"No, it doesn't." She continued to rock.
Tension curled tight in Daniel's gut. He wanted to wrap Riley in his arms and protect her. That's what he did when it came to Riley. It had always been his responsibility to keep her safe, and he wanted to protect her now from everything that frightened her.
The problem was: he didn't dare touch her.
CHAPTER 9
"Beat you!" Daniel slid into his seat at the dinner table only moments before Riley arrived.
She smirked at him as she combed fingers through her damp hair. "Only because my hair takes longer to wash than yours."
"Yeah, but I have more body mass to scrub."
"Yes, you do." Her gaze raked over him, lingering momentarily on his shoulders. A rosy tint colored her cheeks, and a matching warmth heated his body.
They'd worked well together this past week. Daniel was careful to give Riley the space she needed, and he could tell she tried not to overreact any time he got too close to her. Which he’d done a lot over the past few days as they delivered the last of the calves—three this afternoon in drizzling rain.
Working with Riley had almost been like old times, and his attraction for her had settled right back into place, like a comfortable pair of old boots. Except he felt anything but comfortable. His dreams were still haunted by images of him holding an unresponsive Riley in his arms or trying to save her from a faceless man who wanted to hurt her. One night, he even became the man who chased her.
Ever since Riley admitted to having a stalker, Daniel hadwondered exactly what the man had done to strike the kind of fear in her that he saw during the phone call out by the calving sheds. She refused to talk more about it, so he hadn't pushed her, but judging by the shadows under her eyes, she wasn't sleeping any better than he was.
The guttural sound of someone clearing their throat filled the room and Daniel tore his eyes away from Riley to find Jake smirking at him. He turned his grin on Riley next. Her cheeks only grew rosier.
After Daniel's father said grace, talk quickly turned to the need to check the fence lines, so they could move the herds to the summer grazing pastures.
"The new ranch hands arrived this afternoon," his dad said. "I'll orient them tomorrow and make sure they know what they're doing, then we'll get to work on the fence lines soon."
Would working with Riley, riding the fence line, be like old times? He didn’t mind spending all day in the saddle when Riley was by his side, especially when they talked, laughed, and ate lunch at their favorite swimming hole.
Jake pulled Daniel from his thoughts when he stood. "Oh, Riley, I forgot. You got a letter in the mail today." He hurried to his office, returning moments later with an envelope.
"Am I still getting junk mail here? I haven't lived here for seven years."
"It doesn't look like junk mail." Jake handed over the envelope with a shrug. "But there's no return address either."
Riley took it and studied the front for a moment before sliding a finger under the flap and tearing it open. She'd barely pulled out the pale blue paper before she gasped and dropped the envelope and letter as though it had burned her. All color drained from her face.
A sinking sensation hit Daniel's stomach.
Riley's stalker knows where she is.
"Is something wrong?" Emily asked, her eyes glued to Riley's face.
Riley forced a smile that couldn't have been more fake and scooped up the paper and envelope with trembling hands. "No, everything's fine." She stood and walked to the kitchen.
Before the door swung closed behind her, Daniel saw her frantically tearing the paper and envelope to pieces. His first instinct was to go after her, but he had no idea what to say.
"That was odd." His mom shook her head.
"I'll say." Jake scratched the back of his neck. "What was that all about?"
Emily didn't say anything, but Daniel sensed the wheels turning in her head, analyzing Riley's behavior.
The back door of the mud room slammed, reverberating through the house, and they all jumped.
Daniel couldn't stand it anymore. He sprang to his feet. "I'm going to talk to her."
"Do you know what's going on with Riley?" His mom's question caused him to pause before opening the back door.
