Heartstealer (Women of Character3 (3 page)

"Thanks."

As they pulled away she waved to
her brother and then turned her attention to Sloan. He looked relaxed in the
driver's seat, one arm on the wheel, the other resting on the window. He was a
darned attractive guy, but then she reminded herself looks sometimes went no
deeper than the surface.

She stared out the window at the
heavy growth of evergreens lining the road. "Everything up here seems so
vibrant and lush in color. The Catskills are certainly a delight to the
senses."

"I agree with you.
There’s no place like it." With barely a pause, he added, "I
noticed you're limping."

She knew she had to deal with this
now. "I have been for about a year." When he looked straight ahead,
she realized she might have been too terse. "Sorry, I'm touchy about my
leg. Suffice it to say it’s an old injury and won’t hamper my
performance here."

"Sorry," he said crisply,
sounding anything but. "I wasn't prying. I want to make sure we all
understand what’s expected here."

"My brother is very protective
of our company reputation. He wouldn't have sent me on this job if I wasn't up
for it," she said abruptly. "I’d never let the family business
take a hit."

"James is satisfied with your
credentials."

"The way you say that
it’s like you have doubts."

"You come right to the
point," he said. "I admit this kind of stuff isn’t my area, so
let’s just leave it at that."

When the vehicle slowed for a turn,
she tipped her head back to stare at the rough-hewn sign overhead. "How
did you come up with the name Timber Falls?"

"Logical choice. Timber used
to be big business around here."

"And the falls?" she
asked.

"We’ve got them,"
he said shortly, taking a turn into a large parking lot. A long gray-stained
cabin sat on one side of the lot with a sign that read "Office."

"This is the main
office," he said, slowing the truck. "There’s a bar and
restaurant with a small dance floor and there’s rooms on the second
floor." He drove through the parking area. "I’ll bring you as
close to your cabin as I can. We had quite a bit of rain this week and the
road’s taken a pretty bad hit. I’ll have the dozer out in the next
few days to smooth out the ruts."

He stopped the truck and she opened
her door and cautiously stretched her legs. With a slow and easy stride, he
walked around the vehicle and held her door. "Your brother put your
suitcases in the back."

"Where’s my cabin?"

"Just ahead. I have to warn
you it’s pretty small and rustic. Probably not what you’re used
to."

"It sounds charming. I’m
not hard to please you know." She offered him a small smile.
"I’m comfortable in most surroundings." She didn’t get a
smile in return. Jacie shrugged philosophically. It didn’t matter what he
thought of her. She studied his profile and then let her glance drop to his
hands as he reached for her cases. She frowned, telling herself it didn’t
matter that he wore no rings on those long tanned fingers.

He caught her watching him. The
impact and intensity of those blue eyes made her rush into speech. "If you
point the way to my cabin, I’ll find it."

He set her cases on the ground and
dug a hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out two keys on a chain. They
dangled a moment and then he flipped them back in his palm. "I'd be happy
to show you."

"I’m sure you’ve
got a ton of work," she said firmly. "I’ve already kept you too
long."

"I'm the boss. The work will
wait." His unexpected grin caused a fluttering in her chest. "The
best thing about being the boss is I don't have to answer to anyone."

She gathered the chute into her
arms. "We all answer to someone," she said smartly.

His grin was slow. "I'm the
exception."

Emotion knifed unexpectedly through
her midsection. God! His air of command combined with that hint of humor was
unexpected. She recalled how being close to him had felt; wonderful yet
dangerous to her equilibrium.

An image of Brad came into her head
and sanity reasserted itself. Don't go there, she warned herself. He might be
saying all the right things, but when push comes to shove some men just let you
down. She had the scars to prove it. She had loved Brad and he had dumped her
like so much garbage. Jacie squared her shoulders. That little reminder was
what she needed to stay focused.

"Okay, then, I'd appreciate
you showing me the cabin and I’ll be off your hands." Absently, she
pushed back a tangle of hair, feeling the fine layer of grit along her
hairline. If she had listened to her father she would be home. Mentally, she
shook her head. No way. She had had enough of being looked after.

His glance dipped to her leg and
back up. "Follow me."

Maybe he had seen the grimace of
pain on her face and guessed she was hurting. She needed privacy to deal with
her pain. It wasn’t open to public scrutiny. Her leg only bothered her
when she was really tired. She had been up before dawn this morning thinking of
what she had committed herself to. Was she insane taking on this job, ground
and skydiving lessons? Before the accident, such a job wouldn't have daunted
her, now she lived with a fear of failure. She had convinced Con she could do
it, that she needed to do it. He was right on one score. She just had to prove
it to herself.

Sloan was now waiting for her. With
an unconcerned smile, she quickened her pace. "I’m right behind you
and I won't land in a heap at your feet."

"I promise to pick you up if
you do," he drawled.

She fluffed her hair back.
"It's a deal." She entertained the notion of falling and letting
herself be picked up by Sloan. Tempting.

They walked along a rutted path
through dense evergreens. Someone had gone to the trouble of placing large
wooden tubs with a profusion of bright colors along the narrow road.

She drew in a deep breath. "Mmm,
I smell balsam. It’s unexpectedly refreshing. I’ve been admiring
the mountains rising all around me since I arrived. I already love the wild
beauty of the Catskills."

"You’re beautiful so
you'll fit right in," he said.

"Well, thank you," she
murmured, taken back, sidetracked by the unguarded expression on his face. It
spoke of attraction. She gulped back a breath. Attraction. God! He felt it,
too, then. She had been aware of it the first moment they had come
body-to-body. She pressed her parachute more tightly against her chest as if
the flimsy material could provide a barrier.

He grimaced. "That was pretty
dumb blurting that out. No doubt I’ve made you uncomfortable."

Jacie laughed out loud. "Yup,
that’s my first thought when a good looking guy tells me I’m
beautiful. Uncomfortable as hell. I’ll let you in on a little secret.
I’m the most laid-back person I know. Not much bothers me. Except lately,
I find myself asking for help more than usual. It annoys me."

"Well, around here we're big
on helping out. So if you need help, make sure you ask."

"We’ll see." Her
mother called it strong, but maybe there were times when you needed to lean on
someone else. "With four brothers you grow up taking care of
yourself," she said dryly. "Otherwise they take over your live."

"Well, just to remind you the
whole idea of Timber Falls is relaxation. There's riding, swimming, hiking,
whatever strikes your fancy when you're not giving skydiving lessons."

"I'll probably just hang
out." She gave him a humorous grin. "You know, kind of balance things
out." This place might offer her a chance to withdraw for a while, perhaps
mend a little inner torment. "Who knows, maybe you’ll be asking me
for skydiving lessons."

He gave her a narrow-eyed glance.
"Watch your footing, this next area is pretty rough."

He rattled her, quite simply. She
placed her feet carefully, walking beside the ruts in the road.

"There’s an activity
schedule in your cabin. If any problems crop up let me know." She found
his slight drawl attractive.

"Thanks." She steeled
herself against that devastating smile. Surely she wouldn't keep reacting
physically to everything he said, each gesture he made! Sloan reminded her of
Con in a way. She loved her brother dearly, but he was the type of man who
looked out for the women in his life. She did not need Sloan getting the idea
in his head that she couldn't take care of herself.

Finally, the cabins were in sight.
"Which cabin is mine?" she asked. The deep reddish brown cabins were
small and arranged in a wide circle.

"The one on the end."

"I love it." The
structure was set a bit apart from the others, almost hidden from view, but the
setting was pleasing. With the cabin partially shaded by huge maple and oak
trees and a row of red flowering bushes on one side, there was an aura of
privacy.

"This place is everything your
brochure promised. Everything I hoped it would be. I'm glad Bonnie talked me
into taking this job."

"Bonnie is a friend, I take
it?"

"Yes."

She had almost decided against the
job. Since the accident she had been in a crippling apathy. Although she and
Bonnie hadn’t been friends that long, she’d proven to be a lifeline
during her recuperation. She’d needed the buffer between her and her
family.

"Have you been skydiving
long?" Sloan asked.

"Eleven years or so."

He stared at her incredulously.
"You must have started when you were a kid."

"Almost." She lifted her
face to the sun. She couldn't talk about her job right now, not without getting
into some maudlin history. "This is like its own little paradise―the
isolation and raw wildness of the mountains," she murmured.

He looked at her and lifted a dark
brow in amusement. "We’re not really isolated. The closest town is
only twenty miles away."

She smiled at him. "Having
lived in a city most of my life, this is isolation. It'll suit me."

There was a skeptical curve to his
mouth. She wondered if he thought she was trying to impress him. As he moved
ahead she eyed his straight, broad back, the lean-hipped jeans, the curl of
dark hair visible along his collar beneath the hat. She bit back a curse when
the toe of her boot caught on a root. Catching herself, she gave him a quick
look that dared him to say a word.

Apparently undaunted, he said
quietly, "Are you okay? Maybe I could―"

"Would you like to rub my leg?"
she asked deliberately, tilting one brow, a devil prodding her on.

His eyes darkened and she bit back
the rest of the words, determined to curb her mischievous streak. "Sorry,
my tongue gets ahead of me. It comes from growing up with only brothers."

"Should you be jumping out of
planes?" he asked bluntly. "I keep coming back to that."

"The leg only bothers me when
I'm tired," she said lightly, pushing sweaty wisps of hair from her eyes.
"The brace is for added support."

She envied him his apparent ease with
his surroundings. His stance was natural, effortless, while she knew she was
almost at the end of her energy reserve. For a moment, she felt overcome by
sheer hopelessness, not a feeling she welcomed. He fit here, with the mountains
and the wide-open spaces. She used to belong in the family business but now she
felt odd-man out. Since the accident it was as if she didn’t belong
anywhere, and she couldn’t blame it all on Brad. The accident had been
partly her fault, but it was too late to fix what was already done. She just
wished she could figure out where she fit in.

She stared at the cabin as they
drew closer. "It's beautiful," she said.

Ω

Sloan couldn’t drag his gaze
away from Jacie. He wasn’t happy about the creep of sexual awareness that
moved along his neck. He wasn’t looking for a complication, at least
that's what he told himself as he watched the smile transform her face. When
she wasn't trying to be flippant, he sensed vulnerability. He reminded himself
he didn’t need to know anything about her, except that she could do the
job she’d been hired to do.

"I'm glad you like the
cabin." He wondered what else might please her.

He had annoyed her with his offer
of help but it wasn't in him to be idle if there was a problem. He could see
she was hurting, even though she acted offhand about it.

Despite the dust, the tendrils of
hair curling around her forehead and the faint shadows beneath her eyes, she
was a knockout. He had always considered guests off limits and he ruthlessly
suppressed the urge to change that rule now. His knee-jerk reaction to her
bothered him. He had the strangest desire to stay and find out all about her.
He reminded himself there were chores to do. God and everybody knew they
wouldn't get done until he saw to them. The ranch might be a resort for guests,
but it was a working environment for him.

He knew this attraction could be a
dangerous thing.

"Have you always lived here,
Sloan?"

"Most of my life. I decided
being in the mountains was my calling. Having lived a time in the city I
wasn’t impressed."

"I love the city.
There’s always something new."

He smiled. "I know, lots of
thrills and excitement. I can’t imagine you settling for a place like
this."

"But I love it," she
protested.

His fiancé Ilene had thought
she could live here, but in the end the city had drawn her back.

Looking at her flashy scarlet
jumpsuit, he’d give her two weeks tops before she was bored. He pushed
the front door open and stepped back to allow her access to the cabin.

"What a perfect romantic
getaway," she breathed. "Pure country, yet modern."

As her expression softened, his
mouth went dry and his gut tightened. "I’m kind of curious why you
picked August to come here," he said abruptly.

She gave him a quizzical look.
"Why not?"