at his heart because he was beginning to understand how much Adam had leaned on her and just how little his brother had given back in return.
 
Jessie deserved a man who was strong in both body and mind, a man who
would
do anything for her and want nothing more than to make her life easier.
 
What she’d gotten was someone who came to her only when the burden on his heart and soul became too much for him to bear alone.
 

She must have loved Adam very much to endure the long stretches between visits and the endless lonely nights, yet she’d never said the words, at least not to Mitch.
 
Had she spoken them to Adam?
 
He wished to God he
had
been the one to meet her first.
 
If he had, this life that he was living now would truly be his.
 
Jessie would be his.

“Hey, Kincaid,” she said softly, “it will work itself out, I promise.”

Mitch snapped out of his reverie, and for one panicked moment was afraid she knew what he’d been thinking.
 
“Jess, I…”

She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him with all her might.
 
“I’ll fix it,” she said fiercely.
 
“I’ll help you through it just like all the other times, but you have to let it go.
 
Just…don’t shut me out,
Kincaid
.”
 
Jessie looked up at him, her heart aching for the maelstrom of emotions she saw churning behind those dark eyes of his.
 
“Talk to me.
 
Tell me happened on this mission that made it so much worse than the others.”

If only he could.
 
“I will, Jess, I swear.
 
I just need a little more time.”
 
She turned her head away, but not before he’d seen how much he’d hurt her.
 
Mitch cupped her chin in his hand and gently forced her to look at him.
 
“You’re the best thing that
has
ever happened to me, sweetheart, and I promise I’ll tell you everything soon.
 
But right now, what I need most is just to be with you.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” he smiled.
 
“Every minute I’m with you breathes life back into me.”

Confused by an unfamiliar twinge of emotion she’d never experienced in the past, Jessie wasn’t sure what to make of it.
 
Outwardly, he was still the same Adam
Kincaid
she’d known for three years, but something inside him had changed.
 
Maybe it was
because he was reaching out to her on a more emotional level, verbalizing things that before had only been hinted at through physical contact.
 

“You’ve never said those things to me before.”

Mitch didn’t miss the wariness in her voice
,
or the sad undertone.
 
“I’m sorry for that, Jess.
 
I realize now there were a lot of things I should have said and done.”
 
He drew her closer and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
 
“I should have told you how wonderful I think you are.”
 
He kissed her again.
 
“I should have said that coming home to you is the one true happiness in my life.”
 
He kissed her harder, longer.
 
“And I should have let you know that nothing, nothing brings me greater pleasure than when I’m holding you in my arms, kissing you, touching you, making love to you.
 
You mean the world to me, Jess.”

Tears glistened in her eyes.
 
“You really mean that, don’t you?”

His chest tightened.
 
He did mean it, every word of it.
 
“Sweetheart, there’s no place I
would
rather be than right here with you.”
 
He hugged her to him.
 
“I think we should get on the horses and ride out of here while I still have a little self control left.
 
The way I’m feeling right now, I couldn’t even guarantee we’d make it back to the house.”

Jessie didn’t doubt he was telling the truth
.  H
er own internal heat had spiked considerably the moment she’d stepped into his arms.
 
Still, the idea of climbing up into the hayloft and spending the next hour giving into the carnal desires he aroused in her was more than a little enticing.
 
The sudden appearance of Hank, however, put a huge damper on the moment.
 
Hastily pulling away from
Kincaid
, she greeted her favorite ranch hand with an embarrassed smile.
 

Hank eyed the possessive arm wound around Jessie’s waist
, quirking one brow
.
 
“Don’t recall you being so publically demonstrative of your affections before, Kincaid.”