Christmas On The Silver Horn Ranch. Stella Bagwell
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time she thought she could shut him up, he came back with something she wasn’t expecting. Perhaps if she remained quiet, he’d do the same. But she seriously doubted that would work. He seemed to be enjoying himself too much.
“Are you one of those guys who are attracted to older women?”
“Never thought about it before. You’re the first. I mean, the first older woman I’ve found attractive.”
Dear heaven, she was thirty-five. That was hardly ancient. But compared to him she felt like it. He was still very young, with so much in his life to look forward to.
You have plenty to look forward to, also, Ava. You just don’t want to see it. You’d rather stare into the past and wonder how things would’ve been if Lawrence had lived.
There it was again. That little spark in her that refused to surrender to reality. If she ever let herself be swayed by it, she’d be in big trouble, Ava thought.
“Thank you for the compliment,” she told him. “If that’s what it was meant to be. But my life consists of working, eating and sleeping.”
“No playing mixed in with all that?”
She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the tortured flesh of his shoulder. Apparently this part of his body had taken the major brunt of the flaming tree. Evidence of contusions spread away from the burned area. The yellow and purple shades told Ava he was healing, but she couldn’t help thinking how fortunate he was to be alive. He’d said he was thankful he’d been rescued, yet she wondered if he was actually aware of the extreme danger his life had been in.
“I’m not the playful type,” she answered.
Before she could guess his intention, he lifted his head and rolled onto his good shoulder so that he was looking straight at her. “Then we need to do something about that.”
There was no mistaking the wicked little grin on his face, and she promptly placed a hand at the back of his head and pushed him back down to the mattress.
“You’re in no condition to be doing anything,” she said flatly. “Except following doctor’s orders.”
His chuckle was muffled by the bedcover and for some reason the sound made her wonder what it would be like to be between the sheets with this man and have nothing between them but hot skin. How would it feel to surrender to all that masculine strength and passion?
The fact that she was even imagining such things was enough to jangle her senses. Lawrence was the only man she’d ever made love to, and since she’d lost him Ava had balked at the notion of another man touching her in an intimate way. So why was this man breaking into her safe little world? Why was he making her breath catch and her heart pound? It was crazy and scary and she had to put a quick end to it.
“I won’t be in this condition too much longer,” he reminded her.
His taunting voice broke into her runaway thoughts, and she resisted the urge to rip a piece of adhesive tape from his healthy skin. “That’s right. And once you’re healed, you won’t ever see me again.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that.”
The teasing tone of his voice had changed to a husky promise, and Ava inwardly shivered. There were all kinds of retorts and reprimands she could shoot back at him. But it was becoming clear that if she jumped into a verbal sparring match with Bowie Calhoun, she’d wind up the loser.
With her lips pressed to a determined line, she silently redressed the remainder of his wounds, then turned back to the nightstand to gather her things.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
In more ways than one, Ava thought grimly. “Yes. You may sit up and put your shirt on.”
“Aren’t you going to help me with it?”
She wanted to bark a loud, clear no. But his arm and shoulder had to hurt. To punish him because of her body’s crazy responses was hardly professional. And that was the sole reason she was here at this sprawling ranch—to be this man’s nurse.
Sighing, she reached for the gray shirt lying at the foot of the bed and carefully eased it over his left arm and shoulder and then the right. When she finally pulled the fronts together in the middle of his chest, he lifted his head and Ava found herself looking straight into his eyes. The connection caused her heart to take a wild leap.
“I’m sorry if I made you angry,” he said gently.
She dropped her gaze from his and focused on buttoning the shirt back together. “I’m not angry.”
“Good. Because I like you, Ava Archer.”
Heat suddenly rushed to her face, and in an effort to hide it, she turned and grabbed her tote.
“Don’t worry about it, Bowie. It’s just a nurse thing. You’ll get over it.”
He chuckled again. “I wouldn’t bet on that, either.”
Not daring to glance his way, she walked to the door. “Remember to keep your ankle elevated as much as possible. And make sure you don’t get your bandages wet.”
“I already know all that stuff. Tell me something I don’t know.”
She glanced over her shoulder at his fresh, rugged face and realized she felt more alive than she had in years.
A faint smile tugged at her lips even though she was trying to stop it. “I like you, too, Bowie Calhoun.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
“You’ll see me every day until my job here is finished.”
A corner of his mouth lifted in a sexy grin. “Then I’ll have to make sure your job lasts a long, long time.”
And she was going to have to make sure to keep this man at a safe distance, she thought as she quickly stepped through the door and shut it firmly behind her. Otherwise, she was going to forget she was a nurse and remember she was a woman.
Later that morning, Bowie hobbled his way down the stairs and into the family room at the back of the house. He was surprised to find his sister-in-law Lilly and Tessa, the Calhouns’ young house servant, decorating a huge Douglas fir. Colleen, his two-year-old niece, and her eleven-month-old brother, Austin, were both underfoot as they tried to get in on the fun.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Bowie asked as he approached the group. “It looks like someone is getting ready for Santa Claus.”
The cheerful boom of his voice had both children forgetting about the tree and racing over to greet their uncle. Colleen immediately grabbed his leg and hung on, while Austin held his arms up and begged for Bowie to hold him.
Lilly called to her young daughter. “Colleen! Don’t grab Uncle Bowie like that! You’re going to knock him over!”
Bowie laughed as he looked down at the two young children. Colleen was the blond-haired, blue-eyed image of her mother, while little Austin favored the Calhouns with his strawberry-colored curls and green eyes. It still amazed Bowie that Rafe had been the first one of his brothers to have children. Rafe had always been such a playboy. But falling in love with Lilly had definitely changed his rowdy ways. Now his brother was more than content to spend his free time with his wife and babies. Bowie adored women, and he liked children, too, but he couldn’t imagine making them the center of his life.
“If little Colleen can knock me over, then I’m ready for the nursing home.” Using his good arm, he scooped up Austin and gathered the boy to the right side of his chest. The effort caused him a bit of discomfort, but he hid it carefully. Showing any sign of weakness wasn’t his style. Which made his injuries that much harder to bear.
He