“What makes you think she’s female?”Cassie asked, picking up on the reference.
“Too cunning to be a male.”He cracked a small smile.“In my experience, females are always a step ahead and can outsmart their male counterparts at every turn.”
Since Cassie couldn’t decide if that was meant as a compliment or not, she let the comment go.
“Animals like that shouldn’t be cornered and sure as hell can’t be predicted.”He shook his head.“Looked like you got a good piece of her hindquarter.”
He motioned toward the opposite side of the street.
Cassie took the hint and started walking, cell phone in one hand and rifle balanced across her forearm, while the butt of the weapon was tucked underneath her armpit.“You’re welcome, by the way.I don’t think I said that before.”
He gave a small headshake confirmation as they crossed the middle of the road.His gaze swept back and forth while occasionally checking behind them.He stopped on the opposite side of the road before pulling a bandana out of his back pocket and wiping off the blood.“I’ll wait here while you make the call.”
Cassie held out her phone.“Do you mind inputting the number?”
When Hudson took the offering, their fingers grazed.The electricity she’d felt with eye contact was nothing compared to what happened with physical contact.An explosion rocked her like she’d never experienced.Warmth spread low in her belly.Her throat dried up and cracked, like Texas soil in August heat.
She cleared her throat to ease some of the dryness.
His nose wrinkled slightly.She realized the winds had shifted, blowing her scent in his direction.She hadn’t had a good shower in two days and must smell awful, a mix of creek water, cheap soap, and sweat.Nice.
“Sorry about the smell,” she said as he handed her cell back.
He studied her.“You’re fine.But after you make the call, I’d like to know why you’re here and how long you plan to stay.”
“That’s none of your business.”The words came out harsher than intended, but she needed to slap up a boundary before he tried to get too personal.Getting close to her would put him in even more danger than he’d been in with the mountain lion.The men after Cassie wouldn’t be so easily shooed away.
“Actually, it is,” he said, “because you’re squatting on my family’s land.What happens on our ranch is very much my business.”
“I was just leaving.”
Shit.
Cassie walked away as she lifted the phone to her ear without a sideways glance toward Hudson.He hadn’t intended to upset her to the point that she planned to ditch him after making the call to wildlife services.He’d meant every word about needing to know who she was and why she was on his family’s land but could have been a little less blunt about it.Being a straight-shooter had gotten him into hot water in the past.You’d think he’d have learned by now.But had he?That would be a no.
A woman camping alone in the woods with a rifle needed compassion, not to be given a hard time, because one question jumped in front of the others: Who the hell was she running from?
His mind snapped to an ex, a boyfriend, or a husband.Women were most often hurt by those closest to them.It was one of those sad-but-true facts that caused him to clench his back teeth so hard his molars could crack when he really thought about it.His hand curled into fists even now.
Forcing a relaxed calm that he didn’t feel, he loosened his grip on the now-bloody bandana.The bullet had gotten a good piece of the mountain lion.The wounded animal would likely be nearby, ready to attack anyone who tried to help—exactly the reason they needed to call in the experts.The animal either needed medical attention or to be put out of its misery.Since he didn’t have a tranquilizer gun on him, it was time to call in the experts.
Hudson stared at the wheat-haired beauty.He hadn’t felt an instant hit of attraction like this one in far too long.But then, he’d shut down that side of him a long time ago, preferring to date women who posed no threat of growing attached to.
Funny how losing someone you loved did that to you.It caused you to tighten up the ship to avoid risking that kind of pain a second time.His own family didn’t know the details about what had happened to Adina or how he’d sat by her side and watched her beautiful brown eyes slowly lose their spark until they’d drained of everything that was her.Or how he’d held her hand until her last breath after driving her to Colorado so she could decide when the pain was too much and it was time to press the button—a button that he’d hated more than anything.Or how he’d cried like a baby when it had been time to say his final goodbye.
That kind of pain left an imprint on your heart and soul.That kind of pain caused you to close up the windows and batten down the hatches deep inside.At barely nineteen, their love might have been young, and her parents might have believed it had been nothing more than a crush, but he would argue to the death that it had been real and lasting.It had left scars.It had caused him to close up and barricade himself as if a hurricane were imminent to this day.
And he had no intention of ever feeling that brand of pain again.
Cassie turned and glanced at him.The moment their gazes met, he felt a tsunami building in his chest.It was best to ignore it as far as he was concerned, chalking it up to his overprotective nature and the fact she’d been sleeping alone in the woods with a rifle for God only knew how many days.Not even a layer of dirt could dim her beauty.
A few big raindrops plopped onto the road, making audible sounds as they smacked onto the hard surface.
He jogged over to his truck and pulled out the lunch he’d made, along with a bottle of water.At least Best had settled in the trailer.There was a small miracle in that.Hudson would take it.And he would take any other good fortune the universe decided to dish out.
By the time he turned around, Cassie was gone.
Well, hell.