Heart of Fire: a Moonbound World series (Witches of Whitewood Book 1) (3 page)

* * *

B
rady clomped
over to them and had Jamie up and out of Kyle’s arms before she really knew what’d happened. Her brother checked all her bones and put a finger under her chin. His dark frown returned.

“Damn it, Jamie. Will you ever just do what I ask?”

He held her while she listened to her own heart beat and recalled the moment she’d first opened her eyes.

She’d seen Kyle dive and had felt him under her when she hit. It’d been forceful enough that if she hit the ground instead of his arms, she might’ve broken something. He had surprised her. Standing there on the corral edge, watching her ride their newly broken horse as though he was part of the family or something.

His response had been too fast. Her stomach was still dropping.

The thought of him belonging there had startled her enough, she’d hit Megan’s sore right side and gone sailing. And if Kyle hadn’t been there, she might not be going on the trail at all.

As it stood, she’d have a sore ankle from getting wrenched in that stupid stirrup, and maybe some wounded pride.

“Oh, Jamie!” Mom pulled her away from Brady and hugged her so tight her breath couldn’t move at all. “You know you can’t just jump on a skittish horse like that.”

Brady must’ve helped Kyle to his feet because the two tall men hovered over her—Kyle behind her, and Brady behind her mother.

Kyle rested his hand on her back and she shuddered. He was being too…considerate.

“I just wanted to prove to Brady that he could still ride her so he wouldn’t go to jail or something, chasing down Kira to take his pound of flesh.”

He shook his head and his jaw set forward. “You’re not going to ride her again. And neither am I, or Mom, or anyone else.”

Jamie pouted. “You can’t just lock her in the barn.”

“I’ll dress the wound. And I’ll worry about the horses. This is my ranch.” He took a deep breath, as though he leashed his anger too tightly to speak.

“Kyle, are you okay?” Mom touched his shoulder.

“I’ve been hurt worse.” Kyle’s fingertips brushed along Jamie’s back again. “Just in the right place at the right time.”

Somehow, the guy managed to look happy, even with dirt all over his face and with an obvious injury to either his right arm or his back or ribs. She’d really clocked him, and he favored his right side.

A rumble sounded behind them, and the big silver ranch bus thundered around the bend.

Jamie jumped away from the group toward the roundabout. Kyle’s fingers unnerved her in a way she hadn’t expected, and didn’t like. Maybe getting caught in his lap—fully clothed and praying for forgiveness every single second—was a better alternative to being actively attracted to a married man.

She certainly didn’t want to spend twelve weeks with Kyle.

Brady chased after the horse, but Kyle followed Jamie across the corral toward the bus. She could sense him behind her, the heat of him. He touched her back again once they’d both crawled through the rails.

“You sure you’re okay?” His voice was so low, it was almost a whisper, and his breath tickled the sensitive spot behind her ear.

Something melted inside when he hit that spot. Between the life-saving and the good-smelling and the low-talking, she was confused as hell and way too interested in holding this exact position for about the next hundred years.

“I’m fine.” She waved him off. “Don’t worry about me. We’ve got people here, and I still have to get that team hooked up.”

Kyle slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her just a bit closer. It didn’t seem like much, except that it put every feasible part of their bodies in contact.

Lord
. She hoped Brady was watching. Even as a part of her hoped he would keep inching her into his arms.
Just get this overwith.

“I can’t help worrying about you after taking a fall like that.”

She took a tiny step away from him and whirled her head to plant a glare on him like he’d probably never seen. “You mean, I’m a frail little woman who needs protecting.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I can’t explain why, Jamie.” His eyes met hers, and those blue depths threatened to open a cavern with her on the precipice. “But something about you makes me
want
to worry.”

“Then you’ll never survive around here.” She tried to ignore the little part of her that started to freefall when he said those words.

“Trying to get rid of me already, are you?”

Something tightened inside, and she laughed a little too quickly. “Why would I want to do that?”

“That’s funny, because—” Kyle’s whole body froze, and he stopped even breathing.

Jamie whipped around and looked at the bus. Her brother Paul stood just outside the big silver door, looking way too comfortable, all blonde good looks and easy smiles. He needed to remember that his girlfriend was waiting in a cabin up in the woods, because he had broken the rules. Next to him was a gorgeous, tall blonde woman who stared in their direction.

Kyle’s fingers closed around Jamie’s arm tighter and tighter. She couldn’t tell if he recognized the blonde or just wanted her. Or something else entirely.

But something about the way they stared at each other unnerved Jamie enough that she stepped backward and pressed her back against his chest, as though something about her touch could ground him.

Or just remind him she was there.

But he didn’t stop looking at the blonde. And he didn’t start breathing again until the woman started walking toward them, her smile big and her eyes wide.

“Holy fuck,” Kyle whispered.

In that moment, something pinched at Jamie’s heart. She was no longer the center of Kyle’s attention, and that bothered her more than she liked.

K
yle held his breath
, hoping no one had heard his whispered surprise. He tried not to watch Jamie’s profile, but couldn’t tell if she’d picked up his shock or not.
But holy fuck…what in the hell is Lana doing here?

His ex-wife obviously saw him, too, because her big blue eyes almost doubled in size. With her arm around the blond guy in a green t-shirt, she couldn’t have more closely approximated a headlight-caught deer if she’d been auditioning for a commercial. If she still did that.

Lana’s blonde hair was now stick-straight, and reached down past the middle of her back. She’d lost weight, but her breasts hadn’t downsized. Had she gotten a boob job?
Good God
. Every man in a mile radius would salivate.

He gave her a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. He’d have to find some moment before they took off to pull her aside.

“She’s hot, right?” Jamie’s voice broke his concentration on Lana and he ruffled the hair at the base of his neck, trying to look nonchalant.

“Who’s hot?”

“Right. You didn’t notice the tall, skinny, blue-eyed blonde with the massive rack that just stepped off the bus. And all the men who went silent in remembrance of their collective lost testicles.” She scuffed her boot and stretched her neck.

Kyle tried to ignore the little stab inside. She’d seen him staring, all right. But ignoring Lana too much wouldn’t be wise. She had a radar for shit like that. He didn’t envy whomever she snared on this little trail ride. She might look like a prize, but she had a roving eye, unreasonable financial expectations, and a surprisingly lackluster marital sex drive—because she certainly liked sex, according to her Tinder account history. Just not according to his marriage bed.

Too much information for people he’d just met, but it would be hard to keep all that warning inside.

Jamie’s eyes had gone narrow and there was almost a disappointment on her pretty features. He didn’t like that look.

“Sure, I saw her.” He leaned in so only she could hear his whisper. “You’re hotter.” Kyle turned and left her staring with her mouth open.

Brady leaned on the corral, just behind his sister. His face didn’t show open lust like the rest of the poor saps around there. He was clearly worried. Smart guy.

He followed Brady’s gaze to the green-shirted, light-haired guy Lana hung on while she giggled. Something passed between the two men—flashes of eyebrow and tight mouth corners. This was likely the brother who had been caught with Charity. He definitely had the ladies man look. Too pretty for his own good.

And all over Lana. So, apparently, Paul had a type.

Damn, he needed to talk to her. Maybe he could convince her to head back to Denver. Kyle couldn’t afford to have his cover blown, at least not until he could come up with a suitable explanation that wouldn’t cause him to lose the only job prospect he’d had in months. He couldn’t go back to Denver without a decent paycheck under his belt, and until Lana showed up, he’d hoped he could get by without actively lying to anyone.

But now he was in deep shit—not unlike the rest of the men at the Silver Spring Ranch.

Lana’s giggle sounded over the ambient noise, and Kyle fought a roll of his eyes.

“That one’s trouble,” Brady said.

The stern set of his boss’s jaw surprised him. If only he’d had that kind of instinct when he first saw Lana. Instead, he’d been blown away by her beauty and blinded to her faults until he couldn’t ignore them anymore.

“The blonde?” Kyle leaned against the corral next to the angry cowboy and crossed his arms. “You’re probably not wrong.”

“I know I’m not wrong.” Brady spat on the ground in front of him and stamped hard.

Pressure fisted around Kyle’s heart. Swallowing, he tried to sound indifferent. “You know her?”

“I know her type. Plus, she’s already latched onto my brother. That makes her bad news.”

“Your sister insinuated the same thing.”

“She’s still pissed about me firing the last ditz Paul decided to test out. Jamie had it in her head that girl was her best friend, but I could smell that one, too. She was using Jamie, and Paul.” Brady plucked the hat from his head and looked toward the barn door where his mom emerged. “There’s nothing that pisses me off more than when people take advantage of my family.”

Kyle could only imagine the protective brotherly instincts. He was starting to develop some of those himself the more he heard about Charity. “Makes you a good brother.”

“Makes me the only not-dumb one around here, I’ll tell ya.” He tossed the hat on and pushed off the corral, stalking toward the bus.

Jamie tossed him a green staff shirt and tugged one over her tank-top. Brady looked at it for a second and scoffed, throwing it back to his sister. He spread his arms and whistled. Once he had everyone’s attention, he welcomed the tourists.

Kyle stayed near the corral with Mattie, and when the time came for introductions of the staff, Brady did all the honors. When his name was called, he nodded at the group of awestruck on-lookers and avoided Lana’s gaze. But he did seek out Jamie, and found her alternately watching him and watching Lana. Either she knew something was up, or she was jealous. Every part of him rooted for jealousy.

“Kyle?” Jamie called out.

Stunned to have everyone’s eyes on him, he froze. He stood about halfway between Mattie and Jamie, and hadn’t quite strategized a plan yet. “Here,” he said and hunched his shoulders.

She extended a graceful arm to encompass him. “Kyle is our newest staff member, so go easy on him. Ladies, I know he looks delectable, but as staff, he—like me, like Brady, like Paul—is off-limits.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when she stopped talking and kept walking toward the crowd of tourists.

“Besides,” Jamie continued, “he’s married.”

This time, Kyle couldn’t help glancing at Lana.
Please, don’t say anything
,
he silently begged. His plea bored through his brain, as though thinking hard enough would make the words audible to Lana’s ears.

The wait was agonizing, but his ex stayed impressively quiet. It was unlikely she had any compassion for him. More likely, she wanted to get some leverage.

Hot damn, I’m in trouble.

Finally, Jamie continued with her instructions about sleeping arrangements, and Kyle released the breath he’d been holding.
Just get to the end
.

Still, a growing part of him hoped his singleness would be revealed. He would get fired from the Silver Spring Ranch, but sleeping on the street might just be worth a chance with Jamie Banfield.

* * *

J
amie was
happy to leave her brothers to fit the tourists with their mounts and took the team back to the kitchen to hook up the wagon. She opened the bed with a loud
thunk
and switched on the light, fully expecting to find a complete mess or nothing done at all.

Kyle was no slouch. Crates of food sat atop flats of water bottles, nestled between the equipment boxes.

She knocked the side of one. Also full. In a matter of hours, he’d found his way around the kitchen, packed the wagon, and saved her the work.

Had he also managed world peace and solved string theory?
Damn
. Charity had been there three months, and she’d still been asking one of them for the safe code until her last day.

Kyle was a different animal altogether. He was on his shit.

She fingered the tender spot on the back of her head and re-lived the moment that ground had been rushing toward her in the corral. Then his body had cushioned her, held her. He hadn’t seemed a particularly soft man—in fact, he looked every inch a cowboy with his hard-corded muscles—but he sure made a nice place to land.

Her heart thumped in her throat, and she swallowed. If he hadn’t been there when she lost her seat…then again, if he hadn’t been there to surprise her, she never would have fallen.

Jamie Banfield was never unseated.

Really, it had been Kyle’s fault
. Didn’t he know not to get in the corral with a wounded animal?
He was closer than I thought. That’s all.

“I think I’ve got everything ready.” He appeared around the side of the wagon and leaned against the bed. “I found your packing lists in one of the drawers. Brady said on the phone we had fourteen guests plus two staff. Seventeen?”

Jamie quirked an eyebrow at him. “How is fourteen plus two seventeen?”

“Fourteen guests.” He held up three fingers. “Two staff and me.”

She laughed and pushed one finger back down into his fist and touched the first one. “You.” She moved to the middle finger and held the tip. “Me. We are the two staff.”

She stared for a moment and the air seemed to charge between them.

Jamie looked up and fell into those sparkling eyes. Her whole body warmed, starting from her abdomen and radiating outward. She leaned toward him, all anticipation and forgetting.

“We’re the only staff out there for a whole week?” Kyle’s breath feathered against her face and smelled slightly of mint.

A hard lump formed in her throat.
We shouldn’t be going out on the trail like this
.
He’s married, and I’m…

She backed away. “Brady and Paul will come out with us to help set up camp, and they generally eat the first night. And they’ll bring supplies out once in mid-week beause our freezer isn’t big enough for a whole week’s supplies. But the guests help tear the camp down the last day.”

Kyle’s face screwed up in thought. “So you run the program stuff? I don’t have to help with the….” He moved his left hand around in the direction of the barn. “Y’know, the matchmaking or whatever?”

Jamie sighed. This was exactly what she missed about Charity. Since her brothers worked a ranch during the week, they kept the staff to help with cattle and sheep, and they were only on the trail occasionally. But Charity had been excited. She wanted to get involved in the programs. She was the only one who showed any enthusiasm about Jamie’s ideas.

They had planned for months. But Kyle probably didn’t want to do any of it. She’d be stuck executing plans by herself, and by the end of the week, she’d probably hate matchmaking more than she hated Kyle.

If she could just make herself hate him.