The Cowboy Code by Christine Wenger

Author:Christine Wenger
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2011-10-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Joe popped the snaps of his cuffs and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. If ever he hated a job, it was putting together a tent. Right now, it looked like orange-and-yellow roadkill.

Looking over at Maggie’s space right next to his, he noticed that her tent was lopsided. A slight breeze would render it uninhabitable. She’d obviously missed a step in the directions.

She held the directions close to her face, mumbling to herself. “I can do this. I can do this.”

The boys were busy putting up their tents, too. They were sleeping four to a tent, plus a cowboy with them to chaperone. He assigned them carefully, trying to break up some of the cliques that had already formed. At least they were working together as teams, helping each other, figuring out the directions.

But Maggie was alone, and she’d have to bunk alone. Joe had purposely picked a spot near hers, just in case she needed something. Cougars and bears, along with other potentially dangerous wildlife, roamed here.

Who was he kidding? He just wanted to be near her.

He touched the gun that he carried concealed on his side and felt for the bowie knife that hung from his belt buckle. Both were the cowboy’s best friends when in a jam, and nothing was going to happen to the thirteen people who were in his charge.

He looked over at Maggie and realized that he was always looking at Maggie. When she wasn’t nearby, he’d look for her to appear. Somehow, in the short time he’d known her, she always made his day brighter.

Her tent looked much better now. Maybe he ought to offer her a bribe to put up his!

But he didn’t have to. She walked toward him, smiling, her hips swaying, her hair blowing in the breeze. He could look at her long legs all day, every day.

“Need help, Joe?”

“Sure.” He didn’t, but he wanted to be with her. “Would you put that center pole together for me?”

“I’d be delighted.”

She bent over to pick up the poles, and her jeans pulled taut over her backside. He let out a puff of air, and forced himself to concentrate on laying the nylon flat on the ground.

When she handed him the pole, his hand closed over hers. She jumped slightly.

Had she noticed the spark between them, too?

She diverted her eyes from his and went back to the pile of poles. “I’ll connect the rest,” she said, bending over again.

He wanted to make love to her.

The thought rushed into his consciousness and caught him unawares.

But it was true. He wanted to make love to Maggie, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t the type to have casual flings and walk away. When he made love to a woman, it meant something.

He thought it had meant something with Ellen, but apparently she hadn’t felt the same. She’d hurt him…badly. And just when he thought he’d recovered from her betrayal, in walked Maggie McIntyre, Broadway star and guardian of one of the boys in Cowboy Quest.

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