Lightning flashed as he exited the truck.
Best snort-whistled as he shifted his weight from side to side.
“You’re all right,” Hudson soothed.For a split second, he considered turning back after he took care of the tire.He fished his cell out of his pocket and checked the weather again.The front had shifted but was expected to roll through in a matter of minutes, not hours.The decision to stay the course was made.
A forceful exhalation through Best’s nostrils as they flared sent a wave of fear rippling through Hudson.Best’s gaze fixed on something or someone behind Hudson.
He turned in time to see a mountain lion bounding toward him, in the air, not five feet from slamming into Hudson’s torso.
Shit.
1
Cassie Cartright lifted her rifle, took aim, and fired.Missed.She bit back a curse, shifted her aim, and then fired a second shot at the mountain lion a second before it slammed into its target…a rancher.He’d twisted around to block the predator with his left shoulder prior to contact.
The mountain lion snapped its head around to take a bite out of the offending bullet.A clack sounded as it bit air.The impressive animal slammed neck-first into the rancher’s shoulder before bouncing off the tall, muscled man.Blood splattered across the rancher’s clothes as well as against the trailer, indicating the bullet did its job.
Agitated, the horse whined.As for the mountain lion, the bullet had hit its hindquarters.
The rancher immediately dropped down to secure the injured animal, but it was a few seconds too late.The quick-thinking predator was in survival mode.With beauty and athletic grace, it slipped out of his grasp into the trees.
“We can follow the blood trail,” Cassie said as she started toward the rancher to make certain he hadn’t been hit by shrapnel first.
“Hudson,” he said as he held his hands up where she could see them.“And I’d appreciate it if you’d point your weapon somewhere else besides me.”
“Sorry,” she said, realizing he was right.“My gun etiquette needs some work, but then I doubt I’ll ever get used to one of these.”She motioned toward the barrel of the rifle as she tilted the end toward the ground.“I’m not good with these things.”She stopped close enough to get a whiff of a cedar-musk-outdoor-fire scent that was so good it bordered on obscenity based on her body’s reaction.“I’m Cassie, by the way.”
“I’d think twice about running after a wounded mountain lion,” Hudson said.“If we can get cell coverage, we can call it in instead to the folks who do this for a living and know how to approach and, better yet, safely capture a predator.”The man was making good points.Cassie couldn’t argue.“Plus, I’m not leaving my horse out here all by his lonesome.He’s nervous on a good day.This whole situation has him spooked and we’re about to get more weather.”
She took a second to contemplate his suggestion before deciding to agree.She gave him a quick nod.“Are you okay?Physically?”she asked.
Hudson checked himself over before answering that he was fine and retrieving a cell from the cab of his truck.The man would be considered gorgeous by most standards.Although she somehow doubted he’d think of himself in that light.At six-feet-three-inches minimum in height with a muscled, filled-out frame and a jawline that could crack concrete, the man would turn heads without flexing a muscle.Standing this close, she looked into the most intensely beautiful pair of blue eyes.Not immediately looking away was a mistake times ten.Lightning zapped her, causing an electrical current to pulse inside her.A spark ignited a small fire inside her, and she felt an almost overwhelming physical connection to a man she’d just met.
Cassie gave a mental shake of her head in an attempt to force her thoughts back to reality and away from the attraction.All she knew about the man standing almost toe-to-toe with her was that he was some kind of horse rancher and that he had compassion for animals.She had no objections to either of those things.
“I don’t have any bars out here,” he said after studying the screen.He looked up, caught her gaze again, and caused a fireworks show to go off inside her chest.
She chalked her physical response up to excitement and adrenaline, and mentally moved on.She’d had one bar on the other side of the road and a few steps into the woods.“What’s the number?I’ll call and report the incident.”
Hudson looked confused.
“I found a connection over there.”She motioned toward the trees.“But I’m figuring you have no plans to leave your horse alone while a hungry mountain lion is roaming around.”The lion was also injured, but she wasn’t in the mood to split hairs over what that meant.The animal could be somewhere nearby, bleeding out as much as it could have circled around to watch and wait until one of them was alone.
“No, I don’t, but I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of you going over there alone.”
“Please, I’ve been out here doing just fine for two days without a problem.”Cassie decided not to add…until you came along.
“Should I ask why you’re camping on Sturgess property?”
“It’s best if you leave it alone.”
The rancher didn’t come across as the type of person who would be able to.
“Thank you for saving my backside a few minutes ago,” he said after a long pause.“I’ll keep watch from the middle of the road as you make the call.Repaying the favor is the least I can do.”
“Do you really think that animal is coming back?”The thought she’d been camping in an area where this was even a possibility helped her decide it was time to pull up stakes and get back on the road.
“It’s acting out of character in attacking a human.This isn’t the first report, either.So far, she’s evaded capture.”