CHAPTER SIX

      MADDIE WOKE TO the sound of fire crackling in the pit next to her, the smell of bacon and daylight. She rolled over quickly, shoving the bag down as she attempted to climb out. She was surprised she’d slept so soundly. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep last night, her thoughts and the deputy keeping her up. She’d finally drifted off long after the campfire had burned out.

      She blinked at the day’s brightness, momentarily confused as to where she was. But the moment she spotted Jamison, it all came back to her.

      Deputy Jamison stood next to the creek, his broad naked back to her. He’d stripped down to nothing but his jeans and boots and now washed himself in the icy cold stream. The sun shone on the water on his back, making it glisten.

      A ripple of need shot through her so sharp and shocking that it hurt. She hadn’t felt anything close to it in years. Maybe never. Its fierce intensity made her weak with a wanting she’d thought she’d put behind her. Until that moment, she realized, she hadn’t thought of herself as a woman for a very long time.

      She quickly turned away, shaken and upset by the alien feelings. She told herself that her reaction was normal given that all she’d seen in Deputy Jamison before that moment was a lawman butting into her life and her livelihood. It didn’t matter that he had a badge.

      Now she saw the man and had to grudgingly admit he was nice looking if you liked that type. Still, he was nothing like the men she’d known all her life, although he was smart, that went without saying, and not as much of a greenhorn as she’d feared.

      When she turned back around, she found herself staring at his bare chest as he walked back toward the fire. It was broad and muscled like his back. Light brown hair formed a V that continued past the top button of his jeans.

      “Good morning,” he said cheerfully and pulled on his shirt. “I didn’t realize you were up.”

      She nodded and turned to roll up her sleeping bag. A groan rose in her throat. She’d seen half-naked men before. So why was she acting like a schoolgirl? It was enough to make her furious with herself.

      “I thought we should have breakfast before we head out,” he said behind her. “I hope you don’t mind. I took the food down from the tree. It will only take me a moment to finish cooking it.”

      The last thing she wanted was breakfast—let alone for the deputy to cook it for her.

      “I don’t really want—”

      “I’m not all that hungry, either, but I figured we might need it before the day is over,” he said, cutting off her protest.

      She hated what she’d heard in those words. It bespoke his fear of what they were going to find up ahead of them. With a start, though, she realized that wasn’t why he’d cooked.

      He’d made breakfast for her because he suspected she was the one who would need all the strength she could muster today. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had done something so thoughtful just for her. She didn’t want to be touched by his kindness. But she was.

      He also expected the worst and, with a sinking heart, she feared he might be right. To think yesterday she’d been ready to face whatever had happened on this mountain by herself. Right now, she was actually glad he’d come with her.

      He looked up from his cooking. “Your hair is beautiful.”

      His compliment knocked her off balance—and just when she was starting to accept his being here with her.

      Her mop of hair had come loose in the night. She hadn’t realized she’d been working her fingers through the thick strands to get the tangles out until he spoke. Now she felt self-conscious.

      She glanced at the reddish locks that tumbled over her shoulder. Lately she’d noticed the spun silver intertwined with the red. It had startled her since she hadn’t been aware of the passing of time or how she’d aged with it.

      He looked away to tend to breakfast as if sensing her discomfort. She’d never much cared about the way she looked in the mornings—at least not since losing Hank. Nor did she want to start again.

      It was another reason she dressed the way she did. There were a couple of old widower ranchers who had been giving her the eye. Dollars to doughnuts they just wanted her land. It didn’t matter even if they really were attracted to her. She wasn’t interested.

      Jamison looked up again, and she quickly pulled her hair up, turning her back to finish the job. She thought she could feel the deputy’s gaze warming her back as she worked her fingers through it.

      She cursed herself for letting him make her feel self-conscious. Worse, unnerve her. Her heart pounded with a long-forgotten pleasure from the compliment and a flicker of her earlier desire. Both burned through her body, igniting emotions she’d buried with her husband and son four years ago.

      For so long she hadn’t let herself feel. Every day, she rose with only work in mind. Running the ranch and trying to keep her head above water had taken all her energy. She’d had little time to think of anything else.

      Each night she’d fallen into bed, so exhausted that the only thing she had wanted or needed was sleep.

      The last thing she needed was for a man to make her feel, let alone want again, especially when it was this greenhorn.

      * * *

      JAMISON REALIZED HE’D upset Maddie and regretted saying anything. He noticed the way her fingers trembled as she fought her beautiful long mane into an obedient plait that trailed down her strong back.

      She seemed to take a steadying breath before she slapped on her hat and turned back to him and the fire. Her cheeks were heightened in color, her blue eyes bright as diamonds. She ducked her head as if afraid of what he might see in those eyes.

      He suspected it had been some time since anyone had complimented her on her appearance. He hadn’t meant to embarrass her. The words had just come out without thinking.

      “I didn’t know what you liked to eat,” he said as he offered her a plate of thick bread slices he’d toasted over the fire with strips of bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese tucked between them.

      She took it without much enthusiasm as if no hungrier than he was. Sitting, she balanced on one of the log stumps as if she’d done it hundreds of times. She probably had. This was her country. She knew it no doubt better than anything else in her life. It sustained her sheep and a part of her as well, he thought. She was at home here, more content than his wife had ever been in their expensive high-rise apartment in New York City.

      Taking a small polite bite, she chewed for a moment. Her gaze sprang up to his as she swallowed. “It’s...good.”

      She sounded so surprised it made him laugh. “Thank you for that grudging compliment,” he said with a grin.

      “I didn’t realize you could cook.”

      “I’m glad I can surprise you.”

      “Summer camp?”

      “Actually Boy Scouts.”

      “I’d have to see the badge to believe that.”

      He couldn’t help being pleased. He’d teased a smile out of her.

      “Thanks for...cooking.”

      He gave her a nod.

      She ate quickly after that, no doubt as anxious as he was to get moving. Since he’d awakened,