Cord shrugged and tucked his hands into his pants pockets. It was a gesture most people did when they were uncomfortable with the subject, so she gave him a bright, brittle smile. “I guess you want to know why I hiredyou.”
Instead of accepting her hand off like any other normal man would, he continued to hold her gaze hostage. “Doesn’t matter if you never knew him, stillhurts.”
Suddenly she remembered how truly awful Cord’s parents had been. One night in high school, he’d broken down in front of her at a party, half drunk and all the way sad. He’d admitted he’d spent many, many nights at his cousin’s house just to get away from his own. That night was also memorable for another reason…she’d made a single desperate attempt to throw herself at him. He’d firmly set her away, insisting he didn’t want to mess up their friendship, and spent the rest of the night hooking up with the co-captain of the cheerleading squad. Even all these years later, the memory made her heart thud with embarrassment andhurt.
“Anyway, I’m just about through with taking care of my horse. Let me finish up and I’ll brief you on the situation.” Forcing herself to be all business, she brushed past him and walked into the darkened tack room, fingers fumbling blindly through the tackle box of medicine propped against the dusty woodwall.
Never in a million years had she dreamed the security company would send this man to protect her. She needed a minute to collectherself.
She felt his presence behind her and spun, knocking over a spray bottle of fly repellent in the process. With lightning reflexes, his arm shot out and caught it before it hit the floor and, just as calmly and carefully, set it back on its table. He took a step closer, closing the gap between them so that all the air seemed to be sucked out of the smallcloset.
His hand lifted and skimmed across her cheek, tracing the curve of her ear. “I had no idea you were the Sam Bishop I’d been assignedto.”
Her heart kicked into overdrive, bumping against her chest so quickly she couldn’t discern one beat from the next. “Is that aproblem?”
Dear Lord, it was a problem for her. The asshole she’d left behind in Atlanta had put a bitter taste in her mouth for men in general. She was woman enough to admit she’d run out to this ranch as an excuse to get out of that town and start over. Ground herself in hard work and achieve herdreams.
And hadn’t she done justthat?
“Not at all.” His voice dropped, deep and rough and sexy ashell.
She licked her lips, searching his gaze for any hint as to what he wasthinking.
She should say something, break this strange spell that had taken hold of her, but she could no more move than she could force the earth to revolvebackward.
“Samantha,” he whispered, lowering his head afraction.
She just stood there, her core melting, needing him to touchher.
His eyes dipped to her lips and her body thrummed in anticipation. This was the kiss she’d waited for since she was sixteen years old. And they were in a barn. And she was covered in horse manure. And she didn’tcare.
Cord’s lips hovered inches from hers, his hot breath fanning over her cheeks. Her eyes drifted shut and she lifted up onto her toes, eager to meet him in the middle. Her every single sense was finely attuned toCord.
“Hey, Sam, I think something’s wrong with Diablo.” Matt’s voice jerked her from the dream and she stumbled back in shock. Cord’s arms snaked out, wrapping around her waist and holding her up right. He squeezed her to his washboard stomach, her aching breasts pressing into his incredibly hard chest. The thick layer of blue jeans she wore pressed against his hips and she felt her eyes widen a fraction of an inch as her stomach met evidence of hisarousal.
“Uh, just a minute, Matt. I’ve got the antibiotics here.” She managed to drag her eyes off Cord long enough to glance out of the closet. Matt was staring at her watchfully from the entrance. As if he were ready to dive from his wheelchair and protect her at a moment’s notice. And then the reality of her situation crashed down on her. This had to look pretty bad. Drawing on her reserves, Sam drew in a deep breath and stepped away. “I’ll be there in just aminute.”
“This guy’s not botheringyou?”
She gave Matt a reassuring smile. “Absolutely not. Be rightthere.”
Cord glanced over his shoulder, watching Matt out of the corner of his eye. Sam waited until the two of them were alone again before speaking. “I’ve got to take care of the horse. If you want to head into the house, Ryder should be there. He can get you something to eat or drink. I should be no longer than five or tenminutes.”
She grabbed the ointment and took a wide step around Cord, putting as much distance between them as shecould.
Her body’s reaction to him had been swift and violent and she needed a moment to gather her nerves. No matter how badly she wanted this man, she wasn’t willing to sacrifice the hard-earned position of respect she’d established at HopeRanch.
