Into the Arms of a Cowboy (17 page)

He took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. Even with rain and blood mingling on his cheek, his chiseled jaw and full, sensual lips made her heart stand still. She wanted to memorize that dear face, from the sun-darkened brow to the heartbreaking brown eyes to the slightly crooked nose that lent character to his otherwise classic features.

“That,” Jess said solemnly, “was because I love you.”

Confusion and pleasure weakened her knees. “Jess, I--”

He laid one work-roughened finger over her lips, a touch which created havoc in her body. “Hush. Don’t say anything. Just think about it for a while.”

“Does this mean you’re not mad at me?”

“That’s right, I’m not.”

“And you won’t push me to--
to
tell you what I don’t want to tell you?”

“Right again.” He crushed her to his chest for a moment, and she let herself relax in his arms. She didn’t know what had caused this about-face, but she wasn’t stupid enough to argue. “Um, Jess. . . .”

“What?”

“You’re bleeding on my shirt.”

“Oh. Oh, sorry.” He let her go and took a step backwards. “Let me get cleaned up, and then we’re going out.”

Cassie followed him to the bathroom, where she wet a clean towel with disinfectant. “Out where?”

“You’ll see.” He winced as she dabbed at the blood oozing down his cheek. “Careful with that, now.”

She laughed. “Don’t be such a baby. The scratches aren’t deep.” In fact, they’d already stopped bleeding. “You won’t even need a Band-Aid.”

“The cut on my hand’s worse,” he said, sounding for all the world like a little boy in need of comfort.

Cassie managed to keep from grinning. “Let me see.”

He gave her his hand. The puncture was tiny, but she adopted a mock seriousness as she swabbed off the blood. “Hmm, yes. This is pretty grim.”
“It is?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I think we’ll need to amputate the arm.”

Jess yanked his hand from her grasp and gave her a playful swat on the rear. “Oh, very funny.”

“Hilarious, if you ask me.” She giggled. “Think you can handle it from here?”

“Go get changed into something pretty,” he growled, but his eyes danced with amusement. “We leave in ten minutes.”

In the loft, Cassie surveyed her limited wardrobe. Something pretty, he’d said. She hadn’t yet worn a long skirt made of forest-green velvet. She paired that with a lace-collared white blouse, pinned her hair up into a sleek chignon, and applied a fresh coat of tinted lip gloss.

“You look fantastic,” Jess declared. He’d emerged from the bathroom with his wet hair slicked back, wearing a clean pair of black jeans that hugged his slim hips, stretched taut over masculine thighs, and lovingly molded themselves to Jess’s firm buttocks.

Tempting. Very tempting. How would Jess respond if she suggested they stay in tonight? She could always undress him again. . . .

But he seemed set on whisking her off to some mystery destination, and she didn’t want to jeopardize his buoyant mood. She pushed her erotic fantasies to the back of her mind and followed Jess out the door.

“Where are we going?” she asked, as they climbed into his Chevy. For the first time since his rodeo accident, he took the driver’s seat. “You still haven’t said.”

He gunned the engine, then let the pickup roll down the gravel driveway. “I think it’s time we went out on a real date. How about a romantic dinner, and then a trip to the lake?”

“The lake?”

“Sure.” He grinned. “That’s where all the high school boys park with their girlfriends. Who knows?” He reached over, squeezed her thigh, and a mock leer her way. “Maybe I’ll get lucky.”

Cassie playfully batted his hand away. “Depends on the dinner,” she teased. “Are we talking about candlelight and good wine? Linen napkins? Filet mignon?”

“Um. Well. How ‘bout Lorna’s special corned beef, and more of that chocolate cheesecake? The diner’s just about the only place to eat around here.”

“Dinner at Lorna’s Diner and parking at the lake?” She struggled to swallow her laughter. “That’s what passes for a romantic date in this town?”

Jess watched her from the corner of his eye, a sober expression dampening his good humor. “If you’d rather head for Redding. . . .”

“No,” Cassie said quickly, sensing she’d bruised his feelings. “I was only joking. I’d like to stay in Bitter Creek.” She took his hand and wove her fingers through his. “As long as I’m with you,
anywhere’s
romantic.”

His hand tightened around hers. He didn’t answer, but his relief was palpable. Cassie got the feeling that, if she’d rejected his hometown, she would also be rejecting Jess. His love for Bitter Creek touched her heart. What would it be like, to call this place home? To belong, really and truly, to the mountain and the town below?

She was still thoughtful an hour and a half later, after she and Jess finished dinner and decided on a stroll down Main Street. Jess held her hand, a possessive gesture that made her feel warm, safe, and protected. He pointed out some of the attractions: a historic Victorian home; the local library, boasting brand-new Internet computers and two
storytimes
a week; a “new” crafts shop opened just six years before; and a picturesque building with a “Space for Rent” sign in the otherwise-empty plate glass window.

“You know, this is a great location,” Jess said, as he peered through the window into the dark office, with its shadowy abandoned furniture. “We’re missing a few businesses in this town. I can think of one in particular I’d like to see move in here.”

Cassie cocked her head to look up at him. “Oh? Like what?”

“Like a photo studio.” He paused, obviously watching her reaction, but she kept her expression neutral. “Sure,” he added. “People like getting regular family photos, pictures of their kids, that kind of thing, but it’s a long drive to the nearest
photo place
.”

Cassie studied the building, admiring the tall facade and dark-blue trim. For an instant, standing there with Jess, she could almost see the portraits standing on easels in the window, and the sign over the door.

Cassandra Carlisle, Photographer.

That’s what it would say, in dark blue paint. Simple. To the point.

Permanent.

She bit her lip so hard it hurt. She couldn’t get carried away like that. She just couldn’t. Dreams died hard, especially dreams this sweet.

“Well? How does that sound?” Jess asked.

Heartbreakingly wonderful. Absolutely perfect. Utterly impossible.

“I don’t know,” she said, stalling.

“Will you at least think about it?”

“Of course.” She knew she wouldn’t do much else for a while. In just that one fleeting instant, she’d imagined a whole life for herself, like a vision of paradise.

They’d arrived at Ruby Jamison’s shop. Cassie spotted Tanya inside and waved to her. The girl, her h
air caught up in a pink
scrunchie
that matched her T-shirt, gestured enthusiastically for Cassie and Jess to enter the store.

“You go on in,” Jess said. “I’ve got a quick errand to run.”

“Where?”

He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Just to the--Nowhere. I mean, it’ll just take a minute. Wait here.”

He took off in a hurry, leaving Cassie to stare after him. She could have sworn he was hiding something, just then. He’d had a shifty-eyed look about him, and an air of deception that was most unlike the Jess she thought she knew. She frowned, puzzled, and then dismissed her worries as Tanya bounded out of the dress shop.

“How are the kits?” the girl demanded. “Can I come by and see them tomorrow? Can I feed them again? Is Rascal still gobbling up Scamp’s milk, too?”

Cassie laughed and let the girl take her hand and tug her inside. “One question at a time, please.”

“Is she pestering you?” Ruby Jamison laughed and tugged at her daughter’s pony tail. “She’s got a
n
extra day off school tomorrow--a teacher in-service--and she’s talked my ear off about how she wants to see the raccoons. Do you mind?”

“Of course not. She can come over anytime.”

“I’m going to visit my sister in Redding in the morning. How about if I drop her by around ten?”

“Great,” Cassie said. She glanced around the shop. “Did you just get some of these things? I didn’t see them last time.”

Ruby’s face brightened. “Sure did. I got a new shipment yesterday. Want to take a look?”

Cassie was oohing and
aahing
over a sleek black leather miniskirt--and imagining Jess’s reaction to her wearing it--when a new customer stepped into the store.

This woman was tall and muscular, with long brown hair in a braid down her back and vivid indigo eyes. “Hi, Tanya,” she said. “Ruby, I stopped by to check on those pants you were hemming for me. How’re they coming along?”

“All done,” Ruby said. “I’ll just fetch them. Angela, have you met Jess’s friend?”

“Not yet.” Angela
took the hand Cassie offered. “
Cassie, right? I saw you at Lorna’s the other night, but we didn’t get a chance to talk.”

Cassie’s blood turned to ice in her veins. Horror closed her throat as she realized who the woman was. She hadn’t recognized her out of her uniform. “Y-you’re one of Jess’s deputies,” she said, almost choking on the words.

“Right. Good memory.” Angela was studying Cassie’s face. “You know, you do look familiar. We haven’t met before, have we?”

Oh, God. This is it. The end of the road.

Cassie fought to maintain her composure. “No, I don’t think so.”

“But I could swear I’ve seen you somewhere. Other than the diner, I mean.”

Cassie swallowed hard.
On “American’s Most Wanted,” probably.
She forced a smile. “People say that a lot, actually. I think I’ve just got one of those common faces.”

Angela narrowed her eyes and kept on staring. “No, it’s not that. It’s--”

To Cassie’s relief, Jess chose that moment to burst into the store. He greeted Angela warmly. “Looks like you finally got to meet Cassie. You’ll have to get aquatinted later, though.” He grabbed Cassie’s hand. “Sorry, folks, but I’m going to steal her away now.”

Tanya and her mother said goodbye. “Nice to meet you,” Angela added, a puzzled frown still creasing her forehead.

Cassie was glad to escape. Then, just as she slipped out the door, Jess turned back and called out something that made her heart stand still in her chest: “Oh, Angela, by the way--I’ll be back in the office tomorrow, bright and early.”

“You’re awful quiet all of a sudden,” Jess said, turning to glance at Cassie as she sat stiffly across from him in the cab of his Chevy. He’d just pulled off the main road and parked in the gravel between two tall Douglas firs.

“Just thinking,” Cassie said softly. She stared out at the lake. Moonlight kissed the dark water and Cassie’s still, pale profile. With her upswept hair and proud, uplifted chin, she looked years older tonight, almost as if she’d said goodbye to the zest and enthusiasm Jess usually found so alluring.

A breeze rippled the water and bent the silvery alders along the shore. Jess had picked the north side of the lake, a quiet, deserted place far from the beer-bottle strewn southern edge.

“I’ve always liked this spot,” he said. He waited for Cassie to tease him about bringing other women here, so he could tell her she was the first--he’d never shared his private thinking place with anyone else. But she didn’t say a word.

“What’s on your mind, Cassie?” he asked, half dreading the answer. The ring he’d bought in the antique store burned a hole in his pocket, but the time wasn’t right. Neither was the mood. Besides, he still had to put together the perfect combination of words. All the fancy romantic phrases bouncing around in his head came from movies, not from his heart.

“Jess, do you absolutely have to go back to work tomorrow?” Cassie burst out, her eyes bright with worry. “I mean, your ankle--”

Relief brought a smile to his face. Was that all? He reached for her hand. “Now, Cassie, honey, it’s sweet of you to worry, but the ankle’s fine. You saw how I’ve walked on it all day long without a problem. Besides, I’ll just be sitting at my desk tomorrow, catching up on paperwork.”

If anything, her expression grew more frightened. Her lips pressed together into a tight line to match the one between her brows. “
Darlin
’,” Jess asked, “what’s really bothering you? Is it that you don’t want to stay alone in the cabin? You can always come to town with me.”

Slowly, she shook her head. “No, forget it. It doesn’t matter. Besides, someone has to stay to feed the kits.” She smiled, an expression that didn’t quite reach her eyes. He ached to take her into his arms to comfort her. Instead, he leaned forward and switched on the radio. A Shania Twain song filled the cab:

From this moment, life has begun

From this moment, you are the one

Right beside you is where I belong