Cowboy Heat Wave by Kim Redford

Author:Kim Redford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2021-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Audrey ran back toward the fire, lugging the heavy fire extinguisher over one shoulder by its strap and carrying two towels in one hand. It’d taken extra time to get Max and Folgie to stay behind a closed gate. They’d wanted to continue to help, but they were safer out of the way. She’d worried about Cole during the entire process.

Finally, she could see him again. She slowed to a trot, then a walk. He was just fine…more than fine. In lieu of towels, he’d taken off his shirt to beat at what was left of the fire. She hadn’t seen him naked from the waist up until now. He was muscled from hard labor, starting at his wrists, moving all the way up to his shoulders and across his back. Sweat glistened on his taut, tanned skin in the sunlight.

She caught her breath. He was simply gorgeous—not only in body, but in mind and spirit as well. She’d come to know him so much better in the last couple of weeks, a time that seemed longer and yet not long at all. Time appeared to stand still when she was with him, or maybe it had something to do with the specialness of Wildcat Bluff County.

In any case, her initial distrust of him was dissipating fast, particularly after everything that had happened at the ranch today. His dedication to helping all creatures great and small, from wild mustangs to fighting fires to a stranger in need like her, was the antithesis of a rustler who looted from others.

She needed to trust Cole. She wanted to trust him. She believed—finally—that she was ready to trust him.

“I’m back,” she said.

He glanced over his shoulder, face darkened with soot, and smiled, eyes lighting up with pleasure.

She slipped the strap off her shoulder and held the canister out to him.

“Thanks.” He tossed her the shirt and took the can.

“Towels?”

“Don’t think we’ll need them.” He pulled the pin, aimed the nozzle, and sprayed chemical over the blackened area.

She hung the towels around her neck and let them drape down. She shook out his shirt, sending soot and debris flying, along with his musky scent.

She brushed the soft fabric with the palm of her hand, imagining doing the same thing to the contours of his chest. His shirt would never be the same, not with all the holes, from pinpricks to dime size, but then she didn’t much think her heart would ever be the same again either. She could now well understand how Lady Mauve had “left her heart in Wildcat Bluff County.” When it was time to go, Audrey might very well do the same thing.

Would she regret it? No. Happiness could never be regretted, no matter the final outcome. She was sure her great-grandmother had felt the same way. Maybe that was why she’d picked up a thread of sadness in Lady Mauve’s journal. Happy but sad at the same time. And yet she’d made enough good memories to last a lifetime.

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