“There.”With a sigh of relief, she got to her feet.Her relief was short-lived.One glimpse and she realized that a half-clothed T.R.McGuinnes, even put out of commission by an all-day ride, was a sight to triple the heart rate of any normal female.From the looks of his powerful legs, he was well acquainted with the inside of a gym.With a new pang of conscience, she realized he’d make a good rider someday, if she hadn’t just ruined the experience for him.
He took a glob of Bag Balm from the tin and began dabbing it over the inside of his thighs.
“Not like that,” she said before she could stop herself.
He glanced up, a devilish look in his eyes, a crooked smile on his mouth.“You want to show me how?”he said softly.
Now she’d really done it.
“Think of this as a hospital emergency room,” he added, holding out the tin of cream.
She’d come this far in her rescue, and if he didn’t apply the Bag Balm correctly, it wouldn’t do much good.With grave misgivings, she accepted the tin.Kneeling beside him, she smoothed the ointment over the inside of his chafed thigh, applying enough pressure to work it into his skin.
He groaned.
“I have to massage it in a little or it won’t penetrate,” she apologized.“I know the muscles underneath are sore, too.”
“If this didn’t hurt so much,” he said with obvious effort, “I think it would be lots of fun.”
Freddy wasn’t about to comment.Instead, she concentrated on covering the reddened area with the ointment.Not far from her circling fingertips, his briefs enclosed an impressive bulge of manhood.She tried to ignore it as she spread ointment on his other thigh.As she settled into her massaging motion, he groaned again.
She recognized it as the sound of pain, not ecstasy, but her capricious imagination transformed the low, husky protest into a moan of desire.The image of T.R.making love to her sent tendrils of heat curling through her body.She looked up into his face.His eyes were closed, his head thrown back, his jaw rigid in response to the pain.
But the expression wasn’t unlike that of a man in the throes of orgasm.Her pulse quickened.She remembered the effect he’d had on her when he’d stepped into the living room of the ranch house dressed in jeans, shirt, boots and hat.There had been an air of command about him then.She’d robbed him of that in the past few hours, but if it ever reasserted itself, T.R.McGuinnes would be a man to reckon with.
His hand covered hers, stopping her movement.“That’s enough,” he said, his voice rough.
She glanced up to find his gaze conveying an unmistakable sexual message.She pulled her hand away and sat back on her heels, her heart pounding.
His smile was wry.“It seems I can’t resist you, after all.Maybe you’d better tend the stew while I get myself under control.”
One swift look confirmed that he had become aroused during the treatment.She blushed.“I’m sorry.I didn’t think?—”
“Believe me, neither did I.”
“The… the liniment should be put on your knees and feet.”
“I’ll do it in a minute.”
“Then I’ll get dinner ready.”She jumped to her feet and headed over toward the fire, which seemed cool in contrast to T.R.’s warm gaze.Damn!Her plan to make a fool of this Easterner was in shambles, and in the long run, the fool had turned out to be her.
Two hours later, they’d managed to smooth over the awkwardness between them by ignoring the incident altogether.They sat by the fire drinking coffee laced with the last of the whiskey.
T.R.leaned against the face of the cliff, a bedroll under him and his jacket covering his bare legs.“I suppose I can expect all sorts of poisonous bugs to show up in my bedroll tonight,” he said.
“I think the smell of that horse liniment will keep them away.”
“So that’s why you’re sitting on the other side of the fire.”
“You’ve got that right.”Actually, the smell of horse liniment didn’t bother her all that much.She’d just decided to keep herself as far from temptation as possible during the long night ahead.
T.R.chuckled.“Bag Balm and horse liniment.The funny thing is, I’m having a pretty good time.”
“That’s because you’ve finished off that flask.”
“Partly.But partly because we’re camping out.I’ve never done that before.”
“Not even in Boy Scouts?”
