“Okay, so do I.”
He gave her thigh a squeeze.“If it happens again, I’ll make no noble guarantees about my behavior.I’d take you on any terms.Any terms at all.”
Warmth rushed through her.“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“See that you do.”He released her.
She wanted to stay, wanted to make love to him more than she’d ever wanted that with any man.The slamming of the truck’s door propelled her reluctantly up the stairs.
ChapterFourteen
Quinn’s emotions were in a shambles, but he could pick one truth out of this mess.He should never make Jo choose between him and the Bar None.Maybe in a moment of sexual weakness she’d choose him and hate him forever for causing her to lose this ranch.
Emmy Lou made a lot of racket coming into the house.Quinn suspected she was giving notice in case he and Jo were in the middle of… exactly what they’d been in the middle of.
“I’m back!”the housekeeper announced in a loud voice as she closed the front door with a bang and bustled into the kitchen with a paper sack in each arm.
“Need any help?”Quinn called.He was almost in shape to render aid.Almost.
“I’ve got it, thanks.”She sounded breathless.
Quinn flashed on an old memory—coming home from a hot date and discovering his mother still up watching a movie on television.He’d responded to her greeting in that same breathless way before hurrying to his bedroom to see whether his shirt was buttoned up wrong or he had lipstick smeared across his mouth.Sure enough, once Emmy Lou dumped her bags in the kitchen, she scurried down the hall toward her bedroom.Apparently everyone had some repair work to do.
Quinn took his time standing, then turned his back to the door to adjust himself.He’d had uncomfortable erections before, but nothing to compare with the pain of being saddle sore and aroused at the same time.He had new respect for cowboys who could ride all day and make love all night.They must be tough in places he’d never considered needed toughening.
Finally he was able to crouch and lift the seat cushion to retrieve the remote.As he reached for it, he noticed a movement next to his foot.He leaped back, knocking over the coffee table in the process.
“What on earth is going on in here?”Emmy Lou appeared in the doorway, her plump cheeks flushed.
“Stay back!”Quinn glanced around for a weapon and settled on the shovel from the fireplace tool set.By the time he had it in his hand, the creature had scuttled under the sofa.
“What is it?”Emmy Lou put her hand to her throat.“A rattlesnake?”
“It’s not a snake.”Quinn’s insides were flipping around, but he’d die before admitting it.He’d been raised to be a protector.He had to slay this beast.
“Then what is it, for heaven’s sake?”
Quinn thought of Jo lying on the sofa, her soft skin exposed, and shuddered.Then he thought of what might have happened if he’d unzipped his jeans, and he nearly passed out.
“Quinn, tell me what you’ve found.”
“I don’t know.”He gripped the shovel and raised it over his head as he crept slowly toward the sofa.“But it’s a monster,” he said, his voice quivering.
“A rat?”Emmy Lou asked.
“You have rats out here, too?”Quinn wondered how anybody in Montana slept at night.
”Well, of course.”
“Well, it’s not a rat or a mouse.It had a bunch of legs.”
“Oh, a bug.”With a chuckle, Emmy Lou took off her shoe and walked to the sofa.
“Stay back!”Quinn warned.“I’ll handle this.”
“If you whack that bug with the fireplace shovel you’ll spray soot from here to kingdom come.Put that thing down and I’ll take care of this, whatever it is.”
“It had fangs.”
