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“I’ warht I’d take so left”
“There is” She’d already wrapped the reer overfor snacks betweennow, it meant he wouldn’t be back anytime soon But it was already after four It’d be dark within the hour “It’s snowing hard”
“I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I don’t do a last check The boys said we’ve got the one or two of the young ones Have to be sure before I call it a night”
Harley reached into a cupboard for one of the thers “What time will you want dinner?”
“Don’t knohen I’ll be back Could be fairly late, so just leave a plate in the oven forarer chest, a lock of thick black hair falling down over his forehead to shadow an equally dark eye
There was nothing friendly or approachable about Brock when he stood like that His wild black hair, square jaw, and dark piercing gaze that gave hi air, but Harley knew better Men, even the oals, dreams, needs They tried, they failed They made mistakes Fatal mistakes
“Any of the boys going with you?” she asked, trying to sound casual as she wrapped a generous wedge of cheddar cheese in foil, and a hunk of the su more substantial than coffee cake for his ride
He shook his head, then dragged a large calloused hand through the glossy black strands in a half-hearted atteled strands smooth “No”
She gave him a swift, troubled look
He shrugged “No point in putting the others in harm’s way”
Her frown deepened “What if you get into trouble?”
“I won’t”
She arched her brows
He gave her a quelling look
She ought to be intiy beast of ahusband of her own—and his lapse in judgment had cost them all Dearly
“It’s dangerous out there,” she said quietly “You shouldn’t go alone They invented the buddy system for a reason”
One of Brock’s black eyebrows shot up “The buddy system”
She ignored the mockery in his dark, deep voice His voice always surprised her, in part because it was so deep and husky that it vibrated in his chest, , potent drink and shadowy attics and moonlit bedrooms, but also because until now, he’d never said more than a couple of sentences to her
He wasn’t a big talker But then, he wasn’t in the house , and when he was inside, he sat at his desk, poring over accounting books and papers, or by the fire in the fa
Maybe that’s what made her so comfortable here The silence
The dearth of conversation The lack of argument The absence of tension
She needed the solitude of the Copper Mountain Ranch She needed the quiet The quiet was a balm to her soul It sounded dreadful put like that Corny as well as pathetic, but the loss of everything she knew, and everything she was, had changed her Broken her All she could do noas continue to mend Eventually she’d be able to cope with noise and chaos and fa time
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the buddy system,” she said flatly “It’s practiced by virtually everyone including the Boy Scouts”
He gave her another long look, his dark gaze resting on her as if she were a bit peculiar
Right now, she felt a bit peculiar
It would help if he stopped staring at her so hard His intense scrutiny washer overly warm, and a little bit dizzy
“I was never a Boy Scout,” he rasped
Looking at his long shaggy black hair and shadowed jaw, she could believe it “You’rethe point”
“I get your point” He stalked toward her, his dark gazing holding hers, his jaw hard
Panicked, she stepped back, and again, as he stepped close, his big body brushing hers as he reached into the cabinet for aat her fro in his dark eyes, “and don’t need coddling”
Energy surged through Harley, a hot sharp electric current that s weak, she took another step sideways, increasing the distance between them “Obviously you’re not a child”
He grabbed the pot of coffee, interrupting the brewing cycle to fill his cup “Then don’t treat me like one”
Her heart continued to pound She wasn’t scared but she definitely was bothered
Harley bit down on the inside of her cheek, holding back her first angry retort, aware that the kitchen, peaceful until just o, now crackled with tension
“You don’t think I should worry about you?” she asked, ar across her chest so he couldn’t see that her hands were tre
“It’s
not your job to worry about me”
“No, I’m just to worry about your boxers and your stomach,” she retorted
He arched an eyebrow “Is that appropriate, Miss Diekerhoff?”
His scathing tone ain, appalled that she was losing her cool now, and counted to ten She rarely lost her temper but she was otten under her skin
When she was sure she could speak caly “I’m sorry That wasn’t appropriate” Then she set the thermos down on the counter—hard, harder than she intended, and the crack of h the kitchen “And you are right What you do is none of o out in the stor paid, I won’t give it a second thought”
Heart still racing, she fled the kitchen for the adjoining mudroom to move the laundry forward Tears burned the back of her eyes and she was breathing hard and she didn’t even knohy she was so upset, only that she was
She was furious
Stupidhe was i bad could happen
Sing the curses she wouldn’t let herself utter aloud, Harley shoved the tangle of heavy, wet jeans and cords from the washer into the dryer
But testosterone didn’t make a man immortal
Just daring Risky
Foolish
Her chest ached, the pressure on her heart horrendous If David hadn’t been so confident If David hadn’t been such a proud man If David…
“What’s thethe laundry room doorway as if it were a sliver of space instead of forty inches wide by eight feet tall “You’re acting like a crazy lady”
Harley jammed the wet clothes into the dryer so hard she sla pain shooting up her arm
Tears started to her eyes Worry and regret flooded her Worry for Brock, and regret that she’d said too much She wasn’t here to talk She was here to work She knew that “I’ the tender spot on her wrist “Don’t call me crazy”