Read Online Reckless Promise by Jenny Andersen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jenny Andersen
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doomed
to start every day here on the ranch with a severe case of the
morning afters.
And last night hadn't even been about
alcohol. Last night had been about responding to Mac like some kind
of wild woman. For heaven's sake, all the man had to do was touch
her and she turned into a sex maniac. If she could only figure a
way to put him on hold...
She curled miserably under the covers and
ignored the laughter and voices and clopping hooves of the morning
ride, going out on schedule. Tom could just live with a little
delay in the great fake-a-seduction scene. She couldn't face Mac
right now.
But she either had to spend the rest of the
day in bed or get out of Dodge before anyone saw her. She decided
to stop in the kitchen for some sandwiches and then hike up into
the hills. No one would be able to find her. She'd stay out of
sight until she knew Tom was around, and this evening she'd stay so
busy with him that she couldn't get into trouble with Mac.
Chickie approved a hike and zoomed around the
big kitchen, efficiently slapping together sandwiches, cookies, and
a couple of sodas while her mouth went nine miles to the minute.
"Good idea, honey," she told Poppy. "Get a little time for
yourself. Get used to the country. Never could understand why folks
come all the way out here and then spend all their time in each
other's pockets. Might as well stay in the Motel Six in their
hometowns, some of them. You're a smart one, all right. Why, I
could tell that you were goin' to take to this ranch like..."
Poppy grabbed her lunch and headed for the
hills.
She climbed along a little stream, swearing
breathlessly when she had to scramble over boulders or unhitch
thorny fingers of some scrawny bush from her shirt. She couldn't
imagine why someone hadn't paved a little path along here. Boston
Common was much more civilized.
In the shade of a pine, she stopped to catch
her breath and saw that she'd climbed high enough to have a
bird's-eye view of the ranch. A big bird—a hawk?—circled endlessly
over one of the pastures, soaring on the breeze that murmured
through the pines and brought a welcome touch of coolness. She put
out a hand and leaned against the rough, pineapple-smelling bark of
the tree. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn to like Montana after
all.
The sun stood high overhead by the time she
reached a curve in the stream and found a sheltered pool of smooth
green water surrounded by boulders. Sweat dripped from her temples
and ran down her backbone and between her breasts. Right now,
nothing in the world could be more enticing than the prospect of
that cool water embracing her hot, sticky body. She didn't see
anything but trees and rocks, didn't hear anything except birds and
the burble of water over stone. A delicious sense of naughtiness
possessed her. And this time it wouldn't get her into trouble.
Without another second of hesitation, she
stripped off her sweat-soaked shirt, pulled off her boots, the hot,
heavy jeans, and her underwear. After spreading the clothes out on
a rock to dry, she plunged into the sparkling water.
The shock hit her skin like blades of ice.
She surfaced, gasping for breath, and struck out across the pool.
By the time she reached the other side, the water felt glorious.
She ducked under again, stroking smoothly underwater amidst the
sparkles of sunlight that glittered around her like crystal, and
swooshing up into the warm air like a sleek water creature.
The cool, silky water against every
millimeter of her skin, the absolute freedom of being here, being
alive, being naked in this wilderness...yes! She'd never been so
alive.
On the heels of that insight, she realized
she was freezing. She pulled herself up onto a sun-warmed rock and
stretched out, trying to soak up as much heat as possible. The sun
touched her, all of her, with the gentleness of a lover. Touched
places that had never seen the sun, much less a lover's hand. She
snorted. Neither of her two fumbling attempts to decipher
to start every day here on the ranch with a severe case of the
morning afters.
And last night hadn't even been about
alcohol. Last night had been about responding to Mac like some kind
of wild woman. For heaven's sake, all the man had to do was touch
her and she turned into a sex maniac. If she could only figure a
way to put him on hold...
She curled miserably under the covers and
ignored the laughter and voices and clopping hooves of the morning
ride, going out on schedule. Tom could just live with a little
delay in the great fake-a-seduction scene. She couldn't face Mac
right now.
But she either had to spend the rest of the
day in bed or get out of Dodge before anyone saw her. She decided
to stop in the kitchen for some sandwiches and then hike up into
the hills. No one would be able to find her. She'd stay out of
sight until she knew Tom was around, and this evening she'd stay so
busy with him that she couldn't get into trouble with Mac.
Chickie approved a hike and zoomed around the
big kitchen, efficiently slapping together sandwiches, cookies, and
a couple of sodas while her mouth went nine miles to the minute.
"Good idea, honey," she told Poppy. "Get a little time for
yourself. Get used to the country. Never could understand why folks
come all the way out here and then spend all their time in each
other's pockets. Might as well stay in the Motel Six in their
hometowns, some of them. You're a smart one, all right. Why, I
could tell that you were goin' to take to this ranch like..."
Poppy grabbed her lunch and headed for the
hills.
She climbed along a little stream, swearing
breathlessly when she had to scramble over boulders or unhitch
thorny fingers of some scrawny bush from her shirt. She couldn't
imagine why someone hadn't paved a little path along here. Boston
Common was much more civilized.
In the shade of a pine, she stopped to catch
her breath and saw that she'd climbed high enough to have a
bird's-eye view of the ranch. A big bird—a hawk?—circled endlessly
over one of the pastures, soaring on the breeze that murmured
through the pines and brought a welcome touch of coolness. She put
out a hand and leaned against the rough, pineapple-smelling bark of
the tree. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn to like Montana after
all.
The sun stood high overhead by the time she
reached a curve in the stream and found a sheltered pool of smooth
green water surrounded by boulders. Sweat dripped from her temples
and ran down her backbone and between her breasts. Right now,
nothing in the world could be more enticing than the prospect of
that cool water embracing her hot, sticky body. She didn't see
anything but trees and rocks, didn't hear anything except birds and
the burble of water over stone. A delicious sense of naughtiness
possessed her. And this time it wouldn't get her into trouble.
Without another second of hesitation, she
stripped off her sweat-soaked shirt, pulled off her boots, the hot,
heavy jeans, and her underwear. After spreading the clothes out on
a rock to dry, she plunged into the sparkling water.
The shock hit her skin like blades of ice.
She surfaced, gasping for breath, and struck out across the pool.
By the time she reached the other side, the water felt glorious.
She ducked under again, stroking smoothly underwater amidst the
sparkles of sunlight that glittered around her like crystal, and
swooshing up into the warm air like a sleek water creature.
The cool, silky water against every
millimeter of her skin, the absolute freedom of being here, being
alive, being naked in this wilderness...yes! She'd never been so
alive.
On the heels of that insight, she realized
she was freezing. She pulled herself up onto a sun-warmed rock and
stretched out, trying to soak up as much heat as possible. The sun
touched her, all of her, with the gentleness of a lover. Touched
places that had never seen the sun, much less a lover's hand. She
snorted. Neither of her two fumbling attempts to decipher
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