In a Cowboy's Embrace by Charlotte Maclay

Author:Charlotte Maclay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Cliff came awake with a start.

His normal morning arousal jerked to full alert with the brush of Tasha’s delicate breast against his arm and the intimate swipe of her hand across his abdomen.

Tasha? Her hair tousled, her eyes wide with alarm. My God! He didn’t remember—

“Would you do something,” she whispered, scrambling under the covers, pulling them over her head. “She can see in the window!”

“I know you’re in there!” Winifred’s distinctive twang cut through Cliff’s blur of sleep, and she pounded on the window.

He jackknifed to a sitting position, grateful the blanket hid his reaction to whatever Tasha was doing under the covers. “Winnie, what in hell are you doing out there?”

“I’m trying to interview you about the rustlers, and if you don’t let me in, in about two seconds I’m coming in anyway. The press has a right to know what’s going on. There’s a freedom of information act, you know.”

“Let her in,” Tasha pleaded, her voice muffled by the blankets. “Get her away from the window. She’ll see…”

Getting out of bed, he thanked God he’d worn his shorts to sleep in or Winnie would have gotten an X-rated view of his privates. As it was, he had to turn his back so she wouldn’t catch sight of the telltale bulge that was only now receding.

“You stay here,” he said to the lump under the covers. “I’ll get rid of her as quick as I can.” Snatching up his pants from the floor, he pulled them on and grabbed his shirt.

“I’m coming!” he shouted to Winnie.

He’d barely reached the hallway when Melissa and Stevie came running, barefoot and in their pajamas.

“What’s all that noise, Uncle Cliff?”

“It woke us up,” Stevie complained.

Hearing a groan, he shot a look at the mound of covers on the bed, then reached out to close the bedroom door. Damn, he’d never meant to embarrass Tasha. He couldn’t even remember…Naw, it wasn’t possible, but he’d been so damn tired. And he had dreamed.

“Just sheriff business, kids. No problem.”

“Is my mommy all right?” Melissa asked.

“Sure, she’s fine. I didn’t want to wake her, is all,” he ad-libbed. “Why don’t you guys go on back to bed. I’ve gotta talk to the press.” Though thinking of Winifred Bruhn as a legitimate newspaperwoman was a stretch, at best.

TASHA HUDDLED under the covers until she was sure Winnie had moved away from the window. God, she couldn’t believe that woman, of all people, had caught her in bed with Cliff.

Dear heaven, she couldn’t believe it, either.

How could she have slept with a man of such potent masculinity without even knowing it? Without making love to him? And she hadn’t. That, she would have remembered.

Getting up, she dressed hastily and tugged a brush through her unruly hair. Thank goodness Cliff had diverted the children. If they had caught her in bed with Cliff, the questions they’d ask wouldn’t bear answering. She’d always tried to be so circumspect around Melissa.

Like a coward, she waited until she heard the back door slam shut and a car start, signaling Winnie’s departure.

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