Page 24 of Hot For You

He barely kept himself from nuzzling her hair as he held her. “Sometimes you’ve got to just give in to the doctor whether you want to or not.”

She gave a soft laugh. “If you say so, Dr. McBride.”

“I say so.” He gauged how far it was back to the house. It was a good twenty-five minutes away from where they were now. “Now do what I said and relax the best you can.”

As she settled more fully against him, she sighed. Even though she was injured, his body reacted to her firm bottom against his groin. He ground his teeth, trying to think about something that would get his mind onto other things.

He let her rest and she didn’t seem inclined to talk, which was expected after this kind of injury.

“Tell me about growing up on the ranch,” she said after a while.

He told her some stories from his childhood, which brought back memories he hadn’t thought about in a long while.

Clint and Cody had both been into rodeo from a young age, but Clint had been the one who excelled at it and had gone on to be a champion when they were out of their teens. Clint had left at the height of his career. Cody had focused on ranching before he decided to go to college to get a degree and get on with the Prescott Fire Department.

“Why did you choose to go into that field?” she asked.

“I always admired firefighters,” he said. “When I was just a kid I remember firefighters coming to my school and telling us about their jobs. I guess that’s when the seed was planted. I went into ranching to start with because that’s what my family did. I enjoy it, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as serving the community as a firefighter.” He thought about those days. “But I love ranching, too, so I have the best of both worlds.”

“It sounds like you do,” she said softly.

They reached the ranch and rode straight up to the house. He dismounted then helped her get off the horse and left Holly and Molly waiting outside. Carilyn still seemed uninjured with the exception of the concussion and head wound.

Inside he had her lie on the couch. “How’s the pain?” he asked.

“I have a dull headache.” She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “I think the Tylenol is helping keep a full blown headache away.”

“I’ll get you some water.” He stood and went to the kitchen to get her a glass of ice water and returned a few moments later.

After she’d taken a few sips of the water, he set the glass on the end table. “You rest now. I’m going to check on you every now and then. Okay?”

She let out a sigh. “Right now rest sounds good.”

“I’m going to let you sleep for a couple of hours.” He gently stroked her hair from her face. “I’ll wake you up to check on you then.”

“I’m fine.” She sighed. “I’ll just relax a little.”

In a matter of moments she fell asleep, her breathing becoming slow and even.

He watched her until she fell asleep, her features relaxed, the tension in her forehead vanishing. She was beautiful with loose tendrils of her hair around her face, the sprinkling of freckles against her pale skin. She was a little too pale, but she should be fine with some rest.

Tension had formed in his chest the moment she was thrown from the horse, and the tension had stayed. He’d invited her to go riding and she had ended up being in an accident and was now injured. He gritted his teeth. Thank God it hadn’t been any worse.

He shook his head. It was possible Carilyn would focus on the negatives of his lifestyle because of the accident. He wouldn’t blame her, but he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

With one last look at her, he got up and left her to sleep. He headed outside to take care of Holly and Molly in record time so that he could check on Carilyn again.

When he returned to the house, he looked in on her and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He walked away from where she lay and headed through the archway to his office. As he reached his desk, his cell phone rang. He drew it out of the holster on his belt as he settled in his seat.

The caller ID told him it was Reese. “How’s it going?” Cody asked as he answered.

“I have an update for you on the arsonist case regarding Janice Barnhart.” Reese sounded grim. “We found her vehicle abandoned in the Bradshaw Mountains. There’s no trace of her with the exception of her purse, which was left in the car.”

Cody frowned and started to pace as he spoke. “Any chance she’s just out for a walk?”

“Her car is covered in at least a week’s worth of dust and pine needles,” Reese said and then added, “We located her parents in Phoenix and they haven’t heard from Ms. Barnhart in a week. Her parents said she usually contacts them on Sunday afternoons. They hadn’t been too worried because she has missed a Sunday or two in the past.”

Reese’s mouth tightened as he continued, “Janice told her parents that she would be in town this week working on designing a new dress shop that she plans on opening in the fall. Her parents said she would have told them if she was going out of town.”

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