The Consummate Cowboy

She brushed her teeth, gathered her things and unlocked the bathroom door. When she opened it, Zach turned to face her. He stood barechested and barefooted, the top button of his jeans unfastened. Surprised to find him only yards away, she stared at him, wondering whether he had been waiting to get into the bathroom. His gaze drifted down over her and back up again, and she felt her body tingle as if in that slow assessment he had run his hands over her.

Zach knew he was staring, but he couldn’t stop. Her hair was a curly halo around her head. The shirt hid her figure, but it ended mid-thigh and revealed long, long shapely legs. His body tightened and responded, just looking at her. He drew a deep breath and met her wide-eyed gaze. Against all better judgment, he was drawn to her. He moved slowly closer. “My shirt never looked so good.”

“Thank you, I suppose,” she said as if she couldn’t get her breath. She didn’t take her eyes from his as she waved her hand. “You can have the bathroom now.”

Emily’s pulse drummed when he came closer. He stopped only inches away and reached out to touch her hair. “I can’t believe you don’t date.”

“I have a demanding job that I love,” she said.

He shook his head. “There has to be more to it than that. Sour love affair, someone hurt you, something....”

She bit her lip as she stared at him. “My sister hasn’t been an example to copy,” she said, and saw a flicker in the depths of his eyes. Had she hurt him with her blunt answer? “I can’t imagine passing on the genes that I carry.”

“That’s the reason?” he asked with arched eyebrows. “I thought you meant there was a physical problem.”

“No. My family life isn’t the best. I’m afraid of passing on their mistakes. I’m afraid of becoming like them. My family is worse than the Foggs you told me about. My father is in prison.” She was barely aware of what she was saying. She could feel the tension crackle between them. Then Zach’s gaze lowered to her mouth and her breathing stopped. She wanted to lean toward him, close her eyes, and let him kiss her. Yet, she knew that was foolhardy in the extreme. All she had to do was remember that he was her ex-brother-in-law.

“That’s no reason for you to avoid dating or marriage or having children,” he said roughly. “My children carry those same genes and they’re good kids.”

“I hope and pray they are,” she answered, suddenly sorry if she was hurting his feelings. “But I’ve had a lifetime of seeing nothing but disaster in my family.” Tension reigned between them, along with an undercurrent of dangerous attraction, and Emily knew she needed to get away.

“Good night,” she said quickly, turning and almost running, closing the door on her side of the bathroom and leaning against it.

“Emily?”

His voice startled her. He was only inches away on the other side of the door. She jumped and then turned to stare at the door. “Yes?”

“What time do you want me to call you in the morning?”

“Whenever you get up.”

“Since it’s almost half-past four now, I’ll sleep in until six.”

“Then call me at six.”

“Good night.”

She tried to busy herself, listening as the water turned on. She could imagine Zach in the shower, remembering clearly how his bare chest and back looked. In minutes, the water stopped. Soon the door opened slightly, and she heard the other bathroom door close as he went to his bedroom.

She sighed and stared into the darkness. Zach said she might be in danger if she kept searching for Amber. Should she do as he urged, and go home? She knew Amber was unreliable, flighty, and could easily be off with some man now, forgetting any danger she might put Emily in. But on the phone Amber had begged for help and had sounded sincerely terrified of a man.

Emily knew she couldn’t go home and forget about her sister. If she did nothing, and something happened to Amber, Emily knew she would never forgive herself.

Where was Amber? Was she still in the area? Emily wondered. She closed her eyes and, in minutes, was asleep.

Some time later, a faint, persistent whine woke her. She opened her eyes to stare into the darkness, momentarily disoriented. Then she remembered where she was, and realized she was definitely hearing a strange, repetitive noise—a high little whine. She turned in bed and looked into a pair of wide eyes.

Emily sat up abruptly, yelped when pain shot through her ribs, and looked down into a small face turned up to her. The little girl kept whining.

“Rebecca?”

The child nodded, and Emily bit her lip, glancing over her shoulder toward the bathroom. She wondered whether to wake Zach or just take the child back to bed.

A small hand reached up and patted the mattress, and Emily’s heart melted. She tossed back the sheet. “Do you want to get in bed with me?”

When Rebecca nodded solemnly, Emily reached down to lift the little girl into bed beside her, twisting to protect her aching ribs. Rebecca sniffled, snuggled against Emily and closed her eyes. In seconds she was asleep. Emily pushed a mass of ringlets from Rebecca’s face and felt pain grip her heart. Rebecca’s hair was like her own hair. Rebecca was like her own child—the one she never expected to have. How could Amber have given up these children? she asked herself again. And Jason wasn’t even Zach’s son. Yet she suspected as far as Zach was concerned, Jason was his as completely as was Rebecca. From the little she had seen of him tonight, Zach Durham was not what she had imagined he would be.

Emily shut out her thoughts on that subject. She placed an arm across the child and closed her eyes.

When morning came, Zach rolled out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom, trying to be quiet. As soon as he was dressed in a short-sleeved blue chambray shirt and jeans, he walked down the hall. He carried his boots to put on downstairs so he wouldn’t wake anyone.

He opened Jason’s door and looked at the sleeping child while the dogs dashed past him and down the stairs. In front of Rebecca’s door, Tiger stood wagging his tail. Zach raised his eyebrow.

“Go on, get! I’ll let you three outside as soon as I look in on my baby doll.”

Tiger turned and disappeared down the stairs as if he had understood every word Zach said. Zach stepped into Rebecca’s room, looked at the empty bed and felt a shock. He glanced around the room, wondering if Rebecca had gone downstairs—something she never did. If she awakened, she usually got into his bed. He tiptoed past Emily’s door, noticing it was slightly ajar. He was halfway down the stairs before he wondered why.

He set down his boots and went back upstairs to push the bedroom door wider. Aware of the creak of the floorboards, he tiptoed into the room and looked at two heads of red curls. His pulse jumped as he took in Emily’s outflung arm. The sheet had been kicked away and she lay on her side, her knees drawn up slightly, her long legs bare. She looked warm, tousled and tempting.

As he stared at her, she opened her eyes and gazed back at him. Her eyes widened and she raised slightly. She grabbed the sheet and yanked it over her legs, her face turning pink.

“I was looking for Rebecca,” he whispered, knowing he had been standing there long minutes after discovering them.

“She came in here and wanted in my bed.”