Page 6 of Forbidden Ride
I ignore the way she flinches when I take a seat and quickly take my boots off. She’s obviously not too afraid of me, because when she hung up her coat, she left her gun in the pocket.
“Thanks, let me show you around. It’s our family cabin. It isn’t much to look at.”
“It’s charming.” Her shoulders relax as she scans the room. “The knotted pine ceiling is gorgeous.”
I just remodeled the cabin, and I’ll be damned if I don’t smile. Jenny noticed the ceiling, one of my favorite things about the place. “Thanks. My main house is right outside West Palomino.” Obviously, I have the skills to build a palace up here if I wanted to, but I intentionally kept it small.
“West Palomino’s such a tiny town. I’m surprised we haven’t met before.”
“I know whoyouare” accidently slips out of my mouth, and I immediately get off the subject. “I travel quite a bit.”
“Wait. You know me?” She frowns. “How?”
Fuck. My brain races through hundreds of excuses, but then thankfully, I remember the last time I saw her pretty face, and decide to stick with a version of the truth. “Didn’t you win the Teacher of the Year award?”
Her eyes flare. “You saw that article?”
“Yeah. I’m one of the few people left on the planet who still reads a newspaper.”
She laughs, and the sound brings my cabin to life. “The Palomino Express. Yep.” She grins. “I get it delivered too, every Tuesday and Friday.”
“Congratulations, by the way. You deserved that award. Teachers are important.”
“Thanks.” She beams, looking me over like I’m a mirage.
I turn to the kitchen area and point, relieved she’s starting to relax around me. “So obviously this is just one big room. I don’t do much entertaining. In fact, I was just getting ready to move to Bozeman for a few months.”
“Really? Do you have any kids?”
I shake my head. “No”
“I was thinking it would be hard for them to switch schools for just a few months. But I guess you don’t have to worry about that kind of thing.” She props her hand on her hips and lets out a sigh. “It must be nice to live footloose and fancy-free sometimes. I have three.”
“How old?” Finally, I can ask her something I don’t already know.
“My big boy, Jessie, is six. The twins are four.”
“They must keep you busy.”
“They do.” She smiles, checking out the fireplace as a hard gust of wind makes the windows clatter.
I still can’t believe Jenny West is in my cabin. I swallow thickly and continue the tour. “As you can see, the sofa and TV are on that side of the room. And the bed’s there.” Her eyes lock on the bed and then shift to the couch. “You’ll take the bed. I’ll take the couch.” I wait for her to run right out the door. “And over there in the corner is the kitchen.”
She bites her lip and makes a full turn. “Well, it looks like you have everything you need here.”
“Not quite everything.”I don’t have you yet.“Come let me show you where the bathroom is.” I lead her down the small hallway into the one room I splurged on. My mother and brothers never come up here anymore. They don’t even have a key to the place, so I went all out.
She pokes her head into the spacious room. The giant claw-footed bathtub sits in the corner of the room next to a small fireplace.
Jenny’s face lights up as she enters the space. “Okay, now this is my dream bathroom.”
“Mine too. It might be a good idea to warm up and soothe some of those aches. If you’re not feeling them yet, you will tomorrow. You were knocked around pretty good tonight.”
I don’t know what’s come over me. I not only want to kiss the hell out of her, I have this overwhelming need to protect her.
“I don’t know if I would feel comforta—”
“There’s a lock on the door.”
