Chapter Seven
“I thought I fired you.” Mona entered the barn to find Reed brushing her horse.
When she crossed to where her saddle lay across a saddle tree, he made it there before her.
“You need to quit lifting heavy objects.” He carried the saddle and a blanket to the horse and tossed them on its back.
“Hey, I’m the boss. I give the orders around here.” For a moment she’d bristled at his high-handedness, but then she’d recognized that he was only trying to protect her and her baby. That made her feel entirely too warm and fuzzy inside. Not a good sensation when you’re trying to establish yourself as a ranch owner capable of doing anything a man can do.
Okay, so she was almost six months pregnant and her doctor had told her to slow down, saying pretty much the same thing Reed had. She wasn’t supposed to lift anything over twenty pounds.
Rather than argue with the help, she chose to be thankful. She did insist on tightening her own girth and bridling the mare herself. “Where’s Jesse?”
“Rosa had him down with an icepack on that eye. It was swollen shut this morning.”
“I should have fired Dusty a long time ago. He’s always been cocky and looking for trouble. More so since my father died. He didn’t think a woman could run this ranch.” She shrugged. “Maybe he was right.”
“I’m not sure anyone could do any better under the circumstances. Shorthanded, cattle rustling and…” He nodded toward her belly.
She laughed. “I’m doomed, aren’t I?”
“I wouldn’t say that. The odds are stacked against you right now, but that could change.” His gaze captured hers. “I’ll do my best to make it change.”
Deep down, she knew he meant every word and it gave her comfort she hadn’t felt in weeks. A flicker of hope sprang in her chest. With Reed helping her, she could conquer anything. She’d just have to remind herself, he wasn’t permanent. No man was.
He was nothing more that hired help, loading a saddlebag with a come-along, hammer, nails and a coil of barbed wire. He knew what needed to be done and he did it. No prodding necessary.
They rode in silence, checking the perimeter fences with a few stops along the way for her to find a lone bush to pee behind. The treeless Texas prairie wasn’t the best place for a pregnant woman to find relief. But it couldn’t be helped and Reed was considerate, giving her the necessary privacy.
Mona didn’t have anyone else to do the work, so she needed Reed to help her. The weather had been dry lately and the herd couldn’t be kept locked up long in the smaller pasture close to the house. They’d shear the grass to a nub in a day and she couldn’t afford to feed them baled hay or grain. Hell, she could barely afford groceries for the hired hands and the house, much less the animals.
“See that?” Reed nodded ahead.
They’d made it all the way around to the north pasture, the one she’d planned on turning the cattle loose in as soon as possible. It was also the most vulnerable, being next to a gravel county road. A broad tangle of barbed wire lay on the ground, leaving a gaping hole in the fence.
Reed dismounted and reached up to help Mona down.
“Thanks, but I can do it myself.”
He shrugged and stepped back. “Suit yourself.”
After Mona swung her leg over the horse, hands reached up to help her the rest of the way to the ground. Firm but gentle hands.
An electric shock ran from where his hands rested on her hips, all the way through her body. How could a woman who was almost six months pregnant and whose body was bulky and misshapen feel desire for a stranger? But she did. An overwhelming urge to feel his hands on her naked skin washed across her, making her nerves tingle with awareness.
As her feet touched the ground, she let herself lean into him, inhaling the scent of leather and prairie on his skin. So earthy and fresh, not coated in cologne and filled with lies.
“See these?” He released her and squatted on the ground beside the barbed wire. He pointed at grooves in the ground from knobby tires. “Four-wheeler tracks. Looks like they originate from the county road and go into your property, what I would guess to be a long way. If you want, I could follow them.”
“Not necessary. They were fishing for cattle and didn’t find any within easy range.”
“Good thing Fernando had them penned closer to the house.”
“Yeah.” Her chest tightened. “I can’t keep this up. Either I lose cattle to thieves or lose them to starvation.” Her eyes stung with mounting moisture. “Damn it.” She brushed at a tear, only more fell in a slow, steady stream. She used the back of her blue chambray sleeve and wiped at the tears until she soaked her sleeve. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to stop.”
Reed straightened and dug into his back pocket, unearthing a red bandanna. “Let me.” As careful as a surgeon, he dabbed at her eyes, plucking the loose strands of hair off her wet cheeks and pushing them behind her ear. “Better?”
Mona sniffed, more tears trickling down her face. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“It’s all part of the cowboy-to-the-rescue job. Didn’t you read my résumé?”
She laughed, then hiccupped and snatched the bandanna from him, her fingers colliding with his for longer than necessary. “Actually, no. You never gave me one.”
“What kind of boss are you? You should always check out a man’s references before hiring him. You never know when he might be a fugitive, running away from the law.” He raised her hand to capture yet another tear with the bandanna she clutched.
“Are you?”
“A fugitive?” His hand fell to his side, his gaze never leaving her.
“Not running away from something or someone?”
Reed stared at her for a long time, and then turned toward his saddlebag. “No.”
Had she struck a chord that hurt?
He didn’t give her a chance to ask further questions. Instead, he went to work attaching a strand of the wire he’d brought to the cut wire to make it longer. Then he hooked the come-along around a fence post and tied the wire to the end.
“Stand back in case the wire snaps.”
Chafing a bit at his demands, Mona stepped back. This was work she could do with her eyes closed. But he was right. If the wire snapped, she could injure her baby as well as herself.
While Reed worked each of the four wires, Mona handed him supplies, making sure she moved away when it came to stretching the wire taut. But she had plenty of time to watch him, her mouth growing dry as he bent, flexed and strained his muscles.
“Could you hand me the hammer?” He held out his hand. “And tell me why you jumped into the middle of last night’s fight?”
She stared at him a moment, letting the questions sink in, taken aback by the second one. She grabbed the hammer from his saddlebag and laid it in his outstretched palm a little harder than necessary. “I had to. Dusty would have killed Jesse.”
“He could have killed you and your baby as well.” He cranked the come-along until the bottom strand of barbed wire stretched tight. Then he positioned the horseshoe-shaped nail over the wire and hammered it into the post.
Even after he’d hammered the second nail in, Mona didn’t have a response for him. He was right. Almost six months pregnant wasn’t the stage at which a woman should be jumping into a fight. But he didn’t have to point it out to her, she knew it. That he was right made her mad. “Is this your idea of casual conversation?”
He straightened and walked to where she stood beside his horse.
The closer he came, the less air entered her lungs until she breathed in shallow breaths, her body alert and ready. For what?
He stopped with his toes almost touching hers, then he leaned toward her, as if he would kiss her. “Are you bent on losing that baby?” He reached out his hand, skimming past her shoulder to snag the wire cutters from his saddlebag. His mouth brushed close to her ear, but he returned to the fence without laying one lip on her.
He might as well have. Mona labored to inhale and exhale at a normal rate and her blood raced through her veins. Damn the man. He had to know his effect on her, or why tease her like he’d just done? “Why did you quit the sheriff’s department?” There, that ought to cool his heels.
Her question made him pause while tying another strand of barbed wire to the next cut piece of wire. “Did you know Tyler Jones?” He wrapped the wire, using more force than necessary.
She shook her head. “I didn’t know him personally, but I’d heard about his accident. Such a shame. He was so young. Twenty-four, right?”
“Twenty-four, with a brand-new baby and a young wife.” He hooked the come-along to the second wire and cranked it several notches. “Despite what the newspaper said, he didn’t have an accident. He was run off the road while out investigating a call from someone who’d called in a suspected cattle rustling. The sheriff sent him out there alone, no backup. It was my night off, but I heard the call over my home scanner.” Reed cranked the wire tighter, his lips set in a thin line. “I called the sheriff and told him Tyler needed backup. When he refused to send it, I offered to go myself. The sheriff ordered me to stand down. I refused the order. I found Tyler’s car. I was the one who told his wife. She just held her baby and cried.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Parker Lee knew better.”
“So you quit?”
“I couldn’t work for a man who didn’t care enough about the people who work with him.”
Mona nodded. “What keeps you here?”
“I came back to the panhandle to be close to my mother after she’d had a stroke.”
Mona’s heart squeezed. “I can understand. I wish I’d had more time with my mother and father. Is your father still alive?”
Reed didn’t answer.
After a minute passed, Mona got the message. “I’m sorry. I take it he is and you two don’t talk much.”
“I recently learned the man I thought was my father was only my stepfather and not a very good one at that.”
“And you don’t know who your father is?” Her breath caught in her throat. “Your mother never told you.” Mona turned away, grabbing for the bandanna she’d stuffed in her back pocket before the tears fell. She couldn’t tell anyone who the father of her baby was. The stakes were too high.
What had been Reed’s mother’s reason? Only a mother determined to protect her baby would keep a secret for so many years.
“No, my mother never told me. She let me believe my stepfather was my real father until last night.”
Mona spun to face him. “I’m sorry.”
“Actually it was a relief. For years, I thought he couldn’t love me because of something I did. But it wasn’t because of what I did, but who I was.”
Mona crossed over to where Reed stood and laid her hand on his arm, feeling awkward but wanting him to know she cared. “It must have been tough to hear something like that.”
He grabbed her wrist and held it away from him. “Will you lie to your child?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my baby. No one will know who the father is, including the child. At least until he or she is grown and can understand my reasons.”
He stared at her a long time before he let her go. “It’s your business.”
She rubbed her wrist and put distance between them. Yeah, it was her business, and Reed wasn’t. She’d do well to remember that.
* * *
W HAT HAD COME over him? Mona wasn’t his mother. For that matter, he didn’t know the reasons his mother had kept her secret. Many women who’d been raped didn’t tell because of the shame they felt. Had his mother felt too ashamed to go to the police? Or had his father been someone of influence who could have hurt her more or taken her baby away from him.
Had Mona been raped like his mother? Was that why she was afraid to say anything?
A quick glance at the woman willing to face a herd of wild boars gave him his answer. No, shame wasn’t it. If she’d been raped, she’d have gone to the nearest law enforcement agency and told them.
Then again, she seemed as aware of Parker Lee’s shortcomings as a law enforcement official as he was. Whatever her reason for keeping her secret, as he’d told her, was her business.
Reed hammered another nail into the fence post and moved on to the next wire, stretching it taut. He ratcheted the come-along, testing the tightness with each click of the crank.
On his last crank, the wire snapped at the other end. “Get back!” he yelled and dived for the side, but too late. All he could do was fling himself to the ground, cover his face and hope for the best. Because his end was still tied to the come-along, the long strand contracted like an accordion, whipping back toward Reed.
“Reed!” Mona screamed.
Metal spikes pierced his skin, tearing through his jeans, shirt and scalp.
“Stay back until it stops bouncing.” With his head covered, he couldn’t see if she was doing as he asked. He could only hope she was. Being wrapped in barbed wire was no picnic. It hurt like hell.
When the wire quit vibrating, Reed tried to move. Even the slightest movement made the barbs dig deeper into some area of his body.
“Stay completely still. I’ve got the wire cutters. I’ll get you out.” Although her voice shook, he could tell she was trying to keep him calm.
“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere until this stuff is cut off. But not by you. Leave me here and go get Fernando. I don’t want you getting tangled up in this mess as well.”
“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing.” A snipping sound was accompanied by a strand of the barbed wire loosening its sharp grip on his shoulder. Another snip and she lifted away the strand piercing his scalp.
“Thanks, that one was hurting.”
“And bleeding.” She touched something to his head.
“We can fix the blood later.”
“Right.” She went back to work, cutting one strand at a time until he was free.
When she removed the last strand from the back of his thigh, Mona sat back in the dirt, sweat sliding down the side of her face. “There. You can move now.”
Reed sat up, wincing. “Now I know what my dog felt like after his losing battle with a porcupine.”
“You have a few cuts here and there, but you’ll live. Come on, let’s get you back to the ranch house.”
“Not until I get this fence finished.”
“No way. Those barbs were rusty. When was your last tetanus shot?”
“Less than a year ago.”
“Good thing. Still, you can get infections from puncture wounds.”
“We’ll leave when I finish this fence.” He made her wait until he had the last two strands nailed in place.
Only then did he consider heading back to the house. He’d inspected the other end of the wire that had wrapped around him. Someone had cut it deliberately. Not all four of the strands, just the one. As though setting it up to snap when stretched tight.
Anger, edged by dread, shot heat throughout his body. What if Mona had been tightening that wire? What if he’d listened to her and left when she’d said he was fired? She’d have been alone, trapped in the wire.
No, Fernando would have gone with her. He would have pulled her free.
Still, despite the pain and sting of all the puncture wounds on his body, he was glad he was the one who’d been injured, not Mona.
When they arrived at the house, it was empty, with a note on the counter from Rosa and Fernando. Fernando had gone with Rosa to buy supplies. They’d be back after dinner with Catalina.
“You can be first in the shower. I have a call to make.” He eased his cowboy hat off his head, wincing when the dried blood in his hair stuck to his hat for a second.
“Are you sure? You should get yours first. You look terrible.”
He smiled. “Thanks.”
“No, really. The sooner you’re clean, the better I’ll feel.”
“I have to make a call first,” he repeated. “Go on.” He shooed her toward her bedroom and headed for the phone, hoping he’d be able to get in touch with a friend of his in Chicago. He had a favor to ask.
* * *
M ONA HURRIED through her shower, being careful not to use all the hot water. Reed had been good about her cutting away all the barbed wire, but he had to be hurting still.
With her hair wrapped in a towel, wearing nothing but shorts and a cotton blouse half buttoned and tied loosely over the bump at her waist, Mona hustled out of the shower. “Your turn,” she shouted, shutting the door to her bedroom behind her.
After swiping a brush through her tangled hair, she checked her face and clothes. Because the air conditioner wasn’t keeping up with the heat outside, Mona had chosen shorts. Were they too revealing? With Rosa and Fernando out of the house for the evening, Mona was alone with Reed. Alone and facing duties normally performed by Rosa—cooking and tending to wounds. Two things Mona had relied on Rosa to do all her life. Where did she start? “Band-Aids and ointment.” She’d worry about food later. Maybe a can of soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches?
Mona rifled through the first-aid kit located in the kitchen, scrounging a tube of antibiotic cream and a full box of Band-Aids. He’d need the whole thing with the number of holes he had in his body.
The longer he took, the more agitated Mona became. She tugged a skillet and a can of soup out of the cabinet. What was taking him so long? A quick glance at the clock and her face burned. Five minutes had passed. Okay, so she wasn’t anxious to apply the cream to his wounds. Or was she?
Blood rushed from her head to her belly and lower, making her hot in places she hadn’t been since she’d found out she was pregnant. The blouse she wore had been loose until her boobs had grown. Now her nipples puckered and pressed against the white cotton. They might as well be neon blinking lights. On her way back to her bedroom to change, the bathroom door opened and Reed stepped into her path.
She’d been hell-bent on changing and didn’t see the door open or Reed step out until she ran headfirst into his broad, naked chest.
Her nose smashed against the coarse blond hairs scattered across his bronzed chest. The man must have gone shirtless a lot to be that tanned. He smelled of soap and man. And he was wearing stretchy gray gym shorts, displaying thickly muscled thighs, slightly lighter than his chest, but still tanned and gorgeous.
Mona’s knees melted and she almost collapsed in a puddle in front of him, if he hadn’t grasped her arms and held tight. “Oh, you’re done.” Ranch owner to blithering idiot in ten seconds flat.
A smile curled his lips. “I can be quick when it hurts.”
At the mention of pain, Mona snapped out of her stupor and spun around. “Oh yes. I have Band-Aids and ointment in the kitchen for you. Why don’t you lie down on your bed. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Reed followed her until he reached the doorway to his room, where he stopped. Mona continued to the kitchen.
With him behind her, Mona wondered what he thought of seeing so much of her legs. She’d been in jeans every time she’d seen him before. As conspicuous as she felt, she might as well have been naked.
Armed with the tube of antibiotic ointment and Band-Aids, she returned to his room.
Reed stood beside the window, staring out at the sunset.
She steeled herself to act impersonal and businesslike, when all she wanted to do was drool. “Lie down on the bed on your stomach.” While he complied, she turned her back, retraining her body in the necessary art of breathing. What was wrong with her? Had he been Jesse or Fernando, she wouldn’t hesitate for a second. Nor would she be breathing as though she’d been running for the past fifteen minutes. If she were honest with herself, she’d recognize the fear, apprehension and unquenchable desire, all raging within her. Her body was on fire!
Boy, she was in over her head. To keep from flapping her hands, she grabbed the ointment and unscrewed the top. “Where shall I start?” When she finally looked at him, he was lying on his side smiling up at her.
“You don’t have to do this.” Reed held out his hand. “Give me the ointment, I can do it myself.”
That smile rankled her. Did he think she couldn’t do the job, couldn’t remain impartial in the application of first-aid on one of her men? “No, you can’t reach the middle of your back. If Rosa were here, she’d do it. Since she’s not, it’s up to me.” She moved closer to the bed, her breath coming in short gasps. His back was every bit as yummy as his front. Broad shoulders, rippled with muscles, the skin tanned a nut brown. With a dab of ointment on the tip of her finger, she touched it to the first puncture wound.
The muscles of his back contracted and he shivered.
“I’m sorry, did that hurt?” She touched his arm with her other hand.
“No, just get it done.” His words were tight, as though he’d said them with teeth clenched.
She must have hurt him. At the next wound on his shoulders, she dabbed gently and carefully rubbed the cream into the wound, using a slow circular motion. His skin heated beneath her fingertips and she widened her motion to include the full expanse of his right shoulder.
His skin stretched tightly over muscles as hard as steel. When she moved to the other side, the story was the same. The man obviously worked out. No man could have muscles that big without making the effort to use them. Hell, he’d lifted her on more than one occasion without any effort whatsoever. His arms had been like steel bands holding her steady.
Her hands moved lower, massaging the ointment into the puncture holes around his lower back. Mona tugged her shirt away from her breasts, the fabric sticking to her skin. Was the air conditioner working at all?
“I could wait until Rosa gets back.”
“No. She’ll be tired and by then, infection might have set in. Did the barbed wire go through your jeans?” Her hand hovered over the elastic band of his shorts, her mind going blank beyond wanting to move the shorts lower.
Reed rolled to the side and grabbed her wrist. “I’ll take care of the rest.” He sat up, swinging his knees over the side of the bed. Still he didn’t let go of her hand.
“Are you sure?” Her lips were so dry, she ran her tongue across them.
“What are you doing, Mona?” His grip tightened, drawing her closer until she stood between his naked knees, skin touching skin.
“I thought you knew.” Mona’s head spun, her heart beating too fast. What was she doing? Her gaze locked in on his lips and she swayed toward him.
Reed dropped her hand, captured her hip and dragged her against his chest. His fingers dug into her thick, damp hair, winding around a heavy strand. “This won’t solve your problems, but damned if I can resist.” Then his lips descended on hers, at first crushing them, his tongue pushing past her teeth to tangle with hers.
He tasted of mint and smelled of soap, a fresh combination, completely sexy. Mona sank against him, her bottom finding purchase on his thigh.
With a gentle twist he had her lying beside him on the mattress.
Her arms circled his neck, bringing those incredible lips back to hers. Mona could die this way and be happy.
Reed’s hand smoothed across her collarbone and down to the first button on her cotton shirt. With a flick of his fingers, that one loosened, exposing more of her breasts.
The juncture of her thighs tingled deliciously. She wanted him more than she’d wanted any man. And though she knew she shouldn’t, she couldn’t stop herself.
The next two buttons came undone, the knot the only thing keeping the blouse from gaping open.
Mona’s hands rose to remove the knot, but Reed brushed them aside. He bent to touch his lips to her throat, blazing a trail down her neck and lower to the valley between her breasts.
His fingers removed the knot, spreading her shirt wide enough he could stare down at her.
A burst of panic overcame her. He’d see her body for what it was. Pregnant and unappealing. Breasts too large, the lump of her baby protruding as a reminder she’d been with another man. Tiny stretch marks marring her skin.
Mona laid still, her breath caught in her throat, those dratted tears threatening to fall.
Reed’s hand lifted to cup one breast, massaging the tip to a hard little nub. His mouth descended on the other, drawing it between his lips and teasing it with his tongue until Mona arched off the bed, pushing closer to him.
Her fears evaporated momentarily in the ecstasy of his touch, until his hand slipped lower to the gentle slope of her belly.
Mona reached up and captured his fingers in hers. Her brain reengaging, reason flooding back, shoving aside the blinding web of desire. “No. I can’t. I shouldn’t.” With a sob rising in her throat, Mona scrambled off the bed and ran out of the room.
Alone in her room with door locked, she let the tears fall unchecked. She knew what she’d been feeling, but what had she been thinking? He was the hired help. She was an unmarried ranch owner on the verge of losing everything. She sank to the edge of the bed and buried her head in her hands, silent sobs racking her body.
“Mona?” Reed called out to her through the wood-paneled door.
Mona buried her head under her pillow to shut out the sound. She couldn’t go to him. He was her employee, not her lifeline. She’d made her bed nearly six months ago, choosing to believe in a man unworthy of her affection. It was her mistake to live with. Not that her child would ever feel like a mistake. But the father would never know, if she could help it.
And Reed deserved a woman who didn’t have so many strikes against her.
The long day and even longer bout with tears, something she didn’t indulge in often, took their toll on Mona and she fell asleep.
Not until the fifth ring did she hear the phone through the thickness of her pillow. By then it stopped ringing. The blue numbers on her digital alarm clock indicated 11:38. Who would call that late?
The next thing she knew, her door was being attacked by a jackhammer. The banging was so loud, the baby kicked a protest against her ribs.
“I’m coming.” With a hand over her belly to calm her child, she hurried to the door and yanked it open.
Reed stood in front of her, fully dressed in jeans, shirt and boots. “Get some clothes on. Catalina’s been taken to the hospital in Amarillo.”