Rawhide and Roses by Maddie James Page B

loyal, and he wanted to keep it that way. And Mack, he was going to have to keep his distance from Jillie, or...well, he didn’t want to think about the outcome.
    He turned his attention to his guests. The two city-slickers from Indiana had made themselves quite at home. One fancied himself a cowboy and hung close to the wranglers, and the other liked to fancy himself the dandy. But every time he inched closer to Kim, Thad felt his gut tighten.
    He was jealous of the freedom to flirt, to get close to her. Perhaps after the pack trip....
    Naw. There wouldn’t be time. She’d return to wherever it was she’d come from and he would never see her again. He just had to face it, no matter how attracted he was to the woman, as long as she was involved in the pack trip and he was the proprietor of that trip, there’d be no chance in hell that they would ever get together.
    But perhaps, just perhaps when all this was through, if he could get an email address, a phone number....
    His gaze shifted. Heat from the fire flared before him rivaling only the desire boiling up inside his gut much like the red embers roiling in front of him.     
    Watching her toss her short, blonde hair back as she stared into the fire, he studied her features. She’d separated herself from the crowd now, too, much like he had done earlier. Suddenly, it seemed she needed none of them either and he had to wonder what thoughts she contemplated as she sat there, her pert face illuminated lit by fire-glow.
    His breathing labored as his gaze traveled from her face to the open neck of her borrowed western shirt, across her shoulders and down her arms to where her elbows sat perched on her knees. His heart beat a wild cadence. It only took one look for him to remember how soft she’d felt in his hands. How warm she’d felt in his arms, next to his chest. How hard he’d been with desire for her.
    With her knees drawn up close, she cradled her chin in her hands and stared trancelike into the flames. If only, he thought...if only he knew what she was thinking. What she really thought, felt about him.
    If only... He might be damned tempted to take the risk.
    Familiar strains of a long ago forgotten tune broke through the crackling silence of the campfire. One of the wranglers sitting not far from Kim, began strumming his guitar. Thad watched as her startled stare lifted from the flames and caught Thad’s and held. His heart strummed now in rhythm to the haunting tune. Thad tore his gaze away to stare from the heat of the flames into the cool depth of the night.
    Desperado.

    Why don’t you come to your senses?
    Kim jerked back to the present as the old Eagles melody drifted to her ears. Alert now, and conscious of everyone about her, she lifted her gaze to meet Thad’s angled across the fire. Her breath caught in her throat as she wondered if he knew, if he could tell, or sense, what she had just been thinking.
    Her cheeks hot from her fantasy, she knew that at the very least she could attribute their rosy glow to the fire. Only the fire was deep within her. The ring of fire sitting before each of them was nothing compared to the one raging inside her.
    She’d been fantasizing about Thad. Of Thad slipping into her tent later that night. Of his hands all over her. His lips. His body. His....
    Kim trembled and shook her head, glancing about once more. Thad now stared off into the night and the music drifted around them.
    Oh, you’re a hard one…
    Kim studied his profile as she listened to the words of the song. Are you really such a hard man, Thad Winchester? Why are you always so gruff with me?
    The cowboy’s melody meandered off onto the night breeze and suddenly, Thad dragged his gaze away from the distant night and planted it square on Kim’s face. She held the connection between them for longer than was necessary. Finally, she shivered and glanced away.
    A warm body scooted closer on the log, startling her, and an arm snaked around her shoulders.